[This transcript was generated automatically from audio using AI and hasn't been reviewed by a person -- it can contain mistakes, including plausible-sounding sentences that were never actually said. Treat it as a starting point, not a verbatim record.]

[0:03] Good morning, everyone. To keep everybody on schedule, we're going to go ahead and get started.
[0:10] I'd like to introduce our mayor, Pete Kane. He has a few words for you this morning.
[0:17] Thank you, Kerry. Yes, very few words. If you see me make a speech, you know why it's not something I do.
[0:22] So I did want to come up, though, and first of all, I'd like to welcome all of our council members here today.
[0:28] Kevin Toten is here. Thank you Kevin.
[0:34] Seriously this, this what you're doing
[0:37] serving in these boards and commissions, this is one of the most important things
[0:41] you can do in a city. I know a lot of nonsense has talked and a lot of noise
[0:45] is made about the council, the mayor and all that, but you groups are what
[0:49] make the city function and run. You help us find out what we need to know.
[0:52] You show us the direction that you want to go and you're a good
[0:55] representation of the city of Annas. So I'm really thankful that you're willing to
[0:59] take time out of your schedules. I mean it's Saturday morning, right? I know
[1:02] there's things that you could be doing but you're up here and you're gonna be
[1:04] spending time with some really engaging information. I know when Clark gets up
[1:09] here, y'all get ready. It's a roller coaster ride, okay? So but again, thank
[1:14] you all for being here. We really, really appreciate you going forward. If
[1:17] there's a question that you have or something that you need that maybe your
[1:20] liaison can't help you with or staff, reach out to me. I probably won't
[1:24] be able to help you either, but I can help you find somebody that will.
[1:27] All right, so I'm going to leave here. I'm going to coffee with cops. Thank you again for being here.
[1:33] You guys have a great day.
[1:47] Computers froze up just a minute here.
[1:57] It froze up on my side.
[2:07] Okay.
[2:09] Today we're just going to talk about some priorities and updates from our city manager.
[2:16] We'll hear about the Commission's 101 Civic Clerk Overview, legal information, and we'll
[2:22] wrap up and have Commission conversations will break out into groups that meet with
[2:26] your liaisons.
[2:28] And next, I'd like to introduce you to our city manager, Ryan Henderson.
[2:39] Good morning, everybody.
[2:40] My name is Ryan Henderson.
[2:42] I have the privilege and pleasure to serve as a city manager for the city of Anna.
[2:47] Many of you have already met through Neighbor Academy, so thank you for taking the next
[2:51] step in your journey as a committed volunteer neighbor in this city to join a Boarding Commission.
[2:58] So I just want to run through a couple of slides, and some of this, if you have gone
[3:02] through Neighbor Academy, you will be somewhat familiar, it will just kind of be an organizational
[3:05] breakdown who we are and who represents you on staff.
[3:11] So a couple of years ago, this city council came up with a vision for this city, and that vision still holds today.
[3:19] It's the vision of the city of Anna being a vibrant, economically thriving community with a diversity of quality,
[3:25] transportation options, housing inventory, and destination attractions.
[3:30] Our world-class facilities, services, and infrastructure will attract residents, businesses, and visitors,
[3:35] and drive our financial stability and sustainability.
[3:38] I'm going to come back to this in a second because though this is the vision of the City
[3:42] Council, you all play a role in this as well as Board and Commission members.
[3:49] As you can see, this is a graphic.
[3:51] You'll see this throughout our city.
[3:52] You'll see these embedded, these key qualities as part of our vision for ANA, embedded through
[3:57] this organization, embedded through what we do as an organization, and this is just
[4:02] a reminder, a graphic reminder of our vision and all the vision, all the elements
[4:07] of the vision that we ask as you board and commission members to think about as you serve
[4:13] as you serve in your new role.
[4:17] Mayor Kane had the started kick this off and he introduced
[4:21] Council Member Kevin Toten. We have a seven member body as representing the City of Anna
[4:29] on the elected side. Mayor Pete Kane, Council Member Kevin Toten, Mayor Pro Tem Stan Carver,
[4:35] Council Member Jody Bills, Council Member Kelly Patterson-Herndon, Deputy Mayor Protome,
[4:40] Elden Baker, and Council Member Lee Miller.
[4:43] So these are your elected officials that serve as Council Members for the City of Anna.
[4:48] A couple of these individuals also serve as a Council Liaison to the Board and Commission.
[4:53] So what you'll find as serving on a Board and Commission, you have your staff liaison.
[4:58] We'll introduce the staff in a second.
[5:00] But you also have Council Liaisons.
[5:02] And the idea is that certain council members will come to your Board and Commission.
[5:07] They won't necessarily engage with the Board and Commission, but they'll be there to listen.
[5:12] They'll be there to answer any questions that you may have of the council, of the council's vision.
[5:17] Is the Board and Commission achieving what the council wants them to achieve, right?
[5:21] Or having the conversations and discussions that they want you to have.
[5:24] So we ask that you engage with your respective council member that serves as a Board and Commission liaison.
[5:32] And when you break off with your groups, they'll tell you who your council liaison member is
[5:39] and welcome you to have a relationship with them and kind of converse back and forth as to,
[5:45] if you feel that your board and your role in the board is meeting the needs of the council.
[5:53] So this is an organizational chart, and again, if you've done Neighbor Academy, this may
[5:56] be very familiar to you, but myself, city attorney, Clark McCoy, city secretary, Cary
[6:02] Land, and municipal court judge, Paul Liston, all have the pleasure of serving for the
[6:06] city council. We are appointed by the city council, and we serve the city council.
[6:13] The rest of this staff in this organization effectively reports up to me. So I'm in
[6:18] charge of the rest of the organization, the staff, but city attorney, city secretary,
[6:23] court judge, city manager all report directly to the mayor and the city council.
[6:29] So as you can see, this is just the breakup of the organization.
[6:34] We have two assistant city managers, Taylor Law, who is also a liaison to a board.
[6:41] And then assistant city manager Greg Peters, who if you are serving on the Plaining
[6:46] in Zoning Commission and the Parks Advisory Board, you'll get to meet Greg as he attends
[6:51] both those because Neighborhood Services, which is essentially our Parks Department
[6:56] report to Greg and the Department of Development Services, Planning Department report to Greg
[7:01] too.
[7:01] So you'll interact with him at those meetings as well.
