Minutes-10-10-2023-Joint Meeting with Fire Departments and Work Session

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16 Chair Bedford said she initially began going as part of the Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness. She said that it took a bit, but she figured out what it was she did not care for. She said they did not get information ahead of meetings and she did not want to make decisions without preparation. She said that she also decided that she would not be bringing back a recommendation to her Board from these meetings. She said it put her in the position of speaking for the Board without actually checking with her colleagues first. She said the minutes are a must have but it also presents an opportunity for a chair or mayor to work outside of their boards. She said Commissioner Greene asked if the meetings should be recorded. She said that at that point, she did not think it should be recorded. She said the other question is if it should be a public meeting. Commissioner Portie-Ascott if there was an informal meeting group before the MMC. Bonnie Hammersley said there was not a group meeting regularly before the MMC. She said at most it was managers and mayors meeting to set agendas for joint meetings. She said in 2016 at the Assembly of Government, they were talking about the Greene Tract, and it was always once a year. She said that it was created to facilitate additional conversations about the Greene Tract. She said before 2016, there had been a task force, but nothing had happened for a long time, and it led to a lot of frustration. She said that the benefit of the MMC is that there has been more progress in the last 7 years than there was before. She said one of the concerns she had was when it started to grow bigger than the Greene Tract. She said that they brought the Partnership to End Homelessness and she did not feel there was a reason to bring those items before the MMC because they already get brought to the full boards. She said that the mayors have more authority than a chair does, since mayors are elected by the people. Commissioner Portie-Ascott said it seems like it would be a great idea to have a group like the MMC to discuss those common issues. She said maybe some tweaking could be done to provide more direction. Commissioner Hamilton said she had a concern about the MMC making decisions. She said with the Greene Tract, there was a clear directive. She said with the other topics, there was no clear direction. She said a smaller group making decisions holds up information sharing. She said she thought the meetings should be open to anyone. She said the role of setting joint agendas makes sense. She said that she did not see the group serving the Board well. Chair Bedford said the full set of Greene Tract minutes are not on the website, but they put summaries up. She said they did not do that for other discussion items. Commissioner Hamilton said the problem is that topics should not be discussed without a mandate from the boards. Chair Bedford said that is exactly what this portion of the meeting is to talk about and figure out. Commissioner Hamilton said she thinks no. Commissioner Fowler said that she agrees with the need for a limited scope because there are already intergovernmental bodies to discuss those topics. Commissioner Richards said she thinks there are things that happen in Orange County where getting the leadership together to talk about them is a good thing. She said that access to the meetings is a concern. She said that said in one of the minutes it seemed like the MMC was going to appoint itself as a task force to do something and that the scope should be limited. She said it did not actually happen, but it seemed like it was limiting input and participation. She said the Assembly of Governments does not seem like the time to make decisions since the time is brief. She asked if staff should be meeting instead and then bringing information to the Board. Bonnie Hammersley said she meets with the managers and OWASA director monthly. She said when she hears things that might be coming, she shares it with the Chair. She said this is natural protocol. She said Commissioner Greene had asked her if the MMC meetings might be recorded because she has an interest in discussions about homelessness and was hearing things from Mayor Seils from Carrboro, so she wanted to know what was happening. She said that it