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HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution 2015-129 Revising the Formal Marana Citizens' Forum ProcessMARANA RESOLUTION NO. 2015-129 RELATING TO BOARDS, COMMISSIONS AND COMMITTEES; REVISING THE FORMAL MARANA CIrI`IZENS' FORUM PROCESS; AND CLARIFYING PROVISIONS REGARDING THE APPOINTMENT AND REAPPOINTMENT PROCEDURES FOR DELEGATES TO THE FORUM WHEREAS Section 2- 6 -1(A) of the Marana Town Code authorizes the Town Council to create and dissolve those special and standing boards, commissions and committees as the Council deems necessary; and WHEREAS Section 2-6-1(B) of the Marana Town Code provides that the resolution creating a board, commission or committee shall describe the powers and purpose of the board, commission or committee and shall establish the number and qualifications of its membership; and WHEREAS Section 2 -6-2 of the Marana Town Code sets forth procedures for the application, recommendation, appointment and removal of board, commission or committee members; and WHEREAS Section 2 -6 -3 of the Marana Town Code provides that the resolution creating a special board, commission or committee shall establish the terms of office for its members. and WHEREAS Section 2 -6 -4 of the Marana Town Code provides that the Council may by resolution modify any of the procedures set forth in Section 2 -6-2 related to the application, recommendation, appointment and removal of board, commission or committee members for a particular board, commission or committee; and WHEREAS on November 15, 2011, the Town Council adopted Resolution No. 2011 -100, creating the Marana Citizens' Forum as a special committee of the Town of Marana, describing the powers, purposes and processes of the Forum, establishing the number and qualification of its membership, the terms of office of its members, and the application, recommendation, appointment and removal processes for Forum members; and WHEREAS on March 5, 2013, and on November 18, 2014, the Town Council adopted revisions to the Forum process, including revising the number of members, the member terms of office, and the appointment, reappointment and removal procedures for Forum members; and WHEREAS the Town Council Inds that revision of various aspects of the Marana Citizens' Forum as addressed by this resolution is in the best interest of the Town. Marana Resolution No. 2015 -129 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF MARANA., ARIZONA, as follows: SECTION I . The Marana C Forum process, including provisions regarding the appointment and reappointment of delegates to the Forum, is hereby revised and clarified as set forth in Exhibit A, attached to and incorporated by this reference in this resolution. SECTION 2. The .Town's Manager and staff are hereby directed and authorized to undertake all other and further tasks required or beneficial to carry out the terms, obligations, and objectives of this resolution. PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Mayor and Council of the Town of Marana, Arizona, this Ist day of December, 201 5. N� 4�� RA N'- x Y M r ATTEST: 0- celyn /Bronson, Town Clerk e Mayor Ed Hol ea APPROV D AS TO FORM: F • nlc C sidy, Town ttiorney Marana Resolution No. 2015 -129 Marana Citizens' Forum Infrntiiirfinn The Marana Citizens' Forum is created as a special committee of the Town of Marana. The Forum is an innovative method for increasing citizen engagement and fostering community participation in Town functions and activities in an effective and sustainable manner. Powers The Marana Citizens' Forum is vested with the power to discuss, develop and recommend to the Town Council feasible action plans and solutions that are aligned with the Town's Strategic Plan regarding Town- -wide, multi - disciplinary issues. Purpose- The purpose of the Marana Citizens' Forum is as follows: • Increase citizen engagement in a meaningful way • Advise the Council by developing and recommending action plans on issues of importance • Tie ideas and action plans to the Strategic Plan • Establish a positive feedback loop between the Forum delegates and the Council Number and Qualifications of Delegates To maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of the Marana Citizens' Forum, it is important to have a Forum fully staffed with delegates who have diverse areas of interest. To that end, the Forum will have no less than 15 and no more than 32 delegates at any one time, with the optimal number being 25 delegates. These delegates will come from various backgrounds and experiences and may be: 00044037.DOC 14 1 • Marana residents or business owners; or Appointees of Marana Regional Partners: the Marana Unified School District (MUSD), the Northwest Fire District (NWFD), the Marana Health Center (MHC), and the Marana Chamber of Commerce (these appointees may be Marana residents or