Expectations and Roles of Council and Commission Liaisons 11-2003SHOREWOOD
5755 COUNTRY CLUB ROAR - SHCOREWOOD, MINNESOTA 55331 -8927 - (952) 474 -3236
FAX (9.2) 474-0128 - www,d.shorewood.mn.us - dtyhaIJ@ci.shorewood.mn.us
EXPECTATIONS AN ROLES
OF
CITE' COUNCIL LIAISONS TO ADVISORY COIN ISSI N
AN
COMMISSION LIAISONS TO CITE' COUNCIL
The Shorewood City Council wants to foster good and thorough two -way communication with its
advisory commissions and committees. For many years this communication has been performed
through the role of liaisons.
What is a liaison? One dictionary defines it as follows:
Liaison – (1) Communication between different offices or units of an organization. (2) A
channel or means of communication: He served as the President's liaison with Congress.
The following points are intended to be a guide— expectations of etiquette, if you will —that will
foster productive and respectful liaison relationships.
City Council Liaisons to Commissions and Committees
The City Council has created advisory commissions and committees in order to study and make
recommendations about a course of action that the City Council should take or pursue. Persons on
the commission or committee should be providing informed recommendations to the Council, and
free from bias or influence from the Council.
Accordingly, the Council liaison should:
• Respect the prerogatives of the commission/committee, and appreciate the separation of roles
between the commission/committee and the Council.
• Refrain from active or direct participation in the deliberations of the commission /committee.
• Be willing to provide a perspective of the Council (and not of oneself) on a particular matter
under consideration.
• Ask the commission /committee to address issues or points of particular interest to the Council
(and again, not of oneself).
• Inform the commission/committee of recent City Council actions or business, as may be
relevant or of interest.
r%
��® PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER
EXPECTATIONS ANLD ROLES CP
CITY COUNCIL, LIAISONS TO ADVISORY COMMISSIONS
AND COMMISSION LIAISONS TO CITE' COUNCIL,
November 200
Page 2
r •- x -, t •• t o s r �:
• Provide a brief overview of the commission/committee activities following their own
meeting(s) from "the table ", rather than from the podium.
• Not review the minutes of their last meeting(s), but rather highlight matters other than those
that may be on the Council's agenda that evening.
• Speak to individual agenda items during the Council meeting that have been reviewed by the
commission/committee. Appear at any Council meeting when such items are scheduled on
the agenda.
• Provide the Council with a summary of the action by the commission/committee, and relate
the minority position(s) stated during its discussion of the matter.
Those seated around the Council and staff tables are expected to be attentive and respectfully
listening while liaisons are giving reports of their commission/committee activities.