Del Mar enacts new attendance rules for board, commission, committee members

The Del Mar City Council approved an ordinance May 5 adopting attendance requirements for city commission, board and committee members due to “recent meeting attendance issues.”

The goal of the ordinance is to address “provisions that are somewhat ambiguous and subjective making them difficult to implement consistently.” A Committee Efficiencies Taskforce consisting of Mayor Tracy Martinez and Councilmember Terry Gaasterland were evaluating the issue.

The new rules are scheduled to go into effect on June 4.

“The purpose of establishing committee attendance requirements is to ensure committees function effectively with consistent member attendance and to have a fair and consistent method for handling absences, while recognizing that members may occasionally be absent due to illness or other circumstances beyond their control,” according to a council agenda report.

Previous rules said that if a commission, board or committee member reached three absences within a 12-month period, their term was vacated, according to the report.

“This procedural change will help eliminate redundancy with the Council Policy and give the Council more flexibility to amend attendance requirements in response to the City’s changing needs,” according to the agenda report.