HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-21-26 Public Comment - J. Webster - Today's Workshop_ Advisory BoardsFrom:Jim Webster
To:Joey Morrison; Douglas Fischer; Jen Madgic; Alison Sweeney; Emma Bode; Chuck Winn; Rebecca Harbage;Bozeman Public Comment
Cc:mike@arch118.com; Cola Rowley
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Today"s Workshop: Advisory Boards
Date:Tuesday, July 21, 2026 11:54:15 AM
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To All:
Thank you for making time in the workshop today for some further discussion re
Advisory Boards. Since I can't attend your session later due to a family commitment and
the fact that I'm still out of town, I 'll just share a few thoughts here.
When HPAB Chair Mike Wiseman and I met with Cola Rowley a few months ago, we
had an excellent discussion re practices that Advisory Boards (AB) used to engage in
years ago and might consider again now. Under City Manager Jeff Mihelich's tenure, that
changed and AB were more limited in areas like agenda setting, officer election and
recruitment of new board members. These boards also functioned with secretaries that
were responsible for taking board minutes and submitting those to the city. I'll suggest
reinstating that, as it worked extremely well 15-30 years ago, when I first participated on
HPAB. It also meant that more members of the community could take a more active role
on their boards.
Today, only the INC Board seems to have some of the autonomy that the old AB had
and while INC is set up a little different to start with, that should not make a difference
when it comes to these aspects of board governance. It would appear that the city could
benefit by giving some authority and accountability back to the boards as this could:
1. Strengthen the partnership between the AB in question and the city.
2. Free up a little time for city staff to be spending elsewhere.
In closing, this could be seen as enhancing communication and transparency
between the AB and the city. Thank you for your consideration.
Respectfully.
Jim