[7:05] But essentially the, kind of put it in simple terms, our Assistant City Managers one
[7:10] oversees the internal services, the internal departments and one oversees the operational
[7:14] department, and then the budget manager, fire chief, police chief, and economic development
[7:19] director report directly to me. But this is the organizational chart. Again, you know,
[7:25] their positions and names, but hopefully over time you get to know them, you get to meet
[7:28] them, you get to develop a relationship with them, and certainly if they're your
[7:32] border commission staff liaison. So with that, we'll jump right into our staff
[7:37] liaisons for boarding commissions, and I'll ask our staff if you can just stand
[7:40] up or raise your hand. So we'll start with Planning and Zoning Commission. Development
[7:45] Services Director Stephanie Scott-Sams is in the back. That's Stephanie. And Planning
[7:50] Manager Lauren Mecky. So these are your two, these will be your two main contacts if you're
[7:54] serving on the Planning and Zoning Commission. They'll be the ones that will put together
[7:58] the agenda. They'll be the ones that present items. Again, you may see Greg Peters
[8:01] at some of these meetings, especially when it comes to infrastructure and engineering
[8:05] elements. But these are your main folks for Planning and Zoning Commission. And
[8:10] And then for Board of Adjustment, we have Nader Jerry. He's our building official. He
[8:14] works in under Stephanie Scott Sims and Development Services. Board of Adjustment meet very infrequently.
[8:20] But Nader will be the point of contact as variances come up or appeals for variances
[8:26] to our ordinances and building codes. Okay. Economic Development Corporation, Community
[8:31] Development Corporation. So Bernie Parker is our Economic Development Director. And
[8:36] Natasha Roach, our Economic Development Assistant Director, and Selena Tittle, our Economic
[8:41] Development Manager.
[8:42] So these are going to be your point of context if you serve on the EDC CDC board and get
[8:47] to know them, and again questions, concerns, comments, anything, go to them as staff liaisons
[8:54] to the boards.
[8:57] Okay, Neighbor Engagement Inclusion Advisory Commission, formerly known as our Diversity
[9:01] in Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Commission.
[9:05] Taylor Law, our Assistant City Manager,
[9:07] is the staff liaison to that board.
[9:11] Right now, she's just working solo as a solo liaison,
[9:14] but we'll have some staff,
[9:15] we'll introduce some staff to assist her on that board.
[9:18] And then Parks and Recreation Advisory Board,
[9:21] Mr. Mark Marchand, he's our Director
[9:22] of Neighborhood Services sitting in the back,
[9:25] and not here today, but you'll see him as well
[9:28] as Jeff Reath, he's our Assistant Director
[9:30] of Neighborhood Services.
[9:31] So you'll see both of those individuals work with both of those individuals if you're on
[9:35] our Parks and Recreation Advisory Board.
[9:39] We have a lot of great information online and I encourage all of you, if you have not
[9:43] been online on our website, to take a look at our website and take a look at some key
[9:48] documents that we have out there.
[9:50] Many of you know Kim Wynarski as she's the lead neighbor academy.
[9:53] She's probably actually one of the first staff members you interacted with as you
[9:57] came into being involved in the city.
[9:59] She puts together, helps put together monthly reports that come out of the city manager's
[10:03] office.
[10:04] They're all housed online.
[10:05] They're wonderful documents, easy to flip through, you electronically flip through, but it gives
[10:10] a really good detailed account of what we are doing organizationally in this city every
[10:14] single month.
[10:15] We've got key data, we've got key resources, key information as to how our departments
[10:22] are progressing, who are hiring, all of that.
[10:25] And it's just a really good, don't need to go back and look at all the ones
[10:29] over the past 12 months, but maybe take a look at the ones over the past couple of months
[10:32] just to get a really good sense and a feel for what we're doing as an organization, as
[10:37] a city. And it is a lot of information. There's a lot of great information in there. We are
[10:41] very, very busy. And so it's hard to capture all of that, but Kim does a great job. And
[10:48] we're happy to be able to share that with our community.
[10:52] Also we have some previous community survey results. We'll be doing a new survey in
[10:56] in the next year, but we'll have some past survey results that we've done over the past
[11:02] two, three years. It's just a good way of kind of getting a sense for what this community
[11:05] is desirous of, what this community wants. Some of that stuff we've gone out and we've
[11:10] done. Some of that stuff we're still working towards. But it's just a good, getting a
[11:14] good sense of, okay, what is this community that now I serve as a Board and Commission
[11:19] member? What does this community want? What are they seeking? And how can my
[11:22] Boarding Commission, maybe help with that.
[11:25] And then we just have some plans on our website, our comprehensive plan, our parks master
[11:31] plan.
[11:31] You'll be familiar, you'll get familiar with those, serving as a Boarding Commission member.
[11:35] Our downtown master plan, if you're on our EDCCDC board, those are documents that we've
[11:40] worked with a consultant and our council and our staff over the past three, four
[11:45] or five years.
[11:46] Documents that still hold up today, they're online and it's a great way of familiarizing
[11:50] yourself.
[11:50] 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?
[11:57] And then just some other documents on there could be some maybe dry reading, but but nonetheless important our city charter
[12:04] It's our city constitution. It talks about, you know, how we were incorporated what we what we uphold the laws that we hold
[12:12] ourselves to as an organization and as a city. Code of ordinances, those are rules and regulations
[12:18] that govern our city resolutions. Documents that have been approved by city council, agreements
[12:23] that have been approved by city council. Board bylaws, so how to act as a board, what is expected
[12:29] of you as a board member? Code of conduct. And then our governance guide. It's a guide that
[12:34] was put together by this city council about five years ago that just talked about, again,
[12:38] code of conduct, what we are expecting of elected officials, how elected officials are
[12:43] to interact with one another up at the dais, how Boarding Commission members, too, are
[12:47] to interact with one another up at the dais, kind of creating this collegiality and being
[12:54] cordial, right, being pleasant as Boarding Commission members, even when we're engaging
[12:58] on some maybe tough topics.
[13:01] And then these are our Boarding Commission.
[13:03] You know which Boarding Commission you serve on, but here are the other ones
[13:06] as we kind of ran through.
[13:07] They all serve a vital role.
[13:10] These are our Boarding Commissions today.
[13:12] They may increase in number in future years, but these are our Boarding Commissions today.
[13:17] And so again, thank you for serving in one of your capacities.
[13:22] Just also too, from time to time, we have kind of not necessarily a Boarding Commission,
[13:27] but we have other groups that get formed.
[13:29] We have City Task Force that work together that are put together sometimes to deal
[13:34] with a specific issue that doesn't necessarily need to go to a boarding commission. We have
[13:38] public workshops. I'll tell you right now, we actually have a joint task force that's
[13:43] working on an updated comprehensive plan. So if you're serving on our planning and
[13:46] zoning commission, you're going to be working with our city council on updating our comp
[13:51] plan. Very substantial. It's important. But that was a task force that was created
[13:57] to link our planning and zoning commission with our city council to work on, okay,
[14:03] how are we going to make changes to make our comprehensive plan more user-friendly, more
[14:08] developer-friendly, more community-friendly as we move forward in kind of clearing up
[14:12] some of the abstractions.
[14:16] Strategic projects and initiatives, again, we have our documents online, I encourage you
[14:21] to look at that, but I just want to emphasize that all of you really, as you've taken
[14:25] on this role as a Board and Commission member, are going to be a key member in those strategic
[14:32] projects and initiatives.
