HUNTINGTON BEACH : Closer Council Ties to Advisers Urged
Communication is muddled between the City Council and its various advisory boards and commissions, a blue ribbon committee warned Monday.
Council members indicated they plan to appoint a committee to help solve the problem.
The blue-ribbon committee, which studied the situation for nine months, said Mayor Wes Bannister should meet regularly with each board, should hold quarterly round-table meetings with the leaders and should hold annual banquets to honor them all.
Some board members “feel you’re so far removed from them, you are the untouchables,” committee member Noble Waite told the council. Waite was a councilman from 1958 to 1962.
The committee also suggested eliminating the youth board, which it found largely ineffective. Council members agreed to study the idea.
Advisory boards and commissions are designed to help guide the council on issues ranging from historic preservation to arts to transportation. After a January meeting at which council members agreed they were displeased with their relationship with these boards, Bannister called for the blue-ribbon committee, composed of former council members Ron Shenkman, Norma Gibbs, Waite and Ruth Finley.
Another committee will be named to implement the recommendations by June.
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