OCA MULLS ITS OWN DISSOLUTION.

REPORT: OUTREACH, COMMUNICATIONS, AND APPOINTMENT COMMITTEE (OCA) MEETING OF 2/10/20.   

Present:  Evan Ross, Chair,  Alisa Brewer, Darcy Dumont,  George Ryan. Absent: Sara Swartz

Highlights:

• OCA approved the Town Manager’s nomination of Sarah Durr, to fill a vacancy on the Energy and Climate Action Committee (ECAC) and Sara Lawler to fill an opening on the Public Shade Tree Committee (PSTC).
• OCA spent considerable time discussing how they would find candidates to fill two vacancies of the Zoning Board of Appeals. Currently there are no applicants in the pool.
• OCA continued to debate the proposal being formulated by the Government, Organization, and Legislation Committee (GOL) to dissolve OCA and redistribute its duties among other committees.

Appointments  
OCA voted unanimously to recommend that the  full Town Council approve the Town Manager’s nomination of Sarah Durr to fill a vacancy on the ECAC and  Sara Lawler to fill a vacancy of the PSTC.

Town Manager Paul Bockelman commented on the strong pool for ECAC  and his desire to seek other opportunities for those candidates to work in service to the town.  Bockelman declined to respond to Dumont’s query about how many people had applied to serve on the ECAC.

Ross, who along with Dumont, is one of  two Town Councilors on the ECAC, pointed out the need for someone from the agricultural sector to serve on ECAC. Bockelman noted that there were no applicants from that sector and that Durr was chosen primarily for the communication and outreach skills that she would bring to the work.

OCA Restructuring

The committee spent considerable time discussing GOL’s proposal to eliminate OCA and redistribute its duties among other committees. 

GOL Chair George Ryan reported that at their last meeting,  GOL spent a good deal of time talking about what would happen with appointments if OCA is dissolved.  GOL will formulate a final proposal at their next meeting that will include recommendations for how responsibilities for appointments would be handled if OCA is dissolved.

Brewer and Dumont both expressed their frustration with the process by which OCA is being disbanded, noting that GOL has proceeded to formulate its proposal without input from or working with members of  OCA, that it was brought to the full Council previously without OCA input and that now GOL is going to do this again.  Brewer asked “How is it we are proposing to get rid of a committee without talking to that committee?”

Ross reminded Brewer that the proposed dissolution was on the OCA agenda for the meeting of December 20 and that two members of OCA were absent from that meeting. Dumont said that she is not convinced that OCA ought to be dissolved and that it seems to overly complicate things to distribute the appointment functions of OCA across multiple committees. 

Ryan responded that the reorganization effort is not about getting rid of OCA per se but about making the Council work more efficiently, that the full Council will have an opportunity to vote on the proposal, and that this proposal is well within the charge of GOL.

Brewer pointed out that OCA is in the middle of addressing challenges in the appointment process (such as revising the Community Activity Forms) that serve as the written application for appointments to town committees.  She said it makes little sense to hand this work off to other committees that have not been previously involved in the process. She concluded that at the very least, OCA ought to complete that revision before the committee is dissolved.

Ross pointed out that this issue was on the agenda for the December 9 meeting but got bumped – so the absence of a discussion within OCA was not malicious.  He complained that the current criticism of the reorganization process does not move the discussion of the GOL proposal forward or provide them with any helpful input on what ought to be done with OCA’s duties. Ross offered to proceed with a discussion of OCA’s dissolution in order to give Brewer and Dumont a chance to provide input (also noting that written input had been previously solicited from the entire Council).   Ryan objected, saying that committee members had their opportunity to submit feedback in writing and did not (with the exception of Dumont). Ryan noted that GOL is facing serious time constraints and needs to move forward. Ross, then decided as Chair to set aside time to have the discussion at today’s meeting so the process could move forward.

There are two components to the draft proposal

1. OCA will be dissolved and its outreach duties will be handed off to another committee.
2. Appointments will be divided among multiple existing committees and also possibly a new Town Services and Outreach Committee (TSO).

