A 2023 review that examined whether renters could be a permanent part of some boards and commissions eventually grew into a wider conversation. The questions: Are there gaps between the public and local boards and commissions that make it difficult to interact? And if so, what changes would open up the lines of communication between boards, the public and city leaders?
A follow-up study by CivicLex found a number of potential issues that may have contributed to a lack of accessibility.
"We found both demographically and in terms of how people feel about the city, there's some really serious mismatches," CivicLex Deputy Director Kit Anderson said. "The boards and commissions members tend to be older, they tend to be wealthier, they're almost all homeowners, and less than five percent of boards and commission members are renters, (and) they're more highly educated than Lexington."
As for members of the panels in question, Vice Mayor Dan Wu said there's also been a sense of disconnect.
"Some of the challenges and the criticism that we've had in the past is people join boards and commissions and then they don't really know what are they supposed to be doing, or they want to be doing things but they don't feel as connected to decision makers or lawmakers, and they don't feel impactful," he told WUKY.
Among the new recommendations set for discussion this week are: improved council oversight of the boards and commissions including yearly reports; notifications to the boards by standing committee chairs who feel they are most aligned with a specific board's duties; council liaisons; and potential stipends for the Planning Commission, Board of Adjustment, Civil Service Commission and Administrative Hearing Board.
The changes could come in the form of resolutions or legislation.