User:Mep71/sandbox

- This was just practicing!!!!!

Board & commission
A form of citizen oversights in municipal government is board & commission oversight. Boards and commissions enable citizens to participate in the government processes. Members are city officials and provide a citizen’s perspective to elected officials. Their activities help shape and influence public policy, because they lend a more diverse viewpoint for the City Council to consider. Politicians, such as city council members, are required to make decisions on behalf of their citizens and constituents. The primary function of a board is to make informed recommendations to politicians base on information (options) provided by staff on planning, policy, and monitoring while considering the citizens perspective.

Members
The board & commission typically consist of seven members (unless otherwise mandated). Members must be citizens and are nominated by council members. The term of office runs concurrently with the Council member’s term who nominated the board member. The term for a task force or committees created for a specific purpose will lasts a specific length of time or when the task is completed.

Types of boards
There are three types of boards: advisory boards, sovereign boards and appellate boards.
 * Advisory boards make recommendations to council (provide advise to Council). No decision making authority. Advisory boards are tasked with taking on the issues and concerns of citizens, understanding and exploring possible options and providing feedback and recommendations to council.
 * Sovereign boards exercise independent authority and make decisions. These are boards that were established by State law, federal law or City Charter.
 * Appellate boards exist to hear appeals filed by affected parties to rulings or actions made by City officials.