Resolution 12-04

This Resolution proposes a slate of Standing Committees for the management of the Council's legislative workload. In addition to providing practical time-management benefits, the naming of standing committees gives Council more tools for overseeing the functioning of the City, and clearer reporting lines for various departments. The use of standing committees would make the development of legislation more predictable, as an official or petitioner will know who will be likely to hear the legislation in committee. These committees can also hold hearings on issues that are not the subject of pending legislation, but may need to be; such hearings allow Council to gather information and input without having to develop an ordinance or wait for events to ovetake the issue. Standing committees would subsume the responsibility of making nominations to boards and commission, eliminating the need for dozens of nominating committees. The Sidewalk and Jack Hopkins Social Service Fund Committees, having a limited mandate and ceasing to function after the mandate has been completed, fit the definition of "special," not "standing," committees. As special committees, they can continue operating exactly as they have been.