[14:33] They're linked together everything comes together. You know, I always I think of this as just we are one organizational team
[14:40] The staff our teammates with the city council board and commission members our teammates with the staff and with the city council
[14:46] I want you to think of that as as you're serving on this role that we're all here to
[14:52] represent our community
[14:54] Represent our neighbors and to help achieve those projects and initiatives that have been set out
[15:00] And before I kind of turn it over to Kerry Land and Clark McCoy to go over further information,
[15:08] I've been with the city for six years, not a huge time, not a long time, but long enough
[15:14] to have seen boards and commissions interact and to see what success looks like for a
[15:19] boarded commission. And I offer just two points of advice or two tips. As a boarded commission
[15:25] member, I encourage you not only just to be engaged and to show up to the meetings,
[15:28] But I encourage you to develop a relationship with the City Council.
[15:33] They're the ones that appointed you.
[15:35] They're the ones that interviewed you,
[15:37] that thought that you were going to bring something
[15:40] and you can bring something to our community
[15:42] by serving on a Board and Commission.
[15:45] So I just encourage you to have a relationship with the City Council.
[15:50] And have a relationship with your City Council liaison to your Board.
[15:55] Follow up with them.
[15:56] Ask them,
[15:57] Hey, is this board, am I as board member, is this board,
[16:00] are we doing what the city council wants?
[16:03] Are we on the right path?
[16:04] Are we aligned with the city council?
[16:07] Have those relationships.
[16:08] I think too often we take that for granted
[16:11] that our city council is here for you
[16:13] and they appointed you.
[16:16] You kind of almost work for them.
[16:17] You and I have something in common.
[16:19] We work for the city council.
[16:21] We're appointed by the city council.
[16:23] So have a relationship with them.
[16:25] Check in with them.
[16:26] And also develop a relationship with the staff liaison to your board.
[16:31] You know, we're here to help you, to help you meet the needs of this city council
[16:36] as you serve on a board of commission.
[16:38] But develop a relationship with our staff.
[16:41] They're the professionals.
[16:42] They've done this either in this organization or in another organization.
[16:45] As you get to know them, you'll see that they have a wealth of knowledge.
[16:48] Ask them questions.
[16:49] If you don't understand something, that's okay.
[16:51] Ask them.
[16:52] Ask our staff.
[16:53] I ask our staff all the time questions, right?
[16:55] because they have the institutional knowledge,
[16:58] they have the experience.
[16:59] So feel comfortable reaching out to them,
[17:02] emailing them, calling them,
[17:03] asking them questions about hey,
[17:05] how is this agenda put together and all of that.
[17:09] So just beyond just going to the meetings,
[17:12] be engaged with the staff liaisons
[17:15] and the council liaisons.
[17:16] And the other thing that I would just encourage you
[17:18] to think about is that nothing is too small.
[17:21] Nothing that you take on is too small.
[17:23] 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.
[17:34] Think about that as you do your role on a board of commission.
[17:38] Go to the meetings and you may say, well, this is a small item or this is a simple item.
[17:42] 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.
[17:52] There'll be an impact in this community.
[17:55] When you walk in, you see our emblem, and you see 1913.
[17:58] That's when we were incorporated as a city.
[18:00] 111 years ago.
[18:02] In those 111 years, somebody like you,
[18:05] somebody like me, somebody like our staff,
[18:07] did some, came into this organization,
[18:09] came into this community, and did something small.
[18:11] But that small, that little seed that they planted,
[18:13] has become big, right?
[18:16] Park's board thought that there should be a park
[18:18] up there, and call it Slater Creek Park.
[18:21] We'll look at what Slater Creek Park is today as an example, or the home that you live in,
[18:26] the land that you live on, had to be re-zoned at one point, while our Planning and Zoning
[18:30] Commission in the past did that, right?
[18:32] So just think about that.
[18:33] Think about those, even if you think that they're small, they're big, and they'll
[18:37] make an impact in the future, so take it seriously, your role, take the meeting
[18:42] seriously, show up and participate, and more important than anything, have fun.
[18:47] This is meant to also be fun.
[18:49] It's a commitment.
[18:50] It's an important commitment, but we want you to have fun, we want you to engage, and
[18:55] we want you to feel like you are helping build out this community.
[18:57] So, with that, I am also going to join our mayor, coffee with cops, but thank you very
[19:01] much for this time and have fun.
[19:03] Give
[19:40] me just a second, I'm still trying to figure out why this isn't working for me.
[19:56] Okay.
[19:58] Today we're going to talk about, we're going to define the boards and commissions,
[20:03] your roles and responsibilities, parliamentary procedures, training resources, and code of conduct and ethics.
[20:12] So we'll try to keep this as exciting as we can, but we'll keep it going here.
[20:22] Yes, ma'am. Is it not working? What is going on?
[20:42] It's going now. It was froze up.
[20:45] Okay,
[20:57] I think we're back on track.
[21:01] Boards are defined as a group of individuals appointed to help the mayor and council make
[21:06] sound decisions in the city.
[21:08] Boards help the city council gain a comprehensive understanding of community stakes and impacts.
[21:15] So your role is very important, as Ryan said.
[21:22] Advisory boards make recommendations to council and include the P&Z, Parks, Advisory,
[21:28] and the new board, any and I, which used to be diversity and inclusion.
[21:35] Sovereign boards have authority to make decisions and include boards of adjustments and the EDC-CDC.
[21:48] You are considered a city official.
[21:51] We'll treat you as such.
[21:53] The public will treat you as such.
[21:56] Before you begin to serve on your board and commission, you must complete the oath of office,
[22:01] agree to comply with the Code of Ethics and agree to complete all required training within 90 days,
[22:07] which will be March 14, 2025. If you've already completed that training, you do not have to do it again.
[22:20] The training includes the Texas Open Meetings Act, and those certificates should be completed
[22:27] completed and sent back to me within that date of March 14th.
[22:36] You must attend 75 percent of regularly scheduled meetings during the 12-month period or forfeiture
[22:42] position and you must live inside the city limits at all times and you must comply with
[22:48] the Code of Ethics.
[22:54] Required training includes the Texas Open Meetings Act and Public Information Act.
[22:59] The TOMA is a state law and must be followed by all boards and commissions.
[23:04] The law includes all meetings, must be open to the public,
[23:08] agendas posted 72 hours prior to meeting, and a quorum must be present.
[23:13] That's four members of a seven-member board is a quorum.
[23:20] Board member duties,
[23:23] I'm sorry, Public Information Act.
[23:24] The Public Information Act or PIA allows public inspection or copies of government documents.
[23:32] As a city official, you may be a temporary custodian of public records and responsible to maintain the records.
[23:39] This applies to emails, text messages, and other information on your personal devices.
[23:46] A good solution is to send any city-related items from your personal account to the city secretary's office.
[23:53] And Clark will go over this more in detail.
[24:00] Board member duties, you have a duty to display a level of decorum, as expected from all city officials.
[24:07] Board member duties include being part of the team, being prepared before the meeting, attend the meetings and participate.
