City of Half Moon Bay. Mission Statement and Principles of Participation

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1 City of Half Moon Bay Mission Statement The mission of the is to participate in and provide input as it relates to the comprehensive General Plan, Local Coastal Program and Zoning Code updates, by promoting balanced consideration of a range of perspectives on issues affecting Half Moon Bay, serving as an information conduit to stakeholder groups, encouraging broader community participation, and providing continuity of participation throughout the entire public visioning and update process. Principles of Participation Role of General Plan Advisory Committee Members To achieve the mission of the GPAC, the City is asking members to: Become familiar with the issues surrounding city planning and community development Attend periodic meetings over an extended period of time (approximately 2 years) Represent a broader community interest (rather than a particular organization of which one may be a member of) at GPAC meetings Keep residents and organization/stakeholder groups informed of the progress of the public visioning and update program Balance stakeholder goals with the larger public interest Encourage community participation throughout the public visioning and update process Adhere to the public visioning and update program schedule and respond to established deadlines Work collaboratively with other GPAC members Provide constructive feedback to City staff and consultants on process and works in progress at key points during the update program Make recommendations to the Planning Commission and City Council at key project milestones Composition The GPAC will consist of 13 members and 3 alternates to provide a diversity of viewpoints that are broadly representative of and reflect the diversity of the community to the greatest extent possible. The GPAC should include members representing the following groups: (5) Residents at large (2) Conservation/Sustainability/Environmental Advocates Page 1 of 5

2 (2) Real Estate Professionals and/or Developers (2) Business Community/Commercial land owners (1) Planning Commissioner (1) Recreation Committee Member (3) Alternates Appointment Anyone wishing to be considered for appointment representing the resident, real estate, business or conservation community must complete a General Plan Advisory Committee application, which will be available online at or at Half Moon Bay City Hall. Each applicant may apply for one represented group category listed above. All City of Half Moon Bay residents and Coastside residents, and City of Half Moon Bay businesses owners are encouraged to apply. The application period will be open until December 2, The Mayor will appoint a Council Subcommittee, consisting of two Councilmembers, to review the applications and listen to any applicant presentations and recommend a list of applicants for City Council appointment at the December 17, 2013 General Council Meeting. During the Subcommittee Meeting applicants will be given the opportunity to provide the Council with a brief presentation about their background and indicate why they wish to serve on the GPAC. In addition, three alternates will be appointed by the City Council from among all the applicants. The Planning Commission and Recreation Committee will each recommend their respective appointment and designated alternate for City Council appointment. Meeting Schedule A total of 10 to 12 GPAC meetings are planned over the two-year term of the project. Meetings will be held on weekday evenings and will generally last from two to three hours. Attendance at GPAC meetings is required. All meetings will be open to the public. GPAC members are highly encouraged to fully participate in the entire process including attending community workshops and other project-related events to hear a variety of viewpoints from the general public. Meeting Attendance Full participation of committee members is essential to the effectiveness of the GPAC. Committee members are expected to attend all GPAC meetings. If any member is absent from either of the first two meetings or two of any five consecutive regular GPAC meetings, the member s seat will be deemed vacated and an alternate will be assigned to the vacated seat. The alternate is encouraged to actively participate in the meetings provided that he or she is adequately briefed as to the status of prior discussions and decisions. If a committee member resigns his or her appointment, an alternate will automatically become a regular committee member for the duration of the process. Quorum Page 2 of 5

