PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Staffing and budgeting considerations for an effective commission
0:21:43
·
174 sec
Professor Lane emphasizes the critical importance of independent staffing and adequate budgeting for a successful charter revision commission. He contrasts this with previous 'sham' commissions that lacked these essential elements.
- Lane stresses the need for truly independent staff, not beholden to the mayor or other elected officials
- He suggests finding a way to ensure staff loyalty to the commission itself, rather than to outside political interests
- Lane recommends providing sufficient budget for the commission's work, citing the example of his own commission which had about 70 staff members at its peak
- He emphasizes that independence in staffing and budgeting is crucial for attracting high-quality commission members and producing thorough, unbiased work
Professor Eric Lane
0:21:43
I think they have to think a lot about staffing.
0:21:47
Every one of these commissions, these, quote, sham, quote, sham, quote, commissions should even put in quotes because they share speaker queen sham.
0:21:54
Even though some of them have done useful things, all small monetary the legislature could have done them without spending the money for commission.
0:22:06
The is is the staff's always been the mayor's staff.
0:22:11
He knows commission.
0:22:12
I mean, it's always been the mayor's staff.
0:22:14
There's been no effort to make them independent.
0:22:17
There's been no allegiance between the staff and the commission head of the commission itself.
0:22:23
So the commission effectively had very little input into the process itself.
0:22:30
So I think that finding independent people that are independent, I don't mean crazy.
0:22:34
I mean independent is a very important thing here.
0:22:39
And, again, I'll I'll go back to Sling.
0:22:42
So I think that finding a way to staffing this thing is gonna be critical and making sure that there's good staffing that has some loyalty to the commission Otherwise, you're not gonna find independent members to join it or they're gonna be dissatisfied, and you're not gonna get the quality of work you want.
0:23:01
If the staff has to keep looking over its shoulder at, you know, speaker Adams, for example, and I don't mean that the what's going to happen.
0:23:10
I'm just using that as, like, example.
0:23:13
And then budgeting, so there is a provision that Mayor Katchered under our permission to basically require the council and the mayor to give us whatever we needed.
0:23:28
Now I thought that was broadly read, but, basically, the counts the there has to be some if you really want a big job and a good job dynamic, pay for it.
0:23:39
I don't think we're the example, but I will tell you that we had probably 70 staff at some point in our own offices right across the street from city hall.
0:23:49
I'm I'm not saying you have to do that, but But the the to make this really work, you have to in my opinion, you have to try to give it as much independence.
0:23:57
It doesn't mean there shouldn't be political input.
0:23:59
We talk to elected officials all the time.
0:24:02
We spent a lot of time We spent a lot of time with the corporation council's office, and, you know, we we've been every proposal we made, we vetted is a number of places in city, government, but not for them to tell us what not to do, but to tell us what was wrong before we were doing in every 1 of the year.
0:24:21
And why won't this work so we could make independent judgments about that?
0:24:25
That takes time.
0:24:26
It takes money and like.
0:24:29
So I would urge okay.
0:24:31
I mean, I think you'll have the crisis You have the structure for creating a really independent commission.