[24:18] The liaison duties, staff liaisons will post the agenda in packets and monitors attendance.
[24:24] They do much more, but that's kind of what we've got outlined.
[24:29] Council liaison encouraged the boards to remain with the city mission.
[24:37] The relationship with staff, you are a representative of the city council and your relationship
[24:43] with city staff should be a team effort working collaboratively.
[24:47] Staff may not be directed to perform work that has not been authorized by council
[24:52] and everyone is to be professional, courteous, and listen to each other.
[25:00] Parliamentary procedures is the accepted rules for meetings.
[25:07] It allows orderly deliberation, and it allows the governing body to arrive to the majority's desired action.
[25:14] You can review the parliamentary procedures in the detailed handbook you've been provided
[25:20] or online under the Boards and Commissions training page.
[25:28] When making motions, oh, I'm sorry, decorum,
[25:31] the council chairperson has discussions, keeps discussions
[25:35] focused. Only one member may speak at a time and
[25:39] must do so at a volume that can be heard by other members and attendees
[25:43] of the meeting when using a microphone speak directly into
[25:47] the microphone. There shall be no side discussion
[25:51] motion or debate during the meeting and
[26:02] all members shall observe a business casual dress
[26:05] code.
[26:12] Now making motions.
[26:14] The main motion is to clearly state the desired action of the board member.
[26:19] An example is board member states, I move to approved and I table or take no action.
[26:26] A second by another board member to the motion is required.
[26:32] Motion to table must set a definite date for reconsideration.
[26:40] Motion to take no action. A majority vote is required.
[26:48] Electing board officers is done annually.
[26:51] All boards elect a chair, a vice chair, and a secretary.
[26:55] Please be sure to review that parliamentary procedure for the roles of each officer.
[27:02] They are defined before you volunteer or before you make your appointments.
[27:11] Meeting minutes are required for all meetings and are to give the subject of each item and the vote.
[27:18] They are not to be a transcript of every word.
[27:22] They must give subject of agenda, item, decision, or other action taken.
[27:30] Approved and signed minutes are sent to City Council for review monthly.
[27:40] Notice of quorum announcements.
[27:42] A notice of quorum announcement is used for celebratory events and ribbon-cutting
[27:47] when a quorum of the Board may be present.
[27:50] Remember, events must be open to the public.
[27:52] If this is not possible, a quorum must not be present.
[27:58] Any events you are aware of send that information to the city secretary's office as quickly as you possibly can,
[28:06] but absolutely no later than 72 hours prior to the meeting or the event.
[28:16] A few other things to know.
[28:18] An individual member may not act in an official capacity except through action of the board majority.
[28:24] A board may not create a joint committee with another board unless directed by a city
[28:29] council in a formal action.
[28:32] Boards may adopt special rules and procedure as needed.
[28:36] Those rules may not be secret and must be available to the public.
[28:43] Different perspectives.
[28:45] Board commission members are passionate and typically considered experts in their fields.
[28:50] Remember to consider other points of view and don't immediately dismiss suggestions
[28:55] and never confuse your personal agenda with that that is best for the whole city.
[29:04] Additional resources and training materials you'll find on our city website
[29:09] under boards and commissions resources.
[29:13] Some items will be the guide for members of ANAS Board and Commission's strategic plans,
[29:21] city success statement, the parliamentary procedures, conflicts resolution, and the city code of ordinances.
[29:35] General website resources, you can find your agendas and minutes on our city website,
[29:41] budget, charter, land use maps, capital improvement programs, economic development,
[29:50] parks capital improvement plan. All this information is there for you. If you
[29:56] cannot locate it, contact your staff liaison. They'll help you get there.
[30:00] And
[30:04] again, here's your contact information for your staff liaison.
[30:10] If they're not on there,
[30:11] you'll meet them and they'll give you their information.
[30:17] Code of conduct and ethical standards.
[30:19] Here's some high points. We want to be a transparent and impartial government. Decision making free
[30:26] from gifts, bribes, or intimidation. Public confidence in the use of government resources.
[30:33] public faith in the fair administration of their city.
[30:36] 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.
[30:48] Any questions so far?
[30:52] Okay.
[30:55] We're going to talk about Civic Clerk, you're going to hear Civic Clerk a lot.
[30:59] It is our gender management software.
[31:01] You will each use the software for voting.
[31:05] We'll do what's called a live vote at the meetings from here on out and we're
[31:10] going to start that in January. I am going to send you an email on Monday to
[31:17] set up your password in Civic Clerk and it does time out so if your email times
[31:24] out just shoot me another email and I'll resend it to you but you will
[31:29] need to go in set up a password and try logging in make sure everything
[31:37] This is the link to get to the boards portal where you will see the meeting agendas, packets, and minutes.
[31:49] You will go in and you will click Agenda Review.
[31:54] You can select your meetings and view the agenda and business packet.
[31:59] You're also able to make notes in the software that can only be seen by you, so they are confidential.
[32:10] And the biggest help I can give you is the Help Center.
[32:15] This is for training videos and information,
[32:19] and you can visit that at any time in the top right drop-down menu.
[32:28] Joining the meeting and roll call.
[32:30] To join the current meeting, you will select joint meeting,
[32:33] join meeting and present voting, present voting,
[32:37] and be sure you select save.
[32:40] Sometimes we forget to select save,
[32:42] and you're not actually joined.
[32:48] Voting, once voting is initialized,
[32:51] you will select yes or no and save.
[32:55] Your vote will be visible on the overhead screen
[32:57] once all votes have been cast.
[33:01] Signing in and voting is as easy as that.
[33:04] Any questions on that?
[33:09] We will make it even easier.
[33:11] We're going to have cheat sheets available for you
[33:13] up here at the Dias,
[33:14] so you can reference that
[33:17] and not have to memorize it right this minute.
[33:25] Any questions on anything right now?
[33:28] Okay, yes ma'am.
[33:32] Yes, the last page in your blue binder.
[33:35] Not everybody got a folder.
[33:36] That folder is for the newly appointed,
[33:40] but we will have the sheets laminated
[33:42] and nice and pretty at the board, at the diast.
[33:54] Yes, you will.
[33:59] That's correct.
[34:01] And you have to have your password to join the meeting.
[34:05] So however you can remember it, select something you can remember.
[34:10] Or you won't be able to vote at the meeting.
[34:13] And we'll massage through any issues we have going forward.
[34:23] Okay, we're going to take a quick 10 minute break.
[34:26] Let y'all get up, stretch your legs.
[34:28] Restrooms are down the hall here.
[34:30] We have refreshments that Kim has wonderfully went and picked up for everybody.
[34:37] and you can kind of mingle and get to meet people,
[34:39] and then later on we will separate out into the different boards and commissions
[34:43] and go to separate rooms so that you can meet your liaisons and get to know each other.
[34:50] Thank you. We'll be back in 10 minutes.
[35:02] It started. We're going to get back going, so we keep everybody on time.
