Tonight the committee is going to finalize their recommendations and report to the Common Council, here’s what they are recommending! It’s a quick read in list format.
Here’s the agenda. They meet tonight at 7:30 in 103A of the City-County Building.
*DRAFT* SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS – APPENDIX D
- Retain themayor-council form of government.
- Do not pursue first-class city status.
- Review attractive characteristics of first-class city status and consider petitioning the legislature to apply those characteristics to second-class cities.
- Retain current form of mayoral veto power.
- Review the Mayor’s administrative span of power and take steps to ensure that mayors can effectively supervise all direct reports.
- Transition to a full-time Common Council.
- Reduce the size of the Common Council from twenty (20) to ten (10) members.
- Increase Common Council member pay to 80% of the Area Median Income in Dane County for a single parent with two children.
- Maintain geographic aldermanic representation.
- Increase aldermanic terms to four (4) years and, at that time, increase Common Council leadership positions to two (2) years.
- Impose term limits on Common Council members of twelve (12) consecutive years.
- Create an organizational chart of all BCCs and organize BCCs around lead committees.
- Eliminate or combined BCCs that are redundant or no longer necessary.
- Take concrete steps to increase BCC accountability.
- Take steps to ensure that BCC enabling ordinances and resolutions clearly state BCC jurisdiction and purpose.
- Take steps to address discrepancy in BCC levels of authority, staffing, and resources.
- Train BCC members, chairs, and staff on BCC jurisdiction, purpose, and procedures.
- Create an Office of Resident Engagement and Neighborhood Support (“ORENS”) to support BCC system staffing, training, and resident engagement.
- Create an Administrative Services Team to help BCCs develop systems for engaging residents most impacted by city decision making and providing feedback to residents on decisions made.
- Retain Mayoral authority to appoint resident and alder members to BCCs, except that if the City transitions to a full-time Common Council, then the Common County Executive Committee should appoint alder members to BCCs.
- Create clear processes where mayoral nominations for BCC members are reviewed and commented on by the Common Council Executive Committee.
- Retain rule that Common Council members not serve as chairs of BCCs with resident members.
- Simplify city processes and procedures applicable to all BCCs, including time and location of meetings, rules of procedure, and methods for providing input.
- Implement a robust technology plan to improve representation and engagement on BCCs.
- Pursue concreate common sense initiatives to improve resident engagement and participation as detailed in Section F of the Final Report.
DRAFT RECOMMENDATIONS RELATED TO THE COMMON COUNCIL (pages 19 – 24)
- Madison should transition to a full-time Common Council.
- Madison should reduce the size of the Common Council to ten (10) members elected concurrently with the Mayor.
- Madison should increase Common Council member pay to 80% of the area median income for a single parent with two children (approximately $67,000).
- Madison should maintain geographic aldermanic representation.
- Madison should increase aldermanic terms to four (4) years.
- Madison should impose term limits of twelve (12)consecutive years.
- Madison should increase Council leadership terms to two (2) years if the Council terms are increased to four (4) years
- That any structural changes to the Council take place at the election immediately following redistricting.
- That any changes to the size of the Council or the terms of its members be made by charter ordinance subject to binding referendum of the electors.
DRAFT RECOMMENDATIONS RELATED TO BOARDS, COMMITTEES AND COMMISSIONS (pages 25 – 30)
- Create an organizational chart of all BCCs and organize BCCs around lead committees.
- Eliminate or combine BCCs that are redundant or have outlived their purpose.
- Reorganize BCCs to increase accountability.
- Review BCC enabling ordinances and resolutions to ensure clarity of purpose and authority
- Create an Office of Resident Engagement and Neighborhood Support (“ORENS”) to support BCC system staffing, training, and resident engagement.
- Immediately create an Administrative Services Team to support the BCC system and improve resident engagement.
- That the mayor continue appointing residents and alders to the BCCs, but that the process be changed to ensure a robust review of nominations by the Common Council Executive Committee.
- That if the City transitions to a full-time Common Council, alder appointments to the BCCs should be made by the CCEC, subject to confirmation by the full Council
- Common Council members should not serve as chairs of BCCs with resident members.
- That the City review city process and procedures applicable to BCCs so that it is easier for residents to participate in BCCs.
- That the City implement a technology plan to improve representation and engagement on the City’s BCCs.
DRAFT RECOMMENDATIONS RELATED TO THE MAYOR’S OFFICE (pages 31 – 34)
- That Madison should retain the Mayor-Council form of Government.
- That Madison should not pursue First-Class City Status.
- That Madison should not restrict or expand the Mayor’s current veto power.
- That the City review the Mayor’s administrative span of power and take steps to ensure that the Mayor and Deputy Mayors can adequately supervise all direct reports.
DRAFT RECOMMENDATIONS RELATED TO RESIDENT ENGAGEMENT AND PARTICIPATION (pages 34-35)
- Provide childcare at meetings;
- Validate parking for people attending meetings;
- Make Council proclamations before the legislative business begins at 6:30 p.m.;
- Allow video testimony or live electronic participation such as through the internet, from remote centers of the City, or other electronic means;
- Allow public comments to be made and considered prior to a meeting, such as through a system that notifies residents of decisions to be made, asks for their input, and then relays that input to decision makers;
- Separate public testimony from legislative debate and action by allowing individuals to provide input at the beginning of Council meetings regardless of when the item on which they wish to speak is considered;
- Vary meeting locations throughout the City;
- Make written comments available to the public and Council members at the time of the meeting;
- Avoid late-night meetings and reduce overall length of meetings;
- Adhere to and/or change current rules regarding the length of alder statements at Council meetings;Improve accessibility and functionality of Legistar;
- Create a way for people to provide input in Legistar or some other appropriate platform;
- Provide classes for the public to learn how to use Legistar;
- On the city website, allow option for having a chat with a city employee who can direct a resident in the right direction should they have an issue or question about government services;
- Continue working towards having 311 number for city services;
- Maintain subscription lists for Council and BCC items so that residents can be made aware of issues coming before a body through an email blast or text message and report back promptly when a decision has been made;
- Review customer relation software options that may create better processes for residents to navigate city services, such as through ticketing system where issues are ticketed, followed up on my staff, and then the results reported back to the person requesting the service; and
- Add more than just the name of meetings to the city calendar so that more information can be obtained with one (1)click, instead of requiring multiple clicks to get relevant and substantive information about a meeting.
