Durango City Council went forward on Tuesday with a transition plan that will dissolve five advisory boards as part of a reorganization and consolidation of volunteer boards and commissions.
City Council voted 4-1 to approve a timeline presented by staff members that ends with the dissolution of the Infrastructure; Multimodal; Natural Lands Preservation; Parks and Recreation; and Strategic and Long-Term Finance advisory boards on July 31. Councilor Olivier Bosmans voted against the resolution.
The transition schedule deviates from the city’s original plan, to dissolve the boards at the time of the Financial Advisory Board’s creation on April 4, and gives staff and board members more time to share institutional knowledge and information about capital improvement projects that will fall under the purview of the new financial board.
Eight residents, including former mayors and other residents who have urged City Council to ditch the reorganization project or at least slow it down, attended Tuesday’s City Council meeting to make one last attempt at convincing council to change directions.
Opponents of the reorganization have asserted that City Council is getting rid of means for public participation by dissolving certain boards. And they criticized City Council for not holding a public hearing on the matter or letting the decision fall to new councilors Dave Woodruff and Gilda Yazzie.
One resident who previously spoke against the reorganization, Rick Cobb, said he had a change of heart and became encouraged by possibilities after reviewing an April 4 City Council study session in which staff members gave a presentation about plans to enhance public engagement.
Other attendees hadn’t changed their minds.
John Gamble, former mayor, said the city has a long tradition of public engagement and the process used to reorganize boards and commissions has him concerned.
Another former mayor, Dick White, said the proposed reorganization is “poorly formed.”
Leigh Meigs, yet another former mayor, said if City Council approves the dissolution of certain boards, the action would “come across as the equivalent of quietly passing a note under the door” that says, “You’re fired.”
Resident Ellen Stein said the reorganization without a public hearing is “shocking,” “unconscionable” and not City Council’s sole decision to make.
Before the vote, councilors said the reorganization stands to enhance public engagement.
Councilor Melissa Youssef, who was appointed mayor later that evening, said the easy thing to do would be to “pull the plug” on the reorganization and stay the course with current boards and commissions that residents are familiar with.
But the easiest thing to do isn’t always the right thing or the best thing for the city, she said.
The transition
The timeline for eliminating and consolidating resident-led boards and commissions for the city of Durango is as follows:
- April 4, the city adopted a resolution to form the Financial Advisory Board.
- Through April 30, the city will recruit Financial Advisory Board members.
- May 2, City Council will create teams of two councilors to interview board members for open board and commission seats, including the Financial Advisory Board, through the month of May. Council is encouraged to seek input from current board chairs and vice chairs in selecting appointees.
- June, the Financial Advisory Board finally starts with board orientation and the selection of a chair and vice chair.
- Also in June, the city will host a public capital improvements projects forum to collect feedback about how the Financial Advisory Board should prioritize capital projects. Staff will then present a draft capital improvements projects plan to the financial board as well as existing advisory boards.
- In July, a capital improvements projects budget will be presented to the financial board and other boards.
- In August, the Financial Advisory Board will make capital projects recommendations to City Council.
Amid assertions that City Council is ignoring its constituents, she said councilors were elected to listen to residents, but also to make informed decisions based on all available information.
“That is what we are all trying to do here today,” she said. “... When you see redundancy, inefficiency and far too many resources being expended to achieve the desired outcome for this organization, it makes sense to reevaluate. And that is what we asked our staff to do.”
She said government has a reputation for being stagnant; change is difficult, and deviating from the norm is scary. But it makes sense to address inefficiencies with current boards and reorganize them to “achieve our desired outcomes of a robust and diverse system of public input.”
“We will adjust, adapt and change as needed along the way,” Youssef said. “But I believe we are moving in a productive and positive direction organizationally.”
Mayor Barbara Noseworthy and Councilor Kim Baxter, who ended their terms on City Council after voting in support of the reorganization, also backed the idea that restructuring resident-led boards will bolster public engagement.
Noseworthy said City Council tasked staff members with being bold in planning the reorganization, and the project serves the city’s goals to be more inclusive and allow for more diverse opinions to be part of community conversations.
Baxter said the big challenge with the project is change, but public engagement stands to improve with the reorganization.
“I know this is difficult. I know it is hard for the people who are currently serving on boards. But I encourage you to stay involved,” she said. “It isn’t a refutation of your contributions. It’s actually an acknowledgment that we want more engagement and there are other ways to do it.”
Tom Sluis, city spokesman, said in an email to The Durango Herald that even with the dissolution and combination of several boards, Durango, which has a population of nearly 19,000, would still have more boards than many comparable cities.
The reorganization will reduce the city’s boards and commissions from 23 to 15. By comparison, the city of Montrose, with a population of 20,291, has just four boards. Golden, with a population of 20,693, has 13 boards. And Evans, with a population of 21,808, has just five boards, according to data Sluis provided.
cburney@durangoherald.com
