Process for Appointments to City Council Committees ~ Adopted 11/20/2023 by City Council

Announcement

Announcements for open positions that occur on any City Council Committees shall be distributed to the media and posted on the City’s web page, social media, and at City Hall. Announcements will contain the name of the committee, a brief description of the duties of the committee, the date and time of the committee meetings, the number of open positions, instructions to receive and submit a volunteer application, the closing date to submit an application in order to be considered at the next meeting, and any background, skills, interest, or requirements, if applicable.

Applications

1. Applications delivered to City Hall will be stamped with the date received. Applications received by email will be marked as received as of the time/date stamp when the email was sent. Any supporting documents or letters of recommendation must be received no later than 2 weeks prior to the meeting to be included in the published packet.
2. Applications must be received by the closing date in the press release to be considered at the next Volunteer Coordinating Committee meeting. If an application is received after the closing date and an open position remains, the application may be considered at the next meeting. If there are no current openings, the application will be held for up to one year.
3. Interested applicants whose applications are received prior to the posted deadline will be sent a letter inviting them to attend the Volunteer Coordinating Committee (VCC) meeting to give an oral presentation on their background, skills, and interest for the position they are seeking. The presentation is limited to five minutes. After which, the Committee will ask questions.
4. Applicants who are unable to attend the meeting will be eligible for consideration. They are encouraged to submit written testimony and an explanation for their absence.

At the meeting:

1. Public comment will be limited to 5 minutes with the same guidelines as Council Rules and Procedures.
2. At the beginning of the meeting, the chair will give an overview of the interview and voting process.
3. The interview and voting process will be conducted separately for each committee or commission.
   1. If a VCC member is an applicant, when that committee/commission process begins, the member shall declare they are an applicant and leave the dais. The required voting majority will adjust to include only those present and voting.
4. Interview:
   1. Each applicant has five minutes to give an oral presentation highlighting their background, skills, and interest for the position they are seeking.
   2. The Volunteer Coordinating Committee members will then ask questions of the applicants. Questions from the Committee are not included in the five-minute time limit.

Voting

1. Following close of the presentations, any committee member may nominate any or all candidates.  A second is not required.   
2. Each member of the Volunteer Coordinating Committee is required to cast a vote, including the option of voting for “no recommendation.”
3. Voice vote, show of hands, or written ballots may be used. If written ballots are used, the vote of each member will be announced. The determination of how votes are taken (i.e. voice vote, show of hands, or written ballots) shall be made at the call of the chair. All votes are public records.
4. Results:
   1.  If a candidate receives a majority of the votes of the members present, the name of this candidate shall be forwarded to the City Council for consideration. 
   2.  If a candidate does not receive a majority of the votes of the members present, the names of the two candidates receiving the most votes shall be voted upon in the second vote. The candidate with the most votes shall be forwarded to the City Council for consideration.
   3.  In the event of a tie vote during the second vote, the names of the two candidates shall be placed in the official Keizer bucket or other container and the chair of the committee shall draw the successful name.
   4. The option of voting for “no recommendation” will be on all ballots. If a majority of votes are “no recommendation,” the position will be reopened.
5. If there are multiple positions to fill, each position will be voted separately, using steps 2 through 4. 

City Councilor Applications

A member of the City Council may not be considered for a position on a committee or commission while they are actively serving as Councilor, even if the term of service would begin after the Councilor left office. For Council voting positions on committees and commissions, the City Council member will be appointed by the Mayor. 

Miscellaneous

1. Whenever a position becomes vacant or a recommendation for appointment is not accepted by the City Council, it will be reopened for additional applications. If necessary, the Committee may use the option of suspending the rules to consider current applications.
2. Letters will be sent to all non-successful individuals thanking them for their interest and encouraging them to attend the committee meetings.
3. Non-successful volunteer applicants will remain on file for one year and will be contacted for any future openings on the committees of interest. To be considered for a future opening, the applicant must respond in writing by the recruitment closing date to be considered for that opening.
4. For appointments to fill a mid-term vacancy of three months or less, the Volunteer Coordinating Committee will recommend the appointment for that period and the next consecutive term.
5. When a person applies to be reappointed to serve on a committee, their attendance record will be presented to the VCC.
6. When the Committee makes a recommendation for an applicant who is already serving on two city committees/commissions to serve on a third committee, an explanation supporting the recommendation will be included in the staff report and a representative from the Committee will attend the Council meeting to explain the recommendation.
7. Outgoing Youth Councilor and Youth Liaisons will be emailed the Youth Exit Survey in April. Answers will be included in the June or subsequent agenda packet.

1. Name one or more highlights of this experience that you feel other youth volunteers would enjoy.
2. Share any aspects of this experience that you would change.
3. If you could add anything to this experience to make it more impactful what would that be?
4. What would you recommend we do to create more interest for other youth?
5. What was the most surprising thing about the experience?

For a volunteer application, please click here .