Memo to the BONC: Enough Rules Already!

CITYWATCH EDITORIAL--The Board of Neighborhood Commissioners (BONC) has decided to consider a bad idea – requiring all neighborhood councils to maintain minutes. 

Its next opportunity to take action will be at its meeting on October 19.  You can submit your comments to the board at [email protected].   

We urge you to join CityWatch in urging the commissioners to exercise extreme caution before supporting such a requirement. 

The whole idea of creating a commission was a last-minute addition to the proposed new City Charter that was ultimately adopted by the voters in 1999. 

The drafters of the charter felt that the organizers of new neighborhood councils should come before a board of seven-unpaid commissioners to seek certification.  The charter gave the board the authority to establish rules and policies for matters under its jurisdiction, which pretty much narrows it down to the requirements for certification.  

The general manager of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment was given the power to adopt all other rules and policies.  

At the height of the certification frenzy, the DONE staff and BONC certified 52 new neighborhood councils in 52 weeks.  Everyone was busy. 

When the number of certification applications slowed, the commissioners struggled to find things to do.  Some commissioners resigned because of boredom, and others appeared to sit up nights dreaming up new regulations to impose on the councils. 

The idea of requiring minutes to be taken is not a new.  It was discussed and rejected during the very early shaping of the neighborhood council system, and several times afterwards.

Very importantly, there is no requirement that the City Council or any other legislative bodies maintain minutes.  (Try and find minutes for a City Council committee meeting.)  So it makes no sense to raise the bar higher for neighborhood councils that are advisory and staffed by volunteers.

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Before imposing any new rule, the commission should evaluate whether or not the proposed rule empowers neighborhood councils, or discourages participation, because one of the early regulations adopted by the City Council is that neighborhood councils be as independent as possible from City Hall.  

During its two years of work, the Neighborhood Council Review Commission determined that actions that "increase the cost of participation," will discourage public participation.  

So unless there is an overarching problem that is so serious that it can only be solved by imposing this rule, it should not be abandoned.    

In fact, BONC should review the rules already imposed by the commission, the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment, the City Council, and other governmental entities that discourage participation and empowerment.

It is important for neighborhood councils to maintain records of actions of their boards regarding financial transactions and the approval of Community Impact Statements, but it is possible that the department always has imposed these requirements.  

We should never forget the old proverb:  If your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. 

(Greg Nelson was instrumental in the creation of the Neighborhood Council System and served as General Manager of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment. Ken Draper is the editor of CityWatch.)

-cw

 

 

 

CityWatch

Vol 13 Issue 83

Pub: Oct 13, 2015