The Kyle City Council has approved an ordinance that will focus the efforts of the City’s boards, commissions and committees in a manner that will make those efforts more targeted towards the goals set by the council and require less oversight by city staff. The ordinance was approved by a 7-0 vote of the council at their regularly scheduled meeting on June 2nd, 2015.
“Council appointed committees had grown to the point where finding volunteers to serve on them was difficult. At one point there was as many as 27 different committees and many had functions that were very similar or overlapping to other committees,” said Kyle Mayor Todd Webster. “This new ordinance charges the city council with forming committees that have specific purposes and time frames to get a specific job done. This ensures that our volunteers who are selected to serve on the committees know the extent of their commitment and allows the council to be able to select committee members with a certain amount of knowledge related to the charge of the committee.”
The council also approved an ordinance that elevates two former committees to board status. The new boards are proposed to be the Parks & Recreation Board and the Economic Development & Tourism Board. All previous boards, including the Train Depot Board and the Kyle Public Library Board, remain intact. Boards operate with a broader range of authority than a committee and do not have a defined term.
Each committee is limited to seven members and those members must be approved by the city council.
“It is important to recognize the incredible work performed by the Kyle residents who volunteered hundreds of hours to serve on committees over the past several years,” said Webster. “The work of these volunteers is very much appreciated and will benefit the city for years to come.”
Committee members must be at least 18 years old, have been a resident of the city for at least 12 months, and not be in any indebtedness to the city.
“The end result of the new committee structure will be fewer committees doing more targeted work for the citizens of Kyle,” said Webster. “The city council and the city manager have put a lot of thought into making committees more efficient and I think this new ordinance does that.”