Redlands Council advances plan to scale back commission sizes and shift to quarterly meetings

REDLANDS, Calif. — The Redlands City Council voted Tuesday to move forward with a proposal to reshape nearly half of the city’s advisory commissions by reducing membership and cutting meetings to a quarterly schedule.

Why it matters: The changes are outlined in Ordinance 2995 and Resolution 8742, which were introduced at the Dec. 2 meeting following months of recommendations from a council-appointed Ad Hoc Committee.

Assistant City Manager Janice McConnell said the proposal aims to streamline commission structures and reflect best practices in similarly sized cities. 

Details: Six of the city’s 14 commissions would remain unchanged, including the Planning Commission, Historic and Scenic Preservation Commission and the Utilities Advisory Commission.

The remaining eight—Airport Advisory Board, Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission, Municipal Utilities and Public Works Commission, Traffic and Parking Commission, Cultural Arts Commission, Citrus Preservation Commission, Street Tree Committee and the Human Relations Commission—would see membership cuts from seven to five. Several would shift from bi-monthly meetings to quarterly ones, though commissions could still call special meetings for urgent business.

McConnell noted that Parks and Recreation’s meeting months would be shifted to March, June, September and December to align with the city’s sports field allocation schedule. The Human Relations Commission would be restructured slightly differently, reducing from nine to seven members, including one high school student and one college student.

Some commission rosters are already at five members, McConnell said, and others will be reduced through attrition beginning in 2026. Staff will also review terms to stagger future turnover and avoid losing multiple experienced members at once.

What they’re saying: Council members expressed support for staggering terms to prevent experience loss, particularly after reducing membership.

Mayor Pro Tem Marc Shaw, who served on the Ad Hoc Committee alongside Councilmember Paul Barich, also noted that most meetings have low attendance and the city is often needing to advertise repeatedly to fill commission positions. Reducing the number of meetings, he said, might increase the applicant pool.

“We didn't do this in a vacuum. I talked to every single head of every chair, and basically that's where the suggestions come,” Barich said. “We're not trying to silence the public."

Public concerns over transparency and access: Residents and local business leaders raised strong concerns, warning that fewer meetings and fewer commissioners could shrink public access to government and slow down critical work.

“It just seems like to me that we’re taking the public out of the process,” said resident Steve Rogers. “Reducing it is sort of like a slap in the face to the public because I know these people give a lot of their time, and I don’t believe that this is coming from them that they want to reduce their involvement.”

Representatives from the Redlands Chamber of Commerce opposed cutting meeting frequencies. Chamber Board Vice President Patrick Roskam, through a statement read by Executive Director Evan Sanford, said the proposal lacks clear criteria for when a commission should call a special meeting or how items will be prioritized.

“Cutting commission meetings to just three or four times a year without transparent objective standards risks creating bottlenecks, limiting access and delaying meaningful progress,” Sanford said, noting that it already took five appearances over 18 months for the Chamber to secure pedestrian safety improvements at the Traffic and Parking Commission. “If meetings are reduced further, critical safety projects could face even longer delays before reaching you.”

Former Street Tree Committee member Andy Hoder said that the commission already struggles with heavy workloads, long agendas and complex case-by-case inspections that affect individual residents.

Another resident, Bruce Laycook, questioned the rationale behind the cuts. “Seven is not a big number,” he said. “Cutting the number of people and cutting the frequency both means guaranteed less public input.”

McConnell emphasized that the recommendations originated from the council’s own Ad Hoc Committee and were supported earlier in the year. She also stressed that special meetings can—and will—be called when urgent issues arise, particularly in commissions that address safety, infrastructure or environmental threats.

If the new model proves unworkable, she said, the council can revisit the schedules after a trial period.

Moving forward: Schedule changes are expected to take effect in 2026 as commissioner terms expire.

McConnell said staff will monitor the transition and return with revisions if needed.