ANAHEIM : Council to Consider a Smaller Budget Panel

The city’s 10-member Budget Advisory Commission will be reduced by three members if a proposal to the City Council is approved later this month.

It has not been determined how the membership reduction will be done, but a report from City Atty. Jack L. White suggests two methods.

One is to remove three current members and designate the terms of the remaining seven members so they would expire on alternate years. The second approach is to vacate all seats on the commission and reconstitute it with seven new appointments, some or all of whom may be current members.

Council members called for cutting the commission last month to bring it down to the size of other city commissions, which have between five and seven members.

Mayor Tom Daly said there is currently one vacancy on the commission and two other members have indicated that they want to step down. He said he expects all current members to be reappointed.

The city’s ordinance governing the commission requires that at least five of the 10 commission members be residents of the city.

White’s proposal suggests that four of the seven members be residents of Anaheim. Three of the commission’s 10 current members are not city residents.

The proposal will be brought back to the council for consideration next week, when any changes can be made by council members.

The proposed reduction of the budget commission comes at the same time the city is forming an Investment Review Commission, which will monitor the city’s $874-million investment portfolio.

The two group’s will operate separately, and the new investment commission will be composed of financial experts who live in the city.