Council Subcommittee

MINUTES OF THE GILBERT TOWN COUNCIL SUBCOMMITTEE ON BOARD AND COMMISSION PROCESSES, IN SPECIAL MEETING OF MONDAY, MAY 3, 2023, 2023 AT 3:00 P.M., GILBERT MUNICIPAL CENTER I, COMMUNITY ROOM 202, 50 E CIVIC CENTER DRIVE, GILBERT, ARIZONA COUNCIL PRESENT: Subcommittee Chair/ Mayor Brigette Peterson, Vice Mayor Kathy Tilque and Councilmember Jim Torgeson COUNCIL ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Town Clerk Chaveli Herrera, Deputy Town Clerk Judy Martinez and Council Aide Monica D’Ortenzio (attended virtually) AGENDA ITEM CALL TO ORDER Subcommittee Chair/Mayor Peterson called the meeting to order at 3:09 p.m. ROLL CALL Town Clerk Herrera called roll and declared a quorum present. ADMINISTRATIVE ITEMS 1. Overview of current board, commission, and committee Code of Gilbert requirements Deputy Clerk Martinez outlined what constituted a public body as defined in statute. Vice Mayor Tilque stated she had asked Intergovernmental Affairs Director Rob Bohr to 1  work with the League of Arizona Cities and Towns on a potential open meeting law exception to task forces and subcommittees in order to fulfill their duties more efficiently. Councilmember Torgeson spoke in support of the change as an effort to collaborate and work together. Deputy Clerk Martinez continued sharing information on the different make-up of the various boards, including how often they met and which boards also had staff members appointed. She then presented a Town Code Review regarding boards and commissions by sections defined in Chapter 1, General Provisions, Article IV, Boards, Commissions, and Committees. There was discussion on the how the Town Code was available on the Town’s website but that actual Code books were maintained by the Clerk’s Office. Martinez noted that most boards or commissions were defined with Article IV of Chapter 1, but some had their own divisions within. She also noted that the Judicial Selection and Advisory Board was defined in Chapter 22, Court, and the Utilities Board was defined in Chapter 66, Utilities Operations. She outlined how committees were defined within their own division and how they differed from boards and commission regarding creation, membership, terms, and other regulations. 2. Discussion of term lengths Deputy Clerk Martinez provided information on term lengths, noting Town Code stated they should be three years in length, unless otherwise provided by law. She reviewed which boards did have three year terms, then listed which had longer terms and why. She said some of the longer terms were defined in statue, others in the Town’s Zoning Code, and others in the board’s Articles of Incorporation. She referenced A.R.S. § 36-847 (B) which listed four year terms for the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System (PSPRS) Local Pension Boards. She noted that the Redevelopment Commission had four year terms, per A.R.S. § 36-1476. Chair/Mayor Peterson questioned if the Planning Commission also had their term of four years defined in statute. It was noted that the Industrial Development Authority (IDA) had six years per their Articles of Incorporation. 2 Deputy Clerk Martinez said she would research if the IDA terms could be changed, or was it defined in statute, and if there was a statutory reference for Planning Commission terms. 3. Overview of current board, commission, and committee processes for application, screening, and selection Deputy Clerk Martinez reviewed the application process. Chair/Mayor Peterson and Vice Mayor Tilque discussed the change to virtual interviews only during the COVID-19 pandemic, how they added the Spark Hire one-way video interviews in hopes of vetting the applicants more easily, and then when the Council decided to bring the applicants in for in-person interviews again. They discussed the recent low participation in the one-way video interviews. Mayor/Chair Peterson and Vice Mayor Tilque stated they enjoyed the video interviews and found them helpful. Deputy Clerk Martinez noted that Councilmember Buchli also shared that she enjoyed the video interviews. The group discussed the three current interview questions and how most of those who participated in the video interview answered Questions 1 and 2 the same way. They believed the three interview questions could be changed/reduced. Vice Mayor Tilque suggested to make the video interview mandatory but have only one question, with a two-minute limit. The group discussed what the singular question should be. The consensus was to have the one question be similar to: “Introduce yourself and tell us about the experience, abilities, and knowledge you will bring to this board, commission, or committee.” Vice Mayor Tilque stated that the current video interview question about scheduling and time conflicts could be asked to those doing an in-person interview, rather than in the video interview. The application question regarding commitment and scheduling conflicts was: “Are you able to commit the time requirements listed, including monthly meetings and potentially additional activities, meetings, or events?” The question asked in the one-way video interview was: “Please describe any other commitments or obstacles you may face that would prevent you from committing to the requirements of the board, commission, or committee.” 3 Councilmember Torgeson asked for clarification about the comments regarding conflicts. Vice Mayor Tilque explained the question referenced scheduling conflicts and commitment with attendance. Councilmember Torgeson noted concerns with actual conflicts of interest with some of the commissions and discussed perception. Council Aide D’Ortenzio suggested listing an estimate of the time commitment required for each board when the Town was recruiting members. There was discussion on how the Veterans Advisory Board was a bit different than other boards, since they were more of a “working board” in terms of meeting with the public and schools, hosting events, assisting with large Town-wide events, fundraising, and other tasks. The consensus from the Subcommittee members was to continue to use the one-way video interviews but to make them mandatory, not optional, and then to ask only one question in the one-way video interview. There was discussion on incumbents and reminding them that they needed to reapply and go through the proper steps. Vice Mayor Tilque stated she was surprised that some incumbents did not complete the one-way video interviews via Spark Hire. Since the group consensus was to make the one-way video interview mandatory, Deputy Clerk Martinez asked if the Subcommittee had concerns about not having enough applicants to consider from those who did the video portion. Councilmember Torgeson suggested the though the video-interview would be mandatory, the deadline could be extended if not enough applicants participated initially. It was noted that it would require the Clerk’s Office to open the applications earlier to allow for an extension if needed. It was also suggested that the notice soliciting applicants should state that they would be required to do a one-way video interview and that the incumbents were also notified ahead of time that the video interview was required for them as well. Deputy Clerk Martinez recommended having a designated laptop at Town Hall and Clerk’s Office staff available to assist applicants with using the Spark Hire system if needed. 