UNDERSTANDING BOARDS & COMMISSIONS 101

So what exactly are local boards and commissions?

Boards and commissions are advisory or regulatory groups that work with cities and counties. Regulatory groups set licensing standards and professional requirements for members. Advisory groups provide guidance to the program or agency with which they are affiliated. Board and commission members are typically unpaid volunteers. Examples of local boards or commissions include but certainly not limited to Planning and Zoning, Libraries, Health, Real Estate and Compensation.

Typically, City Departments and Bureaus are headed by General Managers. However, some Departments are also headed by an advisory or controlling Board or Commission appointed by the Mayor, subject to confirmation of the Council. Few Boards and Commissions are appointed by Council members. You will need to research the infrastructure of your local City and County Departments to know exactly how Board and Commission members are elected or appointed; the process will vary by city and county.

Boards and commissions are headed by a principal department and created by the constitution, by statute, or by executive order as specified in the constitution of that city or county.

Board and commission members serve in an advisory role to help to direct policy by making suggestions and recommendations to their local elected policymakers and government management. This system of commissions is intended to be representative of, and responsive to, the communities they serve.

Boards and commissions are often key decision-making bodies on important equity issues, that relate to people of color, gender issues, housing issues and underrepresented communities. NAREB encourages its members to be a part of that process from the inside, advocating for their communities and the broader equity agenda at the systems level. We believe this will build more engaged and powerful communities in our regions.

A couple of distinctions to better help us understand the influence of a Board or Commission:

What is the difference between board commission and committee? The most clearly distinguishable feature is that a “committee” operates as a means of internal regulation of legislators by the legislature, while “commission” serves as an external review process. Committees normally consist of legislators, while legislators do not serve on commissions in most states.

What does ‘commission’ mean in politics? In a city commission government, voters elect a small commission, typically of five to seven members, typically on a pluralityat-large voting basis. These commissioners constitute the legislative body of the city and, as a group, are responsible for taxation, appropriations, ordinances, and other general functions; their influence in day to day life of citizens is more important than most residents of a city then people actually realize.

Finding Qualified appointees:

A huge challenge and a key reason for this session, is, appointed members on boards and commissions oversee key city and county agencies and advise elected decision makers on core policies and programs that impact quality of life for residents in the local city; and while decisions made by these agencies have a major impact throughout the city and county, there is a lack of representation and influence of these boards and commissions by community members.

Elected officials report that they lack qualified pools of candidates with experience as community leaders who have the time, technical expertise and interest in serving on commissions. In addition, communities throughout most major cities face barriers to engagement with government representatives who make decisions that directly affect low-income and immigrant communities and communities of color.

This is why the Boards and Commissions workshop is needed to prepare Realtist to step into these local leadership roles to expand their influence and impact by serving on boards and commissions, which yield significant political power across your service areas. Training ensures that Realtist are in position as strong leaders able to make equitable decisions for all communities. We hope our Realtist will leverage their influence and become community leaders and advocates within local government structures and readies them to serve on city boards and commissions.

In most instances the Administrative Code authorizes other Boards and Commissions to receive a stipend per meeting attended though stipends are typically waived. Appointees must be voting residents of their city and cannot be members of the City Council nor sit on more than one Board or Commission at a time.

To locate information on the local boards and commissions, look for the city sites to list Boards and Commissions with information about their members, contact information, meeting agendas, and minutes; to include information on public meetings calendar.

The Ethics Commission’s office establishes policy around lobbying and other aspects of serving on a public board and/or holding a commissions seat.

Difference between board commission and committee?

Board Commission Committee

Members are citizens or public officials.

External oversight.

Most are part of the executive branch.

Members are state legislators.

Internal oversight.

Most are part of the legislative branch.