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Hal,

I request the following item be added to the meeting agenda for May 5.

“Governance of FERIMD including procedures, accountability, elections and voting.”

Thanks,

Ken

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Below are some comments and questions I have regarding topics on the agenda. I make these comments in the spirit of cooperative governance and looking forward not backward.

Topics for discussion under “Governance of FERIMD”.

I suggest that the Board generally follow procedures described in the “BOARD MEMBERS RESOURCE MANUAL”. Where the Board deviates from those procedure, to do so with permission of the taxpayers. I’ve attached another copy of the manual.

Specially:

Manual p. 4-6, Annual Report. This is an annual financial statement. See Appendix A, p. 28-32 for the form the county requires. Much on that form is irrelevant for our small district, but we should expect an annual financial statement that includes a photocopy of the checkbook (warrant) register.

Manual p. 10. Annual Budget. “All districts must publish their budget 30 days prior to the Public Hearing at a meeting to adopt the fiscal year budget.” “All warrants issued by a district must have a completed memo line with sufficient detail stating the purpose for which the warrant was issued.”

Manual p. 17. Elections. Board members have staggered two-year terms. Board members serve to the expiration of that term only and then must seek re-election.

Manual p. 21. Meetings.? An agenda for meeting must be published 24 hours prior to the meeting.

Voting procedures not in the Manual and specific to FERIMD.

I think Penny hit the nail on the head as to how the Road District should be governed. On April 20 she wrote, “Personally, I think any meetings with county personnel, attorneys, surveyors, road crews, etc, should be done upon direction of the board after consultation and voting by the members.”

I would expand the statement from “meetings” to cover all significant decisions regarding the Road District such as choice of roads to be paved and any preferred site for mailboxes. ?That is, the governance of the District should be controlled by the vote of the taxpayers and not the Board alone.

When are votes required?

I liked Jeff’s comment the same day about “the most democratic of our institutions”. He wrote, “I believe we had a quorum of the taxpayers at the last meeting and we all nodded as to the constitution of the board. Ballots are not needed when a majority of the parties are present and nod their heads without objection. Formalizing the next time we have to vote would be nice, but again could be done at a board meeting (similar to the most democratic of our institutions - a Town Hall)”

In a town hall meeting, the community votes, not a Board alone. I agree that a nod of heads without objection is just fine for non-controversial subjects such as “we all want mailboxes and we should move ahead” and perhaps “FERIMD is governed by the vote of the taxpayers.”

However, for apparently more controversial subjects such as “where should the mailboxes be located” or “which street should be paved this year”, I believe those deserve a ballot.

I believe that voting on serious issues should be done by email and not done at a single meeting. Some people have other commitments and simply can’t make all the meetings. Jeff is out of state for about half the year and I’m gone every summer, but we both should be given the opportunity to vote.

Voting by email will allow the broadest participation, and this has already been tested. In early March there was an email vote for thumbs up or down on the favorability of site #3 west. Five household voted that were not at the March meeting. Voting by email is efficient because it doesn’t require a meeting.

Board Service:

I believe that service as a Board member for at least a two-year term should be expected of all willing community members. Board positions should rotate through the community and include both women and men. It shouldn’t be a significant burden, and probably only involving a few hours a year. ?

Other questions related to governance.

What is the reserve fund mentioned in the 2019 and 2020 budgets?

Why were the surveyor here? They did nothing related to the western property line at sites #1 west and #3 west.

What criteria are used to prioritize paving and other maintenance to the streets?

Topics for discussions under Mailboxes

The next Palominas School District Meeting is May 11^th. Have they been told there is no easement?

How is the location of the mailboxes going to be decided?

How are we going to move forward exploring the possibility of site #3 west?

Site #1 east (School District Property) and site #3 east (the pull-out) are similar situations in that both are on private land rather than easements. If we are going to ask the school board if we can install boxes on their private property, why not do the same for site #3 east? It shouldn’t take the landowner as long to reply as it has the school board.

How are the number, types and sizes of the mailboxes going to be determined? In two previous emails I have proposed two 13 tenant door mailboxes and one 4 door parcel unit. Perhaps that can be agreed on at the meeting by a nod of heads.

Ken