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Open Space Board swears in Morgan Laumley, elects officers and adopts resolution demanding earlier budget review
Summary
At its April 8 meeting the Open Space Board of Trustees swore in new trustee Morgan Laumley, confirmed a leadership slate, and unanimously adopted a resolution urging City Council and staff to restore an iterative budget review schedule so the board can meaningfully review OSMP funding assumptions and major proposals.
John Carroll was sworn in as chair after the board formally appointed him, Brady Robinson and Leah Russell to the leadership slate and approved the nominations by roll call vote.
The new board then turned to a resolution prompted by recent council discussion of a so‑called public‑realm tax that would have combined dedicated taxes for open space, parks and recreation and transportation. Board member Brady Robinson said the department and trustees had not been consulted and described strong public pushback that followed a council study session. He argued the board needs earlier, iterative access to budget context — revenue and expense trends, major program shifts and assumptions — so it can fulfill its charter duty to review and recommend the Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP) budget.
Robinson read a draft resolution asking council to restore a more iterative budget review process and to provide budget context and assumptions for discussion by early summer even if a full draft budget is not yet available. Morgan Laumley and others supported adding language that would keep discussion broad enough to cover potential ballot measures such as the public‑realm tax; others suggested focusing the resolution strictly on the budget process but did not press an amendment. The board voted, by roll call, with Morgan Laumley, Harmon Zuckerman, Brady Robinson and Chair John Carroll all voting in favor. The motion passed 4–0.
Why it matters: the resolution formalizes trustee concern about access to budget information and seeks to preserve the board’s advisory role on OSMP priorities and dedicated funding. Board members said earlier review would allow them to provide more substantive feedback to staff and council and to better explain tradeoffs to the public.
The board asked staff to return with additional detail about what information would be available and with potential process options for a revised review calendar ahead of the fall city budget deliberations.
Quote: “The board needs timely information on the overall budget picture,” Robinson said while reading the draft resolution, “including revenue expense trends, major programmatic shifts, significant departures from prior practice or assumptions, and broader funding proposals such as the recent public realm tax consolidation proposal on which the board had no opportunity to advise.”
Next steps: staff said they will continue work on a consistent citywide cadence for boards and commissions, and the board signaled it would pursue follow‑up discussion of the resolution and budget touches with staff in May and ahead of the city manager’s recommended budget expected in late August.
