An opinion – Citizen advisory committee: a sounding board or an echo chamber?

Submitted by Suanne Z. Thamm
Reporter-News Analyst

On November 13, 2013, then-commissioner Arlene Filkoff and Deputy City Manager Marshall McCrary delivered a report of investigations and recommendations on the strengths and deficiencies of Fernandina Beach’s citizen advisory boards: Airport Advisory Commission (AAC), Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) Advisory Board, Golf Course Advisory Board (GCAB), and Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee (PRAC). As I reported in my FO article “Golf Course Advisory Board Replaced by Greens and Oversight Committee,“:  (italics added)

• Vice Mayor Corbett said that the enabling resolution for the GCAB, dated October 1988, is now outdated in light of the city’s decision to contract out golf course management. Commissioners wanted to see the board remain.
• Commissioner Pat Gass said that citizens should be able to raise concerns and make suggestions, and that the GCAB provides one such avenue to do so. Mayor Sarah Pelican and Commissioner Ed Boner talked about possibly transforming the board into a greens committee, but Vice Mayor Corbett believed that the FBCC needs to “start all over again” with this board because of all the changes that have occurred.
• Commissioners agreed that the FBCC would seek advice from the GCAB on its future viability. Both Filkoff and Corbett articulated their desire to see the GCAB become more of an oversight committee, to provide the FBCC with insight on making the golf course more competitive with other courses. Filkoff defined the role as “relationship management.” When asked what would happen if the current GCAB members rejected the new mission, Corbett replied, “Then we’ll find different members.”
• The consensus of the FBCC was to redefine the role of the GCAB in consultation with the current members to transform the existing board into a golf course management oversight board that would review items such as financials, membership plans, and marketing plans.

Fast-forward to a special FBCC meeting on committees convened on January 21, 2014, the day following a long weekend for City Hall folks (King holiday). Added to the agenda on Friday, January 17 was resolution 2014-10, sunsetting the GCAB and creating a substitute to be known as the Greens and Oversight Committee. This item was approved by both City Manager Joe Gerrity for addition to the agenda and City Attorney Tammi Bach for form, despite the fact that there had been no consensus or direction in any public forum from the FBCC to move in this direction, no indication that the FBCC had sought advice from the GCAB or intended to “transform the existing board into a golf course management oversight board that would review items such as financials, membership plans, and marketing plans” as agreed to at the November 13, 2014 meeting.

No one has claimed authorship of this resolution. Despite the fact that some commissioners seemed confused as to how it had come about, no commissioner questioned why the FBCC was not first meeting with the GCAB to seek their input or why the GCAB wouldn’t just transition to the new committee. A couple of commissioners claimed they had only become aware of the resolution the previous day. GCAB Chair Doug Bailey told the FBCC that neither he nor his committee had been consulted on this. Nor had anyone from the city even notified GCAB members that the sunsetting of their committee would be on the January 21 special meeting agenda.

So while some commissioners were embarrassed enough to apologize for the way the matter had been handled, not one commissioner moved to table the resolution until such time as the GCAB could be consulted and their input considered. Commissioner Charlie Corbett, who at that same January 21 meeting got himself appointed as liaison to the new committee, indicated that members of the GCAB could apply for positions on the new committee.

Street talk is that GCAB members are not being specifically recruited to apply for vacancies on the new committee, while the newly appointed commissioner liaison is passing out application forms to those he wants to serve on the committee.

The only commissioner to call into question the way this matter was handled is the new kid on the block: Johnny Miller. None of the other commissioners, who all participated in the November 13 workshop, either saw a problem or were willing to confront a problem. Miller managed to get the City Attorney on record at the January 21 meeting to confirm that the activities of the new committee would be governed by Florida Sunshine Law.

Late in the game, Mayor Ed Boner suggested that formal appreciation be afforded to the members of the late Golf Course Advisory Board. If I were a member of that committee a proclamation of appreciation would not make up for the lack of respect shown to me by the FBCC. But I would make it a point to attend the meetings of the new committee to make sure that transparency exists and that this new committee does not merely become a social club for a commissioner and his buddies.

At the conclusion of the February 4 FBCC regular meeting, City Clerk Caroline Best read a list of committees seeking new members to fill vacancies. As an individual who has served on numerous committees, boards, task forces, etc., both here and elsewhere, I believe there is tremendous value to the government when civic-minded volunteers roll up their sleeves to help make their community a better place through board service. But after watching the city’s treatment of the GCAB and its members, one has to wonder whether it might be more productive and less frustrating to hold off volunteering to serve until the current commission demonstrates a greater appreciation for its committees. Or until it is replaced by a new commission that does.
Editor’s Note: Suanne Z. Thamm is a native of Chautauqua County, NY, who moved to Fernandina Beach from Alexandria,VA, in 1994. As a long time city resident and city watcher, she provides interesting insight into the many issues that impact our city. We are grateful for Suanne’s many contributions to the Fernandina Observer.

February 7, 2014 11:30 a.m.