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Good morning, everyone. To keep everybody on schedule, we're going to go ahead and get started.

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I'd like to introduce our mayor, Pete Kane. He has a few words for you this morning.

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Thank you, Kerry. Yes, very few words. If you see me make a speech, you know why it's not something I do.

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So I did want to come up, though, and first of all, I'd like to welcome all of our council members here today.

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Kevin Toten is here. Thank you Kevin.

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Seriously this, this what you're doing

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serving in these boards and commissions, this is one of the most important things

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you can do in a city. I know a lot of nonsense has talked and a lot of noise

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is made about the council, the mayor and all that, but you groups are what

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make the city function and run. You help us find out what we need to know.

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You show us the direction that you want to go and you're a good

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representation of the city of Annas. So I'm really thankful that you're willing to

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take time out of your schedules. I mean it's Saturday morning, right? I know

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there's things that you could be doing but you're up here and you're gonna be

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spending time with some really engaging information. I know when Clark gets up

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here, y'all get ready. It's a roller coaster ride, okay? So but again, thank

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you all for being here. We really, really appreciate you going forward. If

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there's a question that you have or something that you need that maybe your

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liaison can't help you with or staff, reach out to me. I probably won't

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be able to help you either, but I can help you find somebody that will.

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All right, so I'm going to leave here. I'm going to coffee with cops. Thank you again for being here.

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You guys have a great day.

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Computers froze up just a minute here.

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It froze up on my side.

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Okay.

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Today we're just going to talk about some priorities and updates from our city manager.

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We'll hear about the Commission's 101 Civic Clerk Overview, legal information, and we'll

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wrap up and have Commission conversations will break out into groups that meet with

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your liaisons.

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And next, I'd like to introduce you to our city manager, Ryan Henderson.

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Good morning, everybody.

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My name is Ryan Henderson.

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I have the privilege and pleasure to serve as a city manager for the city of Anna.

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Many of you have already met through Neighbor Academy, so thank you for taking the next

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step in your journey as a committed volunteer neighbor in this city to join a Boarding Commission.

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So I just want to run through a couple of slides, and some of this, if you have gone

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through Neighbor Academy, you will be somewhat familiar, it will just kind of be an organizational

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breakdown who we are and who represents you on staff.

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So a couple of years ago, this city council came up with a vision for this city, and that vision still holds today.

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It's the vision of the city of Anna being a vibrant, economically thriving community with a diversity of quality,

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transportation options, housing inventory, and destination attractions.

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Our world-class facilities, services, and infrastructure will attract residents, businesses, and visitors,

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and drive our financial stability and sustainability.

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I'm going to come back to this in a second because though this is the vision of the City

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Council, you all play a role in this as well as Board and Commission members.

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As you can see, this is a graphic.

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You'll see this throughout our city.

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You'll see these embedded, these key qualities as part of our vision for ANA, embedded through

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this organization, embedded through what we do as an organization, and this is just

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a reminder, a graphic reminder of our vision and all the vision, all the elements

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of the vision that we ask as you board and commission members to think about as you serve

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as you serve in your new role.

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Mayor Kane had the started kick this off and he introduced

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Council Member Kevin Toten. We have a seven member body as representing the City of Anna

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on the elected side. Mayor Pete Kane, Council Member Kevin Toten, Mayor Pro Tem Stan Carver,

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Council Member Jody Bills, Council Member Kelly Patterson-Herndon, Deputy Mayor Protome,

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Elden Baker, and Council Member Lee Miller.

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So these are your elected officials that serve as Council Members for the City of Anna.

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A couple of these individuals also serve as a Council Liaison to the Board and Commission.

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So what you'll find as serving on a Board and Commission, you have your staff liaison.

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We'll introduce the staff in a second.

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But you also have Council Liaisons.

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And the idea is that certain council members will come to your Board and Commission.

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They won't necessarily engage with the Board and Commission, but they'll be there to listen.

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They'll be there to answer any questions that you may have of the council, of the council's vision.

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Is the Board and Commission achieving what the council wants them to achieve, right?

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Or having the conversations and discussions that they want you to have.

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So we ask that you engage with your respective council member that serves as a Board and Commission liaison.

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And when you break off with your groups, they'll tell you who your council liaison member is

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and welcome you to have a relationship with them and kind of converse back and forth as to,

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if you feel that your board and your role in the board is meeting the needs of the council.

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So this is an organizational chart, and again, if you've done Neighbor Academy, this may

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be very familiar to you, but myself, city attorney, Clark McCoy, city secretary, Cary

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Land, and municipal court judge, Paul Liston, all have the pleasure of serving for the

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city council. We are appointed by the city council, and we serve the city council.

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The rest of this staff in this organization effectively reports up to me. So I'm in

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charge of the rest of the organization, the staff, but city attorney, city secretary,

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court judge, city manager all report directly to the mayor and the city council.

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So as you can see, this is just the breakup of the organization.

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We have two assistant city managers, Taylor Law, who is also a liaison to a board.

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And then assistant city manager Greg Peters, who if you are serving on the Plaining

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in Zoning Commission and the Parks Advisory Board, you'll get to meet Greg as he attends

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both those because Neighborhood Services, which is essentially our Parks Department

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report to Greg and the Department of Development Services, Planning Department report to Greg

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too.

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So you'll interact with him at those meetings as well.

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But essentially the, kind of put it in simple terms, our Assistant City Managers one

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oversees the internal services, the internal departments and one oversees the operational

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department, and then the budget manager, fire chief, police chief, and economic development

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director report directly to me. But this is the organizational chart. Again, you know,

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their positions and names, but hopefully over time you get to know them, you get to meet

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them, you get to develop a relationship with them, and certainly if they're your

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border commission staff liaison. So with that, we'll jump right into our staff

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liaisons for boarding commissions, and I'll ask our staff if you can just stand

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up or raise your hand. So we'll start with Planning and Zoning Commission. Development

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Services Director Stephanie Scott-Sams is in the back. That's Stephanie. And Planning

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Manager Lauren Mecky. So these are your two, these will be your two main contacts if you're

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serving on the Planning and Zoning Commission. They'll be the ones that will put together

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the agenda. They'll be the ones that present items. Again, you may see Greg Peters

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at some of these meetings, especially when it comes to infrastructure and engineering

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elements. But these are your main folks for Planning and Zoning Commission. And

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And then for Board of Adjustment, we have Nader Jerry. He's our building official. He

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works in under Stephanie Scott Sims and Development Services. Board of Adjustment meet very infrequently.

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But Nader will be the point of contact as variances come up or appeals for variances

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to our ordinances and building codes. Okay. Economic Development Corporation, Community

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Development Corporation. So Bernie Parker is our Economic Development Director. And

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Natasha Roach, our Economic Development Assistant Director, and Selena Tittle, our Economic

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Development Manager.

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So these are going to be your point of context if you serve on the EDC CDC board and get

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to know them, and again questions, concerns, comments, anything, go to them as staff liaisons

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to the boards.

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Okay, Neighbor Engagement Inclusion Advisory Commission, formerly known as our Diversity

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in Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Commission.

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Taylor Law, our Assistant City Manager,

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is the staff liaison to that board.

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Right now, she's just working solo as a solo liaison,

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but we'll have some staff,

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we'll introduce some staff to assist her on that board.

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And then Parks and Recreation Advisory Board,

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Mr. Mark Marchand, he's our Director

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of Neighborhood Services sitting in the back,

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and not here today, but you'll see him as well

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as Jeff Reath, he's our Assistant Director

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of Neighborhood Services.

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So you'll see both of those individuals work with both of those individuals if you're on

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our Parks and Recreation Advisory Board.

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We have a lot of great information online and I encourage all of you, if you have not

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been online on our website, to take a look at our website and take a look at some key

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documents that we have out there.

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Many of you know Kim Wynarski as she's the lead neighbor academy.

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She's probably actually one of the first staff members you interacted with as you

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came into being involved in the city.

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She puts together, helps put together monthly reports that come out of the city manager's

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office.

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They're all housed online.

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They're wonderful documents, easy to flip through, you electronically flip through, but it gives

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a really good detailed account of what we are doing organizationally in this city every

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single month.

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We've got key data, we've got key resources, key information as to how our departments

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are progressing, who are hiring, all of that.

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And it's just a really good, don't need to go back and look at all the ones

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over the past 12 months, but maybe take a look at the ones over the past couple of months

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just to get a really good sense and a feel for what we're doing as an organization, as

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a city. And it is a lot of information. There's a lot of great information in there. We are

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very, very busy. And so it's hard to capture all of that, but Kim does a great job. And

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we're happy to be able to share that with our community.

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Also we have some previous community survey results. We'll be doing a new survey in

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in the next year, but we'll have some past survey results that we've done over the past

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two, three years. It's just a good way of kind of getting a sense for what this community

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is desirous of, what this community wants. Some of that stuff we've gone out and we've

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done. Some of that stuff we're still working towards. But it's just a good, getting a

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good sense of, okay, what is this community that now I serve as a Board and Commission

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member? What does this community want? What are they seeking? And how can my

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Boarding Commission, maybe help with that.

