Scott Neal, Eden Prairie City Manager

What is the CMBAC? Actually, I hope we don’t get into the habitat of calling it that. I use it here only to catch your eye. The CMBAC is an acronym for the City Manager’s Business Advisory Committee. The creation of the Business Advisory Committee was included in a proposal that I advanced to the City Council at their meeting this week. The Council approved my proposal. You can read descriptions of the Council’s discussion and vote on the issue in stories in both the Eden Prairie News and the Eden Prairie Sun-Current.

I proposed the creation of the Business Advisory Committee to try and be responsive to the City Council’s past discussion about how to improve the operations of the City. I’m interested in making our operations more efficient and effective. If there are operating practices that we can learn from the business community that will make us more efficient and effective, then I’d like to hear about them and consider them.

I have attached (below) the memorandum I prepared for the City Council that explains how the committee would be structured and how it would function. Take a look. It’s an experiment, but I’m committed to this experiment. Eden Prairie may indeed be a Money magazine Top Ten city, but we can always do better.
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Date: September 1, 2006

To: Mayor and City Council

From: Scott H. Neal, City Manager

RE: City Manager’s Business Advisory Committee

At my 2006 performance review on June 6, I presented the Council my idea for the creation of a new standing committee within

Eden Prairie city government for the purpose of taking advantage of the business operations expertise of our citizenry to assist me with improving the quality and cost-effectiveness of municipal services and operations. After the performance review, I met with the Mayor and was advised that the Council received the idea positively and encouraged me to develop it more fully. That is the purpose of this memorandum.

I propose the name of the committee to be the City Manager’s Business Advisory Committee. The committee members would be recruited and selected by the City Manager. The committee would be responsible to the City Manager. I propose the use the word “committee” to distinguish this group from groups appointed by the City Council which we organize as either “commissions” or “task forces”.

The purpose of the committee is to examine selected operations and services of the City in order to provide the City Manager with advice and counsel about how to improve them and make them more cost-effective

The committee will be composed of persons who live or work in

. The committee will be 5-7 members with overlapping two year terms for the members. I will seek the advice of the City Council, City staff and the Eden Prairie Chamber of Commerce in both the recruitment and selection of the committee members. Committee members will meet as necessary to complete their appointed tasks. Committee members will be unpaid.

The City Manager will determine the committee’s scope of work. The City Manager will determine this scope of work in consultation with the City Council and City staff. The committee’s work product will be written reports which contain both conclusions and recommendations of the study subject. The reports will be public data and will be shared with the City Council and the City staff.

The City Manager will be the chief staff liaison to the committee and will make available such other staff support and resources as necessary for the committee to carry out its appointed duties.

There are two primary challenges in managing a committee like the one described in this memorandum. The first challenge is that it must be able to look into the City’s operations and give honest feedback and input without creating negative tension among City staff. I believe that our City staff is mature and professional enough to overcome this challenge. Our staff has a strong results orientation. We will welcome recommendations from the committee can help us produce a better product or service at a lower cost.

The other primary challenge in managing a committee like the one I am proposing is deciding where to position it within the organization. The committee should have access to those inside the organization that have the information they need in order to analyze the questions they have been directed to study. However, the committee should not be positioned so that it becomes a

City Council when it becomes necessary to deliberate the delicate questions of public policy.

I believe that my proposal balances both of these challenges and places this committee in the optimal organizational location to allow it access to information, but not so powerful that it supplants my recommendation authority or the Council’s approval authority for the most important budgetary and operating decisions for the City.

The Council has had considerable public and private debate about the feasibility and advisability of establishing a citizen committee to review the City’s operations and budgeting practices. I believe this proposal establishes a committee which can take advantage of the business expertise of our citizens to improve the City’s operations and services, while not modifying the fundamental government structure of the City. I recommend its approval by the City Council.