At my March “Coffee with the Mayor,” I was asked, “What does a Councilmember do?” The constituent was surprised to learn that not one city in Contra Costa County has a full-time Mayor or Councilmember, even those cities where the Mayor is directly elected. All city elected officials in our county have a full-time job in addition to their public service, are independently wealthy or are retired.
Here in Concord, the full City Council typically meets on the first, second, and fourth Tuesdays of the month. Each Councilmember also serves on two sub-committees they are assigned to for the year, by the Mayor. This year, I am serving on the Housing & Economic Development Committee and the Policy Development & Internal Operations Committee, which always comprises the Mayor and Vice Mayor. Other committees include Infrastructure & Franchise; Recreation, Cultural Affairs & Community Services; and Youth & Education.
In addition, all Councilmembers serve on external bodies, to ensure that Concord is represented at a regional level. We have Council representatives to the Association of Bay Area Governments; the Contra Costa Transportation Authority; County Connection; the Green Empowerment Zone Board; League of California Cities; Marin Clean Energy (MCE); and the Transportation Partnership and Cooperation Regional Committee.
Some of us serve on additional regional bodies. Councilmember Hoffmeister and I are members of the Airport Land Use Commission. I chose to serve on this body since my City Council District is physically adjacent to Buchanan Field Airport, and I wanted to have awareness and weigh in on airport land use issues that could impact my constituents. Councilmember Hoffmeister also serves as an alternate to the Contra Costa Countywide Redevelopment Successor Agency Oversight Board. Vice Mayor Nakamura was recently appointed to the Local Agency Formation Commission and also serves on the MCE Board.
Because creating and keeping jobs here in Concord is very important to me, I serve on the Executive Committee of the East Bay Economic Development Alliance to gain a regional perspective as to emerging industries and ideas for business attraction and retention. I also decided to serve on and chair the East Bay Regional Park District Park Advisory Committee because I am a park lover and wanted to be deeply involved with the development of the new “Thurgood Marshall Regional Park—Home of the Port Chicago 50,” here in Concord. You see, there is much more to the work of a Councilmember than the Tuesday night meetings, especially because Concord is the largest city in the county. So, it is important for us to be regionally engaged.