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And then we just have some plans on our website, our comprehensive plan, our parks master

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plan.

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You'll be familiar, you'll get familiar with those, serving as a Boarding Commission member.

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Our downtown master plan, if you're on our EDCCDC board, those are documents that we've

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worked with a consultant and our council and our staff over the past three, four

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or five years.

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Documents that still hold up today, they're online and it's a great way of familiarizing

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yourself.

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Okay, what what are the plans as we move forward? What are the some of the things that we're looking to achieve in the coming years?

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And then just some other documents on there could be some maybe dry reading, but but nonetheless important our city charter

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It's our city constitution. It talks about, you know, how we were incorporated what we what we uphold the laws that we hold

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ourselves to as an organization and as a city. Code of ordinances, those are rules and regulations

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that govern our city resolutions. Documents that have been approved by city council, agreements

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that have been approved by city council. Board bylaws, so how to act as a board, what is expected

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of you as a board member? Code of conduct. And then our governance guide. It's a guide that

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was put together by this city council about five years ago that just talked about, again,

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code of conduct, what we are expecting of elected officials, how elected officials are

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to interact with one another up at the dais, how Boarding Commission members, too, are

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to interact with one another up at the dais, kind of creating this collegiality and being

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cordial, right, being pleasant as Boarding Commission members, even when we're engaging

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on some maybe tough topics.

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And then these are our Boarding Commission.

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You know which Boarding Commission you serve on, but here are the other ones

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as we kind of ran through.

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They all serve a vital role.

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These are our Boarding Commissions today.

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They may increase in number in future years, but these are our Boarding Commissions today.

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And so again, thank you for serving in one of your capacities.

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Just also too, from time to time, we have kind of not necessarily a Boarding Commission,

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but we have other groups that get formed.

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We have City Task Force that work together that are put together sometimes to deal

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with a specific issue that doesn't necessarily need to go to a boarding commission. We have

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public workshops. I'll tell you right now, we actually have a joint task force that's

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working on an updated comprehensive plan. So if you're serving on our planning and

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zoning commission, you're going to be working with our city council on updating our comp

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plan. Very substantial. It's important. But that was a task force that was created

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to link our planning and zoning commission with our city council to work on, okay,

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how are we going to make changes to make our comprehensive plan more user-friendly, more

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developer-friendly, more community-friendly as we move forward in kind of clearing up

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some of the abstractions.

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Strategic projects and initiatives, again, we have our documents online, I encourage you

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to look at that, but I just want to emphasize that all of you really, as you've taken

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on this role as a Board and Commission member, are going to be a key member in those strategic

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projects and initiatives.

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They're linked together everything comes together. You know, I always I think of this as just we are one organizational team

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The staff our teammates with the city council board and commission members our teammates with the staff and with the city council

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I want you to think of that as as you're serving on this role that we're all here to

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represent our community

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Represent our neighbors and to help achieve those projects and initiatives that have been set out

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And before I kind of turn it over to Kerry Land and Clark McCoy to go over further information,

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I've been with the city for six years, not a huge time, not a long time, but long enough

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to have seen boards and commissions interact and to see what success looks like for a

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boarded commission. And I offer just two points of advice or two tips. As a boarded commission

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member, I encourage you not only just to be engaged and to show up to the meetings,

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But I encourage you to develop a relationship with the City Council.

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They're the ones that appointed you.

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They're the ones that interviewed you,

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that thought that you were going to bring something

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and you can bring something to our community

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by serving on a Board and Commission.

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So I just encourage you to have a relationship with the City Council.

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And have a relationship with your City Council liaison to your Board.

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Follow up with them.

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Ask them,

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Hey, is this board, am I as board member, is this board,

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are we doing what the city council wants?

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Are we on the right path?

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Are we aligned with the city council?

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Have those relationships.

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I think too often we take that for granted

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that our city council is here for you

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and they appointed you.

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You kind of almost work for them.

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You and I have something in common.

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We work for the city council.

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We're appointed by the city council.

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So have a relationship with them.

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Check in with them.

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And also develop a relationship with the staff liaison to your board.

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You know, we're here to help you, to help you meet the needs of this city council

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as you serve on a board of commission.

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But develop a relationship with our staff.

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They're the professionals.

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They've done this either in this organization or in another organization.

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As you get to know them, you'll see that they have a wealth of knowledge.

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Ask them questions.

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If you don't understand something, that's okay.

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Ask them.

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Ask our staff.

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I ask our staff all the time questions, right?

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because they have the institutional knowledge,

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they have the experience.

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So feel comfortable reaching out to them,

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emailing them, calling them,

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asking them questions about hey,

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how is this agenda put together and all of that.

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So just beyond just going to the meetings,

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be engaged with the staff liaisons

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and the council liaisons.

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And the other thing that I would just encourage you

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to think about is that nothing is too small.

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Nothing that you take on is too small.

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One of my favorite Chinese proverbs is that we plant the seeds of trees today so that the future generations can see comfort underneath the shade of its branches.

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Think about that as you do your role on a board of commission.

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Go to the meetings and you may say, well, this is a small item or this is a simple item.

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This doesn't necessarily elicit a lot of conversation or elicit a lot of thought, but it does because over time those little seeds that you guys plant as board of commissions will be trees one day.

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There'll be an impact in this community.

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When you walk in, you see our emblem, and you see 1913.

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That's when we were incorporated as a city.

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111 years ago.

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In those 111 years, somebody like you,

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somebody like me, somebody like our staff,

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did some, came into this organization,

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came into this community, and did something small.

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But that small, that little seed that they planted,

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has become big, right?

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Park's board thought that there should be a park

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up there, and call it Slater Creek Park.

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We'll look at what Slater Creek Park is today as an example, or the home that you live in,

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the land that you live on, had to be re-zoned at one point, while our Planning and Zoning

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Commission in the past did that, right?

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So just think about that.

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Think about those, even if you think that they're small, they're big, and they'll

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make an impact in the future, so take it seriously, your role, take the meeting

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seriously, show up and participate, and more important than anything, have fun.

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This is meant to also be fun.

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It's a commitment.

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It's an important commitment, but we want you to have fun, we want you to engage, and

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we want you to feel like you are helping build out this community.

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So, with that, I am also going to join our mayor, coffee with cops, but thank you very

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much for this time and have fun.

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Give

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me just a second, I'm still trying to figure out why this isn't working for me.

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Okay.

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Today we're going to talk about, we're going to define the boards and commissions,

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your roles and responsibilities, parliamentary procedures, training resources, and code of conduct and ethics.

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So we'll try to keep this as exciting as we can, but we'll keep it going here.

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Yes, ma'am. Is it not working? What is going on?

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It's going now. It was froze up.

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Okay,

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I think we're back on track.

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Boards are defined as a group of individuals appointed to help the mayor and council make

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sound decisions in the city.

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Boards help the city council gain a comprehensive understanding of community stakes and impacts.

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So your role is very important, as Ryan said.

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Advisory boards make recommendations to council and include the P&Z, Parks, Advisory,

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and the new board, any and I, which used to be diversity and inclusion.

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Sovereign boards have authority to make decisions and include boards of adjustments and the EDC-CDC.

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You are considered a city official.

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We'll treat you as such.

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The public will treat you as such.

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Before you begin to serve on your board and commission, you must complete the oath of office,

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agree to comply with the Code of Ethics and agree to complete all required training within 90 days,

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which will be March 14, 2025. If you've already completed that training, you do not have to do it again.

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The training includes the Texas Open Meetings Act, and those certificates should be completed

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completed and sent back to me within that date of March 14th.

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00:22:36,180 --> 00:22:42,900
You must attend 75 percent of regularly scheduled meetings during the 12-month period or forfeiture

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position and you must live inside the city limits at all times and you must comply with

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the Code of Ethics.

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Required training includes the Texas Open Meetings Act and Public Information Act.

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The TOMA is a state law and must be followed by all boards and commissions.

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The law includes all meetings, must be open to the public,

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agendas posted 72 hours prior to meeting, and a quorum must be present.

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00:23:13,350 --> 00:23:16,090
That's four members of a seven-member board is a quorum.

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Board member duties,

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00:23:23,290 --> 00:23:24,850
I'm sorry, Public Information Act.

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00:23:24,850 --> 00:23:31,970
The Public Information Act or PIA allows public inspection or copies of government documents.

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As a city official, you may be a temporary custodian of public records and responsible to maintain the records.

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This applies to emails, text messages, and other information on your personal devices.

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A good solution is to send any city-related items from your personal account to the city secretary's office.

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And Clark will go over this more in detail.

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Board member duties, you have a duty to display a level of decorum, as expected from all city officials.

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Board member duties include being part of the team, being prepared before the meeting, attend the meetings and participate.

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The liaison duties, staff liaisons will post the agenda in packets and monitors attendance.

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They do much more, but that's kind of what we've got outlined.

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Council liaison encouraged the boards to remain with the city mission.

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The relationship with staff, you are a representative of the city council and your relationship

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with city staff should be a team effort working collaboratively.

