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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 02-10-2015 - 2 1 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date:February 10, 2015 Action Agenda Item No.2 SUBJECT: Discussion of Process for the Publicto Place an Item on a Regular Board Meeting Agenda DEPARTMENT:PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N)No Board of Commissioners ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: Excerpt from February 8, 2011 ApprovedClerk's Office, 245-2130 BOCC Minutes PURPOSE: To discuss theprocess for how the publicplacesan Item on a Regular Board Meeting Agenda. BACKGROUND :At itsFebruary 8, 2011 work session, the Board held a discussion on a process for how the public may place an item on a regular Board meeting agendaand adopted a process on March 15, 2011. (An excerpt from February 8, 2011 Approvedminutes is attached.) Public Comments - Matters Not on the Printed Agenda Petitions/Resolutions/Proclamations and other similar requests submitted by the public will not be acted upon by the Board of Commissioners at the time presented. All such requests will be referred for Chair/Vice Chair/Manager review and for recommendations to the full Board at a later date regarding a) consideration of the request at a future regular Board meeting; or b) receipt of the request as information only. Receipt of information by the Board does not imply approval, endorsement, or consent. FINANCIAL IMPACT: None. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends for the Board to discuss the current process for how the public places an Item on a Regular Board Meeting Agenda and provide direction/feedback to the staff. 2 EXCERPT FROM THE APPROVED FEBRUARY 8, 2011BOCC MINUTES 2.Discussion on the Process for the Public to Place an Item on a Regular Board Meeting Agenda Chair Pelissier saidthat several times individuals have petitioned the Board to put an item on the regular agenda. The Board needs to discuss how to respond to the public about these types of requests. Commissioner Yuhasz agreed that there needs to be a process. He suggested having a standard policy with a subcommittee of this Board to evaluate these proposals. Commissioner Hemminger said that this came up on the school board, and there were guidelines that a board member would have to champion the item and there would have to be a majority vote to pursue the item. She thinks that the subcommittee would require a lot of staff time. Commissioner Jacobs said that he appreciated Commissioner Yuhasz’s attempt to organize this. He tends to support all public requests just because they are asking, except for Confederate Memorial Day. He said that he would be willing to have a process to refer it to staff and the Chair and Vice-Chair to discuss at agenda review, and report back whether there is sufficient information to move forward or decline. Commissioner McKee said he feels like one of the reasons the County Commissioners are here is that the public can bring these items to the Board. He supported Commissioner Hemminger’s suggestion to refer to staff by a vote at a meeting. If the Board chose not to refer it to staff, then so be it. Frank Clifton said that one of the difficulties they find with this issue is that whoever brings the Board of County Commissioners an item has already made up their mind about something, or the information is erroneous and out of context. To verify or do the research does take some time in these cases. Commissioner Gordon said that currently there is a subcommittee of the Chair, Vice- Chair, and Manager. She suggested that items be voted to referto this subcommittee to work through the process. Chair Pelissier said that these citizens need a response back from the Board in some way or another. She would like to include a way to communicate back to the individual. Commissioner Hemminger said that this is what she likes about taking the vote to refer it to the staff because the public hears a response. Commissioner Yuhasz agreed with having a clear process. He does not think that there necessarily needs to be a motion and a second to refer tostaff. His concern is that some of the motions that the Board has made has included a motion to study the issue and bring it back to the Board at a specific date. He does not necessarily want this. Some responses can be made in a letter. He would rather have a specific process. Commissioner Jacobs said that he personally agreed with Commissioner McKee about the importance of listening to the citizens. He said that Matters Not on the Printed Agenda is one of the few places that are unstructured and he likes this. He recognizes the need for order. He said that almost always the Chair refers these items to staff with the understanding that it will come back to the Board with a recommendation on how to proceed. He said that there ought to be some opportunity for a County Commissioner to bring the issue back up if they do not agree. Frank Clifton said that when the Board refers an item to the staff, that generally means that there will be some staff time involved to research. This means it will be on anagenda in the future, either as a report or something with further direction. Commissioner Foushee said that she thinks that all of the County Commissioners recognize their role as listeners and advocates, but there are limited resources to provide for every petition that comes forward. She asked that staff recommend a process of determining 3 how the items go through the process. This might save some time. She said that there would have to be a set of standards that would determine how this item moves forward or not. Chair Pelissier agreed and said that the County Commissioners need to balance out the requests against how much staff time it would take and the resources available. She said that rather than voting on items that come forward, they could just refer it to the Chair, Vice-Chair, and Manager because if there is a vote, then some people tend to think that something will be an agenda item for sure. Commissioner Foushee said that it would be easier to put this in writing and then review it as a Board. The Board agreed to have something in writing about this process and then the Board would review and approve the process. Frank Clifton said that he could do a quick survey about how other local governments deal with this. Commissioner Hemminger saidthat all petitions should be presented at a public meeting and not just mailed in, etc. It needs to be part of the public process. Chair Pelissier agreed with this.