§ 2.04.220. Boards, commissions and committees.

A.

Boards, commissions and committees are appointed by the council to advise and to perform any duties determined by the council in one or more aspects of city government. City boards, commissions and committees are intended to provide a valuable service to the community by providing in-depth advice to the city council on a variety of topics and assume some of the workload from council to research issues or gather public input. Except as otherwise provided in state law, boards and commissions are directly responsible to the council and fill quasi-judicial roles. Commissions are made up of lay citizens, while boards are residents with special expertise. Committees sponsored by the city are intended to be working groups, do not fill quasi-judicial roles, and are established by council resolution. Appointment to boards and commissions shall be made only after:

1.

Advertisement of the open position in a local paper.

2.

Public interviews of selected applicants for the positions.

3.

Appointment by a majority of the council.

B.

Unless determined elsewhere in law, the boards and commissions shall be governed by or meet the following criteria:

1.

Membership. The boards and commissions shall consist of seven members each, who shall be residents of the city, unless otherwise provided in this chapter or otherwise prescribed by state law or the ordinance or resolution establishing the board or commission or committee to represent a specified organization, agency, group, category or profession. A "member" shall be defined as a voting member of any board, commission or committee established by the city council, notwithstanding the manner in which such voting member is appointed.

2.

Appointments. The members shall be appointed by majority vote of the council. Members shall not be reappointed to the same board or commission for more than two consecutive full terms.

3.

Term. Terms are four years, commencing on March 1st unless a member is removed from office pursuant to the provisions of subsection (B)(4) of this section. Members appointed prior to March 1, 2014 with terms that commenced on January 1 will conclude their terms on January 1. The membership shall be divided to achieve temporal distribution of terms. If a board member or commissioner fails to complete the term, the council appointment shall be for the remainder of the uncompleted term. Members are not eligible to serve on the same board or commission if they have served two consecutive full four-year terms.

4.

Removal of Members.

a.

Members of boards and commissions serve at the pleasure of the council and may be removed by a majority vote of the entire council. It shall be presumed that any member who is absent for three consecutive regularly scheduled meetings without cause, or half the regular meetings in a calendar year, or who resides outside the city, has resigned. The staff liaison shall notify the city clerk of a vacancy within five days after the staff liaison has determined that the vacancy exists. Within one week after receiving such notice from the staff liaison, the city clerk shall notify any member whose appointment has automatically terminated and report to the council that a vacancy exists and that an appointment should be made to fill the vacancy.

b.

An absence shall be considered excused if either: (1) the member informs the staff liaison of his/her intended absence at least twenty-four hours prior to the scheduled time of the meeting; or (2) such absence is due to unforeseeable and unavoidable circumstances and reported and explained in writing to the staff liaison prior to the next meeting of the board or commission. Excused absences for medical reasons shall not exceed a period of one hundred twenty calendar days.

c.

Nothing contained in this section shall be deemed to limit the power of the city council to remove any member of any city board, commission or committee at any time, with or without cause.

5.

Quorum.

a.

For boards and commissions, a quorum for the purpose of holding a meeting shall consist of a simple majority of the members then serving. A board or commission may act by an affirmative vote of a simple majority of a quorum. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a quorum for the purposes of holding a meeting of the planning commission, design review board and arts and culture commission shall consist of a simple majority of the members then serving, but not fewer than three members. Further, the planning commission, design review board and arts and culture commission may act by an affirmative vote of a simple majority of a quorum, but not less than three affirmative votes shall be required for the planning commission.

b.

For committees, a quorum for the purpose of holding a meeting shall consist of a simple majority of the members then serving. Two members may conduct a meeting for the purpose of doing the work of a committee and allowing persons interested in becoming members to attend. Formal action of a committee shall require at least three members to be present at a meeting and a simple majority of affirmative votes of a quorum.

6.

Officers. The annual election of officers should occur during the month of April. Officers shall be selected by a majority of the commission for a one-year term and consist of a chairperson (chair) and a vice chairperson. No board member, commissioner or committee member shall serve as chairperson for more than two consecutive years.

7.

Conduct of Business. The conduct of board or commission business shall be by Sturgis Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure, or by rules of procedure adopted by the board or commission. Failure to follow the applicable rules of procedure shall not invalidate an otherwise valid action of a board or commission.

8.

Minutes. The staff liaison of the board or commission shall cause minutes to be prepared for the membership and presented at the following meeting for approval by the board or commission. Minutes shall be posted on the city's website within ten days of the board or commission's approval.

9.

Staff Assistance. The city staff shall provide appropriate notice to the members of the agenda for each meeting, and shall provide to the members the draft minutes of the previous meeting for their approval. Each board or commission shall have access to all information possessed by the city concerning its agenda items. The city manager will provide for staff assistance at the meetings of the various boards and commissions.

10.

Meetings. Unless otherwise provided, the boards and commissions shall meet at least monthly, on a regularly scheduled basis, in a public meeting room and shall be subject to the Ralph M. Brown Act, Government Code Section 54950 et seq.

C.

Committees shall be governed by the same criteria as boards and commissions unless otherwise prescribed by council resolution.

(Ord. 2007-11 § 1, 2007: Ord. 92-2 Div. 2 (part), 1992.)

(Ord. No. 2013-06, § 1, 12-3-2013)