2015-01-16 Cost of Government Commission Minutes

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Ms. Maddox appreciated the Sunshine Law training Ms. Garson gave at the start of the Commission meetings; she realized the importance of agendizing items to be discussed. Mr. Espejo found it more convenient having department heads attend Commission meetings. Ms. Maddox stated it wouldn’t be possible to have all 41 department heads attends their meetings but possibly invite the more critical departments. She noted the Commission found that personal appearance by department heads seemed to be effective. Discussion held and Conclusion amended to read as follows: CONCLUSIONS As previous Commissions have noted, the Commission’s scope of responsibility and short timeline presented significant challenges. The Commissioners spent a considerable amount of time outside of meetings learning how County government functions, researching related topics and meeting with department heads. The Commissioners hope their recommendations are given serious consideration. Commissioners believe the following suggestions will benefit future Cost of Government Commissions: (1) have all districts represented; (2) fully explain to potential commissioners the time commitment involved; (3) consider having at least one(1) previous Cost of Government member serve on a subsequent commission; (4) emphasize the Sunshine Law requirements related to agendizing topics to be discussed; and (5) encourage department heads to attend commission meetings. The Commissioners would like thank all department heads and employees, especially the Office of Corporation Counsel, for their support of the Commission’s work. Motion and Vote: Ms. Kierkiewicz moved to approve the report subject to final review for format by the Chair. The motion was seconded by Mr. Matsuda and all Commissioners present voted aye. 9. CHAIR’S STATEMENT Ms. Maddox: I would like to thank you all for your willingness to serve, whether you knew what you were getting into or not, and for supporting me as the Chair. I really appreciate that and I do especially appreciate Shanell and Jen because I know how much time and energy it takes to transcribe minutes for these kinds of meetings and to do it in the timely fashion that you did; and all of the agendas and the paper and things that you provided for us they were extremely helpful, thank you very much. And to Kathy for your patience and persistence and gentle coaching me through the process, too. I have learned a great deal and I will be a much stronger advocate of County government than I have been in the past; and I thank you all. And I will open the floor to any other comments Commissioners would like to make and then we will entertain one last motion. 9