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Staff may not be directed to perform work that has not been authorized by council

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and everyone is to be professional, courteous, and listen to each other.

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00:25:00,890 --> 00:25:06,170
Parliamentary procedures is the accepted rules for meetings.

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It allows orderly deliberation, and it allows the governing body to arrive to the majority's desired action.

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You can review the parliamentary procedures in the detailed handbook you've been provided

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or online under the Boards and Commissions training page.

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When making motions, oh, I'm sorry, decorum,

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the council chairperson has discussions, keeps discussions

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focused. Only one member may speak at a time and

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must do so at a volume that can be heard by other members and attendees

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of the meeting when using a microphone speak directly into

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the microphone. There shall be no side discussion

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motion or debate during the meeting and

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all members shall observe a business casual dress

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code.

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Now making motions.

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The main motion is to clearly state the desired action of the board member.

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An example is board member states, I move to approved and I table or take no action.

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A second by another board member to the motion is required.

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Motion to table must set a definite date for reconsideration.

353
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Motion to take no action. A majority vote is required.

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Electing board officers is done annually.

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All boards elect a chair, a vice chair, and a secretary.

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Please be sure to review that parliamentary procedure for the roles of each officer.

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00:27:02,180 --> 00:27:05,920
They are defined before you volunteer or before you make your appointments.

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00:27:11,060 --> 00:27:17,960
Meeting minutes are required for all meetings and are to give the subject of each item and the vote.

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They are not to be a transcript of every word.

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They must give subject of agenda, item, decision, or other action taken.

361
00:27:30,500 --> 00:27:35,060
Approved and signed minutes are sent to City Council for review monthly.

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Notice of quorum announcements.

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00:27:42,270 --> 00:27:47,090
A notice of quorum announcement is used for celebratory events and ribbon-cutting

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when a quorum of the Board may be present.

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00:27:50,190 --> 00:27:52,910
Remember, events must be open to the public.

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If this is not possible, a quorum must not be present.

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Any events you are aware of send that information to the city secretary's office as quickly as you possibly can,

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but absolutely no later than 72 hours prior to the meeting or the event.

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A few other things to know.

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An individual member may not act in an official capacity except through action of the board majority.

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A board may not create a joint committee with another board unless directed by a city

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council in a formal action.

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Boards may adopt special rules and procedure as needed.

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Those rules may not be secret and must be available to the public.

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Different perspectives.

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Board commission members are passionate and typically considered experts in their fields.

377
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Remember to consider other points of view and don't immediately dismiss suggestions

378
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and never confuse your personal agenda with that that is best for the whole city.

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00:29:04,830 --> 00:29:09,650
Additional resources and training materials you'll find on our city website

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under boards and commissions resources.

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00:29:13,630 --> 00:29:21,390
Some items will be the guide for members of ANAS Board and Commission's strategic plans,

382
00:29:21,590 --> 00:29:30,070
city success statement, the parliamentary procedures, conflicts resolution, and the city code of ordinances.

383
00:29:35,750 --> 00:29:41,570
General website resources, you can find your agendas and minutes on our city website,

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00:29:41,570 --> 00:29:49,250
budget, charter, land use maps, capital improvement programs, economic development,

385
00:29:50,250 --> 00:29:56,570
parks capital improvement plan. All this information is there for you. If you

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cannot locate it, contact your staff liaison. They'll help you get there.

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And

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again, here's your contact information for your staff liaison.

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If they're not on there,

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you'll meet them and they'll give you their information.

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00:30:17,590 --> 00:30:19,650
Code of conduct and ethical standards.

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Here's some high points. We want to be a transparent and impartial government. Decision making free

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00:30:26,550 --> 00:30:32,410
from gifts, bribes, or intimidation. Public confidence in the use of government resources.

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00:30:33,030 --> 00:30:35,970
public faith in the fair administration of their city.

395
00:30:36,710 --> 00:30:44,930
And give attorney Clark McCoy, I will, I'm sorry, city attorney Clark McCoy will review this code of conduct and ethical standards in detail.

396
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Any questions so far?

397
00:30:52,260 --> 00:30:52,540
Okay.

398
00:30:55,810 --> 00:30:59,330
We're going to talk about Civic Clerk, you're going to hear Civic Clerk a lot.

399
00:30:59,490 --> 00:31:01,330
It is our gender management software.

400
00:31:01,990 --> 00:31:05,390
You will each use the software for voting.

401
00:31:05,390 --> 00:31:10,670
We'll do what's called a live vote at the meetings from here on out and we're

402
00:31:10,670 --> 00:31:17,910
going to start that in January. I am going to send you an email on Monday to

403
00:31:17,910 --> 00:31:24,690
set up your password in Civic Clerk and it does time out so if your email times

404
00:31:24,690 --> 00:31:29,450
out just shoot me another email and I'll resend it to you but you will

405
00:31:29,450 --> 00:31:34,390
need to go in set up a password and try logging in make sure everything

406
00:31:37,720 --> 00:31:45,560
This is the link to get to the boards portal where you will see the meeting agendas, packets, and minutes.

407
00:31:49,890 --> 00:31:53,030
You will go in and you will click Agenda Review.

408
00:31:54,390 --> 00:31:58,830
You can select your meetings and view the agenda and business packet.

409
00:31:59,130 --> 00:32:06,170
You're also able to make notes in the software that can only be seen by you, so they are confidential.

410
00:32:10,790 --> 00:32:14,770
And the biggest help I can give you is the Help Center.

411
00:32:15,730 --> 00:32:18,230
This is for training videos and information,

412
00:32:19,230 --> 00:32:23,370
and you can visit that at any time in the top right drop-down menu.

413
00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:30,340
Joining the meeting and roll call.

414
00:32:30,720 --> 00:32:33,560
To join the current meeting, you will select joint meeting,

415
00:32:33,820 --> 00:32:37,600
join meeting and present voting, present voting,

416
00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:40,340
and be sure you select save.

417
00:32:40,980 --> 00:32:42,900
Sometimes we forget to select save,

418
00:32:42,900 --> 00:32:44,620
and you're not actually joined.

419
00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:51,280
Voting, once voting is initialized,

420
00:32:51,580 --> 00:32:54,700
you will select yes or no and save.

421
00:32:55,480 --> 00:32:57,900
Your vote will be visible on the overhead screen

422
00:32:57,900 --> 00:33:00,840
once all votes have been cast.

423
00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:03,880
Signing in and voting is as easy as that.

424
00:33:04,920 --> 00:33:06,420
Any questions on that?

425
00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:11,340
We will make it even easier.

426
00:33:11,500 --> 00:33:13,400
We're going to have cheat sheets available for you

427
00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:14,180
up here at the Dias,

428
00:33:14,660 --> 00:33:17,040
so you can reference that

429
00:33:17,040 --> 00:33:19,760
and not have to memorize it right this minute.

430
00:33:25,160 --> 00:33:27,200
Any questions on anything right now?

431
00:33:28,640 --> 00:33:29,920
Okay, yes ma'am.

432
00:33:32,030 --> 00:33:34,530
Yes, the last page in your blue binder.

433
00:33:35,410 --> 00:33:36,810
Not everybody got a folder.

434
00:33:36,990 --> 00:33:39,310
That folder is for the newly appointed,

435
00:33:40,050 --> 00:33:42,970
but we will have the sheets laminated

436
00:33:42,970 --> 00:33:47,630
and nice and pretty at the board, at the diast.

437
00:33:54,070 --> 00:33:55,030
Yes, you will.

438
00:33:59,170 --> 00:33:59,850
That's correct.

439
00:34:01,010 --> 00:34:03,990
And you have to have your password to join the meeting.

440
00:34:05,830 --> 00:34:09,270
So however you can remember it, select something you can remember.

441
00:34:10,010 --> 00:34:11,870
Or you won't be able to vote at the meeting.

442
00:34:13,350 --> 00:34:16,730
And we'll massage through any issues we have going forward.

443
00:34:23,390 --> 00:34:25,930
Okay, we're going to take a quick 10 minute break.

444
00:34:26,190 --> 00:34:27,490
Let y'all get up, stretch your legs.

445
00:34:28,590 --> 00:34:30,130
Restrooms are down the hall here.

446
00:34:30,770 --> 00:34:34,530
We have refreshments that Kim has wonderfully went and picked up for everybody.

447
00:34:37,010 --> 00:34:39,490
and you can kind of mingle and get to meet people,

448
00:34:39,970 --> 00:34:43,850
and then later on we will separate out into the different boards and commissions

449
00:34:43,850 --> 00:34:49,270
and go to separate rooms so that you can meet your liaisons and get to know each other.

450
00:34:50,290 --> 00:34:51,890
Thank you. We'll be back in 10 minutes.

451
00:35:02,900 --> 00:35:08,120
It started. We're going to get back going, so we keep everybody on time.

452
00:35:08,320 --> 00:35:11,800
I know there's the Christmas Parade tonight to get us going.

453
00:35:19,280 --> 00:35:22,300
I'd like to introduce our city attorney, Clark McCoy.

