16 staff report.Commissions
Reviewed by: Town Manager, Assistant Town Manager, Town Attorney, and Finance Director
110 E. Main Street Los Gatos, CA 95030 ● (408) 354-6832
www.losgatosca.gov
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
MEETING DATE: 10/17/2023 ITEM NO: 16
DATE: October 10, 2023
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: Laurel Prevetti, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Discuss and Provide Direction Regarding Potential Changes to the Town’s
Boards, Commissions, and Committees
RECOMMENDATION:
Discuss and provide direction regarding potential changes to the Town’s Boards, Commissions,
and Committees.
BACKGROUND:
In January 2023, the Town Council added a Strategic Priority to evaluate the Town’s Boards,
Commissions, and Committees (hereafter, Commissions) to determine potential refinements to
align with the Council’s Strategic Priorities. The 2023-2024 Strategic Priorities are contained in
Attachment 1.
Some of the Town’s existing bodies have a specific regulatory, land use purpose, or appeal
function, including the following (the Department providing primary administrative and
technical support to the Commission is identified in parentheses):
• Building Board of Appeals (Community Development)
• Conceptual Development Advisory Committee (Community Development)
• Development Review Committee (Community Development)
• General Plan Committee (Community Development)
• Historic Preservation Committee (Community Development)
• Housing Element Advisory Board (Community Development)
• Personnel Board (Human Resources)
• Planning Commission (Community Development)
The Finance Commission was established by a ballot initiative and can only be modified by Los
Gatos voters. The Town Manager’s Office, Finance Department, and Clerk’s Office provide
administrative and technical support to this Commission.
PAGE 2 OF 3 SUBJECT: Town Boards, Commissions, and Committees DATE: October 10, 2023
BACKGROUND (continued):
Other Town Commissions, which are the focus of this report, include the following (the
Department providing primary administrative and technical support to the Commission is
identified in parentheses):
• Arts and Culture (Library Department)
• Community Health and Senior Services (Town Manager’s Office)
• Complete Streets and Transportation (Parks and Public Works)
• Library Board (Library Department)
• Parks Commission (Parks and Public Works)
• Youth Commission (Police)
The enabling resolutions for each of these Commissions identify the scope and membership of
each Commission. The resolutions can be found on the website for each Commission,
respectively. In addition, Town Council recently adopted an enabling resolution to establish a
new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Commission, which will be primarily administered by
the Town Manager’s Office.
The Town Clerk and Town Attorney provide valuable guidance to all Town’s advisory bodies and
Commissions to ensure compliance with State laws and regulations as well as consistency in
administrative practices.
DISCUSSION:
As the Town Council deliberated on the creation of the DEI Commission, Council members
raised questions regarding other subject areas for which a Commission would be useful.
Specifically, interest was expressed in a Sustainability Commission to give heightened
awareness and attention to a variety of environmental issues facing the Town.
The Council should define the scope of sustainability as it has many facets, including but not
limited to Greenhouse Gas reduction, tree canopy, recycling, energy conservation, water
conservation, climate resiliency, etc. Depending on the Council’s focus, one option may be to
expand the scope of an existing Commission (e.g., Parks Commission) to cover sustainability
and rename it (e.g., Parks and Sustainability Commission).
The Council was also interested to know the workload implications of adding new Commissions.
A new Commission does bring additional workload to the Town’s lean staffing resources. The
ability of a Department to absorb the additional work varies by Department. For example, if
the Parks Commission were to expand to a Parks and Sustainability Commission, it would likely
need to meet monthly instead of every other month. Parks and Public Works staff can absorb
this increment of new work better than a new Commission which would meet regularly in
addition to the Complete Streets and Transportation Commission and Parks Commission.
PAGE 3 OF 3 SUBJECT: Town Boards, Commissions, and Committees DATE: October 10, 2023
CONCLUSION:
This agenda item provides the Town Council the opportunity to discuss alignment of the
Commissions to the Council’s Strategic Priorities, direct any modifications to enabling
resolutions, and provide other guidance as appropriate.
COORDINATION:
The preparation of this report was coordinated with all Department Directors, the Town Clerk,
and the Town Attorney.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The discussion of Commission refinements has no fiscal impact.
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT:
This is not a project defined under CEQA, and no further action is required.
Attachment:
1. 2023-2025 Strategic Priorities