From: Bruce England
Sent: Monday, November 21, 2022 11:51 AM
To: Ramirez, Lucas; Hicks, Alison; Kamei, Ellen
Cc: Wong, Wanda; Glaser, Heather; Bruce England
Subject: Bruce England on 11/21 Council Appointments Review Committee meeting CAUTION: EXTERNAL EMAIL - Ensure you trust this email before clicking on any links or attachments.
Dear members of the City of Mountain View Council Appointments Review Committee:
As a resident of Mountain View who attends many advisory body meetings, in part on behalf of community groups Mountain View Coalition for Sustainable Planning (MVCSP), GreenSpacesMV, and the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition Mountain View team, and also as an interested member of the community in general and as one who served for about nine years on the Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee (B/PAC), I ask that, as you interview and consider the applicants on the table for advisory body appointment or reappointment, you strongly consider that following:
• That any appointees should be as responsive as possible to public input through their role in advisory body proceedings and processes. This can mean putting aside personal priorities and preferences as needed. • That any appointees should understand that the Brown Act requirements allow some flexibility around how advisory body members can respond to public input during meetings. I've found this is inconsistent across the bodies, and it can lead to unnecessary lack of responses when they might be entirely appropriate and allowable.
One key distinction, of course, is whether an item under discussion in on the current agenda or not.
Nonetheless, even under these circumstances, a body member can request that an unagendized matter raised earlier by a member of the public be considered for a future body meeting, for which it could be agendized. I allow that how stringent these rules are exercised can be somewhat subjective; count me as one who wishes to see as loose a hand on the reins as possible around this.
That any appointees exercise oversight over the full scope of what the body addresses. For example, the B/PAC is tasked with advising on both pedestrian and bicycle matters. Through my experience with the B/PAC over time, I've seen a number of instances where decisions affecting pedestrian needs were given lower priority over those for bicyclists. It was such a decision, in fact, that led me to seek appointment to B/PAC myself at the time l did.
• All of the above in the interest of demonstrating to the public as clearly as possible that they are being heard on an ongoing basis, that they are active participants in what drives our city forward, and that the city adequately reflects the interests and values of those who live and do business here.
Incidentally, the external roster currently lists for the appointments committee Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Former Mayor.
Why not list the names, as is done for other Council committees? This was the case in published rosters for 2021.
Thanks for your consideration,
Bruce England
328 Whisman Station Drive
Mountain View, CA 94043
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