Meeting Date: January 18, 2024
To: Members of the Planning Commission
From: Mikayla Schmidt, City Planner
Title
Planning Commission 2024 Election of Officers.
Body
Action Requested:
The Planning Commission is asked to make a motion to nominate and elect officers for 2024.
Summary:
Officer roles are set by the Bylaws of the Planning Commission (PC) and include a Chair and Vice-Chair. The following commissioners served as officers in 2023:
Chair: Betsey Buckheit
Vice-Chair: Tracey Heisler
Included below is Article IV, Sections A & B of the PC Bylaws, which outline the process for election of officers and their duties.
IV. Officers
(a) Election of officers. Within the first four meetings of the calendar year, or as soon as practical thereafter, voting members of the Commission shall select a Chairperson and a vice-chairperson, each to serve throughout the year and until a successor is chosen.
(b) Duties of officers.
1. Chairperson: The Chairperson, with the assistance of Staff, shall see that members of the Commission are notified in ample time, of the time, place and purpose of any meeting. The Chairperson shall:
• Preside at meetings of the Commission;
• Call special meetings as provided in Chapter 34, Article 4, Section 4.2.1;
• Appoint standing and other committees;
• Arrange meetings with technical advisors and property owners or others who have personal interest in proposed recommendations;
• Communicate with City officials as occasion requires;
• Report pertinent findings; and,
• Give leadership to the Commission.
2. Vice-Chairperson: In the absence of the Chairperson or at the request of the Chairperson, any or all of the duties of the Chairperson shall be performed by the Vice-Chairperson.
3. Secretary: A City Staff member will be assigned to perform the functions of secretary. The secretary shall keep a record of the proceedings of every meeting of the Planning Commission and/or Zoning Board of Appeals.
4. In the event that neither the Chairperson nor the Vice-Chairperson is able to attend a meeting, the Chair shall appoint a member of the Commission to preside at that meeting. Said appointment shall be made by the Chair in writing before the meeting for which the appointment is made. If circumstances prevent such an appointment and if a quorum is present at a meeting at which both the Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson are absent, the longest continuously serving Commission member present shall serve as acting Chair for that meeting.
Election of officers shall occur within the first four meetings of the year or as soon as practical.
Recommendation:
Staff recommend using a formal nomination for the election process. It is recommended to use the following process of taking nominations from the floor (per Roberts Rules of Order):
1. Chair announces that “we will take nominations for the position of Chair from members of the floor for the office of “Chair.”
a. Any member may then call out, for example “I nominate fill in name,” without needing to be recognized by the chair. No seconds are necessary. The chair then announces, “fill in name is nominated.”
b. When it appears that everyone who wishes to has made a nomination, the Chair says, “Are there any further nominations? [Pause.] If not, [pause] nominations are closed.”
c. Individuals who were nominated could choose to remove themselves from consideration of appointment. They should state “I respectfully decline my nomination.”
d. If only one candidate has been nominated for an office, the chair simply declares the nominee elected.
e. If there is more than one candidate a written ballot process will be conducted with the one receiving majority approval. Staff will have paper and pencils available at the meeting for the ballot vote. The election becomes final when the chair announces the result of the candidate is present and does not decline or is absent but has previously consented to serve. Otherwise, it becomes final when an absent candidate is notified and does not immediately decline.
2. Repeat process above for “Vice-Chair” office.
The following is a list of current members with their terms and eligibility for office.
The two youth representatives and Council liaison are non-voting members and ineligible for office.
Alternative Options:
N/A
Financial Options:
N/A
Tentative Timeline:
N/A