454
00:35:22,820 --> 00:35:30,900
He's going to go over and give you the legal advisory and go into detail and ethics and conflicts of interest.

455
00:35:56,330 --> 00:35:56,870
Good morning.

456
00:36:00,450 --> 00:36:05,550
I'm Clark McCoy, and I'm the city attorney, and this is the legal advisory.

457
00:36:07,970 --> 00:36:13,690
First, congratulations to everyone on your appointments, and thank you for your service to the city of Anna.

458
00:36:13,690 --> 00:36:14,530
I'm

459
00:36:19,170 --> 00:36:24,250
just going to start off with a discussion about the general structure, the legal structure

460
00:36:24,250 --> 00:36:24,890
of the city.

461
00:36:26,530 --> 00:36:28,490
The city has a home rule charter.

462
00:36:29,230 --> 00:36:32,770
Like most cities in Texas, there are over 5,000 in population.

463
00:36:33,930 --> 00:36:40,030
The voters adopted a charter that essentially acts like a constitution.

464
00:36:40,670 --> 00:36:46,630
It's the legal framework for how the city operates, how things get done, how business

465
00:36:46,630 --> 00:36:54,690
is conducted. There's a lot of rules. It's detailed and there's some prohibitions. We're

466
00:36:54,690 --> 00:37:00,170
going to be going over some of those today in this presentation. The Charter has got

467
00:37:00,170 --> 00:37:09,430
the full effect of law, just like a city ordinance. The big difference is the council

468
00:37:09,430 --> 00:37:16,070
council adopts ordinances. But the charter is adopted by the voters. The council does

469
00:37:16,070 --> 00:37:22,710
some work along with staff putting together charter provisions. There's outreach to the

470
00:37:22,710 --> 00:37:27,790
community. There's a charter commission of the community that gets appointed to go over

471
00:37:27,790 --> 00:37:33,910
the charter every few years and make suggestions for changes. But none of those changes

472
00:37:33,910 --> 00:37:39,930
ever get adopted unless there's an election and all of the city's voters

473
00:37:39,930 --> 00:37:45,670
get an opportunity to accept or reject those changes.

474
00:37:51,480 --> 00:37:53,140
Anna has what's called the

475
00:37:53,140 --> 00:38:00,480
council manager form of government, composed of city manager Ryan Henderson

476
00:38:00,480 --> 00:38:09,760
who spoke earlier and the city council. The council adopts policies through

477
00:38:09,760 --> 00:38:16,440
ordinances, resolutions, and other actions that they take up here on the Dias.

478
00:38:18,060 --> 00:38:24,300
The City Manager executes those policies, and there's a chain of command.

479
00:38:25,700 --> 00:38:37,280
Council members form the overarching direction, goals, policies of the City of Anna, and

480
00:38:37,280 --> 00:38:41,900
And staff, under the city manager, executes those policies,

481
00:38:44,110 --> 00:38:45,610
and there's a clear division

482
00:38:45,610 --> 00:38:45,970
there.

483
00:38:47,050 --> 00:38:56,870
So the city manager, Henderson, does not have the authority to adopt the city's policies,

484
00:38:57,690 --> 00:39:03,490
and the council really doesn't have the authority to execute those policies.

485
00:39:04,230 --> 00:39:13,730
keep that division, counsel, adoption policies, but they don't reach down into the departments.

486
00:39:14,550 --> 00:39:18,730
The city has departments that are staffed by employees and there's a chain of command.

487
00:39:19,410 --> 00:39:25,830
And that chain of command goes up through workers, to managers, supervisors, department heads,

488
00:39:26,330 --> 00:39:29,590
and ultimately the city manager who makes employment decisions

489
00:39:30,710 --> 00:39:36,990
And other decisions that have to do with executing city policy and day-to-day operations of the city.

490
00:39:37,730 --> 00:39:40,430
Council members don't delve into that.

491
00:39:40,590 --> 00:39:43,830
That's a chain of command that goes up and ends with the city manager,

492
00:39:44,010 --> 00:39:46,330
and the city manager reports to the council.

493
00:39:47,570 --> 00:39:50,070
It's a good concept.

494
00:39:50,250 --> 00:39:55,510
It's important to understand that concept as the city official.

495
00:39:55,510 --> 00:40:00,770
Now that you've been appointed to serve on a board or a commission, the same sort of

496
00:40:00,770 --> 00:40:02,210
concept applies to you.

497
00:40:03,090 --> 00:40:15,870
So while you will have some discussions with some city employees, there are some rules

498
00:40:15,870 --> 00:40:17,830
and some prohibitions that we want to.

499
00:40:24,130 --> 00:40:26,570
We are going to start with the ethics code.

500
00:40:29,130 --> 00:40:32,310
This is Article 2.07 in the city code.

501
00:40:32,310 --> 00:40:38,190
The city code, by the way, it's online, you go to the city's website, you can navigate

502
00:40:38,190 --> 00:40:39,410
to the code of ordinances.

503
00:40:40,750 --> 00:40:47,110
If you ever need to reference the ethics code, it's there and it's available in full.

504
00:40:48,270 --> 00:40:49,910
We're going to go over some of the highlights.

505
00:40:55,240 --> 00:40:59,520
The first rule is as a city official, as a board or commission member,

506
00:40:59,820 --> 00:41:03,020
you cannot represent private interests before your board.

507
00:41:03,760 --> 00:41:12,800
You sit on the board, you're at the dais, but you're not coming up and representing anybody else, any third parties before the board.

508
00:41:19,560 --> 00:41:33,400
Confidential information is critical, especially for members of the development corporations, but also other boards on occasion.

509
00:41:33,400 --> 00:41:43,340
Development corporations are privy to confidential information on a regular basis in the course

510
00:41:43,340 --> 00:41:50,860
of their duties in evaluating business deals, economic development,

511
00:41:53,580 --> 00:41:54,940
folks that are proposing

512
00:41:54,940 --> 00:41:59,710
development to the city.

513
00:41:59,710 --> 00:42:06,910
sometimes they have that confidential information, they get supplied with before the city council does.

514
00:42:07,610 --> 00:42:14,690
It just depends on where the information is coming from and who's presenting that.

515
00:42:15,410 --> 00:42:23,890
It's critical that two things, that nobody uses their city position to get confidential information

516
00:42:24,530 --> 00:42:30,710
that they're not entitled to or that they don't need to execute their duties as a city official.

517
00:42:31,450 --> 00:42:37,430
If it goes beyond your need to know in order to do your job as a city official,

518
00:42:37,710 --> 00:42:42,750
then you shouldn't be asking for that information, you shouldn't be accessing it.

519
00:42:43,370 --> 00:42:50,730
Once you do have confidential information you gained through your duties as a city official,

520
00:42:50,730 --> 00:42:53,410
you cannot disclose that confidential information.

521
00:42:53,750 --> 00:42:55,230
And that's essentially any information

522
00:42:55,230 --> 00:42:56,870
that the general public does not have.

523
00:42:57,310 --> 00:42:59,930
And you have only because you've received it

524
00:42:59,930 --> 00:43:02,810
only because of your duties as a city official.

525
00:43:04,780 --> 00:43:07,900
As a practical matter, disclosing confidential information

526
00:43:07,900 --> 00:43:10,920
can have a lot of negative impacts,

527
00:43:11,800 --> 00:43:15,240
especially when it comes to business

528
00:43:15,240 --> 00:43:18,760
and development decisions

529
00:43:18,760 --> 00:43:27,560
that the city is trying to negotiate and it's not public information, it needs to stay private.

530
00:43:29,450 --> 00:43:41,490
Public property and resources of the city is exclusively for the purposes of the municipality

531
00:43:41,490 --> 00:43:47,510
and public purposes, but not private purposes, not for your own purposes.

532
00:43:47,510 --> 00:43:51,590
So, anything, any public resources, employees,

533
00:43:54,080 --> 00:43:58,340
property that's owned by the city can only

534
00:43:58,340 --> 00:44:00,580
be used for city purposes.

535
00:44:06,240 --> 00:44:12,560
Interaction with city staff, so you are going to act, you're going to interact with city

536
00:44:12,560 --> 00:44:19,260
staff from time to time, but normally it's limited to, typically it's the department

537
00:44:19,260 --> 00:44:26,860
head that is the employee liaison to your board or commission and again you

538
00:44:26,860 --> 00:44:33,400
want to avoid reaching beyond that. Under the ethics code the general rule is

539
00:44:33,400 --> 00:44:38,920
that city officials are not to have contact with city employees especially

540
00:44:38,920 --> 00:44:43,260
when it comes to city business. So you don't want to be reaching into a

541
00:44:43,260 --> 00:44:48,020
department talking to employees directing them to do things or not do

542
00:44:48,020 --> 00:44:55,880
things, trying to execute. You need to stay back in the policy position, and if you have

543
00:44:55,880 --> 00:44:59,160
to ask questions, if you need information, you go to the department head.

