Prolonged vacancies and struggles with volunteer recruitment and retention were the driving factors behind the Assembly’s decision to dissolve multiple advisory boards at its meeting Monday night.
The dissolved boards included the Treadwell Arena Advisory Board, the Aquatics Board and the Jensen-Olson Arboretum Advisory Board whose duties will now be consolidated and transferred to a single collective Parks and Recreation Advisory Board.
Michele Elfers, Parks and Recreation deputy director, said the merger will both improve the morale of board members, who for a while have dealt with canceled meetings due to lack of quorum, and increase the collective board’s effectiveness and impact.
“I think our next step is to think about, in this new consolidated board, how we can make sure we can get the public aware of what’s going on and get the public involved so that we can hear voices about all the programs that we have,” she told the Empire after the decision. “We’re pretty excited about this opportunity.”
Elfers said the PRAC will open recruitment for its nine seats later this spring, and she encouraged members of the dissolved boards along with any other interested community members to apply for a position.
• Contact reporter Clarise Larson at clarise.larson@juneauempire.com or (651)-528-1807. Follow her on Twitter at @clariselarson.