3 For meeting purposes, a quorum of the GPAC is met with 9 members in attendance. Brown Act All GPAC meetings and committee members are subject to the open meeting requirements of the Ralph M. Brown Act (Brown Act). The Brown Act imposes public notice and access requirements on committee meetings, and places certain limitations on when and how committee members may communicate with one another. At the first GPAC meeting, committee members will be given a briefing about the basic requirements of the Brown Act. Any committee member who violates the Brown Act will be immediately removed from the Committee. Form 700 Please note that members of this committee will be required to complete a statement of economic interest (Form 700) and provide it to the City Clerk to remain on file as a public record. Relationship to Planning Commission and City Council The project team (consultants and/or City Staff) will provide updates on GPAC meetings to the Planning Commission and City Council throughout the process. Information and recommendations from the GPAC will be documented and reported to the Planning Commission and City Council in writing and/or graphic form. Recommendations of the GPAC will include an explanation for all major decisions. At key decision points, the Planning Commission and City Council will review the GPAC s recommendations in a joint study session, and the City Council will retain ultimate decision making authority for all policy decisions. The Planning Commission will review, amend, and supplement the work of the Committee to create the Draft General Plan, Draft Local Coastal Plan and Draft Environmental Impact Report for public review. The City Council will review and amend the Draft General Plan, Draft Local Coastal Plan and Draft Zoning Code before certifying the Environmental Impact Report and adopting the General Plan, Local Coastal Plan and Zoning Code updates. Business The GPAC is not intended to be a voting body. The committee will operate by consensus and provide comments to the project team. Regular meetings will continue until all agenized business is concluded unless adjourned earlier by the project team staff. Facilitator The consultant team serves as facilitator and is responsible for the flow of the meetings and ensuring that the group works as a constructive and cohesive unit. The consultant team will facilitate and manage the meeting, maintain order, respond to inquiries or points raised, and Page 3 of 5

4 keep the meeting on time so the agenda can be completed. No Chairperson or Vice Chairperson will be appointed. Agendas The facilitator will prepare each agenda. At the conclusion of each meeting, the facilitator will summarize the results and identify items that may need further research or be carried over to the next meeting, preview new business for the upcoming meeting, and invite Committee members to suggest new items for future meetings. Public Input Members of the public are encouraged to attend GPAC meetings and address the committee on items of interest. There will be a public comment opportunity at least once during each meeting. External Communications The overriding consideration in all communications is to honor and sustain the constructive, collaborative process of the committee. GPAC members are encouraged to communicate with their constituencies in order to keep them informed of the public visioning and General Plan/LCP/Zoning Ordinance update process and to encourage direct participation. Should committee members speak to the media, members are encouraged to provide accurate, factual information to inform the public about the program, but shall refrain from engaging in speculation, advocating a position on a specific issue, speaking on behalf of the GPAC (unless authorized by the committee to do so), or otherwise making public statements that would tend to hamper constructive committee discussions. City staff and the facilitator will be available to assist in any communications to the media, if desired. Information Sharing In order to ensure all GPAC members have the same information available to them, all information and documents will be distributed through the facilitator. If a member has information he or she would like to share with other committee members, the information should be given to the facilitator for distribution to the entire committee. Maintaining this flow of information will facilitate a respectful, collaborative process, and help avoid unintended violations of the Brown Act (e.g., serial meetings). Work Products In addition to its role as representatives of and conduits to community stakeholders, the GPAC will be responsible for reviewing and commenting on interim draft work products. The primary purpose of the GPAC in reviewing work product is to ensure that it accurately and fairly reflects the input received by the community at the various forums, group meetings and public workshops. Draft documents will be converted to final form after taking into consideration Page 4 of 5

5 GPAC review. The recommendations of the GPAC are advisory and may be modified by the Planning Commission and the City Council. Discussion Process During GPAC meetings, committee members agree to abide by the following discussion process: The committee will establish ground rules about how members should conduct themselves during meetings (draft ground rules will be provided at the first meeting) The preferred decision-making process is collaborative problem-solving Consensus of the GPAC will take precedence over individual preferences In cases of non-consensus, alternative perspectives will be documented The facilitator will facilitate the meetings Basic Conduct GPAC members are expected to behave in a manner consistent with constructive dialogue, mutual respect, and a commitment to collaboration. More specifically GPAC members will: Offer respect of different viewpoints and attention when others speak Share the responsibility of ensuring the success of the process and quality of recommendations Make a good faith effort to work towards reaching an agreement Ask questions of other members for clarification and mutual understanding Verify assumptions when necessary and avoid characterizing the motives of others Acknowledge and try to understand others perspectives Stay focused on the task at hand and share airtime with others Refrain from distracting others through side conversations and refrain from all cell phone use during meetings Concentrate on the content of the discussions and allow the facilitator to focus on how to promote productive discussion Page 5 of 5