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Vallejo commissioners review boards-and-commissions assessment; raise concerns about liaison absence and consolidation
Summary
Commissioners reviewed a Municipal Resource Group assessment of Vallejo boards and commissions (published March 25, 2024; revised Aug. 2025), asking whether commissions still match their original purpose, and expressed concern over an absent council liaison and tight timelines for council decisions.
Vallejo’s Civil Service Commission spent the second half of its Jan. 12 meeting reviewing the Municipal Resource Group assessment of the city’s boards, commissions and committees and offering feedback for the council.
Staff told commissioners the report was first published March 25, 2024, and later revised in August 2025. Jason Ackley, assistant to the city manager, said consultants had returned for additional work to update parts of the report. “I assisted with this report,” Ackley said during the meeting.
Commissioners questioned whether the report emphasized staff capacity and cost savings over the commissions’ original purposes. One commissioner asked whether the city intended to eliminate any commissions; staff said the report’s recommendations are advisory and that council has not decided to remove boards. “This was a report by consultants that made recommendations that they can either adopt or not adopt,” staff said.
Several commissioners said they do not feel their recommendations consistently flow to council. Multiple commissioners said their council liaison has often been absent from meetings, leaving them without an intermediary to flag budget and schedule constraints. “I just like to see him every now and then,” one commissioner said of the liaison; another called the liaison’s absence a trust deficit.
Commissioners also cautioned against consolidating or eliminating volunteer commissions without careful outreach, arguing consolidation could harm volunteer morale and community trust. A commissioner warned that removing a commission such as a youth advisory group would send a negative message to volunteers who serve without pay.
Staff said the city is soliciting feedback from all boards and commissions before council acts. Commissioners agreed to provide their perspectives to staff for the city manager and council to consider.
