An internal restructuring of Oakmont Council is being discussed among its members to find a way to keep up to date with borough boards, the school district, committees, projects and other happenings.
Council president Nancy Ride credited the idea to fellow members Amanda Pagnotta and Jennifer Paris.
Pagnotta took the lead during the idea’s presentation.
“It’s designed in a way where we can divide and conquer instead of stepping on each others’ toes,” Pagnotta said.
Pagnotta said she has a list of items residents have inquired about to council that went unanswered. In the past, questions would often be passed off from one council member who didn’t have the answer to another. Sometimes, those questions would fall through the cracks.
The goal of the new format is for residents who have questions to be connected with the right person from the beginning, via new divisions that would be formed.
While all council members are involved with borough committees, the new structure is intended to add more fluidity and balance while the committee members act as liaisons between government bodies.
In each borough category, two or three council members will be selected to create a division. That division will be in charge of familiarizing themselves with the work and challenges of committees, boards and organizations related to the category.
“Having the ability to be in a small group, in a non-voting group of three people, you really can talk these issues through,” Ride said. “It’s something I’ve found in the past … there was no real way to do that.”
Categories tentatively include leadership, safety and regulations, fiscal responsibility, civic life, community engagement, and environment and sustainability. Members are grouped by their interests, strengths and election cycles.
“Everybody serves as a member of (at least) two committees and in some cases you could be a chair,” Pagnotta said.
Pagnotta said it’s imperative for council members to remember the role is purely collaborative. Divisions do not oversee, manage or make any policy or binding decisions in their roles. Their jobs are to simply gather information and share what they’ve learned.
“We just have to stay in our lane,” Ride said. “I have seen this where somebody, you know, starts to think they run the boulevard project. It’s not happening here but it could, and you want to be careful it’s not happening.”
As the structure is developed and fine-tuned, council members are responsible for streamlining communication between the committees, organizations and boards under their division. Ideally, it’d be a way to keep every facet of the borough in the loop with each other.
Pagnotta hopes the structure will evolve to regular division meetings and more fluid voting meeting formats.
Council will continue to discuss the process and where members will be categorized.