Martinsville City Council members and other city officials are discussing the possibility of eliminating some boards and commissions that don’t meet regularly or have unclear mandates.
The discussion came during the council’s recent board retreat in Danville. The retreat kicks off the budgeting process for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1.
Talk of the Citizen Advisory Board and its purpose kicked off the discussion among councilors and staff, with some wondering if it would be best to just discontinue the body.
Mayor L.C. Jones defended the advisory board, saying it’s only a matter of providing the group with support.
According to a June 24 report that details information for most of Martinsville’s boards and commissions, the Citizen Advisory Board provides feedback from the perspective of residents. With eight appointed members, its purpose is to bridge the gap between residents and city officials.
“The board will act as a two-way sounding board for the Council and citizens and be involved in the planning of the current and future state of Martinsville,” reads an excerpt from the city’s study about the board.
Jones said the board’s primary function is to serve as liaison between the city council and residents.
“They are a direct line to the citizens on the ground and bring information back for us,” Jones said.
While the board has a wide area of focus, it is currently focused on a specific topic, according to board member Al Martin.
“Right now we want to do something to help the parks out, make the city parks look good,” Martin said.
The board is scheduled to meet the first Tuesday of each month. Martin said its last meeting was March 4. Communications and community engagement director Kendall Davis confirmed that the board has been meeting in recent months.
In spite of this, Jones touched on some interpersonal issues within the group.
“From personal issues in that group to not having a staff member to … guide them,” Jones said.
City Manager Aretha Ferrell-Benavides later elaborated at the meeting.
“Just as council has learned to work together, this committee is a long way from it,” Ferrell-Benavides said. Confusion over who sets the agenda, the board or city officials, is one of the issues, she said. “What we’ve got to determine, is it [our] decision to determine what they do or is it theirs.”
Martin, whose term expires at the end of April, agreed. He described his experience on the board as “working in place.”
“We’re running into problems,” Martin said. “We’re dealing with … getting the people on the board together. We’re a work in progress.”
The council discussion also touched on the Tree Board, with some council members describing the board’s role as vague. Last year’s report describes the Tree Board as administrators of the city’s tree-related ordinances. Its members decide when they meet.
“It shall be the responsibility of the Board to study, investigate, and develop recommendations for the care, preservation, pruning, planting, replanting, removal or disposition of trees and shrubs in the parks, along streets and in other publicly owned areas,” reads an excerpt from the report.
According to the report, all six seats are currently vacant. It is the only board with full vacancies. The city held an informational presentation about the board in December in hopes of attracting new members.
The five-member Board of Appeals has four vacancies and one member whose term expires in May. This board reviews appeals to the city’s building codes.
Ferrell-Benavides said staff hasn’t become complacent when it comes to the boards.
“Give yourself credit, we have done a lot with the boards and commissions,” Ferrell-Benavides said. “We’ve had to have gone in and reviewed them all, reviewed the charters to come up with a structured process to appoint them all around the same time. … We’ve done a lot of meeting work on the boards and commissions. We’ve even looked at the arts commission.”
The Arts and Cultural Committee, established in 2010, is one of the city’s oldest. Its purpose is to enhance Martinsville’s arts and cultural district.
Martinsville’s website lists 24 boards.
“I think we see the value in it,” Ferrell-Benavides said about the various boards. “I’ve seen citizens advisory boards that work perfectly.”
Martin said he is hopeful that the current city council, with its new members, will have better communication with the various boards and committees it decides to keep.
“I’m hopeful that things will work out,” Martin said. “With the transition of a new council, I’ll go to a [meeting] to get a better understanding of the new council.”
Councilors and officials agreed that there would be ongoing reorganization efforts to be completed by July 1.
