Committee members present: Samuel Guerrero (Chair), Robert Luckey, Eric Todd, Rita Castro

BVCOG staff present: Crystal Crowell, Christopher Hamilton

Mr. Guerrero called the meeting to order at 1:05 p.m.

The committee reviewed the draft agenda. Ms. Harris who was not present for the call emailed her comments before. She suggested that the public participation portion of the agenda move towards the end so that visitors may comment on the entire meeting. The committee questioned the purpose of the public participation portion; is it for comment about the agenda, or matters to be discussed, etc. The Executive Committee decided to keep the public participation section in its usual place at the beginning until receiving further clarification about the purpose of the section. Ms. Crowell and Mr. Hamilton will seek clarification regarding the matter.

Mr. Todd noted that he will not be able to attend the Planning Council meeting and requested that Mr. Hamilton give the committee report for the Allocations Committee during the Council meeting.

The committee then turned its attention to the issue of consensus. Since the last Planning Council meeting, some members spoke with Mr. Hamilton regarding the voting process. The issue developed out of the process of using ballots and voting for new members. Some council members commented that the council should be using consensus for all matters. The Executive Committee decided at its June 7 meeting to use secret ballots for voting for new members to protect the anonymity of candidates as well as the vote of the council member in case the candidates were in attendance.

Mr. Hamilton and Ms. Crowell stated alternative methods; the council could change its bylaws so that all questions or actions before the council are voted on with either simple majority or two-thirds majority votes, they could continue using consensus and vote on issues that are deadlocked in discussion.

Dr. Luckey suggested the Bylaws Committee examine the issue and make recommendations on specific actions that require votes and those that will still operate under consensus.

Mr. Guerrero restated the question to the committee, what is the specific issue at hand? He asked for suggestions from committee members on how the council should operate. It was suggested that the question be posed to the Planning Council, with Mr. Hamilton presenting the issue to the council.

It was noted that what should happen is that consensus should be defined, to determine what consensus is in the context of the Planning Council. Mr. Guerrero proposed that an ad-hoc committee be formed to study various voting methods and consensus issues and report back to the council with a recommendation. The committee agreed. Mr. Guerrero will have Dennis Nelson chair the ad-hoc committee and will ask council members directly to join the committee. The topic will be discussed in the Executive Committee report to the Planning Council at its next meeting.

The Executive Committee reviewed the remaining parts of the agenda and approved.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:45 p.m.