By Lester Chang
The City of Sunnyvale wants to know about your family and your problems.
By a 4-2 vote at its May 6 meeting, the council created a task force to identify problems that "have slipped through the cracks" and have not been addressed by city commissions and boards.
But Mayor Stan Kawczynski and Councilman Jack Walker voted against the establishment of the Advisory Joint Task Force, saying the boards and commissions could do the job.
The city hasn't identified the issues the group would look into, but it could discuss academic needs of students, peer pressure and drug use.
The group would not have the power to make recommendations to the City Council, as do the boards and commissions. Instead, it will serve as a tool to forward concerns to the council.
The task force would have the power to solicit information from residents and government officials who have knowledge on issues affecting families and young people.
City officials have recommended using public hearings and "roundtable discussions" among task members to identify issues, officials said in a report to the City Council.
The body would consist of 13 members, six of whom would be drawn from the city's Art Commission, the Board of Library Trustees, the Child Care Advisory Board, the Housing and Human Services Commission, the Planning Department and the Parks and Recreation Commission.
Each commission and board will nominate candidates to the group.
The other seven task force members will be drawn from community agencies and organizations.
The group would elect a chairperson and a vice chairperson.
Its members are scheduled to be confirmed by July 22, with the group's first meeting to take place later that month, city documents said.
The group will do a self-analysis of its effectiveness after two years.
The City Council also passed a resolution to broaden the responsibilities of the Housing and Human Services Commission.
[ Back to Contents Page | Sunnyvale Sun Home Page | Archives ]
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, May 14, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.