If you read the agenda for next Tuesday night there's really not much there. It's only if you read the minutes of the various boards, commissions, and committees that it gets interesting. There, you will find out what government is REALLY UP TO.
I'm not going to give anything away but I will take this opportunity to comment on the differences between, say, a COMMITTEE and, also say, a COMMISSION.
A committee is part of the governing body entrusted with oversight of a particular subject matter in order to provide the governing body with advice and recommendations about how to handle that particular subject.
But a COMMISSION is a different matter: A commission is given the authority to act in behalf of the governing body. Think of it in terms of the derivation of the term, commission, itself. Officers in the military are granted a "commission" from the Government to command it's troops in the field of battle. Likewise, a naval ship is "commissioned" to do the service of the Government in keeping the seas safe, etc..
The City has a number of independently operating commissions. The two most important ones are the UTILITY COMMISSION and the FIRE AND POLICE COMMISSION. The Fire and Police Commission has complete....and I do mean COMPLETE control over the fire and police departments. The only authority the City Council has is over the total, lump sum, budget of the departments and the construction of the buildings those departments are housed in...except we got that sort of weaseled away from us recently. The Commission can spend the money within it's budget any way it wants without Council approval.
The Utility Commission is the same way. They built a $36 Million dollar power plant with sham approval from the City Council.
The Convention and Visitors Bureau is granted by Statute and Ordinance the powers of a Commission. Hence, the Common Council has no say over the collection or expenditures of room tax dollars.
Are you beginning to see what's going on?
Good.
I'm probably going to raise hell with one of those commissions on Tuesday night....and...with a little luck, it will look like the picture above.
