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DISCUSSION In 1966, at the same election establishing council tenn limits, the voters amended Section 901 of the charter creating tenn limits for the city's representatives on its boards and commissions. In 1983, Section 901 was amended by the voters to set commission tenns to coincide with council tenns. There are no current provisions in either the city charter or municipal code that tie any commission seat to a particular council seat or ward. However, over the years, it has been the Council's practice that each councilmember nominates one of the commission seats whose term coincides with that member's term. Also, in the past, a commissioner had been nominated by one councilmember for a tenn, but nominated by another councilmember to a second tenn, and the second tenn was treated as a new two-tenn cycle because it was for a different ward. When the directly elected mayor was created beginning with the November 1988 election, Section 901 was not amended, however, the City adopted a practice of appointing one commissioner to a two year tenn and pennitting the mayor to make the nomination. Since this commissioner never served a full four year tenn, tenn limits were not applied to commissioners nominated by the Mayor. In November 2002, the City Attorney issued an opinion to the City Clerk that these Council practices are inconsistent with the Charter. This proposed amendment will bring the Charter into conformity with Council practice. The proposal also establishes a two year tenn limit for seats nominated by the Mayor, and eliminates any confusion created by language in the current charter specifying that all "members serve for a term of four years..." AD HOC COMMITTEE AND CITIZENS' TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS Both the Ad Hoc Committee on Charter Review and the Charter Amendment Citizens' Task Force recommend the proposed changes to Charter Section 901. The Task Force spent considerable time on this charter section and recommended the following provisions: · At least 50% of the nominations by a council member must be residents of member's ward · To maintain membership on a board or commission, must attend 50% of all regular meetings in a calendar year · If member is absent from two consecutive regular meetings, unexcused, seat is declared vacant · Establish nomination committee comprised of chairs from charter commissions (Parks and Recreation, Planning and Personnel) to make nomination recommendation if councilmember or the Mayor fails to make nomination within 90 days of a vacancy or expired term. 2 WSA-3