544
00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:04,180
For any reason, that's not available to city manager. So you want to keep those communications

545
00:45:04,180 --> 00:45:10,780
at a high level. There would be times, possibly, that a city manager might direct you to someone

546
00:45:10,780 --> 00:45:15,840
else to get information that you need. But you need to go through that process and stay

547
00:45:15,840 --> 00:45:20,460
with that chain of command and don't do it without their permission.

548
00:45:26,550 --> 00:45:27,370
There are exceptions

549
00:45:27,870 --> 00:45:32,430
in terms of communications with city employees. If you have advanced written permission from

550
00:45:32,430 --> 00:45:38,970
the city manager. Then you can communicate with the city employee during

551
00:45:41,050 --> 00:45:41,990
a public meeting.

552
00:45:42,650 --> 00:45:48,470
If you're sitting on a board or commission, of course the city employee may be at the

553
00:45:48,470 --> 00:45:53,410
podium presenting information to you and you can ask them questions and interact with

554
00:45:53,410 --> 00:45:59,250
them in a public meeting. If there are social or community events that you're attending,

555
00:46:00,110 --> 00:46:05,110
You can exchange pleasantries, you can get information,

556
00:46:05,990 --> 00:46:07,810
coffee with cops, be an example.

557
00:46:08,630 --> 00:46:10,890
You're going to be talking to the community in general,

558
00:46:11,150 --> 00:46:15,350
and you're not prohibited from being there and participating.

559
00:46:17,230 --> 00:46:21,150
And other examples include contacts with city staff

560
00:46:21,150 --> 00:46:23,030
that you would normally have just as a citizen.

561
00:46:23,430 --> 00:46:26,750
You come into the city hall, you pay your water bill, that sort of thing.

562
00:46:26,750 --> 00:46:34,690
But when it comes to your charge, your duties as a city official and the business that you're

563
00:46:34,690 --> 00:46:40,130
dealing with, again, you want to keep those communications at the high level.

564
00:46:41,110 --> 00:46:45,190
Not try to influence any city employees.

565
00:46:53,700 --> 00:47:01,440
A number of years ago, the council extended their harassment policy to include boards

566
00:47:01,440 --> 00:47:10,200
and commissions and that essentially includes harassment in general, sexual harassment,

567
00:47:12,580 --> 00:47:19,260
any act of violence or bullying in the workplace. So all of those provisions that are in the

568
00:47:19,260 --> 00:47:24,960
personnel manual do apply to board and commission members. Yes.

569
00:47:29,130 --> 00:47:30,530
Yes, I'm sorry. Is that better?

570
00:47:30,530 --> 00:47:31,730
Again,

571
00:47:37,460 --> 00:47:43,700
just be familiar with that set of policies as far as harassment and violence in the workplace.

572
00:47:47,000 --> 00:47:53,400
Kerry's got that, and I believe that may be in the general packet that is provided to Board and Commission members.

573
00:47:57,370 --> 00:48:08,110
We're going to move to state law conflicts of interest and start with Chapter 176, which pertains to vendors.

574
00:48:09,210 --> 00:48:18,910
Vendors being businesses or individuals who have contracts with or provide goods or services

575
00:48:18,910 --> 00:48:25,710
to the city or they're seeking to provide goods or services to the city.

576
00:48:26,170 --> 00:48:32,730
If you have a business relationship with anybody who's a vendor for the city,

577
00:48:32,970 --> 00:48:37,030
then you have to make a conflict disclosure statement in writing.

578
00:48:37,030 --> 00:48:43,790
That gets filed with Kerry's office, the city secretary, and it gets published on the website.

579
00:48:44,570 --> 00:48:51,990
The deadline to file that is seven business days after you become aware that you have a conflict,

580
00:48:52,830 --> 00:48:59,730
and both the city official and the vendor have to file a statement.

581
00:49:01,780 --> 00:49:05,480
That doesn't require you, though, to recuse from the matter.

582
00:49:05,480 --> 00:49:12,640
you can still participate. You can still vote. Let's just say, for example, it's your employer

583
00:49:13,500 --> 00:49:20,480
and they have a contract with the city. They also employ you. That would rise to the level

584
00:49:20,480 --> 00:49:27,180
of a 176 conflict. You'd have to file an affidavit, but when that employer, when your

585
00:49:27,180 --> 00:49:32,700
employer is here dealing with the city and the city council or your board is going

586
00:49:32,700 --> 00:49:38,980
to vote on whatever matter they have before the city, you can still participate, you can

587
00:49:38,980 --> 00:49:40,340
discuss it, you can vote.

588
00:49:42,730 --> 00:49:46,350
However, if you fail to timely file an affidavit,

589
00:49:48,750 --> 00:49:49,750
when you have

590
00:49:49,750 --> 00:49:55,350
some kind of relationship with a vendor, whether it be business or family, or you've

591
00:49:55,350 --> 00:49:58,170
received gifts from a vendor,

592
00:50:01,670 --> 00:50:03,510
and you don't timely file

593
00:50:06,810 --> 00:50:11,030
affidavit, there can be hefty

594
00:50:11,030 --> 00:50:18,330
fines up to $4,000, removal from office, and even jail time.

595
00:50:19,290 --> 00:50:22,710
So if you've got a business relationship or a family

596
00:50:22,710 --> 00:50:27,670
relationship with anybody who's got business before the city,

597
00:50:30,130 --> 00:50:32,210
if you have any doubts about that whatsoever,

598
00:50:32,570 --> 00:50:38,950
contact Kerry or Ryan or myself as soon as you possibly can.

599
00:50:39,090 --> 00:50:39,510
Don't wait.

600
00:50:39,750 --> 00:50:41,150
Don't wait until the date of the meeting.

601
00:50:41,150 --> 00:50:46,350
don't wait until seven days have gone by, do it as soon as you know because

602
00:50:47,010 --> 00:50:50,410
sometimes there will be additional elements that we have to address or

603
00:50:50,410 --> 00:50:55,590
advise you on. Sometimes it turns out you don't actually have a conflict, but

604
00:50:55,590 --> 00:51:02,590
we we have to run those down and the more time we have to do that the better

605
00:51:02,590 --> 00:51:06,470
so that we're less likely to miss something in the process. Yes,

606
00:51:15,940 --> 00:51:16,480
yes it's

607
00:51:16,480 --> 00:51:18,600
published on the website, on the city's website.

608
00:51:23,100 --> 00:51:25,100
Not unless somebody just chooses to mention

609
00:51:25,100 --> 00:51:25,380
it.

610
00:51:30,450 --> 00:51:35,390
They could find it on the city's website. They could make a public information request.

611
00:51:36,050 --> 00:51:39,390
And we're going to talk about public information requests as well.

612
00:51:54,390 --> 00:51:57,930
Moving to chapter 171, the

613
00:51:57,930 --> 00:52:04,450
local government code. This is also a state law conflict of interest. But this is

614
00:52:04,450 --> 00:52:14,930
somewhat different. This is if you have a special economic interest in the subject

615
00:52:14,930 --> 00:52:24,310
matter or decision that's before a councilor board. And if you have a

616
00:52:24,310 --> 00:52:31,550
special economic interest, which is essentially for a business you own 10% or

617
00:52:31,550 --> 00:52:37,630
the voting stock or shares, or 10% or more, or 15,000 or more of the fair market value

618
00:52:37,630 --> 00:52:45,690
of the company. Or if you receive an excess of 10% of your gross annual income over the

619
00:52:45,690 --> 00:52:52,970
previous year from that company, then you would have a special, you would have a business

620
00:52:52,970 --> 00:53:00,530
interest, a substantial interest in a business. Or if you own a real property in a value

621
00:53:00,530 --> 00:53:09,650
of more than $2,500 and that real property is the subject of the decision by the city

622
00:53:09,650 --> 00:53:16,650
or a board or your real property would be, the value would be influenced by a decision

623
00:53:16,650 --> 00:53:21,370
involving some other property or some other decision being made by the city, you would

624
00:53:21,370 --> 00:53:24,210
also have a substantial interest in real property.

625
00:53:24,210 --> 00:53:31,830
If you have a substantial interest in business entity or real property, then you'll have

626
00:53:31,830 --> 00:53:38,110
to decide whether the decision that's being made with respect to that property or that

627
00:53:38,110 --> 00:53:43,770
business has a special economic effect or it could have a special economic effect

628
00:53:44,110 --> 00:53:51,010
that could change the value or interest that you have, whether it might increase or decrease

629
00:53:51,010 --> 00:53:51,950
that interest.

630
00:53:51,950 --> 00:53:56,510
If those elements are present, then you have to file an affidavit.

631
00:53:56,610 --> 00:54:01,550
It's a little bit different than the disclosure state when we talked about chapter 176.

632
00:54:02,710 --> 00:54:09,630
But you would have to file an affidavit, and in this case, under 171, you would have to recuse yourself.

633
00:54:10,870 --> 00:54:17,290
So when the matter would come up, you would, generally speaking, stand,

634
00:54:17,290 --> 00:54:23,830
announced that you have a Chapter 171 conflict and then leave the room while

635
00:54:23,830 --> 00:54:30,510
that item is being addressed by the council or your commission. So in that

636
00:54:30,510 --> 00:54:36,550
instance it is announced as opposed to the Chapter 176 situation.

