In March 2022, city council heard an overview of the current advisory boards and commissions program. The discussion included challenges of the current system along with possible enhancement opportunities and requirements to plan for the program’s future. Due to the significant research and development required, staff recommended and council agreed to hire a consultant to review and provide recommendations related to the structure, role, function and authority of the city’s advisory boards and commission program.

Transformational Solutions and Wiesner Consulting began review and analysis work in January 2023. The review includes a public engagement process with commission members, community leaders, council members and city staff. The analysis included themes that applied to many existing boards and commissions and an overview of opportunities to update the program. This included redefining or recommitting the program’s purpose to make the experience more meaningful and community-friendly and expanding the pool to create more opportunities for participation.

Findings were presented to the city council on June 12, 2023. The overall recommendations from the consultant were to focus first on setting a clear and renewed purpose for the program, then to design program elements that support and match that purpose and account for available resources.

On June 26, 2023, the city council identified the following themes related to program purpose:

• Give members a rewarding experience
• Use the program to connect with community
• Center race, equity and inclusion
• Integrate and listen to community perspective
• Build and strengthen public trust
• Ensure input is reflected in decision-making

Throughout the months of July, August and September 2023, staff engaged stakeholders about the potential program purpose of the boards and commissions program, to align with the themes identified by council.

Focus group conversations were held with stakeholders, including board and commission members, staff liaisons, city leadership and other interested community members. Staff also attended community events, including National Night Out, the St. Louis Park Art Fair, and the St. Louis Park Fire Department Open House and Community Health Fair to spread the word about input opportunities, as well as held an open house for interested members of the public.

Stakeholder input showed five common themes.

1. Influence policy and have a meaningful impact

Stakeholders want their input to be thoughtfully considered and want to see how their input is used in the policy process. They identified instances where this occurred and said they felt like their time spent on those topics was useful and meaningful.

2. Leadership development

Participants believe boards and commissions serve as a leadership development opportunity. They stressed the importance of not only keeping leadership development as part of the new program but also strengthening those opportunities.

3. Connection to strategic priorities

Participants discussed the importance of a connection between the commission’s work and the city’s strategic priorities.

4. Cross-topic collaboration

Stakeholders shared that overlap in topic areas and working across topics more collaboratively positively impacts the quality and usefulness of input.

5. Address barriers to participation

Barriers identified included the formality of parliamentary procedures, the need to commit to monthly meetings for a long period of time, lack of flexibility in options for participation, no compensation for time, lack of childcare options and meetings held in the evenings during mealtimes.

1. Current structure: Commissions are set by council and advise on areas identified by the council.
   
   
2. No commissions: Public is involved through other engagement opportunities.
   
   
3. Task forces: Staff establish timebound groups to discuss specific topics and/or projects.
   
   
4. Five strategic commissions: Advisory commissions set to match strategic priorities and are refreshed each decade in conjunction with the comprehensive plan and community visioning.
   
   
5. A single strategic board (recommended option): Developed as a hybrid of the task force and priority-based strategic commissions models, this recommended option consists of a single, large strategic board made up of approximately 25 community members that meets two to three times per year as a full body. Members from that board would participate in smaller, project and topic-based groups throughout the year in alignment with topics brought forward through the systems approach.

Meeting discussions 

On Oct. 2, 2023, staff presented a recommendation to city council regarding the program purpose and structure that reflected the input received through all of the stakeholder engagement. The majority of the city council supported advancing the recommendation for program purpose and structure. A few council members expressed reservations and asked for more information about a deeper race, equity and inclusion analysis and rationale for the proposed changes. The city council also requested more discussion and an opportunity to hear feedback from stakeholders.

After the Oct. 2, 2023, city council study session discussion, staff attended each of the five advisory board meetings to discuss the proposed structure and answer questions. This provided an opportunity for board and commission members to ask questions regarding the proposed structure.

On Nov. 21, 2023, a conversation was held between the city council and board and commission members, facilitated by Chad Henderson of Yellow Umbrella Coaching and Consulting and Lamar Shingles. The purpose of this meeting was for the city council to hear directly from board and commission members regarding the Single Strategic Board proposal. All members of the city council were in attendance along with 20 board members and five members of the public.

On March 4, 2024, a facilitated workshop was held for council members to discuss the boards and commissions program proposal as a group. 

On March 25, 2024, the city council reached consensus to keep existing boards and commissions, as well as the current boards and commissions structure. The council also chose to take a larger role in directing the work of the boards and commissions.

On May 20, 2024, the city council met to further discuss their role in providing policy direction to boards and commissions. The council would like to meet with boards and commissions during a strategic priority system that aligns with the board or commissions purpose, as well as returning to the pre-pandemic practice of hosting an annual meeting with boards and commissions. They also directed staff to include offering stipends to board and commission members and further discuss this during the 2025 budget process.