Dumont argued for keeping appointments in one place.  Much of OCA’s work is built on an ongoing relationship with the Town Manager,  the Residents’ Advisory Committee, and the Community Participation Officers – relationships that have been developed over the Council’s first year.  Dumont asked how these relationships would be managed across multiple committees and venues. This would make things much more complicated than they are now, she suggested. 

Brewer said that the reorganization might be something that the Council ought to consider at a later date, but  at this point OCA is not quite ready to step aside. She made 3 points: 1) revisions to the Community Activity Forms need to be completed,  2) current openings need to be filled, and 3) there is ongoing work that will be concluded after July 1 when the Town Manager has completed most of his annual appointments.  Brewer suggested that GOL revisit this in July or August. 

Brewer said she supports splitting the Community Resources Committee (CRC) in two and creating  a TSO but keeping appointments in OCA at least until the end of the administrative year. Ross said he sees no problem with dividing the Town Manager’s  appointments and the Town Council’s appointments among different bodies as they are very different processes but he sees potential problems with splitting Town Council appointments among two different committees. 

Dumont said that one argument for keeping an appointments committee is to avoid overloading existing committees which are already burdened with full agendas. She also wondered about having the committee that is dealing with Planning Department staff day in and out (i.e. the CRC) to also be appointing members of the Planning Board and the Zoning Board of appeals. Perhaps a separate body is called for, she suggested.

Brewer proposed transferring responsibility for all Council committee liaisons to the GOL.  She pointed out that it took OCA a year to come up with a process that they were comfortable with for vetting the Town Manager’s appointments and while she can see moving this to GOL or TSO she does not judge it to be necessary now. 

Both Brewer and Dumont raised the question of the roles of OCA members who will then lose their appointments when OCA is dissolved.  Whether they will serve elsewhere has not been addressed in the draft GOL proposal.

ZBA Vacancy
There has been a vacancy on the ZBA since September 11 and there will be another as of March 13 with Chair Mark Parent’s early departure. The two vacancies could mean that the ZBA at times will not have enough members to form a voting quorum (if, for example, another member is absent).  There are currently no active candidates in the pool. There was considerable discussion and disagreement over how to proceed. 

Ross said he has made a list of everyone who has applied for a position on either the ZBA or the Planning Board since 2018.  He removed those who have already been appointed to other committees or who are no longer interested, and deemed the remainders “insufficient.”   Ryan proposed that OCA ask the Town Manager for input on seeking candidates. Brewer suggested that the Town Manager be asked to send out a notice to everyone who has submitted a CAF to the town in the last two years.  Ryan proposed that OCA authorize Ross to reach out to Bockelman to do more outreach to identify candidates who might be interested in the ZBA and reach out to them and encourage them to submit a CAF.

Dumont objected, noting that this is a Council appointment and that purview over such appointments should not be ceded to the Town Manager – that there is a reason for the established separation of powers and duties.  She suggested that OCA contact folks who have applied in the past not only to the Planning Board and ZBA but other relevant committees like the Design Review Board, the Historical Commission, and the Affordable Housing Trust.  Ross noted that OCA does not have those CAF’s and would need the cooperation of the Town Manager, who has been unwilling to share that information in the past. Ryan said that the Town Manager, along with the Residents’ Advisory Committee and the Community Participation Officers, have the information that OCA needs to fill these positions- so it makes sense to enlist their help in this process.

Brewer reminded OCA that  ZBA has Associate Members who fill in when full members are unable to attend meetings.  She suggested that OCA needs to reach out to the chair of ZBA to determine if Associates are ready to step up into a full appointment.   

OCA voted 3-1 (Dumont dissenting) to authorize Ross to consult with the Town Manager and to seek his assistance in finding candidates to fill the ZBA openings.

Ross also agreed to contact all people who have applied to the Planning Board over the past two years. 

The ZBA vacancies will be taken up again at OCA’s February 24 meeting. 

Items Tabled
A scheduled discussion the importance of consideration of differing viewpoints (held by candidates) in committee appointments that was on the agenda for today’s meeting was tabled indefinitely. It  will not be on the FEB 24 agenda but will be discussed at a future meeting.

For OCA’s full report to the Town Council (2/10/20) click here.