[35:08] I know there's the Christmas Parade tonight to get us going.
[35:19] I'd like to introduce our city attorney, Clark McCoy.
[35:22] He's going to go over and give you the legal advisory and go into detail and ethics and conflicts of interest.
[35:56] Good morning.
[36:00] I'm Clark McCoy, and I'm the city attorney, and this is the legal advisory.
[36:07] First, congratulations to everyone on your appointments, and thank you for your service to the city of Anna.
[36:13] I'm
[36:19] just going to start off with a discussion about the general structure, the legal structure
[36:24] of the city.
[36:26] The city has a home rule charter.
[36:29] Like most cities in Texas, there are over 5,000 in population.
[36:33] The voters adopted a charter that essentially acts like a constitution.
[36:40] It's the legal framework for how the city operates, how things get done, how business
[36:46] is conducted. There's a lot of rules. It's detailed and there's some prohibitions. We're
[36:54] going to be going over some of those today in this presentation. The Charter has got
[37:00] the full effect of law, just like a city ordinance. The big difference is the council
[37:09] council adopts ordinances. But the charter is adopted by the voters. The council does
[37:16] some work along with staff putting together charter provisions. There's outreach to the
[37:22] community. There's a charter commission of the community that gets appointed to go over
[37:27] the charter every few years and make suggestions for changes. But none of those changes
[37:33] ever get adopted unless there's an election and all of the city's voters
[37:39] get an opportunity to accept or reject those changes.
[37:51] Anna has what's called the
[37:53] council manager form of government, composed of city manager Ryan Henderson
[38:00] who spoke earlier and the city council. The council adopts policies through
[38:09] ordinances, resolutions, and other actions that they take up here on the Dias.
[38:18] The City Manager executes those policies, and there's a chain of command.
[38:25] Council members form the overarching direction, goals, policies of the City of Anna, and
[38:37] And staff, under the city manager, executes those policies,
[38:44] and there's a clear division
[38:45] there.
[38:47] So the city manager, Henderson, does not have the authority to adopt the city's policies,
[38:57] and the council really doesn't have the authority to execute those policies.
[39:04] keep that division, counsel, adoption policies, but they don't reach down into the departments.
[39:14] The city has departments that are staffed by employees and there's a chain of command.
[39:19] And that chain of command goes up through workers, to managers, supervisors, department heads,
[39:26] and ultimately the city manager who makes employment decisions
[39:30] And other decisions that have to do with executing city policy and day-to-day operations of the city.
[39:37] Council members don't delve into that.
[39:40] That's a chain of command that goes up and ends with the city manager,
[39:44] and the city manager reports to the council.
[39:47] It's a good concept.
[39:50] It's important to understand that concept as the city official.
[39:55] Now that you've been appointed to serve on a board or a commission, the same sort of
[40:00] concept applies to you.
[40:03] So while you will have some discussions with some city employees, there are some rules
[40:15] and some prohibitions that we want to.
[40:24] We are going to start with the ethics code.
[40:29] This is Article 2.07 in the city code.
[40:32] The city code, by the way, it's online, you go to the city's website, you can navigate
[40:38] to the code of ordinances.
[40:40] If you ever need to reference the ethics code, it's there and it's available in full.
[40:48] We're going to go over some of the highlights.
[40:55] The first rule is as a city official, as a board or commission member,
[40:59] you cannot represent private interests before your board.
[41:03] 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.
[41:19] Confidential information is critical, especially for members of the development corporations, but also other boards on occasion.
[41:33] Development corporations are privy to confidential information on a regular basis in the course
[41:43] of their duties in evaluating business deals, economic development,
[41:53] folks that are proposing
[41:54] development to the city.
[41:59] sometimes they have that confidential information, they get supplied with before the city council does.
[42:07] It just depends on where the information is coming from and who's presenting that.
[42:15] It's critical that two things, that nobody uses their city position to get confidential information
[42:24] that they're not entitled to or that they don't need to execute their duties as a city official.
[42:31] If it goes beyond your need to know in order to do your job as a city official,
[42:37] then you shouldn't be asking for that information, you shouldn't be accessing it.
[42:43] Once you do have confidential information you gained through your duties as a city official,
[42:50] you cannot disclose that confidential information.
[42:53] And that's essentially any information
[42:55] that the general public does not have.
[42:57] And you have only because you've received it
[42:59] only because of your duties as a city official.
[43:04] As a practical matter, disclosing confidential information
[43:07] can have a lot of negative impacts,
[43:11] especially when it comes to business
[43:15] and development decisions
[43:18] that the city is trying to negotiate and it's not public information, it needs to stay private.
[43:29] Public property and resources of the city is exclusively for the purposes of the municipality
[43:41] and public purposes, but not private purposes, not for your own purposes.
[43:47] So, anything, any public resources, employees,
[43:54] property that's owned by the city can only
[43:58] be used for city purposes.
[44:06] Interaction with city staff, so you are going to act, you're going to interact with city
[44:12] staff from time to time, but normally it's limited to, typically it's the department
[44:19] head that is the employee liaison to your board or commission and again you
[44:26] want to avoid reaching beyond that. Under the ethics code the general rule is
[44:33] that city officials are not to have contact with city employees especially
[44:38] when it comes to city business. So you don't want to be reaching into a
[44:43] department talking to employees directing them to do things or not do
[44:48] things, trying to execute. You need to stay back in the policy position, and if you have
[44:55] to ask questions, if you need information, you go to the department head.
[45:00] For any reason, that's not available to city manager. So you want to keep those communications
[45:04] at a high level. There would be times, possibly, that a city manager might direct you to someone
[45:10] else to get information that you need. But you need to go through that process and stay
[45:15] with that chain of command and don't do it without their permission.
[45:26] There are exceptions
[45:27] in terms of communications with city employees. If you have advanced written permission from
[45:32] the city manager. Then you can communicate with the city employee during
[45:41] a public meeting.
[45:42] If you're sitting on a board or commission, of course the city employee may be at the
[45:48] podium presenting information to you and you can ask them questions and interact with
[45:53] them in a public meeting. If there are social or community events that you're attending,
[46:00] You can exchange pleasantries, you can get information,
[46:05] coffee with cops, be an example.
[46:08] You're going to be talking to the community in general,
[46:11] and you're not prohibited from being there and participating.
[46:17] And other examples include contacts with city staff
[46:21] that you would normally have just as a citizen.
[46:23] You come into the city hall, you pay your water bill, that sort of thing.
[46:26] But when it comes to your charge, your duties as a city official and the business that you're
[46:34] dealing with, again, you want to keep those communications at the high level.
[46:41] Not try to influence any city employees.
[46:53] A number of years ago, the council extended their harassment policy to include boards
[47:01] and commissions and that essentially includes harassment in general, sexual harassment,
[47:12] any act of violence or bullying in the workplace. So all of those provisions that are in the
[47:19] personnel manual do apply to board and commission members. Yes.
[47:29] Yes, I'm sorry. Is that better?
