Attachment 1 - August 27, 2019 Policy Commitee Staff Report
PREPARED BY: Shelley Neis
Town Clerk
Reviewed by: Town Manager and Assistant Town Manager
110 E. Main Street Los Gatos, CA 95030 ● 406-354-6832
www.losgatosca.gov
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
COUNCIL POLICY COMMITTEE REPORT
MEETING DATE: 08/27/2019
ITEM NO: 2
DATE: August 20, 2019
TO: Council Policy Committee
FROM: Laurel Prevetti, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Review and Provide Direction on Proposed Modifications to the Commission
Appointment Policy
RECOMMENDATION:
Review and provide direction on proposed modifications to the Commission Appointment
Policy.
BACKGROUND:
The Town accepts applications for Commissions throughout the year and holds its annual
recruitment and appointment process in the fall, with mid-year recruitments held in early
spring if necessary. In accordance with State Law, the Town Clerk posts a list of current
vacancies on the Town website and on the front door of Town Hall throughout the year. During
the recruitment cycle, the Town Clerk advertises the current vacancies in various mediums
(Leadership Los Gatos, Chamber of Commerce, Los Gatos Weekly ads, Town website, social
media, Town events, etc.) to inform residents and encourage participation. During the
recruitment cycle, the Town Clerk notifies applicants from the last 12 months who were not
interviewed by Council of the vacancy and determines if they are still interested in
volunteering. If the applicant is interested, they are placed in the applicant pool for the next
scheduled interviews by Council.
Per Town Policy 2-11, the Town Clerk prepares and maintains applications for appointment to
Commissions. There are separate applications for each of its Commissions. Currently an
applicant can only apply for one Commission and can only serve on one Commission at a time.
ATTACHMENT 1
PAGE 2 OF 2
SUBJECT: Commission Appointment Policy
DATE: August 20, 2019
DISCUSSION:
The Town Clerk receives applications to Commissions throughout the year and in recent years,
there has been a decline in applications submitted. In some cases, certain Commissions receive
many applications while other Commissions do not have any applicants.
In order to encourage and utilize applicants who are not appointed to their choice of
Commission, staff is recommending that the application process be streamlined to allow one
application for all Commissions and allowing the applicant to rank their choices. This allows
applicants who were not chosen for their first choice to be selected for their second (or third,
etc.) Commission of choice. This prevents the Town from turning away potential volunteers by
giving them an option to volunteer for another Commission during the current recruitment
process.
Staff is recommending that the timeframe for keeping applications on file be changed from
12 months to 24 months for applicants that were interviewed and not appointed by Council and
remain at 12 months for applicants that were not interviewed b y Council. Staff is also
recommending that if a mid-term vacancy arises, staff will bring recommended appointments
for Council consideration at the next available Council meeting.
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT:
This is not a project defined under CEQA, and no further action is required.