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options is included in the attached HSC agenda reports. Should the Council decide to <br /> pursue this matter further, staff would propose further review of Options 3 or 4 with <br /> additional information regarding the transition process. <br /> Commission Workload <br /> Staff, the commissions, and the City Council expressed concern regarding the potential <br /> work load of a merged commission as it relates to both the number of meetings that may <br /> need to be held, the length of the meetings, and the potential for losing focus on the <br /> details required for both human services and housing issues. As part of its review, staff <br /> presented the commissions with a matrix (Attachment 2) outlining previous meeting <br /> agendas, length of meeting and cancellations. As indicated on Attachment 2, seven out <br /> of the 24 (29%) scheduled meetings 2010 were cancelled due to lack of pressing agenda <br /> items. In addition, five of the HSC meetings focused on the roundtable discussion <br /> regarding various human services needs and while these were important, they are not <br /> typical of the HSC's regular agendas. Notwithstanding this situation, should private <br /> residential development with complex affordable housing issues materialize in the <br /> upcoming years, the anticipated workload may increase. <br /> Regarding the length of the meetings, as can be expected, the meetings related to CDBG <br /> and grant funding were the longest, and staff anticipates that the time taken to review <br /> these items is not additive but rather somewhat redundant. As a result, having them <br /> heard by a single commission would not necessarily result in increased meeting time. <br /> Also, note that while there is concern regarding meeting length in general, a portion of <br /> each meeting is spent addressing administrative and redundant agenda items such as <br /> roll call, consent items and meeting open to the public, matters initiated by <br /> commissioners, and similar items that would also not be additive. Also, to improve <br /> efficiency, staff assumes that a merged commission would take action to streamline <br /> meeting processes such as using the consent calendar to address a wider range of <br /> informational reports. Nevertheless, based on reviewing the agendas and the meeting <br /> times in 2010, the potential for increased meeting times is real, and discussion would be <br /> needed to identify ways to streamline meetings. <br /> Regarding commission focus, staff assumes that a merged commission would continue <br /> to prioritize items to assure that it addresses those items required by ordinance and that <br /> are of high importance. To assure this, staff assumes that at least initially, a merged <br /> commission would actively engage in goal setting and other processes to assure that it is <br /> directing its attention toward matters that it finds important and that, further,this process <br /> will allow a commission to developed concise agendas that are geared toward <br /> addressing time-sensitive or high priority issues. While the Housing Commission <br /> understood this process, it expressed that the responsibilities resulting from implementing <br /> the Housing Element would impact work load significantly and that merging the <br /> commissions would likely be a distraction to this effort. <br /> Page 4 of 6 <br />