Belfast city councilors voted unanimously Tuesday to begin consolidating citizen-led committees as a move to make local government more efficient.
The restructuring plan was first brought before the council in March by city staff with a goal of standardizing membership and responsibilities for committee members while also aiming to improve communication between committees, councilors and city staff, officials said.
Belfast’s 19 current committees have struggled with vacancies and a lack of direction in the past, officials said. This latest move consolidates some of them based on policy areas as part of a push from City Manager Erin Herbig to streamline actions and recommendations.
“This is really for the sake of efficiency and structure and direction,” Herbig said.
The restructure will reduce the number of committees to 16 by combining six into three new policy committees, one addressing housing and property, another tackling accessibility, pedestrian issues and transportation and the last covering climate change, energy and utilities.
Each committee will have between five and nine members, along with up to two sitting city councilors acting primarily as liaisons between the council and committee members. A member of city staff also will attend committee meetings.
The city plans to provide training sessions for new committee members, and the council will meet with committees throughout the year as needed. Councilors will examine applications for committee membership at their first January meeting, in addition to their current review of potential candidates in July. Current committee members will be able to fulfill their terms throughout the transition, officials said.
The city manager’s plan originally called for the additional consolidation of the Harborwalk and Rail Trail Committee and the Parks and Recreation Commission, as well as allowing for up to three non-voting alternate positions for each committee, but councilors ultimately scrapped those changes.
Several current committee members gave suggestions during the meeting for potential amendments to the language in the proposed restructure as well.
Climate Crisis Committee member Jonathan Beal raised concerns that the opportunity on the committee for student members was not included in the proposal, saying students “are the most energetic activists on climate issues” across the world.
Councilors overwhelmingly supported amending the language to allow each committee to have one voting position filled by a local high school student, if they apply and are appointed by the council.
Councilors also debated having requirements that committee members be Belfast residents, or registered to vote in the city, after the issue was raised by a committee member during public comment.
Councilors Mike Hurley and Brenda Bonneville raised concerns about opening the door to non-residents, with Bonneville stressing the value of having committee members all from the same community. Councilors Mary Mortier, Neal Harkness and Paul Dean argued it would exclude some sitting committee members, and that expertise matters more than where someone lives.
Councilors eventually agreed to leave the language vague, because the City Council ultimately has the final say in appointing committee members.
The restructuring effort will include revising city ordinances to address membership and residency requirements already existing for some committees, which will require public readings of the changes and an opportunity for further amendments at future City Council meetings.
City officials agreed that there would likely be additional changes in the future, but taking action now is an important step toward addressing present concerns and improving communication.
“Change is needed,” Mayor Eric Sanders said.