4 The consensus of the Subcommittee was to offer that resource for Spark Hire. It was also noted the applicant should have unlimited takes available through the system but only be required to answer one question. Deputy Clerk Martinez asked for feedback on the ranking system that was being used via Typeform. The consensus was that the process was easy to use and preferred. The Subcommittee discussed the ranking process and if the Council Liaison had the final say. Chair/Mayor Peterson discussed how the rankings were used to determine which applicants got an in-person interview and how every ranking mattered. Vice Mayor Tilque stated the ranking did allow for efficiency throughout the process. Deputy Clerk Martinez offered to research other ways of ranking if requested. Councilmember Torgeson discussed perceptions with the current ranking system and how it could be manipulated, but said it was not a broken system, or was not broken enough to change. Chair/Mayor Peterson and Vice Mayor Tilque stated the current ranking system worked pretty well and there had not appeared to be abuse or manipulation of the system since they had been on the Council. There was discussion on ways to improve processes in general; Deputy Clerk Martinez stated she could help to educate the Council on how the rankings worked and why they mattered. Deputy Clerk Martinez discussed the current in-person interview process; there were no concerns or suggested changes noted. Chair/Mayor Peterson discussed how they typically had no concerns with the quality of candidates. Vice Mayor Tilque spoke in support of the quality of the applicants as well, adding that the Council was not aware of which applicants were selected for interviews until the agenda was published. 4. Discussion of challenges and considerations with board, commissions, and committees 5 Deputy Clerk Martinez reviewed some of the known challenges and considerations. Some of the challenges were already discussed under Item 3, including the low participation in the video interviews which would be proposed to the Council to make mandatory. They discussed low participation of Councilmembers completing the rankings; Deputy Clerk Martinez stated she could reach out to them to make sure they understood the process and answer questions. There was no recommendation to reduce rankings and recommendations to a Subcommittee of the Council. The group discussed the challenge of how staff liaisons did not have much participation in the process. Town Clerk Herrera asked if the staff liaisons needed to have a more active role since they knew their boards best. There was discussion on the Council liaisons initiating efforts to meet with the staff liaisons to understand what was needed for that particular board or committee. Town Clerk Herrera asked about adding any steps to the front end of the process. Vice Mayor Tilque discussed asking the staff liaisons to add a biography or makeup of the board to help understand the need of the board, suggesting that would be provided at the beginning of the recruitment but not make it mandatory. Councilmember Torgeson suggested having the Council Liaison reach out to staff instead, more informally, to understand the need, and for the Clerk’s Office to provide contact information on the staff liaison. Deputy Clerk Martinez asked if it would be helpful to provide the applications to the Council sooner, while the applicants were completing the video interviews to allow more review time. The consensus was to provide the applications to the Council at the same time as the video interview links; otherwise, it would seem like the Councilmembers had to review twice. There was discussion on how Gilbert did the interviews in executive session and how that was a benefit to both the Council and the applicants. Vice Mayor Tilque stated that the board or commission’s liaison asked one question and then opened it up for the other Councilmembers to ask the applicant additional questions. 6  Deputy Clerk Martinez noted that an incumbent expressed that there should be a different process for incumbents to apply for reappointment, or not have to reapply at all. It was noted that per Town Code, those wishing to be considered must apply. The consensus was to keep the same application process for incumbents as for all other applicants, and to note the Code of Gilbert reference on their notices. The Subcommittee had no other challenges or concerns they wished to discuss. 5. Review and discussion of purpose and goals of Subcommittee: a) Define scope of work b) Identify key processes for review and improvement c) Next steps and potential future meetings Chair/Mayor Peterson said she felt they covered all topics and believed only the one meeting would be needed for this Subcommittee. She stated the information should be compiled by the Clerk’s Office for the Subcommittee to review, then it should go before the entire Council in a Study Session. Deputy Clerk Martinez asked about a timeline; it was agreed upon that June 20, 2023 should be the Study Session date. The Clerk’s Office would schedule the Study Session for June 20, 2023 and compile the information for review of the Subcommittee and future dissemination to the Council. ADJOURN Chair/Mayor Peterson adjourned the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. ATTEST: ___________________________ ___________________________________ Brigette Peterson, Chair Chaveli Herrera, Town Clerk CERTIFICATION 7 I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the special meeting of the Subcommittee on Communications of the Town of Gilbert held on the 3rd day of May, 2023. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and held and that a quorum was present. Dated this ____ day of ____________________2023. ___________________________________ Judy Martinez, Deputy Town Clerk 8