637
00:54:39,420 --> 00:54:40,160
And again, that

638
00:54:40,160 --> 00:54:46,800
has to be done quickly. Don't wait. Don't delay. Get with one of us as soon as

639
00:54:46,800 --> 00:54:55,060
Or if you even think you have any reason to doubt that you might have a conflict, take

640
00:54:55,060 --> 00:55:01,960
care of that early so that we have enough time to give you good advice on what your

641
00:55:01,960 --> 00:55:02,780
next steps would be.

642
00:55:09,340 --> 00:55:19,960
Same sort of penalties apply for failure to file an affidavit and it includes potential

643
00:55:19,960 --> 00:55:21,660
jail time and

644
00:55:26,020 --> 00:55:27,100
fines.

645
00:55:27,100 --> 00:55:28,100
and fines.

646
00:55:39,170 --> 00:55:44,650
We talked about state law conflicts of interest, there are also conflicts of interest contained

647
00:55:44,650 --> 00:55:45,590
in the city charter.

648
00:55:48,540 --> 00:55:54,660
As a city official, you cannot have any financial interest in a contract with the city or have

649
00:55:54,660 --> 00:55:58,500
business dealings with the city, direct or indirect.

650
00:55:58,500 --> 00:55:58,800
direct.

651
00:56:01,420 --> 00:56:09,000
If you have a conflict, you have to openly declare it. You have to not participate

652
00:56:09,000 --> 00:56:12,000
in the discussion and not vote on that item.

653
00:56:18,470 --> 00:56:23,210
Gifts under state law cannot accept any gift

654
00:56:23,210 --> 00:56:32,330
if it's going to have some type of influence on your decision making as a city official.

655
00:56:32,330 --> 00:56:37,270
And that's any type of benefit.

656
00:56:38,850 --> 00:56:42,270
A gift includes accepting employment.

657
00:56:43,570 --> 00:56:50,150
It includes any kind of tangible property or intangible value or benefit.

658
00:56:54,780 --> 00:57:01,130
Under the charter, you cannot accept any gift, service, favor.

659
00:57:01,510 --> 00:57:04,230
Again, employment, personal investments.

660
00:57:05,510 --> 00:57:12,770
You really have to avoid accepting anything of value at all while you're a city official.

661
00:57:13,430 --> 00:57:14,810
There are some exceptions.

662
00:57:15,850 --> 00:57:22,150
You can attend social functions, groundbreaking, exchange gifts with family relatives.

663
00:57:23,090 --> 00:57:26,370
You can receive campaign contributions if you're running for office.

664
00:57:27,190 --> 00:57:34,090
You can exchange gifts at church functions or receive a bonus from your full or part-time

665
00:57:34,090 --> 00:57:34,490
employer.

666
00:57:35,190 --> 00:57:42,710
But beyond that, under state law and the Charter, you are required to avoid accepting any gifts.

667
00:57:46,860 --> 00:57:53,100
Penalties, again, removal from office under the Charter, and if it's a violation of

668
00:57:53,100 --> 00:57:55,760
state law, there could be hefty fines.

669
00:57:58,030 --> 00:58:06,170
Beyond the scope of this are what may seem kind of obvious in terms of criminal violations, bribery,

670
00:58:06,370 --> 00:58:13,610
perjury, corrupt influence, obstructing government. Those are chapters in the penal code. You can

671
00:58:13,610 --> 00:58:18,890
look those up online and become familiar with them, but essentially those are crimes of moral

672
00:58:18,890 --> 00:58:23,810
that involved disonesty and

673
00:58:27,490 --> 00:58:29,530
governmental malfeasance.

674
00:58:35,520 --> 00:58:38,900
Questions on ethics, conflicts or gifts.

675
00:58:50,040 --> 00:58:55,960
Kerry covered some of this as far as the Open Meetings Act.

676
00:58:57,240 --> 00:58:59,260
This is really all about transparency.

677
00:59:00,300 --> 00:59:03,720
The public has the right to know how the government is working.

678
00:59:05,260 --> 00:59:07,240
It wasn't always like that.

679
00:59:07,240 --> 00:59:11,600
The Open Meetings Act was something that evolved over time.

680
00:59:12,400 --> 00:59:21,540
It's been amended many times, and the legislature is very focused on requiring local government

681
00:59:21,540 --> 00:59:32,360
and local government entities to act transparently to try to facilitate faith

682
00:59:32,360 --> 00:59:35,700
and good relations with the public and their public institutions.

683
00:59:39,160 --> 00:59:47,020
Carey mentioned the video. You've got to take the video training, both for Open Meetings Act and Public Information Act, the deadline is March 14th and next year.

684
00:59:50,920 --> 00:59:57,680
Generally speaking, the Act requires 72 hours notice.

685
01:00:00,000 --> 01:00:04,380
Making the subject matter of that agenda, the date, time, and place, where that meeting

686
01:00:04,380 --> 01:00:10,680
will take place. And if you don't have that duly noticed public meeting notice, then you

687
01:00:10,680 --> 01:00:19,020
cannot meet in numbers of more than a quorum. Quorum typically is going to be four persons.

688
01:00:19,260 --> 01:00:23,420
If you've got a seven-member board, it's just a majority. A simple majority of the

689
01:00:23,420 --> 01:00:31,420
board members is a quorum. Once you're meeting in groups of a quorum or more, that is a meeting

690
01:00:31,420 --> 01:00:37,200
under the Open Meetings Act. It's defined as a meeting. It's characterized by deliberation,

691
01:00:37,440 --> 01:00:39,900
debate, discussion on public business.

692
01:00:43,250 --> 01:00:45,630
But it can also happen outside of a meeting.

693
01:00:49,070 --> 01:00:52,690
And that's what it's sometimes referred to as a walking quorum.

694
01:00:55,740 --> 01:00:56,920
First, some exceptions

695
01:00:56,920 --> 01:01:07,900
where a quorum of the governing body or Board of Commission can meet is social functions,

696
01:01:08,860 --> 01:01:13,640
regional state conventions, ceremonial events, press conference.

697
01:01:15,380 --> 01:01:21,760
But that's only if no formal action is taken in any discussion about city business

698
01:01:21,760 --> 01:01:28,160
or your board or commission's business is incidental to whatever event you may be attending.

699
01:01:30,970 --> 01:01:38,210
The walking quorum can happen when there's a so-called daisy chain situation.

700
01:01:39,450 --> 01:01:43,830
There's not a quorum necessarily, together, physically in one place.

701
01:01:44,250 --> 01:01:50,390
A council member or a city official could speak with another official about city business

702
01:01:50,390 --> 01:01:56,030
or some item that's going to be coming up and one of those individuals could then email

703
01:01:56,030 --> 01:02:01,410
a third individual, that individual could pick up the phone and call a fourth individual

704
01:02:01,410 --> 01:02:08,570
on that board or commission and then you possibly have a walking quorum and that's a violation

705
01:02:09,490 --> 01:02:18,490
of the Open Meetings Act that can also result in prosecution, fines and jail time.

706
01:02:20,820 --> 01:02:30,480
You have to know at the time that you're conducting these communications that you're attempting to subvert the purpose of the Open Meetings Act.

707
01:02:32,200 --> 01:02:45,940
The prosecutor would have to prove that you were intentionally and knowingly having those communications to avoid having an open meeting transparent to the public.

708
01:02:45,940 --> 01:02:46,500
And

709
01:03:05,000 --> 01:03:15,780
these are the penalties that can result in fines, jail time, and I find these provisions

710
01:03:15,780 --> 01:03:22,980
somewhat interesting that if there's a jail sentence, it has to be not less than a month.

711
01:03:23,680 --> 01:03:27,200
So if somebody is convicted of a violation of the Open Meetings Act, they are going

712
01:03:27,200 --> 01:03:29,260
to prison for at least a month.

713
01:03:31,160 --> 01:03:32,340
The judge doesn't have discretion.

714
01:03:32,340 --> 01:03:34,860
It's not like the judge could find it.

715
01:03:35,520 --> 01:03:39,300
Well, the violation wasn't that blatant, so I'm going to commute the sentence.

716
01:03:39,460 --> 01:03:40,300
That's not how it works.

717
01:03:40,620 --> 01:03:42,200
So take it seriously.

718
01:03:42,500 --> 01:03:49,760
It's important to make sure that you're abiding by these state statutes.

719
01:03:54,870 --> 01:03:56,790
Any questions about the Open Meetings Act?

720
01:04:05,290 --> 01:04:07,630
Last but not least, the Public Information Act.

721
01:04:10,410 --> 01:04:14,070
I didn't use to say much about this at these orientation settings

722
01:04:14,070 --> 01:04:20,910
is because in the past, the Public Information Act is really something that city staff deals

723
01:04:20,910 --> 01:04:28,330
with. And they still do on an ongoing operational basis. There's a lot to it. It's very complex.

