City of Santa Barbara Commissions, Committees, and Boards

Observations 6

• OB1
  The City of Santa Barbara’s website does not contain current information about committees, boards, and commissions.
• OB2
  The City of Santa Barbara has at least 38 commissions, committees, and boards, some of which may have outlived their purpose. No review process exists concerning their relevance.
• OB3
  The City of Santa Barbara’s website does not make a clear distinction between decision making and advisory bodies. 2015-16 Santa Barbara County Grand Jury 5 CITY OF SANTA BARBARA
• OB4
  Twenty groups for which ethics and conflict of interest training is mandated by California State law (Assembly Bill 1234, enacted in 2005); and City Resolution 14-068.
• OB5
  Fourteen groups which are exempt from AB 1234 but are still required by the City to conform to ethics requirements by City Resolution 13-006.
• OB6
  Remaining groups who are exempt from the AB 1234 law but are required by the City’s Code of Conduct to follow all State conflict of interest laws. The Jury was told that appointment to the advisory boards and committees is inherently a political process and having committee members representing “special interests” is not uncommon, and not necessarily undesirable. The Jury was also told that a separate analysis might be required to determine if a conflict of interest exists in a given situation. The selection process can result in politically motivated appointments. A volunteer’s employment in a field closely related to their advisory role may well enhance their livelihood and could also be a benefit to the citizens of the City. A "personal financial effects" rule requires a volunteer to abstain from discussion and voting in select situations. Although, the decision making authority of the various committees, commissions, and boards is varied, the level of concern for conflicts of interest should not vary. 1 Guidelines for the City of Santa Barbara Advisory Groups, pages 10 and 11, February 12, 2013 https://www.santabarbaraca.gov/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?BlobID=11620 2015-16 Santa Barbara County Grand Jury 4 CITY OF SANTA BARBARA Volunteer groups are often advisors to the City Council. The burden of objective and impartial decision making is on the City Council, whose members answer to the public. The City Council members have had mandatory ethics training and make open-meeting public decisions that the voting public can scrutinize. The Council should consider whether the same conflict of interest and ethics training required of Council members should be added as a requirement to the remaining advisory groups, as well. The City of Santa Barbara's advisory groups are subject to the Brown Act. They conduct announced meetings with an agenda and are all open to the public. Meeting minutes are recorded by a City employee and posted on the City's web site. Each advisory group has a City employee as a liaison along with support staff, who are also City employees. The City bears the cost of each advisory group and their support staff. Is there a “sunset” provision in place? The Jury determined that no provision exists for eliminating advisory groups that may have outlived their usefulness. As a result, bureaucratic inertia may set in and the committees just continue in existence, accomplishing nothing other than expending the time of support staff and tax payer money. The Jury recommends City Council review the functioning of the committees and their mandates every five years. Are all of these committees necessary? Do their mandates overlap? The Jury’s answer to the first question is, probably not, but this decision is up to the City Council. The community may not need, for example, separate advisory committees for Airport Public Art oversight, Arts Advisory (except the airport), and oversight of the Arts and Crafts show. The purpose of the website is to provide data to prospective volunteer committee members to help them decide whether to apply. On the other hand the Water Commission site is well done and contains much useful information. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Finding 1 The City of Santa Barbara has at least 38 commissions, committees, and boards, some of which may have outlived their purpose. No review process exists concerning their relevance.

Agency Responses 1

Government agencies' official responses to this report's findings and recommendations. Click on a response to see the structured breakdown.