Special Committee on Advisory Boards and Commissions - September 8, 2025
Special Committee on Advisory Boards and Commissions - September 8, 2025
The special committee on advisory boards and commissions met on September 8, 2025, to review the status of previously authorized actions, discuss potential reorganization of six boards, and hear public input from board and commission members. The meeting included a presentation from the Community Engagement Department and extensive public comment.
Previously Authorized Actions
- Standardized bylaws template adopted for all advisory boards and commissions.
- Guidance for council liaisons adopted.
- Historic Cemeteries Advisory Board dissolved and consolidated with Historical Resources and Museums Board.
- Fair Housing Hearing Board renamed to Fair Housing Advisory Board.
- Mayor's Committee for Persons with Disabilities renamed to Raleigh Commission for Persons with Disabilities, with aligned appointment terms and removal process.
- Administrative updates: clarified orientation/onboarding, enhanced board applications to include estimated time commitment, updated work plan templates, and developed meeting structure for board leadership collaboration.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Quanta Copelands (Chair, Raleigh Housing Advisory Board) argued that the name change of the Fair Housing Hearing Board to Advisory Board was not within council's power because the board is mandated by state and federal ordinance to be a hearing board, and the change conflicts with legal requirements. She noted that council had been told the issue would be revisited after legal review.
- Jamie Robinson (Chair, Human Relations Commission) advocated for better organization, standards, training, and a centralized document repository (e.g., SharePoint) to improve board effectiveness and institutional memory.
- Saul Prada (Chair, Substance Use Advisory Commission) urged council to define and share goals for boards, and to support collaboration over consolidation. He stated that SUAC's work on substance use, homelessness, and mental health deserves its own dedicated space.
- Jen Truman (Chair, Raleigh Transit Authority) expressed surprise at the proposed name change for RTA, noting that the board had not requested it. She emphasized the 50-year history of the volunteer board and the importance of transit-specific work, and opposed merging RTA with BPAC, suggesting instead structured joint meetings.
- Robert Kortz (Secretary, Human Relations Commission) reported on an informal meeting of nine members from multiple boards and commissions. The group agreed that clear goals, consistent guidelines, and meaningful involvement of board members in the process are essential for successful restructuring.
- Manzur Tima (Member, Human Relations Commission) stressed that boards and commissions are the city's eyes and ears, especially for low-income and minority communities. He urged that any reorganization be done in consultation with actual board members.
- Cole McMullen (Vice Chair, Police Advisory Board) stated that the police advisory board's mission is distinct and that forced merger or disbandment would be a loss. He advocated for clearly defined goals and guidelines before any collaboration, and that no board should be merged without majority member agreement.
- Joe Caruso (Chair, BPAC) echoed concerns about merging RTA and BPAC, citing the large volume of work each board handles and the risk that a merger would reduce attention to critical items. He noted that many members already attend each other's meetings.
- Carmen Coffin (former member, Community Engagement Board) urged the council to recognize the history and original purpose of boards, especially those created to address racial equity issues, and to preserve that history in their charges.
- Veronica Clark (Member, Community Engagement Board) provided context on the board's creation in 2022 after CACs were disbanded. She recommended resuming appointments and term renewals, expanding the youth member age range to 18-29, and asking the board for specific direction. She warned that ignoring the board would send a negative message about the value of community engagement.
- Carter Zaru (Member, Hispanic and Immigrant Affairs Board) expressed concern that consolidation would lose focus, undermine past work, and lead to loss of members.
- Ian Burnett (Member, Parks Recreation Greenway Advisory Board) suggested publishing minutes more promptly and in a central location to improve transparency.
Discussion Items
- Council members discussed the proposed merger of six boards (Human Relations Commission as parent with standing committees for Hispanic and Immigrant Affairs, Substance Use Advisory Board, African American Affairs Board, Raleigh Transit Authority, and Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission). Several council members stated they did not support merging RTA and BPAC, citing their distinct roles and ongoing work.
- Council member noted the need to revisit the origins of boards, such as the Hispanic and Immigrant Affairs Board, which was created because council felt the Human Relations Commission was not addressing those issues. The member suggested that creating new boards may not solve underlying problems if existing boards are not fulfilling their roles.
- Council member acknowledged the importance of better communication between liaisons and council, and proposed assigning boards to council committees (e.g., Growth and Natural Resources) to ensure clear pathways for input.
- Council member directed legal staff to review the Fair Housing Board name change issue, as raised by the chair.
- Council member requested staff to improve the syncing of minutes across departments and ensure boards adopt minutes in their regular meetings.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes were taken; the meeting was a discussion and public hearing.
- Council directed the legal department to examine the Fair Housing Board name change and ensure compliance with ordinance requirements.
