CITY OF PACIFICA
COUNCIL AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT
8/28/2023
1 SUBJECT:
Appointment of Members to the Library Advisory Committee RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Move to:
(1) appoint a minimum of seven (7) and maximum of nine (9) applicants to at-large positions on the Library Advisory Committee, specifying the terms for each; (2) designate one Councilmember to serve as Primary Liaison to the Library Advisory Committee and one Councilmember to serve as an Alternate Liaison; and (3) provide direction to staff and make specific determinations with regard to the selection of three to five non-voting ex-officio members of the Library Advisory Committee.
STAFF CONTACT:
Sarah Coffey, City Clerk
650-738-7307
[email protected]
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION:
At the City Council meeting held on June 26, 2023, the City Council took action to disband the Library Advisory Committee that had not met since prior to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, review the charter of the Library Advisory committee and adopt Resolution No. 67- 2023 (Attachment A) amending the charter of the Library Advisory Committee. Resolution No. 67-2023 confirmed the purpose of the Library Advisory Committee to: (1) Increase project transparency by holding meetings open to the community and in compliance with Brown Act requirements; (2) Assist City staff by providing feedback on various elements of the project such as project priorities, direction, and selection of professional consultants as needed; and (3) Facilitate communication between the City and community in various ways including engaging in public outreach to solicit feedback and opinions on the Library Project.
Furthermore, Resolution No. 67-2023 amended the membership of the Library Advisory Committee to consist of seven (7) to nine (9) at-large community members from a broad crosssection of the community to serve as voting members and three (3) to five (5) non-voting exofficio members. At the meeting on June 26, 2023, Council directed staff to begin recruitment for at-large community members to the Library Advisory Committee. The specific terms for these positions were not specified in the Resolution, providing the Council flexibility to specify the duration of terms upon appointment of the members in order to achieve a staggered structure of term expirations such that all terms do not expire in any one year and/or to allow for a more limited term duration for youth appointees.
Recruitment notices for the at-large positions on the Library Advisory Committee were posted on the City website on July 6, 2023, and published in the Pacifica Tribune on July 12, 2023; July 19, 2023; and July 26, 2023. Recruitment for the Library Advisory Committee positions was also advertised in the “Connect With Pacifica” weekly e-newsletter issued by the City Manager’s Pacifica City Council 2
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Office, the City’s Facebook and NextDoor social media channels, the Pacifica libraries and through the City of Pacifica’s Youth Advisory Board.
Youth Participation on the Library Advisory Committee
At the June 26, 2023 meeting, Council also discussed youth under the age of 18 participation on the Library Advisory Committee. Council desired to include consideration of appointing one or two youth to the voting member at-large positions on the Library Advisory Committee and directed staff to outreach to youth in the recruitment for at-large positions and outreach to the City of Pacifica’s Youth Advisory Board for feedback on their interest in participating on the Library Advisory Committee. In the recruitment efforts, the City included posting of the recruitment notice for the Library Advisory Committee at the Sharp Park and Sanchez branch libraries in Pacifica and targeted outreach through the City of Pacifica Youth Advisory Board.
Due to schools being on summer recess at the time of recruitment, the local public high schools were not in session to provide another avenue of recruitment at this time.
Staff sent out an online survey to Youth Advisory Board (YAB) members via email on June 30, 2023. There were 6 respondents to the survey, providing the following feedback on the survey questions:
1) Would you/a YAB member like to have a youth seat on the Library Advisory Committee?
a. Responses: Yes: 5; No: 1
2) How many youth seats on the Committee would you like to see? Select: 1 or 2 a. Responses: One seat: 2; Two seats: 4
3) Would you like to be a voting or non-voting member?
a. Responses: Voting: 4; Non-Voting: 2
4) How long of a term would be good for a term? Select: One year or Two years a. Responses: One Year: 6; Two Years: 0
5) Do you foresee any difficulties with youth members committing to attending monthly Library committee meetings and occasional volunteering for public outreach? a. Answers indicated that many YAB members are juniors or seniors, other extracurricular activities / sports practices and games / jobs might clash with participation in the Library Advisory Committee. One respondent indicated that one meeting per month would not be a problem.
6) What unique perspective do you think a youth member of the committee could contribute?
a. A sampling of responses indicated the following regarding youth perspective:
i. a youth member of the committee would help increase youth participation in community events and library use by catering towards their needs ii.A youth member of the committee would contribute the perspective of someone from the younger generation and would be able to portray the opinions of the youth. They would allow the youth to be heard in important discussions.
iii. Whenever I go to libraries, I often see an abundance of youth there for a quiet space to do homework, use the computers, or simply finding books. Because there’s so many of them that may have a different reason for going to the library than non-youth, I think it’s very important for youth to be a part of this committee for opinions and thoughts that the non-youth may overlook or not even consider.
