Environmental Advisory

Then, only two hours after the end of the Board meeting, the Environmental Advisory Committee met. Most of their discussion was about the process required to get an item on their own agenda.

All of the advisory committees meet at the pleasure of the Board. Their agendas are set by the Board, and the only action they can take is to make recommendations to the Board. I think that this limitation is sometimes not well understood by some committee members, who, understandably, want to use their expertise to help set the direction of the SCVWD.

This is not to say that the Board ignores its committees. The EAC put a lot of effort into formulating Board ends policies about stream bed design and erosive forces, and these policies were adopted by the Board. But the limitations on the advisory committee’s design means that individual committee members cannot come out with great ideas at meetings, have action taken and move the idea on to the Board. The Board controls what the committees talk about.