[bouldercouncilhotline] Hotline: NLC and CML appointments

[cmosupport at bouldercolorado.gov]

Sender: Appelbaum, Matt


Colleagues – This is to follow up to our late-night conversation about filling the positions that Macon currently has at both the National League of Cities (NLC) and the Colorado Municipal League (CML).  Given various deadlines, this is something we really should handle at our next meeting (on the 18th) and I’ll suggest that we put it on that agenda under Matters.
 
Regarding NLC: Macon currently is on the Transportation and Infrastructure Services (TIS) Policy Committee.  There are seven such policy committees, although some are quite a bit more active and effective than others.  As you know, I’ve previously served on the Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources (EENR) committee and was its chair a couple of years ago.  These two committees deal with issues that greatly affect Boulder and have broad national implications, and both are involved with important congressional and administration actions (or, in the case of Congress, non-actions).
 
Although as an NLC board member I cannot be an EENR member, I still attend their meetings and cover their efforts.  However, perhaps late next year we should consider getting a councilmember on EENR.  I would recommend that we replace Macon on TIS in time for the NLC fall conference in November of this year (Nov. 4 -7 in Nashville).  If there are other NLC committees people are interested in, I’d suggest that we discuss that at our retreat.  Serving on an NLC committee takes both time and money, although a number of our peer cities in the Denver area have multiple councilmembers on such committees.  The committees meet three times per year: at the spring conference in D.C., at a spring/summer meeting usually held in the home town of the NLC president, and at the fall conference at a location that rotates around the country.  Some committees, particularly EENR, have held a fourth meeting in the late summer/early fall.
 
As usual, if multiple members of our council would like to take on the TIS role we’ll just need to sort it out.  However, I’d encourage all of you to consider it if you are certain you’ll have the time to attend the meetings, since that is key to being effective and worth your efforts and the city’s support.  And I’d encourage you to look at all of the NLC committees – see nlc.org – since there may be some other set of national issues you think we should get more involved in.
 
Regarding CML: We get two seats on the very important CML Policy Committee.  This is the forum at which legislative issues are discussed and CML’s position debated and formulated.  While the CML Board – on which I serve – gets the final word, in fact it is extremely rare for the Board to deviate from the recommendations of the Policy Committee, and I found that the discussions at Policy were far more thorough and interesting than at the Board. (The Board does sometimes play a very important role late in the legislative session when late bills and amendments are rapidly being debated, since the Policy Committee cannot deal with those.)
 
Suzanne and Macon are our two current reps on Policy, with Carl Castillo being the indispensable staff support.  There are typically three meetings of Policy per year, with a fourth meeting possible.  They are all held at CML’s offices near the Capitol, and always on Fridays, from 10:00 to approx. 2:00.  This session’s meetings will be held Oct. 16, Dec. 4, and Feb. 12.  In addition, very helpful schmoozing/networking, as well as some interesting sessions, are highlights of the CML annual conference, held each year in mid-June (just as the council recess begins) in either Breckinridge or Vail (site of the next conference, June 21 – 24, 2016).
 
As with the possible NLC slot, if multiple folks are interested we’ll sort it out, or perhaps those of you who are interested might talk (one-on-one, of course) with each other in advance of our meeting.  The CML position is very important, and we’ve not infrequently played an important role during the Policy Committee discussions.  NLC is a rather longer-term play, since things move more slowly at NLC due to its size, and, needless to say, things pretty much don’t move at all with Congress – although there are very important issues handled by the executive branch where NLC does have an important role.  And our voice at EENR and TIS can most certainly make a difference in how NLC formulates its policy and lobbying positions.
 
--Matt