While the feedback from YAB members clearly indicated interest in having youth participation Pacifica City Council 3
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on the Library Advisory Committee, the feedback is divided on whether there is interest on a voting versus non-voting position and provides that extracurricular activities and competing interests may interfere with full participation on the Committee. Library Advisory Committee meetings are public meetings, and interested youth are welcome to attend and provide input as members of the public. Youth have also been included in targeted community outreach for feedback and surveys on the New Library Project and in Library Advisory Committee Outreach activities in the past and future outreach will continue to make a concerted effort to include youth so that their unique perspective is considered.
Results of Recruitment
The City received eleven (11) timely applications for the Library Advisory Committee. No youth applications were received. The list of applicants under consideration for the Library Advisory Committee at-large positions is attached.
Interviews were conducted by the City Council at a Special City Council Meeting held on August 15, 2023.
Selection Process for At-Large Committee Positions
The list of all applicants under consideration for the Library Advisory Committee is attached as Attachment B - Library Advisory Committee Applicants.
Council may choose to deliberate as to the candidates that they would support to nominate for appointments to each of the open at-large Committee seats. Council should then make a formal motion to appoint named applicants to the Committee and specify the duration of the term to be served (e.g. move to appoint named applicant(s) to a two-year term to expire October 2025; move to appoint named applicant(s) to a four-year term to expire October 2027). As set forth in Resolution No. 67-2023, the Library Advisory Committee shall consist of a minimum of seven (7) and maximum of nine (9) at-large community members from a broad cross-section of the community. Each formal motion should specify which named individual(s) are nominated for appointment and should specify the duration of the term(s) including the term expiration month and year. Staff recommends appointing half of the members to two-year terms to expire October 2025 and half of the members to four-year terms to expire October 2027.
As an alternative, Council may also choose to appoint less than the maximum number of nine (9) at-large members, for example seven (7) or eight (8) members, and reserve one or two appointments for additional future recruitment for the remaining space(s). This additional recruitment could include further targeted outreach to youth for the Library Advisory Committee position(s), and could be consolidated with other regular commission / committee recruitments for terms due to expire in October 2023.
Designation of Council Primary and Alternate Liaison
Resolution No. 67-2023 specifies that one Councilmember shall be appointed as Committee liaison and one Councilmember may be designated as the Alternate liaison. Prior to the hiatus due to COVID-19, most recently Mayor Bigstyck and Councilmember Beckmeyer served as liasions to the Library Advisory Committee.
At this time, the Council is requested to designate one Councilmember as Primary Liaison to the Library Advisory Committee and may designate one Alternate Liaison.
Pacifica City Council 4
August 28, 2023
Direction on Ex-Officio Positions on Library Advisory Committee Resolution No. 67-2023 specifies that the membership of the Library Advisory Committee, in addition to the voting at-large members, shall also include three (3) to five (5) non-voting exofficio members. Council’s discussion at the June 26, 2023 meeting contemplated selecting non-voting ex-officio members from some of the key stakeholder groups such as the following, but did not make appointments or provide further direction to staff with regard to the ex-officio selections.
Key Stakeholder Groups:
• Planning Commission
• Economic Development Committee
• Parks, Beaches & Recreation Commission
• Pacifica Friends of the Library
• Pacifica School District
• Jefferson Union High School District
Council is requested to provide direction to staff and make specific determinations with regard to the selection of three to five non-voting ex-officio members of the Library Advisory Committee.
Next Steps:
Following the actions and direction taken by Council at the August 28, 2023 meeting, staff will notify the applicants of the appointments made to the Library Advisory Committee and will reach out to the new members of the Committee to convene its first meeting. At the first meeting of the Library Advisory Committee, the agenda will include an action by the new membership to determine a regular monthly meeting date for the Library Advisory Committee. The Committee will discuss background and current status of the Pacifica Libraries Project and will discuss planned outreach efforts and community engagement aligned with the project near-term updates and future goals.
FISCAL IMPACT:
None associated with this item.
ORIGINATED BY:
City Clerk
ATTACHMENT LIST:
Attachment A: Resolution No. 67-2023 - Library Advisory Committee Charter (PDF) Attachment B: List of Applicants - Library Advisory Committee (PDF)