- Council directed staff to improve the timeliness and centralization of board minutes, working with the clerk's office, community affairs, and council's office.
- Council expressed intent to further explore the reorganization of the six boards, but with a preference for collaboration over forced mergers, especially for RTA and BPAC.
- Council requested that board members, particularly from the Human Relations Commission, send ideas on how to address requests for new boards representing specific communities.
- Council acknowledged the need to involve board members meaningfully in the process and to provide clearer goals and guidelines.
Meeting Transcript
And that's the bandwidth. Okay, I just need to complete the people. Oh, yeah. Oh, let's go to the case. And Mayor Pro Tem will be here shortly. But I uh welcome everybody. This is a special committee on advisory boards and commissions. And this is the chance for everyone to uh weigh in. I'm gonna hand it over to Assistant City Manager Evan Raleigh to just give a little background and then we'll literally just open this up for y'all. Certainly. Good evening, Mayor and members of the committee. Um, to get our conversation started uh tonight, we will hear a presentation from Miss Taisha Mosley with uh the Department of Community Engagement uh to recap uh some of the actions that council has already enacted related to changes to the structure and function of boards and commissions, and she'll also um kind of remind us some of the unresolved points of uh discussion that are still um being considered at this point, but have not yet been adopted. So with without further ado, I will uh turn things over to uh Miss Mosley to take us through the presentation. Thank you, Mr. Raleigh. Good evening, Mayor and Council Tayha Mosley with the community engagement department. And I won't be before you long. Just wanted to show you what we're gonna talk about in our few moments together before you open it up to public comment. So briefly, I'll review the committee's charge, talk a little bit about the actions that you all have already adopted since you've begin meeting as a special committee. Talk briefly about the status of vacancies on the community engagement board, and then to Mr. Raleigh's point, we'll revisit some of those outstanding items for your for you all. And so for the public's awareness, the special committee was established in March at the March eighteenth City Council meeting and was charged with reviewing the structure bylaws and composition of other matters related to advisory boards and commissions. And here are those previously authorized actions. So you've adopted a standardized bylaws template to be used by all advisory boards and commissions. You've adopted guidance for those on city council who support boards and commissions as a council liaison. You made the decision to merge the historic cemeteries advisory board, and so therefore there was a resolution that authorized the dissolution of that group so that they can be consolidated with the historical resources and museums board. You've also adopted an ordinance to change the name of the Fair Housing previously the Fair Housing Hearing Board to now the Fair Housing Advisory Board, and then you've also adopted an ordinance to change the name of the mayor's committee for persons with disabilities to the Raleigh Commission for Persons with Disabilities in that and included aligning the board's appointment terms and removal process with your other advisory boards and commissions. Administratively, we've clarified orientation and onboarding expectations with staff liaisons. We're in the process of enhancing board applications to include the estimated hours per month so that when someone's applying to a board, they have an idea of the time commitment. We've updated the work plan templates to align with the current FY2629 strategic plan. And then we've developed a meeting structure that encourages the collaboration of board leadership across multiple boards and commissions. Our part of the conversation since March has been looking at alignment and the strategic plan alignment and goals and missions of different boards and commissions. And so you've had a lot of conversation around that. And so this slide just shows you the boards who are similar in some ways, mission, vision, strategic plan alignment. And these are the six that are remaining for discussion with a parent board and then a reorganized composition. So in this example here, you've considered combining the Human Relations Commission as the parent board, and then some standing committees under that, including Hispanic and Immigrant Affairs, the Substance Use Advisory Board, and the unseated African American Affairs Board, as well as the Raleigh Transit Authority and the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission. There was in two meetings ago conversation about adding the mayor's committee for persons with disabilities there, but you all made a decision to remove them and allow them to be standalone. So that's why that second line looks a little different. This is how it would look in theory. So multiple boards of commissions could merge to become one. That total number of overall seats could be determined at a future date, and through expiration of terms or vacancies, your specified board size would be achieved through natural attrition. Those former standalone boards would become standing committees, and then you would allow the committees to establish membership through self-selection. There was also conversations or questions around the vacancies and resignations of the community engagement board. So we just have a couple of slides to shed light on the status there. So the community engagement board was created in 2022 to help develop, evaluate, and implement the city's community engagement efforts. There are 16 seats on that board. There are specific seats, like there's a seat specifically for someone who's never served on a board of commission or someone who's a renter. To date, that board has created or reviewed surveys related to the city's public comment policy. They've partnered with Raleigh Television Network to produce a video that educates residents on how to prepare for public comment, and they've explored the use of digital engagement platforms to enhance resident voices in our processes. Currently, there are two inaugural board members, so two people that were appointed in 2022 who are seeking reappointment, another individual that was been on the board for a while who's seeking reappointment.
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