Administrative Services Committee seeks uniform bylaws, regular reporting from boards and commissions

The Administrative Services Committee on March 27 debated whether Garland should standardize bylaws and increase regular reporting from its boards and commissions.

Committee Chair Margaret Luck said the review binder given to members contained a large volume of material and that members would likely need several meetings to digest it. Phil Urutia, a staff member, told the committee some boards want clearer short-term goals and more direct contact with the council members who appoint them.

"They were asking for some short term goals of what they wanted to accomplish as an organization," Urutia said, according to the meeting transcript.

Councilwoman Chris Beard said she had reviewed about half the binder and found the bylaws varied widely between committees. "The bylaws are completely different from one committee to another," Beard said. She also noted most boards' bylaws require following Robert's Rules of Order while the council itself is not required to follow Robert's Rules.

Councilwoman Dylan Hedrick proposed an annual schedule for boards and commissions to report to council, suggesting they could brief council during regular work sessions. "I'd like to set up some kind of annual schedule where they can come in," Hedrick said.

Staff and committee members discussed which bodies need routine reporting and which are constrained by state law. Urutia and other staff said some bodies, like the planning commission and certain statutorily mandated boards, may not need routine reporting because their work is already funneled through formal zoning or other processes.

Committee members and staff identified benefits to some level of standardization for agendas, bylaws and staff support. The staff said uniformity would help when different department staff cover boards and commissions.

The committee agreed to report to council that the committee would like the council to consider a regular schedule for boards and commissions to brief council. Staff will return with focused recommendations on which bylaws could be standardized and examples of a reporting schedule.

The discussion also touched on rotating leadership roles on boards and the possibility of term limits; no formal policy change was adopted during the meeting.

The committee moved on after directing staff to prepare materials and report back at a future meeting.