business owners, but are not required to be); or • Other experts from the greater Marana area At least 51% of the membership of the Forum at any one time must be made up of Marana residents and business owners. Delegate Terms of Office Each Marana Citizens' Forum delegate shall serve for six consecutive Forum sessions of approximately 12 weeks each, and is subject to reappointment as set forth herein. Councilmember and Marana Regional Partner Delegate Appointment and Reappointment Each Town of Marana Councilmember may appoint up to two delegates and each Marana Regional Partner may appoint one delegate to the Forum. These Councilmember and Regional Partner appointees do not require consideration and approval by the full Town Council. Councilmember and Regional Partner delegates can be reappointed for an indef finite number of consecutive terms. Councilmember and Regional Partner appointments can be made at any time there is a vacancy. If made during an active session, the appointment will become effective at the next scheduled session. If a Councilmember or Regional Partner delegate resigns, is removed or declines reappointment, the Town will seek a new appointment from the Regional Partner or Councilmember that appointed the resigning/ removed delegate. If a Councilmember or a Regional Partner does not appoint a delegate or, when applicable, a replacement delegate, the Town may fill that spot through the at -large appointment process described below. At-Large Dele ag to Appointment and Reappointment To reach and maintain the optimal goal of 25 delegates, the Town may appoint delegates through an at -large appointment process open to the public. The Town will solicit applications that will be reviewed and vetted by the Town Manager and/or designated staff. The Town Manager or designee will then make at -large 00044037.DOC A 2 appointments to the Forum based on qualifications and interests of the applicants. At -large delegate appointments do not require consideration and approval by the Town Council. The Town Manager or designated staff may make at -large delegate appointments at any time as determined necessary to maintain the appropriate number and diversity of delegates as described herein. Upon the expiration of an at -large delegate's term, the delegate must take a leave for at least one Forum session. The delegate may then reapply to serve on the Forum under the at -large appointment process described in this section. The reappointment of an at -large delegate is not automatic; the delegate must re -apply and be selected as described in this section. Removal of Delegates Removal of Marana Citizens' Forum delegates shall be in accordance with Section 2- 6 -2(G) of the Marana Town Code, except for removal of delegates due to poor attendance at Forum meetings. Forum delegates who are absent without prior excuse from two or more meetings during a Forum session shall be considered to have resigned and the Town shall not be required to take any further action to remove the delegate from the Forum membership. Marana Citizens' Forum. Process .forum Sessions Town staff will determine the number of Forum sessions that will take place in any given calendar year, but generally it will be three sessions per year. Each Forum session will encompass five meetings of the full membership as described herein and will take approximately 12 weeks to complete. Topic Selection Potential Forum session topics may be submitted by Forum delegates, Councilmembers, and Town staff. The Council will consider potential topics, and each Councilmember will be asked at a Council meeting to identify his or her top three preferences which will then be tallied to arrive at the top three topics. Town staff will prepare a brief background report for each of the three Council -- approved topics to provide context for the topics, and the topics and background reports will be presented to the Forum at the orientation meeting. A topic will be selected by a vote of the Forum. Topics not selected will be returned to the topic list, if applicable. 0004403 7. DUC A 3 Phase 1: Orientation Meeting During the Orientation Meeting, Forum delegates will be introduced or re- introduced to the Forum process. Additionally, Forum delegates will be provided with background information and written materials regarding the Town. Forum delegates will also be provided with expectations regarding attendance at Forum meetings and guidelines for meetings, and will be asked to sign a pledge committing to the Forum. process. Forum delegates will then be presented with the Council - approved potential session topics and background reports discussed above. Delegates will engage in full discussion of the potential topics and will then select one topic for the Forum session via a majority vote of the delegates present at the Orientation Meeting. Phase 2: Naming the Issues