[47:30] Again,
[47:37] just be familiar with that set of policies as far as harassment and violence in the workplace.
[47:47] Kerry's got that, and I believe that may be in the general packet that is provided to Board and Commission members.
[47:57] We're going to move to state law conflicts of interest and start with Chapter 176, which pertains to vendors.
[48:09] Vendors being businesses or individuals who have contracts with or provide goods or services
[48:18] to the city or they're seeking to provide goods or services to the city.
[48:26] If you have a business relationship with anybody who's a vendor for the city,
[48:32] then you have to make a conflict disclosure statement in writing.
[48:37] That gets filed with Kerry's office, the city secretary, and it gets published on the website.
[48:44] The deadline to file that is seven business days after you become aware that you have a conflict,
[48:52] and both the city official and the vendor have to file a statement.
[49:01] That doesn't require you, though, to recuse from the matter.
[49:05] you can still participate. You can still vote. Let's just say, for example, it's your employer
[49:13] and they have a contract with the city. They also employ you. That would rise to the level
[49:20] of a 176 conflict. You'd have to file an affidavit, but when that employer, when your
[49:27] employer is here dealing with the city and the city council or your board is going
[49:32] to vote on whatever matter they have before the city, you can still participate, you can
[49:38] discuss it, you can vote.
[49:42] However, if you fail to timely file an affidavit,
[49:48] when you have
[49:49] some kind of relationship with a vendor, whether it be business or family, or you've
[49:55] received gifts from a vendor,
[50:01] and you don't timely file
[50:06] affidavit, there can be hefty
[50:11] fines up to $4,000, removal from office, and even jail time.
[50:19] So if you've got a business relationship or a family
[50:22] relationship with anybody who's got business before the city,
[50:30] if you have any doubts about that whatsoever,
[50:32] contact Kerry or Ryan or myself as soon as you possibly can.
[50:39] Don't wait.
[50:39] Don't wait until the date of the meeting.
[50:41] don't wait until seven days have gone by, do it as soon as you know because
[50:47] sometimes there will be additional elements that we have to address or
[50:50] advise you on. Sometimes it turns out you don't actually have a conflict, but
[50:55] we we have to run those down and the more time we have to do that the better
[51:02] so that we're less likely to miss something in the process. Yes,
[51:15] yes it's
[51:16] published on the website, on the city's website.
[51:23] Not unless somebody just chooses to mention
[51:25] it.
[51:30] They could find it on the city's website. They could make a public information request.
[51:36] And we're going to talk about public information requests as well.
[51:54] Moving to chapter 171, the
[51:57] local government code. This is also a state law conflict of interest. But this is
[52:04] somewhat different. This is if you have a special economic interest in the subject
[52:14] matter or decision that's before a councilor board. And if you have a
[52:24] special economic interest, which is essentially for a business you own 10% or
[52:31] the voting stock or shares, or 10% or more, or 15,000 or more of the fair market value
[52:37] of the company. Or if you receive an excess of 10% of your gross annual income over the
[52:45] previous year from that company, then you would have a special, you would have a business
[52:52] interest, a substantial interest in a business. Or if you own a real property in a value
[53:00] of more than $2,500 and that real property is the subject of the decision by the city
[53:09] or a board or your real property would be, the value would be influenced by a decision
[53:16] involving some other property or some other decision being made by the city, you would
[53:21] also have a substantial interest in real property.
[53:24] If you have a substantial interest in business entity or real property, then you'll have
[53:31] to decide whether the decision that's being made with respect to that property or that
[53:38] business has a special economic effect or it could have a special economic effect
[53:44] that could change the value or interest that you have, whether it might increase or decrease
[53:51] that interest.
[53:51] If those elements are present, then you have to file an affidavit.
[53:56] It's a little bit different than the disclosure state when we talked about chapter 176.
[54:02] But you would have to file an affidavit, and in this case, under 171, you would have to recuse yourself.
[54:10] So when the matter would come up, you would, generally speaking, stand,
[54:17] announced that you have a Chapter 171 conflict and then leave the room while
[54:23] that item is being addressed by the council or your commission. So in that
[54:30] instance it is announced as opposed to the Chapter 176 situation.
[54:39] And again, that
[54:40] has to be done quickly. Don't wait. Don't delay. Get with one of us as soon as
[54:46] Or if you even think you have any reason to doubt that you might have a conflict, take
[54:55] care of that early so that we have enough time to give you good advice on what your
[55:01] next steps would be.
[55:09] Same sort of penalties apply for failure to file an affidavit and it includes potential
[55:19] jail time and
[55:26] fines.
[55:27] and fines.
[55:39] We talked about state law conflicts of interest, there are also conflicts of interest contained
[55:44] in the city charter.
[55:48] As a city official, you cannot have any financial interest in a contract with the city or have
[55:54] business dealings with the city, direct or indirect.
[55:58] direct.
[56:01] If you have a conflict, you have to openly declare it. You have to not participate
[56:09] in the discussion and not vote on that item.
[56:18] Gifts under state law cannot accept any gift
[56:23] if it's going to have some type of influence on your decision making as a city official.
[56:32] And that's any type of benefit.
[56:38] A gift includes accepting employment.
[56:43] It includes any kind of tangible property or intangible value or benefit.
[56:54] Under the charter, you cannot accept any gift, service, favor.
[57:01] Again, employment, personal investments.
[57:05] You really have to avoid accepting anything of value at all while you're a city official.
[57:13] There are some exceptions.
[57:15] You can attend social functions, groundbreaking, exchange gifts with family relatives.
[57:23] You can receive campaign contributions if you're running for office.
[57:27] You can exchange gifts at church functions or receive a bonus from your full or part-time
[57:34] employer.
[57:35] But beyond that, under state law and the Charter, you are required to avoid accepting any gifts.
[57:46] Penalties, again, removal from office under the Charter, and if it's a violation of
[57:53] state law, there could be hefty fines.
[57:58] Beyond the scope of this are what may seem kind of obvious in terms of criminal violations, bribery,
[58:06] perjury, corrupt influence, obstructing government. Those are chapters in the penal code. You can
[58:13] look those up online and become familiar with them, but essentially those are crimes of moral
[58:18] that involved disonesty and
[58:27] governmental malfeasance.
[58:35] Questions on ethics, conflicts or gifts.
[58:50] Kerry covered some of this as far as the Open Meetings Act.
[58:57] This is really all about transparency.
[59:00] The public has the right to know how the government is working.
[59:05] It wasn't always like that.
[59:07] The Open Meetings Act was something that evolved over time.
[59:12] It's been amended many times, and the legislature is very focused on requiring local government
[59:21] and local government entities to act transparently to try to facilitate faith
[59:32] and good relations with the public and their public institutions.
[59:39] 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.
[59:50] Generally speaking, the Act requires 72 hours notice.
[1:00:00] Making the subject matter of that agenda, the date, time, and place, where that meeting
[1:00:04] will take place. And if you don't have that duly noticed public meeting notice, then you
[1:00:10] cannot meet in numbers of more than a quorum. Quorum typically is going to be four persons.
