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Date: 5/9/2023
NORTHAMPTON — The City Council Select Committee to Study Barriers to Serving on City Boards and Commissions officially presented their final report to the full City Council on May 4.
The committee, which was officially formed in February 2022, was tasked with finding specific barriers that prevent residents from serving on boards and commissions throughout Northampton and working with those residents to find specific ways those barriers can be eradicated.
The commission included Northampton residents Gwen Nabad and Cynthia Suopis, Councilors Jamila Gore and Garrick Perry and committee Chair Javier Luengo-Garrido. Gore served as the vice-chair of the committee.
During the May 4 meeting, Luengo-Garrido provided a snapshot of the committee’s findings as well as recommendations for how people can have better access to these boards and commissions.
“As a newly-formed Select Committee, our main approach was to dive into the collective experience of hundreds of people who are now serving on different committees across the city, those who have served in the past and are no longer serving, and those who have looked to donate their time and knowledge to our city but have not been called to serve,” read the committee’s executive summary. “Our intention was to collect testimonies so we could understand the experience of those who have been in contact with the city.”
Part of the recommendations by the committee included a call to streamline the process for people who want to serve on boards and commissions.
The committee’s report indicates that the number of open seats for boards and commissions in the city has fluctuated since the committee was formed. As of the time of the final report, the committee found that there are 20 open seats in Northampton.
“Although this could be seen as a lack of applicants, our survey and community outreach have documented at least 46 community members who stated that they applied to serve on boards and commissions but were never appointed,” read the report.
The committee also recommended that the city decentralize and create multiple options for communicating with the community, like providing multilingual materials and tabling events for
the wider community to learn about volunteer positions and what is happening in the city. They also emphasized other recommendations like more government transparency and different ways of bringing more inclusiveness.
The report also explained how the current process for serving mainly benefits those already familiar with the city structure and/or familiar with elected officials or others engaged in city politics. According to the report, 48% of respondents to the survey have served for five or more years while 25% said they have served for more than eight years.
“We have a captive audience, which was people that have already been able to serve, that have had the privilege of serving, [and] that have had the time to serve” Luengo-Garrido said, of the survey. “That made it really difficult to find those who are not serving.”
Aside from the survey, the committee was able to conduct one-on-ones with certain people who have not served on commissions and boards, and what they found was many single mothers and fathers who do not have the time to serve or do not know where to apply.
“What we found in those conversations was single fathers and single mothers come in after a long day of work, and they have a huge problem leaving the house again,” said Luegno-Garrido, who added that the hybrid and remote format for meetings has mitigated these issues.
Despite these results, there were some questions about the timeline of the survey and when many of the respondents had these experiences with applying.
Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra said during the meeting that the city has made changes during her tenure to allow for a more streamlined and transparent process for residents who have applied to serve, and when people do apply, there is something that pops up explaining the process and the next steps.
“My educated guess, based on the answers we got, a high percentage [of those who answered] are people that experienced the city of Northampton system prior to the revamp and update that has been in the last couple of months,” Luengo-Garrido said.
Sciarra also stated that she typically holds an application for a specific board or committee if there is not an opening, and if there is an opening, she will give the applicants a call and walk them through the process of what is next and what they hope to get out of serving on the board or commission in question. She will also explain the timeline of everything.
“I’m sorry if people felt like they weren’t acknowledged when they applied, because that would never be my intention, certainly anyone’s intention,” Sciarra said. “I try to give people as much information as possible so they feel comfortable with that process.”
The city is in the process of hiring someone who receives and organizes submitted applications, and Sciarra noted that she will find ways to make the application process even better through this hiring.
The next step is for the council to have this at a future meeting for more deliberations. No date has been determined, as of press time.
“I find [these recommendations] largely to be pretty actionable, and there’s a few that are aspirational that we need to do further work on,” said Council President Jim Nash, who was one of the sponsors of the resolution to create this committee. “I just want to thank [the committee] for their work.”