Notes from the 2nd Charter Review Committee Meeting: 1.27.10

The meeting was not video taped as previously requested. Hopefully the committee will have all future meeting online and broadcast on television.

Chair and Vice-Chair were elected at the beginning of the meeting.

Chair:
Sean Foote was appointed by Supervisor Gordon . He is a venture capitalist at Labrador Ventures, Hass School of Business Lecturer and folk musician. 
Labrador Ventures: http://www.labrador.com/index.html
Foote’s blog: http://seanfoote.wordpress.com/

Vice-Chair:
Melanie Hildebrand was appointed by Supervisor Groom.  She is a land use consultant at Cornerstone Consulting and Real Estate Broker at Hildebrand Real Estate Group. Interestingly Hildebrand was president of the San Mateo County Association of Realtors (SAMCAR) in 2005 and her company website includes a link to McCracken and Byers.
Cornerstone Consulting: http://melaniehildebrand.com/

Dave Pine is Vice President of the San Mateo County School Board Association and an attorney. He suggested that the committee list serve agendas and requested that speakers be given three minutes of speaker time vs. two minutes. 

Former Mayor and current Redwood City Council member Rosanne Foust voiced concerns about the meetings ending on time.
Link to article about Foust: http://www.peninsulaexaminer.com/2009/06/redwood-city-mayor-is-nimby.html

Beverly Miller a resident of El Granada and CFO for Brannan Street Wholesale Florist in San Francisco was appointed by Supervisor Gordon. Miller requested the committee stick with two minutes of speaker time. She then left the meeting an hour early.

Some of the ideas listed during the meeting for future discussions:

Citizen review of perspective County department head hires.

Reducing term limits. Current Supervisor term limits are 3 terms/12 years.

Rules and restrictions of BOS appointees.

Salaries and how they are determined.

Instant runoff elections.

Improved operating efficiency through consolidating offices.

Provisions for ethics violations by Supervisors and County staff.

County redistricting, changing electoral district boundaries in response to census results.

Redundancies on County Boards and Commissions.

Campaign finance reform.