Culver City – During the Board of Equalization’s Regular Meeting today in Culver City, Board Members voted 5-0 to adopt new policies that establish stricter protocols regarding member education and outreach.
The reforms were crafted in response to the recent Department of Finance audit and were approved within the context of the Customer Service and Administrative Efficiency Committee, which George Runner oversees.
“The actions taken today establish clear limitations and guidelines for Board Member education and outreach activities, and reinforce actions already taken by the executive director,” said Runner. “We have a constitutional duty as elected officials to tackle these issues and run an efficient agency.”
The policy changes include creating a more robust clearance process for outreach activities, requiring Board review for certain events, and imposing a moratorium on all conferences until a new outreach plan has been adopted by the full board. The board also directed the development of memorandums of understanding for loaned staff.
“These reforms are vital steps towards remedying issues identified in the audit,” added Runner. “For the next Board meeting agenda, I will include empowering the executive director to hire all executives (CEAs) outside of the chief counsel and future executive directors.
“We’ll also discuss annual training requirements for all board members and staff on the proper role of elected board members related to Budget Act Provision 1 and other legal requirements.”
The next regular Board of Equalization meeting will be held in Sacramento beginning May 23.