The Phase 2 meeting will consist of an introduction to the topic selected for the Forum session, followed by a high -level discussion identifying and naming the various issues associated with the topic. At the end of this meeting, the Forum may request quantitative data regarding the agenda issues from Town of Marana staff. This data is meant to provide background and support for the delegates' decision-making and should be data that is readily accessible. Phase 3: Data Presentation/Framing the Issues In this phase, the full Forum will meet and Town staff will present any previously requested data. Staff will be available to answer questions from Forum delegates. If the Forum delegates choose to do so, they may form subgroups to focus on a specific portion of the issues under discussion. These meetings would be independent from the Forum process meetings. Once the data is presented, the Forum delegates shall finalize the issues for discussion and deliberation in Phase 4: Public Deliberation, described below, based on the direction previously provided in the background report. Town staff will develop strong guiding questions to lead the Forum delegates though the Phase 4 discussion. 00044037. DOC 14 4 Phase 4: Public Deliberation The Phase 4: Public Deliberation meeting will be facilitated by a trained facilitator and will be recorded by a trained scribe. The facilitator is vital to this process by keeping the Forum discussion on topic and encouraging participation and commitment in suggested projects. The scribe will summarize and synthesize the opinions of the Forum delegates on the issues at hand and create a consensus statement from these opinions. Forum delegates will discuss the identified issues with the collected and presented data. The Marana Citizens' Forum is tasked with developing specific, detailed action plans to present to the Marana Town Council. The plans and projects that are discussed within this meeting should be feasible and aligned with the Town's Strategic Plan. Forum delegates are asked to commit to implement their chosen action plans. The goal of the process is to reach consensus regarding the action plans and projects to be presented to the Town. Council. Consensus does not mean unanirrt * ty in this context, but general agreement among the Forum. delegates. Generally, consensus is reached when no one wants to add anything and no one objects strongly to the wording of the consensus statement drafted by the scribe and read back to the Forum delegates. At the end of the meeting, a delegate will be selected to design and construct the presentation to Council as described below. Phase 5: Construction The delegate selected at the end of the Public Deliberation meeting will meet with the Forum administrators and other Town staff as necessary to design and construct the presentation to Council. The presentation will be based upon the consensus statement created in the Public Deliberation meeting as well as other relevant information and recommendations generated during the Forum. session. Phase 6. Review The draft presentation to Council that was created in Phase 5 will be reviewed by the full Forum membership for edits, changes or additions. Phase 7: Presentation After Phase 6: Review, the Forum recommendations will be presented to Council for consideration during a regular Council meeting. 00044037. DOC A 5 Phase 8: Reviezij and Follo7i) -up After the presentation to the Council, Town staff will review the Forum recommendations and identify which recommendations require Council policy direction and decision, which are operational or administrative in nature, and those that may not be feasible due to financial, legal or other reasons. At the next Orientation Meeting, Town staff will advise the Forum what actions, if any, will be or have been taken to implement the Forum. recommendations. Ad Hoc Advisory Review Meetings In addition to the formal Marana Citizens' Forum. Process described above, from time to time the Town may utilize the Forum as an ad hoc advisory review committee for various Town issues and concerns. Town staff may convene the full Forum for a "lightning round" in which the Forum process will be condensed to one meeting for review, discussion and recommendations on the issue or issues as presented by Town staff. Alternatively, Town staff may convene 5 to 7 Forum delegates, chosen by Town staff based on the delegates' backgrounds and knowledge base as well as their availability, to meet as many times as necessary to discuss an issue selected by the Council or the Town Manager, based on matters of immediate interest or significance, and render an advisory opinion and recommendations to the Council, Town Manager, and staff. As with all meetings of the Forum, these ad hoc advisory review meetings shall be held in compliance with the Arizona open meeting law. 0004403 7. DOC A 6