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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-10-21 Public Comment - R. Zimmer - Board ConsolidationFrom:Ralph Zimmer To:Cyndy Andrus Cc:Terry Cunningham; I-Ho Pomeroy; Jennifer Madgic; Christopher Coburn; Jeff Mihelich; Greg Sullivan; Melody Mileur; Mike Maas; Jesse DiTommaso Subject:urge Commission to TABLE advisory board consolidation Date:Tuesday, August 10, 2021 11:10:31 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Tuesday, August 11, 2021 Mayor, While I was very disappointed by what you said in the below email relative to the timingof the Commission's consideration of the legislation enabling board consolidation, I greatly appreciated the response after my first two emails to the City on this topic were not answered. You wrote "..City Manager Mihelich met with the board chairs to get input." That isincorrect. Perhaps he met with a few of the chairs, but just late last week I asked one of those chairs if he had met with or been contacted by Manager Mihelic, Neither he nor I were socontacted. (I did have a helpful and appreciated telephone conversation with the City Manager, but I was the one who initiated that contact.) In the way of full disclosure, I did receive a short questionnaire from Melody Mileur thatrelated to board consolidation. I did not return that questionnaire because in February Manager Mihelic verbally told the Commission joint boards (of which PTS is one) would notbe consolidated and in March Clerk Maas specifically wrote that PTS would not be affected by board consolidation. (We find it unfortunate that the City subsequently changed thatposition. In our opinion, we think the City would be wise to return to the original plan excluding PTS from Board consolidation.) The City has repeatedly said that one of the main objectives of board consolidation is toincrease public input,. The most knowledgeable citizens on the subject of board consolidation are the officers and members of the City's existing boards. To give those groups adequatetime to digest and review the details of the enabling legislation. it is counterproductive, ironic, and hypocritical that those officers and boards were only given 120 hours to review thosedocuments before the Commission is expected to provisionally adopt them this evening. More time is needed. For instance, BABAB met last Wednesday night and the documents had not yet been released. PTS meets tomorrow and Thursday both RPAB and theParking Commission meet, but the Commission will have already acted before any of those boards meet. Even in the short time we have had to review the enabling legislation, PTS ViceChairperson Marilee Brown and I have identified problems, inconsistencies, omissions, and other concerns with the draft enabling legislation. More time is needed to carefully considerthe concerns we have already identified and to recognize other potential concerns. To allow all the existing boards time to carefully review the enabling legislation and to enable some interaction between groups that would be combined into a given super board (thereby allowing exploration of the feasibility of such a combination), we urge the Commission ton tonight TABLE the provisional adoption of the proposed legislation. It should be left on the table for at least one full month. Tonight before the motion provisionally adopting the proposed enabling legislation istabled, the Commission could , of course, discuss various issues of its concern and potentiallymake initial amendments to that draft legislation. If the Commission elects to proceed tonight with the provisional adoption of the proposedenabling legislation, our committee will be asking the Commission to consider a long list ofproposed amendments when that enabling legislation comes back for final approval. Thank you!! Ralph W. Zimmer, Chairperson Bozeman (Area) Pedestrian and Traffic Safety Committee cc: Terry cunningham I-Ho Pomeroy Jennifer Madgic Christopher Coburn Jeff Mihelic Greg Sullivan Melody Mileur Mike Maas Jesse DiTommaso ############################################################ At 09:55 AM 7/30/2021, Cyndy Andrus wrote: Hello Mr. Zimmer, Thank you for sharing your opinions on our board consolidations. Before the commission decided to consolidate the boards, City Manager Mihelichmet with the board chairs to get input. We also received public comments (bothwritten and at our meeting) on the issue. All of that was taken into considerationbefore we decided how to consolidate the boards. We will not be taking the enabling resolutions and ordinances back to the boards;however, there will be an opportunity for public comment at the commissionmeeting when we hear this item. As for the question about tenure restrictions, these will be new boards so anyonecan apply regardless of past board service. Thank you again for taking the time to write and share your opinions. Cynthia Andrus|Mayor City of Bozeman P:406.582.2383|E:candrus@bozeman.net|W: www.bozeman.net On Jul 29, 2021, at 11:35 PM, Ralph Zimmer <RalphZimmer@mcn.net> wrote: CAUTION: This email originated from outside of theorganization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Thursday, July 29, 2021 Jeff, Cyndy, and Terry, I know I have communicated this same message to you at least twicepreviously, but I have not received any response to those earlier emails so I am trying again. I am writing the three of you because it is my understanding youare the ones who decide upon City Commission agendas. As part of the board consolidation process, it is my understandingthat sometime in August the Commission will consider the enabling resolutions and ordinances. In my opinion, it is now too late for those proposed actions to beconsidered by the Commission in August. I continue to believe ALL ofthe City's current advisory boards need to see and review the proposals prior to the Commission considering them. That could best be accomplished by providing all those advisoryboards the proposed text at least a month before the Commission considers the proposals. I suspect that many if not most of thoseboards have monthly meetings. If the proposed text were released a month in advance, many if not most of those boards could review theproposals at a regularly scheduled board meeting. The remaining boards would have ample time to call a special board meeting toconsider the proposals. Let me change gears slightly. At the same time, I think staff should also let the advisory boardsknow the staff's forthcoming recommendation to the Commission on whether any or all service on predecessor boards will count towardstenure restrictions on the new consolidated boards. (You may suspectI am worried about my own eligibility. I am not. I am worried about all present members of all existing advisory boards.) Thanks for your consideration. RalphRalph W. Zimmer cc: Greg Sullivan Melody Mileur Mike Maas Jesse DiTommaso City of Bozeman emails are subject to the Right to Know provisions of Montana’s Constitution (Art. II, Sect. 9) and may be considered a “publicrecord†pursuant to Title 2, Chpt. 6, Montana Code Annotated. As such, this email, its sender and receiver, and the contents may be available for publicdisclosure and will be retained pursuant to the City’s record retention policies. Emails that contain confidential information such as information related toindividual privacy may be protected from disclosure under law.