724
01:04:29,310 --> 01:04:35,350
You have the Public Information Act itself, which gets into a lot of detail about what's

725
01:04:35,350 --> 01:04:41,650
confidential, what must be disclosed if somebody requests information, what must be with

726
01:04:41,650 --> 01:04:44,250
held, but it's not just the act itself.

727
01:04:46,270 --> 01:04:51,510
Texas statutes are riddled with outside references

728
01:04:51,510 --> 01:05:00,510
to information that may or may not be public under the act. And so we spend a lot of time

729
01:05:00,510 --> 01:05:08,170
with staff, Carey's office sorting through all of those things. And it used to be that

730
01:05:08,170 --> 01:05:12,030
city officials didn't even really need to have training under the Public Information

731
01:05:12,030 --> 01:05:21,170
Act, but they amended it a few years back so that now you are potentially what they

732
01:05:21,170 --> 01:05:22,930
call a temporary custodian.

733
01:05:25,320 --> 01:05:32,300
If you have information that involves city business, your board or commission, and that

734
01:05:32,300 --> 01:05:38,840
could be an email from a citizen talking about city business, asking you questions

735
01:05:38,840 --> 01:05:41,120
about what's going on with your board or commission

736
01:05:41,840 --> 01:05:43,740
or an item that's coming up at a meeting.

737
01:05:45,040 --> 01:05:46,400
That's public information,

738
01:05:46,800 --> 01:05:48,420
and it doesn't matter where it resides.

739
01:05:49,820 --> 01:05:53,340
Whether it's on your phone, your personal phone,

740
01:05:54,240 --> 01:05:57,220
or your city email address if you have one,

741
01:05:58,220 --> 01:05:59,580
or your home computer,

742
01:05:59,820 --> 01:06:02,940
or another device that you have control over.

743
01:06:03,600 --> 01:06:06,680
If you have it, you're a temporary custodian,

744
01:06:06,680 --> 01:06:13,840
which makes you subject to all of the rules that Carrie and I normally have to deal with,

745
01:06:13,980 --> 01:06:17,580
sort through, and worry about in handling public information requests.

746
01:06:19,200 --> 01:06:31,480
And there are document retention schedules, deadlines, time periods within which we have to preserve materials.

747
01:06:32,540 --> 01:06:38,480
If you're a temporary custodian, you suddenly have to abide by all of those rules and regulations.

748
01:06:39,300 --> 01:06:42,240
And there's stiff penalties for failing to do so.

749
01:06:44,820 --> 01:06:51,280
So it's not easy to navigate that.

750
01:06:52,360 --> 01:06:56,740
It's a lot better to avoid becoming a temporary custodian.

751
01:06:57,880 --> 01:07:04,900
And I think the best way to do that is to send information to the city, whatever it

752
01:07:04,900 --> 01:07:09,740
may be, on a regular basis, then you're no longer the custodian.

753
01:07:10,620 --> 01:07:17,280
So if you get an email from somebody and it discusses city business, if you have your

754
01:07:17,280 --> 01:07:22,260
own city email address, just forward it to that address, now it's on the city servers

755
01:07:23,420 --> 01:07:29,860
and somebody else is the custodian because you're no longer the exclusive person who

756
01:07:29,860 --> 01:07:30,560
possesses it.

757
01:07:33,060 --> 01:07:40,360
If you don't have a city email address I think Kerry has or can set up a kind

758
01:07:40,360 --> 01:07:47,600
of a generic email address that is sort of a repository that you can send information,

759
01:07:47,600 --> 01:07:55,620
information, email, even text messages are included as far as public information is concerned.

760
01:07:55,820 --> 01:07:59,500
So if you have a neighbor and they've got an issue before you're bored and they text

761
01:07:59,500 --> 01:08:04,840
you at some point, ask questions about it or want you to get information, that text

762
01:08:04,840 --> 01:08:13,200
message itself is public information and parts or all of that might have to be disclosed

763
01:08:13,200 --> 01:08:15,260
to an individual requesting that information.

764
01:08:15,900 --> 01:08:17,740
Part of the reason why they changed the law

765
01:08:17,740 --> 01:08:20,700
is because there was too much out there

766
01:08:20,700 --> 01:08:23,460
that the city couldn't have access to,

767
01:08:23,620 --> 01:08:25,980
couldn't even know necessarily existed.

768
01:08:27,060 --> 01:08:31,060
And so that's why they transferred that responsibility

769
01:08:31,060 --> 01:08:35,060
onto individual, whether it be employees,

770
01:08:36,120 --> 01:08:38,660
city official, board, commission members.

771
01:08:41,010 --> 01:08:43,730
You now have that extra responsibility

772
01:08:43,730 --> 01:08:45,130
under the Public Information Act.

773
01:08:45,290 --> 01:08:49,870
So we strongly urge that you forward that information

774
01:08:49,870 --> 01:08:51,870
to the city in some form or fashion,

775
01:08:52,770 --> 01:08:55,670
and then you can walk away from that responsibility

776
01:08:55,670 --> 01:08:57,250
as being a temporary custodian.

777
01:08:58,110 --> 01:08:58,390
Yes.

778
01:09:10,010 --> 01:09:12,210
Yes, it is public information.

779
01:09:12,990 --> 01:09:17,110
Public information is really anything

780
01:09:17,710 --> 01:09:21,550
that involves city business

781
01:09:21,550 --> 01:09:25,130
and that the city has in writing.

782
01:09:26,230 --> 01:09:28,430
So social media would count.

783
01:09:29,250 --> 01:09:30,610
It's a written record.

784
01:09:31,730 --> 01:09:35,350
If it's spoken words that have not been recorded,

785
01:09:35,890 --> 01:09:37,090
that is not public information.

786
01:09:38,050 --> 01:09:40,270
It has to be in some shape or manner,

787
01:09:40,930 --> 01:09:44,470
either in writing or recorded on some kind of media.

788
01:09:45,450 --> 01:09:48,930
So a recording, an audio recording, video recording,

789
01:09:48,930 --> 01:09:50,250
that is public information.

790
01:09:52,330 --> 01:09:56,490
There's a series of exceptions that allow cities to withhold

791
01:09:56,490 --> 01:10:02,610
or require cities to withhold certain information that would otherwise be public. That's a big

792
01:10:02,610 --> 01:10:09,890
part of what we do is we assess when we get an information request to the extent there's

793
01:10:09,890 --> 01:10:16,150
content in those documents that must be withheld. So it's very common that we will

794
01:10:16,150 --> 01:10:21,350
be disclosing information, but sometimes it's redacted, parts of it are confidential, parts

795
01:10:21,350 --> 01:10:27,710
of it. We can't disclose people's driver's license. We can't disclose people's social

796
01:10:27,710 --> 01:10:34,470
security numbers. But there's hundreds of different exceptions that we have to keep

797
01:10:34,470 --> 01:10:43,570
up with. If you transfer information to the city, so now the city has an exact duplicate

798
01:10:43,570 --> 01:10:49,330
or whatever that is. Don't alter it. Don't do it partially because then you're altering

799
01:10:49,330 --> 01:10:55,050
a record. Send the whole thing. And then you've discharged your duty.

800
01:11:03,100 --> 01:11:03,700
Correct.

801
01:11:10,510 --> 01:11:11,110
That's

802
01:11:11,110 --> 01:11:18,050
a good example and it's a wise policy is to make sure somewhere or another it's getting

803
01:11:18,050 --> 01:11:20,050
into the city's files.

804
01:11:25,100 --> 01:11:29,560
Questions on Public Information Act or any other topics?

805
01:11:34,760 --> 01:11:34,960
Okay.

806
01:11:35,660 --> 01:11:38,340
Thank you very much for your time. Yes.

807
01:11:42,260 --> 01:11:42,760
If it's what?

808
01:11:56,670 --> 01:11:58,730
If you have concerns or questions

809
01:11:59,270 --> 01:12:00,150
or a citizen?

810
01:12:02,210 --> 01:12:02,890
Oh, okay.

811
01:12:05,210 --> 01:12:12,190
Yeah. Carrie would probably be the person that you would refer

812
01:12:12,190 --> 01:12:18,630
that too. If someone's just got a question, hey, how does this operate? When do these

813
01:12:18,630 --> 01:12:23,390
people meet? What's the normal procedure for whatever it may be?

814
01:12:25,490 --> 01:12:27,050
You can refer them to

815
01:12:27,050 --> 01:12:33,570
the city secretary. If it's something really specific toward your board or commission, then

816
01:12:33,570 --> 01:12:39,670
you might refer them to your liaison, your council liaison, or your department head

817
01:12:39,670 --> 01:12:50,650
liaison. But generally speaking, Kerry's office handles the flow of information and provides

818
01:12:50,650 --> 01:12:52,410
information when requested.

