TO: Mayor and City Council
THROUGH:
FROM: Keith Stahley, City Manager
SUBJECT:
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Work session to provide update on Salem Governance Assessment
Ward(s): All Wards
Councilor(s): All Councilors
Neighborhood(s): All Neighborhoods
Result Area(s): Good Governance.
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SUMMARY:
summary
As part of the Annual Policy Agenda, or Council work plan, City Council affirmed its interest in assessing the effectiveness of the City’s current governance framework and comparing this framework to best practice. For the purposes of this work, Salem’s governance framework includes the City Charter; Council committees, commissions, and boards; and Neighborhood Associations. The purpose of the Work Session is to share a status report and preliminary findings, prior to finalizing the assessment.
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ISSUE:
Informational report updating City Council on the Salem Governance Assessment.
RECOMMENDATION:
recommendation
Information only.
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FACTS AND FINDINGS:
One of the City Council’s 2024 Policy Agenda priorities is to assess the effectiveness and alignment of the City’s current governance framework with best practice and principles of equity. This work began in January 2024 and includes an assessment and examination of the City Charter; the 34 governance groups comprised of Council committees, boards and commissions; and 17 Neighborhood Associations.
The intent is to look at opportunities to improve efficiency and effectiveness, streamline and simplify structure and processes, consider the needs of today’s Salem, and improve community representation on committees, boards, commissions and neighborhood associations. This work was conducted with the support of Moss Adams, the City’s consultant of record for organizational assessment. Moss Adams’ staff will be on-site to provide the Governance Assessment update.
To-date surveys have been distributed to members of Boards, Commission, and Committees; leadership from Salem’s Neighborhood Associations; and staff liaisons for these groups. Survey results point to generally positive perceptions about community representation, experience with application and appointment process, onboarding and training, and clarity of purpose, roles, and responsibilities of each group.
Based on the survey results and research, options to consider for further improvement of the City’s governance framework include:
• Better aligning some City Charter provisions with best practices
• Creating consistent member eligibility requirements, where possible, and application processes
• Developing common bylaws and consistent naming conventions for governance groups to support clarity and transparency in how governance groups operate
• Providing guidance for equitable practices for greater accessibility, providing consistent staff support to governance groups including availability of meeting materials on-line, improving clarity of staff liaison roles and responsibilities, and reviewing staff liaison workloads
• Creating more alignment between governance group activities and Council direction by having annual work plans and reports to Council
• Clearly defining the role of Councilor liaisons and developing a framework for deciding when a governance group should be assigned a Councilor liaison
• Considering opportunities to sunset or consolidate some groups and developing a process for regularly reviewing governance groups to determine if any should be consolidated or sunset
• Providing equity-related guidance and training to governance groups and staff liaisons, including training on potential barriers to access and cultural competency, and exploring opportunities to better promote equity within governance group processes
• Improving recruiting and onboarding practices for governance groups
• Clarifying City support for and relationship with neighborhood associations, and providing backup support for the Neighborhood Program Coordinator
Preliminary results from the assessment will be shared at the Work Session.
BACKGROUND:
As part of its annual work plan, City Council affirmed its interest in assessing the effectiveness of the City’s current governance framework and comparing this framework to best practice. For the purposes of this work, Salem’s governance framework includes the City Charter; Council committees, commissions, and boards; and Neighborhood Associations.
Courtney Knox Busch
Chief Strategy Officer
Attachments:
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