2010-11-17 Cost of Government Commission Minutes

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The Chair asked whether they still wanted to send a letter to the mayor. They had previously thought to inform him about issues they felt were more pressing because the county was in the budget process. Ms. O'Hara felt they should take a more long -range approach. Their report may not go in until June and would not impact the budget process until the following year. They had been concerned initially about videoconferencing and Laserfiche, but are waiting for a report from Data Systems. The county has the capabilities and equipment, but more employee training is needed. She did not want to recommend anything while they were still gathering information. They need to be clear in their recommendations—define barriers and what needs to happen, such as training programs for employees or software programs. Mr. Matsuda liked Ms. Garson's suggestion. It would allow them to receive responses early enough that they could follow -up and have good information for their final report. Ms. Wong said that from the first meeting with Bill Takaba, he had said that the COGC should identify the essential county functions. She would like to touch bases with Mr. Takaba on this. She would prefer sending a letter out without making recommendations at this point, but just asking for input. She felt they should still send a letter to the mayor, just to give him an update. Motion and vote: Ms. O'Hara moved, in order to settle the matter, to send a letter to the mayor by the end of the year with questions from subcommittees. Mr. Matsuda seconded the motion. Ms. Wong voted aye, and the other commissioners present voted nay. Motion: Ms. O'Hara moved to set a goal to develop a draft report by the first meeting of March and to have it disseminated to the department heads and other relevant staff so that they could review the COGC's proposed recommendations and provide feedback before the report is finalized. Ms. Provalenko seconded the motion. Ms. Wong said she had heard Ms. Garson, after the last meeting, suggest that a draft be started. Ms. Garson explained that she had instructed the COGC's secretary to keep a Word document where she could insert all of the suggestions and recommendations as she typed the minutes so she wouldn't have to go back later and look for them. It was basically a list of all the things that they had already discussed and wanted carried forward. The Chair said she would like to see that list for the next meeting, so they could start organizing for their draft. Ms. Garson said the next agenda could include "summary of proposed recommendations for the draft." The Chair asked if there was any further discussion on the motion on the floor, and Ms. O'Hara said that Ms. Wong had wanted the public to be more involved in the process of drafting the report. She asked if the draft could be made available to the public so they could receive more comment. 27