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Washoe County commissioners hear first reading to update citizen advisory board code; public input favored keeping the 'CAB' name
Summary
Washoe County legal staff presented a first reading May 13 of an ordinance to update County Code chapter 5 governing Citizen Advisory Boards, clarifying CAB purpose, tightening district boundaries to a single commissioner district, allowing adjacent residents to serve, and standardizing several procedural rules.
Washoe County legal staff and commissioner support staff presented a first reading of proposed amendments to Washoe County Code chapter 5 on May 13 to update how Citizen Advisory Boards (CABs) are formed and operate.
Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Gustafson said the ordinance clarifies the CABs’ role as advisory and collaborative to the county commissioner whose district contains the CAB. Gustafson said the proposal also narrows CAB boundaries so each CAB lies within a single commissioner district, but it would allow residents who live within one mile of a CAB boundary to serve so adjacent communities are not excluded. “The public overwhelmingly supported retaining the current name,” Gustafson told the board, summarizing the outreach results.
Other code updates proposed on first reading would shorten application retention from 3.5 years to 1 year, align alternate-member terms with regular-member terms, let CABs select their own officers (instead of commissioners appointing board officers), remove duplicative open-meeting-law text, and permit CAB members to serve simultaneously on planning commissions or boards of adjustment (the current code had a prohibition).
Commission staff member Candy Ramos reported results from an April 29 public-input session: 28 people attended in person, six attended online and two submitted written comments. The largest single public preference expressed during outreach was to keep the established “Citizen Advisory Board” name rather than renaming the bodies.
Public commenters at the May 13 meeting included CAB members and other citizens who urged the board to give CABs meaningful topics and to preserve and strengthen the advisory role. Pat Davison told the commission that CABs “can be the workhorses assisting you with tough issues” and called for standard baseline bylaws with flexibility for local additions.
The item is in the first-reading stage; if the commission approves the ordinance at second reading the code changes would become law. Staff said additional follow-up work on bylaws and related materials (resolutions, the CAB handbook) will continue, and that future meetings will allow more public review of the implementing documents.
No final ordinance vote occurred on May 13; the commission set the second-reading public hearing for June 17.