[1:00:19] If you've got a seven-member board, it's just a majority. A simple majority of the
[1:00:23] board members is a quorum. Once you're meeting in groups of a quorum or more, that is a meeting
[1:00:31] under the Open Meetings Act. It's defined as a meeting. It's characterized by deliberation,
[1:00:37] debate, discussion on public business.
[1:00:43] But it can also happen outside of a meeting.
[1:00:49] And that's what it's sometimes referred to as a walking quorum.
[1:00:55] First, some exceptions
[1:00:56] where a quorum of the governing body or Board of Commission can meet is social functions,
[1:01:08] regional state conventions, ceremonial events, press conference.
[1:01:15] But that's only if no formal action is taken in any discussion about city business
[1:01:21] or your board or commission's business is incidental to whatever event you may be attending.
[1:01:30] The walking quorum can happen when there's a so-called daisy chain situation.
[1:01:39] There's not a quorum necessarily, together, physically in one place.
[1:01:44] A council member or a city official could speak with another official about city business
[1:01:50] or some item that's going to be coming up and one of those individuals could then email
[1:01:56] a third individual, that individual could pick up the phone and call a fourth individual
[1:02:01] on that board or commission and then you possibly have a walking quorum and that's a violation
[1:02:09] of the Open Meetings Act that can also result in prosecution, fines and jail time.
[1:02:20] 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.
[1:02:32] 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.
[1:02:45] And
[1:03:05] these are the penalties that can result in fines, jail time, and I find these provisions
[1:03:15] somewhat interesting that if there's a jail sentence, it has to be not less than a month.
[1:03:23] So if somebody is convicted of a violation of the Open Meetings Act, they are going
[1:03:27] to prison for at least a month.
[1:03:31] The judge doesn't have discretion.
[1:03:32] It's not like the judge could find it.
[1:03:35] Well, the violation wasn't that blatant, so I'm going to commute the sentence.
[1:03:39] That's not how it works.
[1:03:40] So take it seriously.
[1:03:42] It's important to make sure that you're abiding by these state statutes.
[1:03:54] Any questions about the Open Meetings Act?
[1:04:05] Last but not least, the Public Information Act.
[1:04:10] I didn't use to say much about this at these orientation settings
[1:04:14] is because in the past, the Public Information Act is really something that city staff deals
[1:04:20] with. And they still do on an ongoing operational basis. There's a lot to it. It's very complex.
[1:04:29] You have the Public Information Act itself, which gets into a lot of detail about what's
[1:04:35] confidential, what must be disclosed if somebody requests information, what must be with
[1:04:41] held, but it's not just the act itself.
[1:04:46] Texas statutes are riddled with outside references
[1:04:51] to information that may or may not be public under the act. And so we spend a lot of time
[1:05:00] with staff, Carey's office sorting through all of those things. And it used to be that
[1:05:08] city officials didn't even really need to have training under the Public Information
[1:05:12] Act, but they amended it a few years back so that now you are potentially what they
[1:05:21] call a temporary custodian.
[1:05:25] If you have information that involves city business, your board or commission, and that
[1:05:32] could be an email from a citizen talking about city business, asking you questions
[1:05:38] about what's going on with your board or commission
[1:05:41] or an item that's coming up at a meeting.
[1:05:45] That's public information,
[1:05:46] and it doesn't matter where it resides.
[1:05:49] Whether it's on your phone, your personal phone,
[1:05:54] or your city email address if you have one,
[1:05:58] or your home computer,
[1:05:59] or another device that you have control over.
[1:06:03] If you have it, you're a temporary custodian,
[1:06:06] which makes you subject to all of the rules that Carrie and I normally have to deal with,
[1:06:13] sort through, and worry about in handling public information requests.
[1:06:19] And there are document retention schedules, deadlines, time periods within which we have to preserve materials.
[1:06:32] If you're a temporary custodian, you suddenly have to abide by all of those rules and regulations.
[1:06:39] And there's stiff penalties for failing to do so.
[1:06:44] So it's not easy to navigate that.
[1:06:52] It's a lot better to avoid becoming a temporary custodian.
[1:06:57] And I think the best way to do that is to send information to the city, whatever it
[1:07:04] may be, on a regular basis, then you're no longer the custodian.
[1:07:10] So if you get an email from somebody and it discusses city business, if you have your
[1:07:17] own city email address, just forward it to that address, now it's on the city servers
[1:07:23] and somebody else is the custodian because you're no longer the exclusive person who
[1:07:29] possesses it.
[1:07:33] If you don't have a city email address I think Kerry has or can set up a kind
[1:07:40] of a generic email address that is sort of a repository that you can send information,
[1:07:47] information, email, even text messages are included as far as public information is concerned.
[1:07:55] So if you have a neighbor and they've got an issue before you're bored and they text
[1:07:59] you at some point, ask questions about it or want you to get information, that text
[1:08:04] message itself is public information and parts or all of that might have to be disclosed
[1:08:13] to an individual requesting that information.
[1:08:15] Part of the reason why they changed the law
[1:08:17] is because there was too much out there
[1:08:20] that the city couldn't have access to,
[1:08:23] couldn't even know necessarily existed.
[1:08:27] And so that's why they transferred that responsibility
[1:08:31] onto individual, whether it be employees,
[1:08:36] city official, board, commission members.
[1:08:41] You now have that extra responsibility
[1:08:43] under the Public Information Act.
[1:08:45] So we strongly urge that you forward that information
[1:08:49] to the city in some form or fashion,
[1:08:52] and then you can walk away from that responsibility
[1:08:55] as being a temporary custodian.
[1:08:58] Yes.
[1:09:10] Yes, it is public information.
[1:09:12] Public information is really anything
[1:09:17] that involves city business
[1:09:21] and that the city has in writing.
[1:09:26] So social media would count.
[1:09:29] It's a written record.
[1:09:31] If it's spoken words that have not been recorded,
[1:09:35] that is not public information.
[1:09:38] It has to be in some shape or manner,
[1:09:40] either in writing or recorded on some kind of media.
[1:09:45] So a recording, an audio recording, video recording,
[1:09:48] that is public information.
[1:09:52] There's a series of exceptions that allow cities to withhold
[1:09:56] or require cities to withhold certain information that would otherwise be public. That's a big
[1:10:02] part of what we do is we assess when we get an information request to the extent there's
[1:10:09] content in those documents that must be withheld. So it's very common that we will
[1:10:16] be disclosing information, but sometimes it's redacted, parts of it are confidential, parts
[1:10:21] of it. We can't disclose people's driver's license. We can't disclose people's social
[1:10:27] security numbers. But there's hundreds of different exceptions that we have to keep
[1:10:34] up with. If you transfer information to the city, so now the city has an exact duplicate
[1:10:43] or whatever that is. Don't alter it. Don't do it partially because then you're altering
[1:10:49] a record. Send the whole thing. And then you've discharged your duty.
