Information Services Advisory Board

Information Services Advisory Board

MINUTES

April 2, 2008

Town Hall Campus

Council Large Conference Room #10035

316 N. Academy Street, Cary, North Carolina

www.townofcary.org

Call to Order

Vice-chair John Fitzpatrick called the meeting to order at 6:08 p.m.

Present: Mary Margaret Barnes, Lee Douglas (6:28 p.m.), Thomas Eck, Mark Evangelista (6:24 p.m.), John Fitzpatrick, Helen Hutchings, John Nolander, Vijay Raghavendran (6:20 p.m.), Council Liaison Julie Robison, Staff Liaisons Susan Moran and Teri Peralta

Absent: Bruce Brown and Terra Brown-Shelton

Guests: Task Force Members Lori Bush and Vickie Maxwell

Approval of Minutes

Mr. Nolander moved to approve the minutes from the March 5, 2008 meeting. Mr. Eck provided the second and the motion carried unanimously.

Mr. Nolander moved to approve the revised agenda adding a presentation by the Issue Advisory Group Task Force at the beginning of the meeting. Ms. Hutchings provided the second and the board granted unanimous approval.

Old/New Business: Issue Advisory Group Task Force

Ms. Bush thanked the ISAB for their time and explained the purpose of the task force, stating that a group of citizens with a concern or issue that does not fit the normal channels of town government could, through this program, petition the council to approve that they meet as an Issue Advisory Group to research that particular issue and return to council with their findings. She reviewed the process using a flowchart outlining the program, adding that the overall goal is to expand, strengthen and enhance citizen participation. She then opened the floor to questions.

Mr. Nolander asked if the task force saw any down side to this to this program. Ms. Bush replied that with any potential citizen involvement there are opportunities for both an up side and a down side. She acknowledged that this could give a group with a prejudicial slant a venue that they might not otherwise have, but noted that there should be enough checks and balances in the review process to hinder this. She said she thought that the positive benefits of such a program outweigh any negative possibilities. Ms. Bush explained that the recommendation by the task force includes a proposed Citizen Issue Review Committee (CIRC) that would review the applications for sufficient information and to determine whether the Town might already have a process the applicants could use to communicate their issue to the Town, such as sidewalk repair or traffic calming issues. Ms. Maxwell added that if the applicants cannot show how ultimately resolving their issue would benefit to the Town, this committee has the option to deny the application.

Ms. Hutchings wondered if there might be a way to amend the program in the future if necessary. Ms. Bush stated that the task force had invited guests to go through the process and that these individuals provided very helpful feedback. She explained the task force was not tasked with formulating what they do as a group or how they do it, but providing a framework for them to apply to council to become a group, and criteria for making that recommendation to council.

Ms. Bush also stated that council would likely instruct the town manager to identify a subject matter expert to work with each group and that staff would be provided to handle the administrative duties, such as taking minutes and getting them up on the Web. She explained that the task force would like to see a “Citizen Center” on the Town’s Web site, something that offered a collaboration of tools. She observed that, with the goal being increase citizen participation, possibly creating a citizen-to-citizen site, a forum of some type, might be helpful; in taking the burden off of Town staff, allowing volunteers who have experience in interacting with the Town to offer support and guidance to the applicants.

Ms. Robinson mentioned that she had come across a program in Davidson, North Carolina, that allows a citizen to fill out form that is sent to staff advising of their area of expertise. She went on to explain that the town keeps a register of those individuals in case they are looking for volunteers with specific experience. She also mentioned a site called Methane to Market that she also thought could be an interesting tool to review.

Mr. Fitzpatrick asked about a database of some sort and Ms. Bush replied that the task force is recommending that all applications go into a repository for other potential applicants to see what issues might have already been requested.

Ms. Barnes asked what might happen if a large number of groups applied simultaneously, and Ms. Bush replied that the task force discussed that possibility. She explained that, to avoid such a situation from overwhelming the council or staff, part of their recommendation is that the program would allow for only so many applications per meeting, with CIRC reviewing applications on a posted monthly schedule.

The board suggested that the program be launched as a beta test and Ms. Moran observed that the council could perhaps charge the task force to reconvene in six months to evaluate the framework put in place and report back to council. Members also asked if assistance would be provided to applicants in completing the application and Ms. Bush reminded them of the recommendation for a volunteers and subject matter experts who could be available to answer questions. Ms. Moran spoke to the Town’s commitment to accurate, reliable information and commented that a challenge to staff would be ensuring that the subject matter experts were properly trained and not exceeding their comfort level in giving advice. She added the possibility that misinformation could be posted and it not corrected right away. She explained that it would be important to come up with appropriate training to keep their participation valuable and accurate.

Mr. Fitzpatrick suggested that the board defer the watch list items until the next meeting. All were in agreement and thanked Ms. Bush and Ms. Maxwell for bringing their presentation to ISAB. Mr. Nolander stated that he thought would be good to give support to the task force’s recommendation.

Statement of Findings

The board heard the recommendations of the Issue Advisory Group Task Force and stated that it was clear that much time and effort was put into making such a thorough presentation. The board further expressed their endorsement of the presentation to council. Ms. Robison suggested that the board make a formal recommendation, and Mr. Nolander expressed some concern with the strength of the approval of the process noting that he wasn’t sure it was totally solidified yet. He agreed that having the program launched for a test period would relieve his anxiety in that respect. Ms. Moran reminded members that, because they are established by council, boards and commissions cannot be introduced in a pilot or test phase, but added that the board could recommend that the process and framework be put in place with the stipulation that within a specific period of time an outside group evaluate it, perhaps even the task force.

MOTION: Mr. Evangelista moved that the ISAB endorse the framework of the Issue Advisory Group application process and recommended that the process move forward with an evaluation of all phases of the program in six month’s time and a report back to council. Mr. Nolander provided the second and the motion carried unanimously.