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<br />Excer ~ from fihe Februar 8 200 DRAFT BCC Meefiin Minutes <br />Discussion on the Process for fhe Public fio Place an Item on a Re ular Board Meefiin <br />A enda <br />Chair Pelissier said that several times individuals have petitioned the Board to <br />put an item on the regular agenda. The Board needs to discuss how to respond to the <br />public about these types of requests. <br />Commissioner Yuhasz agreed that there needs to be a process. He suggested <br />having a standard policy with a subcommittee of this Board tv evaluate these proposals. <br />Commissioner Hemminger said that this came up on the school board, and there <br />were guidelines that a board member would have to champion the item and there would <br />have to be a majority vote to pursue the item. She thinks that the subcommittee would <br />require a lot of staff time. <br />Commissioner Jacobs said that he appreciated Commissioner Yuhasz's attempt <br />to organize this. He tends to support ail public requests just because they are asking, <br />except for Confederate Memorial Day. He said that he would be willing to have a <br />process to refer it to staff and the Chair and Vice-Chair to discuss at agenda review, and <br />report back whether there is sufficient information to move forward or decline. <br />Commissioner McKee said he feels like one of the reasons the County <br />Commissioners are here is that the public can bring these items to the Board. He <br />supported Commissioner Hemminger's suggestion to refer to staff by a vote at a <br />meeting. if the Board chose not to refer it to staff, then so be it. <br />Frank Clifton said that one of the difficulties they find with this issue is that <br />whoever brings the Board of County Commissioners an item has already made up their <br />mind about something, or the information is erroneous and out of context. To verify or <br />do the research does take some time in these cases. <br />Commissioner Gordon said that currently there is a subcommittee of the Chair, <br />Vice~Chair, and Manager. She suggested that items be voted to refer to this <br />subcommittee to work through the process. <br />Chair Pelissier said that these citizens need a response back from the Board in <br />some way or another. She would like to include a way to communicate back to the <br />individual. <br />Commissioner Hemminger said that this is what she likes about taking the vote to <br />refer it to the staff because the public hears a response. <br />Commissioner Yuhasz agreed with having a clear process, He does not think <br />that there necessarily needs to be a motion and a second to refer to staff. His concern is <br />that some of the motions that the Board has made has included a motion to study the <br />issue and bring it back to the Board at a specific date. He does not necessarily want <br />this. Some responses can be made in a letter. He would rather have a specific process, <br />Commissioner Jacobs said that he personally agreed with Commissioner McKee <br />about the importance of listening to the citizens. He said that Matters Not on the Printed <br />Agenda is one of the few places that are unstructured and he likes this. He recognizes <br />the need for order. He said that almost always the Chair refers these items to staff with <br />the understanding that it will come back to the Board with a recommendation on how to <br />proceed. He said that there ought to be some opportunity for a County Commissioner to <br />bring the issue back up if they do not agree. <br />Frank Clifton said that when the Board refers an item to the staff, that generally <br />means that there will be some staff time involved to research. This means it will be on <br />an agenda in the future, either as a report or something with further direction. <br />