What’s Up? Video: How you can get involved with city committees, boards and commissions

Grace Hallowell:

What’s up, College Station? I’m Grace Hallowell and today my guest is Ian Whittenton, our Deputy City Secretary. Hi, Ian.

Ian Whittenton:

Hi, Grace.

Grace Hallowell:

I am excited you’re here. This is the first time the City Secretary’s Office is on What’s Up, College Station? You guys do a lot and it sometimes goes on behind the scenes, so not everybody knows what all your office does. Let’s kind of start off with what is the City Secretary’s Office and what do you guys do?

Ian Whittenton:

Well, the City Secretary is one of the five appointees made by council here in College Station and we attend all council meetings, we publish agendas, we keep track of minutes, ordinances, resolutions. And in College Station we also do your vital statistics, your birth and death certificates as well, a host of other duties. We interface with the council and the citizens a lot.

Grace Hallowell:

Right, yes, you guys do a lot of work. And the topic that we’re here to discuss today is the boards and commissions that citizens can get involved with. So let’s go over what are they?

Ian Whittenton:

Your boards and commissions are citizens, members of the public that are appointed by council to mostly operate in an advisory standpoint. Where the council needs more information or they need help making decisions, they might appoint citizen members to committees, boards and commissions.

Grace Hallowell:

Yes, it’s a great way for you to get involved with our city and there are several different boards and committees from the Humane Society to the Design and Architecture boards. So what is the process of participating in the boards and committees?

Ian Whittenton:

Well, you need to apply and you can go on to our website and read a summary of all the boards and commissions out there. And like you said we have a lot of varied ones, Humane Society, Brazos Valley Solid Waste Management Agency, planning organizations. What I would recommend somebody do is they find something they’re interested in, something that needs their particular skill, and then they apply for that, and we bring those applications to council and then council will make appointments.

Grace Hallowell:

Right. Another way to stay informed on these committees is to attend council meetings.

Ian Whittenton:

Yeah, absolutely. So knowing what’s going on in the council really gives you a good perspective of what they’re looking to accomplish. If somebody was interested in what a specific committee board or commission does, I would say follow their agendas. On the page where you can find information about that meeting body, you can also click and view all their previous agendas, and a lot of times you can view videos of their meetings. So you can really get informed before you apply.

Grace Hallowell:

Yes, and these committees are important, so let’s kind of talk about why citizen involvement is important for the council and for the city.

Ian Whittenton:

We have six council members and one mayor and they need to reach out to the community to try to bring in more information. A lot of these boards are advisory or they represent us in some capacity, they represent the city of College Station as part of a larger meeting body. So by reaching out to the citizens, they can find people with very specific skills.

For example some of our meeting bodies are looking for people with say a background in architecture or a background in cycling. So there’s actually a seat on the board for that type of person and sometimes we struggle to find people who are qualified. So that’s why getting the word out and really getting in as many qualified people and interested people as possible is very important to us.

Grace Hallowell:

So what goes into the selection process for these?

Ian Whittenton:

Well, after the applicant applies, we will qualify them and then we’ll bring those applicants before council for each meeting body. The council will consider those and make appointments. We are closing our applications on December 29th, and then we actually have two meeting bodies that are going to close a little earlier in November. Those ones that will close in November will be appointed in December, and the ones that close December 29th will be appointed in January of 2024, if all goes well.

Grace Hallowell:

So what is the typical time commitment for one of these?

Ian Whittenton:

Well, that varies really widely. Some meeting bodies only meet as needed, so they might meet just a few times a year, and some meet on a bi-weekly basis or a monthly basis. Some meet quarterly. So by going into the agendas, you can really kind of get a feel for how many times a year they meet and when they might meet, or if it’s very scattered or very targeted.

For example, we had a bond advisory committee in 2022 and they brought a recommendation to council, and there were 23 members. They met seven times over 45 days for several hours each time and brought back a recommendation, and then the meeting body disbanded. So that was a temporary meeting body, but most of our meeting bodies are permanent.

Grace Hallowell:

So what else can you share with us today?

Ian Whittenton:

Well, we are getting ready for election in 2024 in the City Secretary’s Office and council members three, four, five and six will be on the ballot. There is a filing period from July 20th to August 19th and we will have election day on November 5th in 2024. There’ll be about 25 polling locations throughout the Brazos County.

Grace Hallowell:

Yeah, so a very big election for our city.

Ian Whittenton:

Yeah, big. We just moved to four year terms with the council members and this gets us on a cycle to have an election every other year. So if we are erecting three, four, five, and six this year then… Excuse me in 2024. Then in 2026 we’ll do the mayor, place one, and place two.

Grace Hallowell:

So very, very important to stay involved and stay informed with what’s going on.

Ian Whittenton:

Yeah, information is key.

Grace Hallowell:

Yes. Well, thank you so much for joining me today, Ian.

Ian Whittenton:

Thanks, Grace.

Grace Hallowell:

You’re welcome. And that’s what’s up.

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