Berkeley Municipal Code Art. 2 Boards, Commissions and Committees

The purpose of Sections 2.04.030 through 2.04.130 is to give all nine elected members of the City Council an equal share in the responsibility of making Berkeley’s appointed boards, commissions and committees representative of the entire Berkeley community so as to provide for the widest possible community participation. (Ord. 4780-NS § 1, 1975)

Sections 2.04.030 through 2.04.130 shall be applicable as follows:

A. Present Boards, Commissions, and Committees.

1. Sections 2.04.030 through 2.04.130 shall apply to the following boards, commissions and committees presently appointed by the City Council:

2. The Advisory Committee for the Local Transit Study (City of Berkeley representatives only); the Board of Adjustments; the Board of Appeals; the Citizens Humane Commission; the Civic Arts Commission; the Code Review and Study Committee; the Commission on Aging; the Community Health Advisory Committee; the Housing Advisory and Appeals Board; the Human Relations and Welfare Commission; the Personnel Board; the Planning Commission; the Recreation Commission; the Solid Waste Management Commission; the Waterfront Advisory Board (City Council appointees only).

B. Additional Boards, Commissions and Committees.

1. Sections 2.04.030 through 2.04.130 shall apply to all additional boards, commissions and committees created and appointed by the City Council after December 1, 1973.

2. Section 2.04.030 through 2.04.130 shall not apply to those additional governmental bodies created independently of the Berkeley City Council where the assigned number of Berkeley City Council appointees is fixed by law at a figure less than nine. Where the number of City Council appointees to such bodies is nine or more, each councilmember shall make an equal number of appointments and the remaining appointees shall be chosen by majority vote.

C. Council Committees. Sections 2.04.030 through 2.04.130 shall not apply to the appointment of council members to council committees. (Ord. 4780-NS § 2, 1975)

Within one month after April 15, 1975, the City Council shall establish the size of all the then existing boards, commissions and committees covered by Sections 2.04.030 through 2.04.130. The size of each board, commission and committee shall be established as a multiple of nine so that an equal number of appointments may be made by each member of the City Council. The council may at any time change the size of boards, commissions and committees covered by Sections 2.04.030 through 2.04.130 to a different multiple of nine. (Ord. 4780-NS § 3, 1975)

Within four months after April 15, 1975, each City Councilmember shall appoint an equal number of persons to each board, commission and committee covered by the ordinance codified herein. (Ord. 4780-NS § 4, 1975)

The terms of persons appointed to boards, commissions and committees under Sections 2.04.030 through 2.04.130 shall expire no later than the same date as the expiration of the term of the councilmember who appointed them. The council may provide for shorter terms.

The death, resignation or recall of a councilmember shall cause the terms of such councilmember’s appointees to expire. All members of boards, commissions and committees appointed under Sections 2.04.030 through 2.04.130 whose terms expire shall serve until their successors are appointed, except in the case of automatic termination for absence. Each vacancy on a board, commission or committee is to be filled through appointment or reappointment by the councilmember to whom the vacancy is credited. Sections 2.04.030 through 2.04.130 shall not affect limitations set by the council on the number of terms persons may serve. (Ord. 4780-NS § 5, 1975)

Except as provided in this section, the terms of all persons appointed by the City Council to boards, commissions and committees pursuant to Berkeley Municipal Code Sections 2.04.030 through 2.04.130 (hereinafter "commissioners") shall, regardless of the date of appointment, regularly expire on the first day of December of each year.

Notwithstanding the above, where the death, resignation, or recall of a councilmember occurs prior to the regular expiration date of appointees as provided herein, the terms of appointees of that councilmember shall expire on the date of death, resignation, or recall of that councilmember. (Ord. 6395-NS § 1, 1997)

The present members of boards, commissions and committees may be reappointed under Sections 2.04.030 through 2.04.130. If not reappointed, the terms of all persons serving on boards, commissions, and committees covered in Section 2.04.040 who were appointed prior to the effective date of the ordinance codified herein shall terminate four months after April 15, 1975. At such time, the only council-appointed members of boards, commissions and committees covered in Section 2.04.040 shall be those persons appointed according to the provisions of the ordinance codified herein. The terms of those persons appointed to boards, commissions and committees according to the provisions of Section 2.04.050 through 2.04.070 shall commence four months after April 15, 1975. (Ord. 4780-NS § 6, 1975)

The quorum for all boards, commissions and committees covered by Sections 2.04.030 through 2.04.130 shall be a majority of those persons appointed in accordance with the ordinance codified herein. All boards, commissions and committees may take action if a quorum is present. (Ord. 4780-NS § 7, 1975)

All future boards, commissions and committees created and appointed by the City Council after April 15, 1975, shall be composed of an equal number of persons appointed by each member of the City Council according to the provisions of Section 2.04.070. (Ord. 4780-NS § 8, 1975)

Nothing in Sections 2.04.030 through 2.04.130 shall prohibit the City Council from abolishing boards, commissions and committees described in Section 2.04.040, enlarging or reducing their responsibilities, or combining their functions. (Ord. 4780-NS § 9, 1975)

It is not the purpose of the ordinance codified herein to amend or repeal the ordinances and resolutions establishing the boards, commissions and committees described in Section 2.04.030, except insofar as their provisions are in conflict with Sections 2.04.030 through 2.04.130. Where there is no conflict, those ordinances and resolutions shall continue to apply. Wherever there is a conflict between Sections 2.04.030 through 2.04.130 and one of those ordinances or resolutions, Sections 2.04.030 through 2.04.130 shall apply. (Ord. 4780-NS § 10, 1975)

Sections 2.04.030 through 2.04.130 shall be liberally construed and interpreted as to scope and coverage in order to effectuate the intent that each member of the City Council shall make an equal number of appointments to Berkeley’s boards, commissions and committees. (Ord. 4780-NS § 11, 1975)

Members of boards, commissions, and committees appointed by the council or individual council members, shall be residents of the City unless the member is required by federal or state law or the ordinance or resolution establishing the board, commission or committee to represent a specified organization, agency, group, category or profession. The term of any member of a board, commission, or committee shall terminate if that member is no longer a resident of Berkeley or if the member, while intending to return, does not reestablish a place of residence in the City within six months after leaving the City. (Ord. 5430-NS § 1, 1982; Ord. 4803-NS § 1, 1975)

A. Every commissioner, except those exempted from the residency requirement pursuant to Section 2.04.140, shall execute an Affidavit of Residency, signed under penalty of perjury, prior to their appointment. Said affidavit must be filed with the City Clerk at the same time as their appointment form is filed with the City Clerk. No commissioner shall be appointed, nor may they serve on a commission if an Affidavit of Residency has not been filed with the appointment form.

B. On a semi-annual basis, the City Clerk shall send notification to every active commissioner advising of the residency requirement in Section 2.04.140 and requesting address confirmation. The notice and confirmation may be in paper or electronic form.

C. Any commissioner found to be in violation of the residency requirements in Section 2.04.140 shall be automatically terminated from the commission. (Ord. 7565-NS § 1, 2017; Ord. 7260-NS § 1, 2012; Ord. 7111-NS § 1, 2009)