Thread by @loridroste

My thoughts on Berkeley’s 37 commissions. A thread….
Many of you know that I got my start on Berkeley’s commissions. I love our resident-led commissions and their charge.

I also have taught political representation and feel strongly that we should give voices to people in our community so they can participate meaningfully and perhaps even run for office. This is my passion.

I have put forward an item to make sure that commission voices are effective & their voices are heard. cityofberkeley.info/Clerk/City_Cou…
Right now, I don’t believe that is the case. There are ways to improve this process, especially in light of COVID-19 & significant staffing restraints.

Berkeley’s population is ~121,000 and we have ~37 commissions. In comparison to neighboring jurisdictions of similar size, Berkeley has significantly more commissions. The median number of commissions for these cities is 12 and the average is 15. Most have around 7.

Now many have said, “Berkeley is special!” I totally agree. That’s why my proposal just asks for us to consider allowing for 20 commissions. I believe that’s more than every neighboring city!

Why does this matter, especially now? Here is an example. Our Health, Housing, and Community Services Department (HHCS) is in charge of the COVID-19 pandemic. This department alone is in charge of 10 commissions.

Within HHCS, we have the Homeless Commission, the Housing Advisory Commission, the Health Commission, the Homeless Panel of Experts Commission, the Measure O commission (to oversee affordable housing funding), and the Sugar Sweetened Beverage Commission (and others).

Wouldn’t it make sense to combine the homeless commissions, the housing commissions, and the health commissions? Of course it would! Can we? Let's find out!

Guess what else? We have an Environmental Commission, a Zero Waste Commission and an Energy Commission? Shouldn’t they all work together in one commission to address interrelated environmental concerns? Makes sense to me!

We also have eight commissions within the planning department--maybe we should combine purposes so they can focus on expediting permits.

Ok, so why does this matter? For example, the former Peace and Justice secretary was also our main Homeless Outreach employee. She spent 32 hours staffing the Peace and Justice Commission.

She often spent overtime on Peace and Justice so a five hour meeting mean she would have to take 7.5 hours off from her regular work of homeless outreach. So ultimately, this is a question about tradeoffs.

While I love that the Peace and Justice commission takes stances on important domestic and international issues (I do!), is it more important than helping our unhoused community get services? These are the conversations I want to have.

Let’s use the Landmarks Preservation Secretary as another example. She is a senior planner who spends EIGHTY HOURS a month staffing the Landmarks Preservation Commission. She is a senior planner and we need to consider what the opportunity costs are.

If you have feelings about this, we are discussing it today at a special meeting of Agenda and Rules. us02web.zoom.us/j/82354172388

If you have thoughts, please email [e-mail]

I should clarify that we have 2 homeless commissions, 2 housing commissions, and 2 commissions related to health. I didn't mean combine them all together.