Agenda - 02-19-2019 8-a - Minutes

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9 1 Commissioner Marcoplos said he appreciates the passion of those opposed to light rail, 2 but this is a tactic to slow the project down and it is not entirely about the open meetings law. 3 He said no numbers have been hidden. 4 Commissioner McKee said if Orange County is going to define itself as transparent, then 5 this should apply to any meeting, not just light rail. He said he does not advocate for people to 6 be allowed to speak at all meetings, but just for the right to attend meetings. He said any 7 discussions, preliminary or not, should be open to the public. He said to him this is a moral 8 issue. 9 Commissioner Bedford suggested that the Commissioners have a facilitated meeting 10 about their roles on different boards, and how they report back to each other, staff and the 11 public. She said this can help to develop norms, and allow the BOCC to operate at a higher 12 level on all issues. She said the onus should not be on her, or any Commissioner, to track 13 everyone's meetings to find out what is going on, and it is not good governance to shut out 14 other Commissioners from information that all need to hear. She said those BOCC 15 representatives attending board and commission meetings have more time to digest and 16 consider information, as opposed to their fellow commissioners who receive an abstract a few 17 days before a BOCC meeting, at which a decision must be made. She said she was able to 18 read the PowerPoint from the GoTriangle meeting, and decipher what was relevant, and what 19 may have changed, which was very straightforward and helpful. She said another suggestion 20 may be to have only staff attend meetings, such as a GoTriangle meeting, and keep elected 21 officials out of the deliberation. 22 Commissioner Dorosin said the BOCC does a good job with transparency, and rather 23 than more of them attending other meetings, he would promote having more open discussion in 24 the BOCC meetings, like tonight. He said these meetings are televised and recorded and the 25 Board can have longer discussions. He said the focus of transparency lies in their BOCC 26 regular and work session meetings. 27 Commissioner Dorosin petitioned to get a response about the ambulance issue that Mr. 28 Carter brought forward. 29 Chair Rich said Dinah Jeffries, EMS Director, did send out a response to Mr. Carter 30 about this issue, which can be forwarded to Commissioner Dorosin. She said a response from 31 the Planning Department about the flag is forthcoming. 32 Commissioner Price said the issue is not about the light rail, but rather about all of the 33 noise she heard surrounding the January 101" GoTriangle meeting. She said it was unclear 34 what the meeting was for, and what occurred at the meeting. She said it was touted as an 35 unimportant meeting, but then a PowerPoint appeared. She said she would like more 36 transparency and collegiality. She said everyone does not need to be at every meeting, and if a 37 meeting is announced, it is fair to expect that people may want to attend. 38 Commissioner Marcoplos said if the Board is going to have a mediated meeting, he 39 would like the Board of County Commissioners members to have a list of the controversial 40 topics in the past, so that the discussion can be comprehensive. 41 Chair Rich said the GoTriangle representative and the Chair of the Board of 42 Commissioners have been meeting at GoTriangle for over two years now, and nothing different 43 occurred at the meeting on January 101", than has occurred at any meeting in the past 2 years. 44 She said sometimes it was Commissioner Dorosin and Commissioner Jacobs who attended, 45 and then it was Commissioner Dorosin and Commissioner Marcoplos. 46 Chair Rich called for no more discussion and ended the conversation. 47 48 4. Proclamations/ Resolutions/ Special Presentations 49