CC 12-05-23 Oral CommunicationsCC 12-05-2023
Written Communications
Oral
Communications
From:Jean Bedord
To:City Council; Cupertino City Manager"s Office; City Clerk
Subject:Oral Communications: Effectiveness of city commissions / hybrid meetings, Council Meeting, Dec. 5, 2023
Date:Monday, December 4, 2023 2:25:44 PM
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As the process of filling commissions moves forward, the city council and staff need to
reexamine the role of commissions. Theoretically, they serve as advisory bodies to the city
council, but mechanisms to function in that role are missing. This is not new -- over the
last ten to fifteen years I've heard councilmembers express their frustration with the
commissions, particularly when a commission has "gone off the rails". The monthly meeting
with the mayor is not communication with the entire council, and the rotating representation
from individual commissions means lack of continuity. The Nov. 7 council meeting
Informational Memorandum from City Manager Wu (Item #14) regarding hybrid
commission meetings was inadequate and failed to acknowledge the underlying problematic
communication with commissions.
This lack of communication and effectiveness can be addressed in steps:
* Continue Planning Commission and resume Parks and Recreation meetings video
recordings. The city has been archiving videos for these two commissions plus city council
since 2005.https://www.cupertino.org/our-city/videos-on-demand/all-televised-meetings This
makes sense, since their actions an have impact years beyond individual commissioners and
council members. The Parks and Recreation Master Plan took years to develop; the housing
element covers eight years, and there are other long term projects.
* All other commissions (1) provide a conference call number for residents to call in
during the meeting (Pre-Zoom, I used freeconferencecall.com for committee meetings -
works well for low volume conferencing) and (2) audio record every meeting (this is
already done to ensure minutes are accurate, but the recordings are erased after minutes are
approved, and NOT posted). Post audio recordings on cupertino.legistar.com within 5 days
after the meeting.
* Post all commission AND council meeting draft minutes
on cupertino.legistar.com within 5 days after the meeting. Draft minutes are seldom revised,
so not problematic with clear labels. This will improve transparency with the public and
council since they won't have to wait two weeks to three months to find out what actions
were taken. Delayed minutes are useless for effective communication. Replace the draft
minutes with the approved minutes after the next meeting.
* Include the draft minutes for every commission meeting in city council Informational
Items as meetings occur. Council then has time to review the minutes and provide direction
to the staff liaison and the commission prior to the next meeting. If clarification is needed,
councilmembers can listen to the audio recordings.
The next step is to for council to review the objectives of the commissions, and areas that
each commission can contribute value within the scope of the city and council work plans.
Council, with the guidance of the staff liaisons, needs to drive the direction of the
commissions. There has been significant churn on commissions as well as staff in the last 8
years, so there is a lack of institutional knowledge. Some highly qualified commissioners
decide to quit after their first term, feeling that the meetings were a waste of time. Other
strong community members won't apply to commissions for the same reasons, even though
they are otherwise civically engaged.
I urge the council to direct staff to implement these steps effective on January 1, 2024. City
commissions need to be more effective, so they no longer waste resident and staff time.
A concerned resident and former library commissioner,
Jean Bedord