Committee advances redrafted policy-council proposal to full board without recommendation

Commissioners debated a redrafted substitute to establish what the draft calls a ‘‘policy council’’ to provide initial policy drafts, legal and policy research and a first-stop for board-initiated legislative or policy ideas.

Attorney Welch explained the edits were meant to make the policy council’s role complementary to the County Attorney’s Office—providing initial drafting and policy research while deferring formal legal review and approval to the County Attorney. Commissioners discussed operational details, including how work assignments and potential conflicts of direction would be managed; Welch and others suggested additional internal protocols and role definitions before implementation.

Because the proposed position and role could affect every county office, the committee decided to advance item 15 34 to the full Board of Commissioners without making a formal recommendation and asked the law department to prepare a substitute ordinance for the board meeting. Commissioners directed staff to circulate the redline and the proposed substitute to the full board in advance.