Next steps

Over the course of this process, staff has proposed policy changes that are in the council’s purview, such as the program purpose and structure. Following policy direction from council, staff will develop the necessary operational changes to align with the desired program purpose and structure. The operational changes are a very important aspect of the way the program is managed, and need to be made to support the overall cohesion of the program.

 Staff will be revising necessary ordinances, policies and procedures to align with the council’s direction.

What is the boards and commissions redesign project?

Since March 2022 the city council has been reviewing the structure, function and role of the current boards and commissions program to ensure alignment with the city’s strategic priorities. Significant work has been done to assess the current program and engage with stakeholders to identify opportunities to improve and address common challenges and barriers. The assessment and engagement resulted in the program purpose and structure, which would address the opportunities for improvement identified in the analysis, including setting a clear purpose for the program. The proposed structure would impact the five current commissions that derive their authority from the city code. The proposed structure would not change the authority or scope of the current statutory bodies. The city council is considering the proposed changes. Once a final decision is made by council, staff will consider operational changes for the entire program that address input received from the series of engagement processes throughout the project.

What are the proposed changes?

Changes are proposed to both the program purpose and to the advisory bodies structure.

The proposed program purpose is to focus on community-informed decision making and develop leaders in St. Louis Park, making it a resident-based engagement tool.

The proposed program structure is a single strategic 25-member board that meets several times per year for training on city strategic priorities, policies or programs, such as race, equity and inclusion, and to plan and discuss the work of smaller, project-based groups. Board members would participate throughout the year in these smaller project-based groups to conduct engagement on issues connected to the city’s strategic priorities. With the direction of the city manager and city staff, project-based groups would encourage and solicit engagement from all interested stakeholders in the community. The work of the groups would be reflected in the systems work at the council level, including in policy discussions and decision-making processes. Learn about the systems work by visiting the city council page.

Why is this structure being proposed?

The proposed structure directly aligns with the recommendations resulting from consultant analysis and stakeholder engagement. It specifically defines a program purpose; reduces identified barriers to participation; and more closely reflects the desired outcomes related to race, equity and community engagement. The proposed structure also provides a significant opportunity to enhance the city’s engagement strategy by intentionally creating space for community-informed decision making in the council’s systems work.

What participation barriers were identified?

Common barriers to participation included lack of flexibility in ways to participate as well as lack of compensation, food, transportation and childcare. The use of parliamentary procedures, a protocol used to facilitate meetings, was also cited as a barrier.

How will participation barriers be reduced through the proposed structure?

1. Shifting the reporting structure of the program to the city manager allows for increased flexibility in how the smaller, project-based groups can meet, such as virtually. It also allows for other forms of meeting facilitation methods to be used, such as consensus models, and eliminates the need to follow parliamentary procedures. This addresses two key barriers to participation that the other models can’t address due to their structure.
2. Program access will be increased for community members by creating different ways to engage at different times and at different levels based on individual interests. Participants may choose a broader role requiring a higher level of commitment or choose less-time-intensive roles allowing focus on a certain project or topic.
3. The 2024 budget includes the addition of a community engagement coordinator who will connect to the community and help recruit a broad range of residents to this board.

How can the proposed structure maintain a quality engagement program?

The proposed structure provides a framework for community engagement on a broader scale because it gives opportunities for community members to participate at different levels and allows for more facets of city work to be connected to a resident-based engagement tool through the proposed structure. The approach of one large strategic group provides flexibility for any city project or initiative to incorporate timely community input that can inform decision-making at the council level and reflect connections among strategic priorities.

How will city council’s connection to this program be enhanced?

The current program structure relies on the city council to direct boards and commissions to study topics, then advise the council on those topics. Although the stated purpose is for boards and commissions is to act in this advisory capacity to the city council, the program analysis revealed that many current and past members are unclear of their role or connection to the council’s work. The council’s capacity to direct the work of board and commissions in a meaningful way was also found to be limited with no real mechanism to consistently allow information sharing.

Stakeholder engagement revealed that a connection to council was important so the council is aware of the work being done and that work is then clearly reflected in the council’s decision-making processes.

The proposed structure would transition the program to reporting to the city manager, rather than the city council. The city manager would set work direction for the program based on the policy directives and strategic priorities of the council. The input and work of the larger strategic board and smaller project-based groups could be shared in different ways, such as within staff reports that go directly to council, regular project updates, or as a part of the systems discussions that occur at council meetings. The expectation would be that engagement is embedded in the council’s decision-making processes in a timely and transparent way. Defined mechanisms will be designed after the program purpose and structure have been set.

What are the next steps?

No final decisions have been made. The city council will continue discussing this proposal in early 2024. Staff will continue to examine and consider revisions to the proposed boards and commission’s structure based on the input and feedback received and provide a more detailed report at that time. Updates will be posted on this page as they become available.