Membership in the City of Dunwoody's Boards

I have some thoughts on how the City of Dunwoody can enhance the process for membership on it's citizen boards.

a.     Open & Transparent Membership Applications, which would be subject to Georgia Open Records Act.

Today, there is no formal or documented process for a citizen to request to be a member of any city board.

Put application forms on the city’s website & allow general public to apply to these various Committees & Commissions. Applications are sent to the City Clerk.

Example: City of Marietta does this http://www.mariettaga.gov/city/cityhall/committees/bza (See application listed at the bottom of their web page). -- similar to other boards, too --  By the way, interestingly enough their ZBA & Planning Commission members receive compensation of $100 - $150 per month!!

b.     Residency / Work Requirement:

We presently don’t require members to be a resident of Dunwoody. That might be okay for some committees (Sustainability – uses PCID reps, etc.). However for residency, perhaps there needs to be something tied into how long they have lived here. Perhaps at least a couple of years. For example, someone was appointed to one of our boards after just moving here from out of state. This person hadn't had any time to orient themselves to our issues, history or even display an understanding of our Master Plans. What were this person's qualifications prior to being presented as an appointee to this board that made his stand out from other applicants? 

c.       The Application Itself. Marietta’s contains items such as the following:

·         Reasons why you want to serve

·         Experience, Background & Qualifications

·         References

d.      Including the application & related data (Resume, confirmed references, bio, etc.) in the Council Agenda Packet for all to review.

e.      Change Ordinance to allow any council member to recommend appointments

f.      Clearly Specifying Qualifications (as needed) and Duties/Role/Scope for Commissions

The Design Review Advisory Board for the Dunwoody Village states the qualifications for members (attached members, all expiring in 2013) to be the following:

The committee shall have seven volunteers that have qualifications and design experience, and have a budget sufficient to retain expert advice from the professional community when needed. The recommended content would be four individuals with qualified experience in architectural design and three members who have knowledge of historical submissions.

Ref: DIVISION 3. - DUNWOODY VILLAGE OVERLAY DISTRICT  -- Sec. 27-1277

  

i.    Do they all have these qualifications?

ii.   What is a “Historical Submission”?

iii.  Are there additional qualifications that would be beneficial?

iv.   What is the scope / role / mission / duties of this Board? It’s not actually spelled out in our code

Just some thoughts to ponder. If you'd like to see some of these changes, send an email to the Mayor & Council at: CouncilMembers@dunwoodyga.gov