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Commissioners debate enforcement of attendance rules after multiple long absences
Summary
Commission members raised concerns about repeated long-term absences by commissioners, discussed whether notifying staff suffices to be 'excused,' and referenced an ordinance provision that could remove members for nonperformance; no removals or formal enforcement steps were taken.
Speaker 1, an unidentified participant, pressed the commission on whether members who miss meetings must provide formal notice to be considered "excused." "What does it take to be excused if someone's not on the board?" Speaker 1 asked, noting some members had not attended for extended periods.
Speaker 2 said staff sends a text reminder before meetings and described an instance in which "Sarah" told staff the night before that she would not attend, which Speaker 2 considered an excused absence. Speaker 1 countered that an absence stretching "for a year and a half, month after month" should not be treated as excused and cited the commission's ordinance, saying members are "supposed to be booted off for non performance of duty." "You don't just need warm bodies," Speaker 1 said. "You need people up there that are gonna do the job."
Other participants noted the practical difficulty of enforcing removals in a small town. Speaker 2 described the reality of a small volunteer pool and the challenge of finding reliable members. Speaker 4 and others said past mayors sometimes appointed people without fully explaining the commitment, complicating enforcement of attendance rules.
The commission did not take formal action to remove any member during the meeting. The transcript records names used in discussion—"Sarah" and "Scott"—and includes an assertion that Scott "hasn't been there since September 23," but no formal motion, notice requirement change, or enforcement plan was recorded.
The commission ended the discussion without specifying next steps for enforcement beyond acknowledging the problem and noting the difficulty of maintaining volunteers in a small community.