[1:11:03] Correct.
[1:11:10] That's
[1:11:11] a good example and it's a wise policy is to make sure somewhere or another it's getting
[1:11:18] into the city's files.
[1:11:25] Questions on Public Information Act or any other topics?
[1:11:34] Okay.
[1:11:35] Thank you very much for your time. Yes.
[1:11:42] If it's what?
[1:11:56] If you have concerns or questions
[1:11:59] or a citizen?
[1:12:02] Oh, okay.
[1:12:05] Yeah. Carrie would probably be the person that you would refer
[1:12:12] that too. If someone's just got a question, hey, how does this operate? When do these
[1:12:18] people meet? What's the normal procedure for whatever it may be?
[1:12:25] You can refer them to
[1:12:27] the city secretary. If it's something really specific toward your board or commission, then
[1:12:33] you might refer them to your liaison, your council liaison, or your department head
[1:12:39] liaison. But generally speaking, Kerry's office handles the flow of information and provides
[1:12:50] information when requested.
[1:12:57] Rule of thumb is,
[1:13:00] as a city official, it's usually better to
[1:13:05] make folks understand that you're only one voice or only one vote and that you're not
[1:13:13] speaking for the city in general and you're not providing
[1:13:19] 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
[1:13:28] Go talk to the city secretary or the city manager
[1:13:37] questions
[1:13:40] Concerns
[1:13:59] I know that was a lot of information that y'all have taken in today
[1:14:04] We have this beautiful new handbook
[1:14:08] that I'd like to introduce Kimberly Warnarski,
[1:14:11] and she's gonna go through this book
[1:14:13] since she put it together,
[1:14:14] and this is gonna be a great resource and tool for you.
[1:14:24] So just briefly, over the past five years,
[1:14:27] I'm sure y'all are aware
[1:14:28] that the city has grown quite a bit.
[1:14:31] With that, our boards and commissions
[1:14:32] have gone from a process in which you learn a lot
[1:14:35] because there are so few of you
[1:14:37] that you know the council, that you interact with them
[1:14:40] to something that's, you know,
[1:14:41] with so many more people, so many more boards,
[1:14:44] so many more action items that are going
[1:14:46] through the different boards that,
[1:14:47] there's a lot more information that you have to know.
[1:14:50] So in 2021, we created the Boards and Commissions Orientation.
[1:14:54] In the same year, we created Neighbor Academy,
[1:14:57] which is one of the,
[1:15:00] One way to get involved and learn a little bit more about the city as a whole.
[1:15:04] This year we added in a boards and commissions handbook because we know that being a boards
[1:15:09] and commissions member, we're giving you a lot of information, we're giving you a lot
[1:15:12] of resources. We're trying to put it all in one place so that you have what you need
[1:15:17] to refer to if you've got questions, if you've got general ideas, things like that
[1:15:25] to review and look through.
[1:15:27] So this is our first iteration of the handbook.
[1:15:30] It's broken into four parts.
[1:15:32] Parts one and two.
[1:15:33] One is on city information.
[1:15:34] So if you want to know a little bit more
[1:15:36] about the structure of the departments,
[1:15:40] what each department is responsible for,
[1:15:42] where the city puts out information.
[1:15:45] Sometimes we'll get boards and commission members
[1:15:46] who'll say, hey, I've never heard about that.
[1:15:48] And so I want to have all those things in one place.
[1:15:50] Where can you find that information?
[1:15:53] The second part is just a little bit of community information, so a little bit on some of our
[1:15:58] big community partners like TechSoc, Collin County, the school district, what they're
[1:16:02] responsible for, what the city's responsible for.
[1:16:05] Sometimes we'll get people coming in and say, hey, is this, you know, the city should
[1:16:08] do something?
[1:16:09] It's like, well, that's not necessarily within our jurisdiction.
[1:16:12] So it also gives you a little bit of information on, you know, some general community culture
[1:16:17] and events as well as background information on some demographics of the city population.
[1:16:26] The second and third or the third and fourth parts, excuse me,
[1:16:28] of this handbook are most relevant, but every part is something that,
[1:16:32] as a boards and commission member, something that you should know.
[1:16:35] But part three is general background information on our boards and commissions,
[1:16:40] so what each board and commission is charged with,
[1:16:44] with, what all the positions on a board do specifically, so whether it's the chair, the
[1:16:49] vice chair, potentially the secretary, the staff and the council liaison written out,
[1:16:55] broken down, talking about the intention of the minutes, the agendas, speaks a little
[1:17:01] bit about whether meetings are recorded and kind of why all these things are the way
[1:17:06] that they are.
[1:17:07] And then the last part of it is the Code of Conduct, and so there are a lot of
[1:17:11] different places where you can get information on how you are theoretically supposed to act
[1:17:15] as a Board of Commission member, so whether it's our Code of Ethics, whether it's our,
[1:17:20] you know, reference in our city charter, either a couple parts of our employee handbook that
[1:17:24] tie in, put as much of that information and reference it as we could in this handbook
[1:17:30] so that it's all in one place. It's not something you have to necessarily go
[1:17:33] and search, but it's there for you so that you understand, you know, okay. This
[1:17:39] This is my kind of one-stop shop in this document for understanding kind of the role of a Board
[1:17:46] and Commission member, all the important stuff.
[1:17:49] If you've got any questions about it, you know, feel free to let us know.
[1:17:54] But please take some time, read this, look through it, understand it.
[1:17:59] As a Board and Commission member, you are a public official, you are a leader in
[1:18:04] the community, and you should be one of the most informed neighbors going into your service.
[1:18:10] So take this document as a resource and a great platform for being able to do that.
[1:18:17] With that being said, I believe we're breaking out into the different boards and commissions
[1:18:21] now.
[1:18:23] So I will have the different liaisons if you could stand up and then kind of migrate
[1:18:31] together.
[1:18:32] Stephanie Scott Sims is in the back, so if you will, if you're with planning and zoning,
[1:18:37] if you will head, are you taking board of adjustments too?
[1:18:42] Got it.
[1:18:43] All right, so if you are, board of adjustments are planning and zoning, make note, Stephanie
[1:18:48] is this way, you'll be staying in this room.
[1:18:51] Mark Marshawn is back in the corner over there.
[1:18:55] Mark, do you know what room you're headed to?
[1:18:59] Got it.
[1:19:01] Sounds good. If you are in Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, if you'll meet Mark by the
[1:19:05] door over here. Bernie, hello. Alright, so if you are in Economic Development, the EDCCDC
[1:19:14] boards, if you'll meet Bernie right there. If you are in Neighbor Engagement and Inclusion,
[1:19:20] if you'll meet Taylor and you'll head that way, I don't think I'm forgetting anyone.
[1:19:34] Alright, thank you all so much.
[1:19:35] Real
[1:19:40] quick, if you did not sign in this morning, please come do so so you get credit for attending.
[1:19:45] Thank you. Y'all have a great day.