819
01:12:57,100 --> 01:12:58,200
Rule of thumb is,

820
01:13:00,890 --> 01:13:03,970
as a city official, it's usually better to

821
01:13:05,990 --> 01:13:13,670
make folks understand that you're only one voice or only one vote and that you're not

822
01:13:13,670 --> 01:13:17,450
speaking for the city in general and you're not providing

823
01:13:19,690 --> 01:13:27,010
Representations being made on behalf of the city. It's just I'm one person. I'm one vote if you need a more official answer

824
01:13:28,890 --> 01:13:32,250
Go talk to the city secretary or the city manager

825
01:13:37,590 --> 01:13:38,530
questions

826
01:13:40,710 --> 01:13:41,230
Concerns

827
01:13:59,860 --> 01:14:03,240
I know that was a lot of information that y'all have taken in today

828
01:14:04,780 --> 01:14:07,140
We have this beautiful new handbook

829
01:14:08,040 --> 01:14:11,000
that I'd like to introduce Kimberly Warnarski,

830
01:14:11,700 --> 01:14:13,220
and she's gonna go through this book

831
01:14:13,220 --> 01:14:14,440
since she put it together,

832
01:14:14,740 --> 01:14:18,240
and this is gonna be a great resource and tool for you.

833
01:14:24,180 --> 01:14:27,240
So just briefly, over the past five years,

834
01:14:27,360 --> 01:14:28,280
I'm sure y'all are aware

835
01:14:28,280 --> 01:14:29,920
that the city has grown quite a bit.

836
01:14:31,240 --> 01:14:32,940
With that, our boards and commissions

837
01:14:32,940 --> 01:14:35,920
have gone from a process in which you learn a lot

838
01:14:35,920 --> 01:14:37,580
because there are so few of you

839
01:14:37,580 --> 01:14:39,720
that you know the council, that you interact with them

840
01:14:40,280 --> 01:14:41,440
to something that's, you know,

841
01:14:41,440 --> 01:14:43,420
with so many more people, so many more boards,

842
01:14:44,580 --> 01:14:46,580
so many more action items that are going

843
01:14:46,580 --> 01:14:47,740
through the different boards that,

844
01:14:47,820 --> 01:14:49,900
there's a lot more information that you have to know.

845
01:14:50,100 --> 01:14:54,280
So in 2021, we created the Boards and Commissions Orientation.

846
01:14:54,840 --> 01:14:56,960
In the same year, we created Neighbor Academy,

847
01:14:57,100 --> 01:14:57,440
which is one of the,

848
01:15:00,000 --> 01:15:03,400
One way to get involved and learn a little bit more about the city as a whole.

849
01:15:04,240 --> 01:15:09,140
This year we added in a boards and commissions handbook because we know that being a boards

850
01:15:09,140 --> 01:15:12,480
and commissions member, we're giving you a lot of information, we're giving you a lot

851
01:15:12,480 --> 01:15:16,940
of resources. We're trying to put it all in one place so that you have what you need

852
01:15:17,560 --> 01:15:25,840
to refer to if you've got questions, if you've got general ideas, things like that

853
01:15:25,840 --> 01:15:27,220
to review and look through.

854
01:15:27,940 --> 01:15:29,960
So this is our first iteration of the handbook.

855
01:15:30,080 --> 01:15:31,440
It's broken into four parts.

856
01:15:32,220 --> 01:15:33,160
Parts one and two.

857
01:15:33,460 --> 01:15:34,600
One is on city information.

858
01:15:34,920 --> 01:15:36,240
So if you want to know a little bit more

859
01:15:36,240 --> 01:15:38,300
about the structure of the departments,

860
01:15:40,380 --> 01:15:42,360
what each department is responsible for,

861
01:15:42,940 --> 01:15:44,740
where the city puts out information.

862
01:15:45,300 --> 01:15:46,880
Sometimes we'll get boards and commission members

863
01:15:46,880 --> 01:15:48,440
who'll say, hey, I've never heard about that.

864
01:15:48,560 --> 01:15:50,740
And so I want to have all those things in one place.

865
01:15:50,800 --> 01:15:52,080
Where can you find that information?

866
01:15:53,000 --> 01:15:58,600
The second part is just a little bit of community information, so a little bit on some of our

867
01:15:58,600 --> 01:16:02,700
big community partners like TechSoc, Collin County, the school district, what they're

868
01:16:02,700 --> 01:16:04,720
responsible for, what the city's responsible for.

869
01:16:05,380 --> 01:16:08,960
Sometimes we'll get people coming in and say, hey, is this, you know, the city should

870
01:16:08,960 --> 01:16:09,400
do something?

871
01:16:09,480 --> 01:16:11,740
It's like, well, that's not necessarily within our jurisdiction.

872
01:16:12,100 --> 01:16:17,500
So it also gives you a little bit of information on, you know, some general community culture

873
01:16:17,500 --> 01:16:25,120
and events as well as background information on some demographics of the city population.

874
01:16:26,180 --> 01:16:28,540
The second and third or the third and fourth parts, excuse me,

875
01:16:28,600 --> 01:16:32,260
of this handbook are most relevant, but every part is something that,

876
01:16:32,400 --> 01:16:35,460
as a boards and commission member, something that you should know.

877
01:16:35,980 --> 01:16:40,500
But part three is general background information on our boards and commissions,

878
01:16:40,640 --> 01:16:44,380
so what each board and commission is charged with,

879
01:16:44,380 --> 01:16:49,440
with, what all the positions on a board do specifically, so whether it's the chair, the

880
01:16:49,440 --> 01:16:55,040
vice chair, potentially the secretary, the staff and the council liaison written out,

881
01:16:55,140 --> 01:17:01,200
broken down, talking about the intention of the minutes, the agendas, speaks a little

882
01:17:01,200 --> 01:17:06,460
bit about whether meetings are recorded and kind of why all these things are the way

883
01:17:06,460 --> 01:17:07,080
that they are.

884
01:17:07,680 --> 01:17:11,940
And then the last part of it is the Code of Conduct, and so there are a lot of

885
01:17:11,940 --> 01:17:15,700
different places where you can get information on how you are theoretically supposed to act

886
01:17:15,700 --> 01:17:20,120
as a Board of Commission member, so whether it's our Code of Ethics, whether it's our,

887
01:17:20,220 --> 01:17:24,800
you know, reference in our city charter, either a couple parts of our employee handbook that

888
01:17:24,800 --> 01:17:30,000
tie in, put as much of that information and reference it as we could in this handbook

889
01:17:30,520 --> 01:17:33,860
so that it's all in one place. It's not something you have to necessarily go

890
01:17:33,860 --> 01:17:39,440
and search, but it's there for you so that you understand, you know, okay. This

891
01:17:39,440 --> 01:17:46,460
This is my kind of one-stop shop in this document for understanding kind of the role of a Board

892
01:17:46,460 --> 01:17:48,460
and Commission member, all the important stuff.

893
01:17:49,100 --> 01:17:52,620
If you've got any questions about it, you know, feel free to let us know.

894
01:17:54,600 --> 01:17:58,460
But please take some time, read this, look through it, understand it.

895
01:17:59,340 --> 01:18:04,400
As a Board and Commission member, you are a public official, you are a leader in

896
01:18:04,400 --> 01:18:10,000
the community, and you should be one of the most informed neighbors going into your service.

897
01:18:10,320 --> 01:18:16,300
So take this document as a resource and a great platform for being able to do that.

898
01:18:17,000 --> 01:18:21,620
With that being said, I believe we're breaking out into the different boards and commissions

899
01:18:21,620 --> 01:18:22,120
now.

900
01:18:23,000 --> 01:18:31,180
So I will have the different liaisons if you could stand up and then kind of migrate

901
01:18:31,180 --> 01:18:31,720
together.

902
01:18:32,560 --> 01:18:37,440
Stephanie Scott Sims is in the back, so if you will, if you're with planning and zoning,

903
01:18:37,600 --> 01:18:40,180
if you will head, are you taking board of adjustments too?

904
01:18:42,500 --> 01:18:42,900
Got it.

905
01:18:43,060 --> 01:18:48,020
All right, so if you are, board of adjustments are planning and zoning, make note, Stephanie

906
01:18:48,020 --> 01:18:50,280
is this way, you'll be staying in this room.

907
01:18:51,660 --> 01:18:54,920
Mark Marshawn is back in the corner over there.

908
01:18:55,420 --> 01:18:58,000
Mark, do you know what room you're headed to?

909
01:18:59,580 --> 01:19:00,240
Got it.

910
01:19:01,360 --> 01:19:05,560
Sounds good. If you are in Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, if you'll meet Mark by the

911
01:19:05,560 --> 01:19:14,540
door over here. Bernie, hello. Alright, so if you are in Economic Development, the EDCCDC

912
01:19:14,540 --> 01:19:20,120
boards, if you'll meet Bernie right there. If you are in Neighbor Engagement and Inclusion,

913
01:19:20,320 --> 01:19:25,060
if you'll meet Taylor and you'll head that way, I don't think I'm forgetting anyone.

914
01:19:34,370 --> 01:19:35,390
Alright, thank you all so much.

915
01:19:35,390 --> 01:19:36,090
Real

916
01:19:40,440 --> 01:19:45,180
quick, if you did not sign in this morning, please come do so so you get credit for attending.

917
01:19:45,560 --> 01:19:46,900
Thank you. Y'all have a great day.