Santa Monica City Council Approves Changes to Boards and Commissions Following Public Process

April 28, 2021 10:46 AM

At its meeting last night, the City Council approved changes to Santa Monica’s Boards, Commissions, and Task Forces to increase effectiveness, attract diverse representation from the Santa Monica community, and align Board and Commission activities with departmental workplans. Council’s adopted changes come after a Community Working Group spent the past year reviewing the bylaws and purview of Santa Monica’s advisory bodies and formulating recommendations, which Council considered as it approved changes. Council will weigh in on streamlining some advisory bodies to increase effectiveness at a later meeting.

“Santa Monica is fortunate to have deeply knowledgeable and dedicated residents who participate in boards and commissions, contributing to a caring and thriving community for all people,” said Mayor Pro Tem Kristin McCowan. “It’s important to regularly evaluate where we are and where we want to go and that’s what this action signals – we want more participation and more diverse participants. We encourage more voices to consider advisory bodies as a meaningful way to get involved.” 

Council provided staff with directions regarding boards and commissions that included the following:

Council also directed staff to return with an ordinance to convert the Task Force on the Environment to a permanent commission—the Commission on Sustainability and the Environment—with its goals to include environmental justice and with the same term limits and bylaws as other advisory bodies. 

Council also directed the City Attorney to explore the legality of assigning one Councilmember to each advisory body as a liaison and directed that Commissions should continue quarterly meetings though December 2021, with the exception that charter-based Commissions, adjudicatory bodies, and advisory bodies with sufficient staffing (including the Housing Commission) may meet more frequently as necessary.  

To learn more about Santa Monica Boards and Commission opportunities, visit https://www.smgov.net/departments/clerk/boards/.

 

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Constance Farrell
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Constance.Farrell@santamonica.gov

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