> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # The missing link Councilmembers balance work with obligations - URL: https://www.smdp.com/the-missing-link-councilmembers-balance-work-with-obligations/ - Published: 2008-02-23T16:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-24T18:39:01.000Z - Author: Melody Hanatani - Tags: Government & Politics, Santa Monica Airport, #archive-import *Some boards struggle to connect* CITY HALL Behind the elected powers that be in Santa Monica city government is a large extended clan of cousins who are called upon to help run the family business called City Hall. The cousins of the City Council, also known as the boards and commissions, assist the main governing body in formulating policies and procedures that help fuel the operation of the municipal government, providing their input on key issues like airport runway safety and affordable housing. Much like all families, these cousins don’t always have time to see each other. While the boards and commissions were created with a slot for a council liaison, serving as the communicative link between the two bodies, the councilmembers’ collective attendance at the board and commission’s meetings for which they serve as a go-between has dropped over the past few years. For the councilmembers, the key barrier to making these non-council meetings is time, not a lack of interest, they said. “Alas I don’t attend the meetings,” Councilmember Bobby Shriver said last week. “I have two day jobs and a family, but I do feel bad about it.” There are more than 20 volunteer-based boards and commissions that serve either an advisory or quasi judicial role to the City Council, ranging from well-known bodies like the Planning Commission, one of the few that actually have powers to effect decisions and regularly attracts a crowd, to some of the smaller profile groups, like the Commission on the Status of Women. The minimal attendance of several council liaisons to their respective board and commission meetings sparked a shift in tradition last year when the council decided that instead of appointing councilmembers, they would be encouraged to attend the meetings on a voluntary basis. A few of the commissions did receive liaison appointments, including the Airport Commission, Architectural Review Board and the Landmarks Commission. The reason, according to Mayor Pro Tem Richard Bloom, who served as the mayor when the decision was made last January, was because it was getting increasingly difficult to fill all the slots. “I really thought that it wasn’t fair to the boards and commissions to set up an expectation that wasn’t being met,” Bloom said last week.“I encouraged all the councilmembers to attend boards and commissions if they could.” While Bloom isn’t certain that attendance to the boards and commission meetings has dropped off any more since the change in practice, he doesn’t get the sense there is much voluntary attendance either. “To some degree that is regrettable in a sense if the board and commission would like to see someone there,” Bloom said. “I would like to be there for them.” Bloom said that because of familial and work obligations during the day, it’s been difficult for him to make it out to any of the boards and commission meetings. Katz was among the councilmembers that supported the change last year, noting that attendance at the board meetings was becoming less and less frequent, a combination of time constraints because of other obligations and the time of day when the meetings were scheduled, some occurring in the afternoon. The mayor added that he plans to encourage his fellow councilmembers to try and make their presence at the non-council meetings. “We try and spread out where everyone’s interest is and I’m going to start going to more and more commission meetings,” Katz, an architect, said. The shift to a voluntary-based relationship to the boards and commission wasn’t universally supported on the council. Councilmembers Ken Genser and Kevin McKeown, who both regularly attend about seven commissions between the both of them, said they believe the link between the council and the commissions needs to remain active. “Many of the commissions can use the assistance of councilmembers who are experienced with the city’s structures and operations,” Genser said on Friday. > “Boards and commissions are basically our lifeline to the public,” — Mayor Herb Katz. THEY OFFER EXCELLENT INSIGHT INTO HOW THE CITY WORKS AND HOW THE CITY COUNCIL WOULD VIEW PROPOSALS.” Mark Young, Airport Commission Chairman McKeown, who serves as a liaison to the Planning Commission and Landmarks Commission, said sitting in on the non-council meetings, learning about the issues that are brought to the various advisory and judicial bodies, come in handy during the council meetings. “I can do a better job on Tuesday night with the help of what I learn from our boards and commission on the other nights of the week,”McKeown said.“I think it’s useful for them to have a councilmember present as a resource, providing policy context and assistance with process.” Councilmember Bob Holbrook said he favored the appointment-based practice of pre-2007, saying that there have been a few occasions where he would attend a meeting where three or four other councilmembers were already present, forcing one of the members to leave. Holbrook, who preceded Bloom as mayor, said he rarely attends commission meetings, but will make a presence when asked to sit in on a particular issue that might be of interest. “The chairs of the commissions are not afraid to give any of us a call to say there are a couple of things that we might be interested in and would appreciate if we took a look at it,” Holbrook said. “We communicate.” Shriver said city officials will need to have a discussion about whether being a coun-cilmember should be a full-time job, adding that he would personally like to see the length of meetings shortened as well as the frequency lessened. “I think in general the amount of time individual people who have day jobs can devote to council responsibilities is finite,” Shriver said. “It’s pretty difficult to get ready for meetings and get to know about the issue.” THE ROLE OF A COUNCILMEMBER It’s a fine line that councilmembers face when they attend a commission or board meeting, providing their expertise on city-related matters and providing advice when solicited, but being careful not to influence the course and outcome of a discussion. Gwynne Pugh, the chairman of the Planning Commission, said the advantage of having a councilmember present at a meeting is to provide background or insight of previous council actions that might be related to the discussion at hand. “They can give us a history of what the council has done and why the council had done something for specific projects, or in the case of the fences and hedges (issue), why they had come around to a particular route,” Pugh said on Friday. The liaison is also important in explaining to their fellow councilmembers why a commission reached a certain decision, said Nina Fresco, the chairman of the Landmarks Commission. Landmarks related matters have been prevalent at council meetings the past few months where various appeals to the commission’s decisions, such as the ficus trees and development in the Third Street Historic District, have made their way to the dais. “They are an incredible voice explaining why we want something and how we got to that (decision),” Fresco said on Friday. “Our council liaison can also bring up issues and initiate discussion on council on our behalf.” The go-betweens also often provide insight into how the City Council would view certain issues, according to Mark Young, the chairman of the Airport Commission, which Genser serves as the liaison. “They offer excellent insight into how the city works and how the City Council would view proposals,” Young said. For the commissions that seldom see a councilmember at their meetings, the line of communication still remains open, thanks to e-mail. “We recognize the time for city staff and councilmembers can be challenging,” Andrea Lipton, the chair of the Commission on the Status of Women, said, adding she has difficulty attending meetings during the day. The Disabilities Commission, whose liaison is Katz, frequently sends their recommendations and requests to the mayor via electronic mail. While not all of the recommendations are always put into place, the commission feels that it has a good relationship with the council, Knauf said. “It certainly would be great to see the issues we address in person, but I understand they are extremely busy,” Knauf said last week. “As long as I feel I am being heard by them, that’s sufficient for my purposes.” *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 23, 2008.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/022308.pdf?ref=smdp.com)