Council Study Session

MINUTES OF THE GILBERT TOWN COUNCIL, IN SPECIAL MEETING FOR A STUDY SESSION, OF TUESDAY, JUNE 20, 2023 AT 5:45 PM, MUNICIPAL BUILDING I, COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 50 E. CIVIC CENTER DRIVE, GILBERT, ARIZONA COUNCIL Mayor Brigette PRESENT: Peterson Mayor Brigette Peterson, Vice Mayor Kathy Tilque, Councilmembers Scott Anderson, Chuck Bongiovanni, Bobbi Buchli, Yung Koprowski (attended virtually), and Jim Torgeson COUNCIL ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Town Attorney Christopher Payne, Town Clerk Chaveli Herrera, and Deputy Town Clerk Judy Martinez CALL TO ORDER OF SPECIAL MEETING Mayor Peterson called the meeting to order at 6:24 p.m. AGENDA ITEM 1. Discussion and direction on the recommendation from the Council Subcommittee on Board and Commission Processes. Deputy Clerk Martinez highlighted the work of the Council Subcommittee on Board and Commission Processes including a review of its history and purpose. She stated the Subcommittee met on May 3, 2023, and reviewed the Town Code regarding boards and commissions, recently adopted changes to the Town Code, the current list of boards and commissions and their terms, and the internal process for applications and interviews. Deputy Clerk Martinez then began reviewing the following considerations and items of discussion by the Subcommittee: 1  Staff liaisons involvement of screening - She said the Subcommittee recommended that the Council liaison(s) assigned to each board or commission reach out to the staff liaison(s) at the time of recruitment to gain knowledge about anything lacking in the current body, any ideal experience or qualifications that would make their public body stronger, and of any important information about the incumbents.  Council participation in the ranking process – She said the Clerk’s Office would offer more training to the Council and an explanation of the ranking system and its importance, if needed. She also noted the applications and other relevant information would soon be shared via SharePoint, rather than in Dropbox, which should make the documents more easily accessible.  Method of ranking – She stated the Subcommittee discussed the current ranking system and if there was a request to research other methods of rankings. The consensus of the Subcommittee was to keep the current method of ranking. They noted it was simple and there were no known issues, that the Typeform ranking form was also preferred, and that the Subcommittee was pleased with the pool of applicants selected for interviews.  Incumbent process to reapply – She stated the Subcommittee discussed whether or not incumbents should have a different process if they chose to apply for reappointment. The consensus of the Subcommittee was to keep the process the same, that all incumbents wishing to be considered for reappointment apply using the same application and process.  One-way video interviews from applicants – She stated the Subcommittee recommended making the one-way video interviews mandatory to all applicants as a step in the application process. The recommendation was that the number of questions be reduced from three questions down to the following one question: “Introduce yourself and tell us about the experience, abilities, and knowledge you will bring to this board, commission, or committee.” The Subcommittee also recommended that the initial recruiting advertisements note the mandatory video interview requirement, that assistance with the video be offered by the Clerk’s Office upon request, that the video interview deadline may be extended if the participation in the video interview portion is low, and that the recruitment should be opened earlier to allow time for possible extensions. 2   Term lengths – She stated that Town Code required that terms be three years in length, unless otherwise provided by law, Ordinance, bylaws, or articles of incorporation. She provided a list of boards that did have three-year terms, then a list of boards and commissions that had terms longer than three years. She stated that all of those with longer terms were because those terms were defined in statute. She said the exception was the Planning Commission, which had four years terms, but she thought it was done to be consistent with the four-year term of the Redevelopment Commission as defined in statute. Lastly, Deputy Clerk Martinez noted the Council had two proposed new policies on the Regular Meeting agenda of June 20, 2023, Policy No. 2023-02 on the Ethics Handbook and Policy No. 2023-03 on the Code of Conduct. She noted that if the Council approved those two policies later that evening, those documents would be included in the board and commission training and provided resources. She asked the Council if they had any questions or concerns about the recommendations of the Subcommittee. There were no questions or further recommendations from the Council. Mayor Peterson stated she believed that the term for the Planning Commission was fine to remain at four years, that it was good to be consistent with the Redevelopment Commission. She voiced appreciation for the changes already implemented by the Clerk’s Office and that the Clerk’s Office had offered assistance to the Councilmembers with the process and to applicants with the video interview. She thanked the Clerk’s Office for their work and said that the recommendations of the Subcommittee could be implemented and carried forward. ADJOURN Mayor Peterson adjourned the meeting at 6.30 p.m. ATTEST: 3 ___________________________ ___________________________________ Brigette Peterson, Mayor Chaveli Herrera, Town Clerk CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Study Session of the Town Council of the Town of Gilbert held on the 20th day of June, 2023. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and held and that a quorum was present. Dated this ____ day of ____________________2023. ___________________________________ Chaveli Herrera, Town Clerk 4