#4 Action on recommended citizen appointments to Citizens Board of Review
CITY MANAGER’S MEMORANDUM
September 29, 2011
TO: City Council
FROM: Eric J. Levitt
SUBJECT: Board of Review Appointments
Request
I request the Council confirm the appointments of the City Manager.
Recommendation
Due to a few recent resignations, I am requesting Council confirmation of the
appointments of Craig Gramke and Jim Tibbetts to fill the vacancies.
Motion
I move to confirm the appointments of the City Manager.
Background
The Clerk-Treasurer’s Office is having difficulty arranging times for the Board of Review
to meet to review assessment objections. Each residential objection takes 45 minutes
and each commercial objection is scheduled for one hour. Clerk-Treasurer Jean Wulf
estimates the Board of Review will need to meet for approximately 100-130 hours from
September 15 – the end of October, 2011. The Board of Review is comprised of five
voting members and three alternates.
Recently, one member (Don Allison) resigned from the Board in writing; one alternate
verbally resigned (Gary Wright) and another member is having difficulty attending due to
work schedules.
With time of the essence to complete the Board of Review process to create the tax roll,
there isn’t time to advertise for additional members and go through the standard
process to obtain members. The Clerk-Treasurer contacted several previous members
of the Board of Review and Craig Gramke and Jim Tibbetts agreed to serve again.
The Citizens Advisory Committee on Appointments met recently to learn about the
predicament the Clerk-Treasurer’s Office is in with the Board of Review. Following
discussion, the Committee approved a motion supporting the Administration’s approach
Craig Gramke
to the Board of Review vacancies and recommended as a voting
Jim Tibbetts
member for the Board of Review and as an alternate member of the
Board of Review.
Eligibility
To be eligible for an appointment to a standing committee, individuals must have
interest or knowledge in the committee’s subject matter. Volunteers for the Board of
Review must live within the City of Janesville.
City Manager’s Recommendations for Board of Review Appointments (confirmed
by entire Council)
Craig GramkeJim Tibbetts
as a voting member for the Board of Review and as an
alternate member of the Board of Review
Attachments: 9-29-11 unapproved minutes
CC: Eric Levitt, City Manager
Jacob J. Winzenz, Assistant City Manager
Record of Citizen Advisory Committee on Appointments
September 29, 2011
Page 1
Meeting of the City of Janesville Citizen Advisory Committee on Appointments held in the Municipal Building
first floor conference room on September 29, 2011.
Committee Members Present: Ron Combs, Judith Detert-Moriarty, Ed Pulliam, Larry Squire and Mary Willmer-
Sheedy
Staff Present: Rebecca Smith and Jean Wulf
Agenda Items
Roll Call
The meeting began at approximately 3:30PM with Combs, Detert-Moriarty, Pulliam, Squire and Willmer-
Sheedy present.
Smith thanked the Committee for attending on short notice and introduced Jean Wulf to the Committee.
Discussion and Possible Action on the Administration’s Approach to Board of Review Membership
Wulf explained the Clerk-Treasurer’s Office is having difficulty arranging times for the Board of Review to meet
to review assessment objections. Each residential objection takes 45 minutes and each commercial objection
is scheduled for one hour. Wulf estimates the Board of Review will need to meet for approximately 100-130
hours from September 15 –the end of October, 2011. The Board of Review is comprised of five voting
members and three alternates.
Recently, one member (Don Allison) resigned from the Board in writing; one alternate verbally resigned (Gary
Wright) and another is having difficulty attending due to work schedules.
Time is of the essence with the Board of Review due to the timeline they are under to complete all of the
objections in time to create the tax roll. Wulf contacted several previous members of the Board of Review and
Craig Gramke and Jim Tibbetts agreed to serve again. Craig Gramke previously served on the Board of
Review, is also a Chief Election Inspector and has a flexible schedule. Jim Tibbetts also previously served on
the Board and is willing to serve again.
Wulf explained the importance of having the new members familiar with the objection process because there
isn’t time for a volunteer with no experience to receive the training to be effective for this year’s Board of
Review.
Following Committee discussion, Squire made a motion to recommend Craig Gramke as a voting member for
the Board of Review and Jim Tibbetts as an alternate member of the Board of Review and to support the
Administration’s approach to the Board of Review vacancies. Detert-Moriarty seconded the motion and it
passed5-0-0.
Matters Not on the Agenda
Willmer-Sheedy indicated that she has received emails that she feels are inappropriate from a citizen. She
plans to respond to the citizen stating that she does not want to receive inappropriate emails in the future.
Pulliam suggested the emails be forwarded to the City Attorney for his information.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at approximately 3:50PM.
These minutes are not official until approved by the Citizen Advisory Committee on Appointments.
Rebecca Smith, Management Assistant