Council advances Appointive Committees overhaul after debate over CAB subgroups
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Summary
The Des Moines City Council advanced draft ordinance 26-009 to a second reading (April 9) after amending how Citizens Advisory Board subgroups are treated: council exempted CAB subgroups from Open Public Meetings Act requirements and will refer to them as 'committees of the CAB.' The measure moved 6–1.
The Des Moines City Council voted to advance draft ordinance 26-009 to a second reading on April 9 after a lengthy discussion about how to treat Citizens Advisory Board (CAB) subgroups.
City prosecutor presented the ordinance’s first reading, saying the revisions lower the minimum appointed‑committee age to 18, add geographic diversity language for appointments, require meetings to operate under Robert’s Rules and add notice language for 3 or more absences. The draft also requires written subcommittee reports to the CAB prior to meetings. Prosecutor noted that, as written, the use of the word “subcommittee” would make those groups subject to the state Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA), which raised concerns among CAB members.
Councilmembers debated whether the CAB’s smaller working groups should be treated as formal subcommittees under OPMA or as less‑formal committees that report back to the CAB. Several CAB members had told the council they preferred the label 'committees of the CAB' and wanted to avoid making every small working group subject to OPMA procedures.
Councilmember Nutting moved an amendment to exclude CAB subcommittees from OPMA requirements and to call them committees of the CAB; the amendment passed 6–1, with Councilmember Harris opposed. Later, Harris proposed adding a cap on CAB meetings (minimum three, maximum six annually) to reduce staff burden; that amendment failed in a 4–2–1 vote (four in favor, two opposed, one abstention).
After amendments, the council voted 6–1 to send the ordinance to second reading. Councilmember Harris cast the lone dissenting vote. The council recorded that no formal action would be taken on property acquisition items during the evening’s executive session, which followed the meeting.
The ordinance will return for a second reading and final action on April 9. If approved at that meeting, the ordinance would change the city’s appointive‑committee code and the CAB rules as described; the council directed staff to refine draft language where the CAB’s subgroups and OPMA interactions required further specificity.
