(a) Commissions may meet jointly either formally or informally to deal more effectively with or respond to common issues and concerns. A Commissioner of an individual Commission may represent and participate in a formal joint meeting only after the individual Commission has authorized the participation of the Commission in the joint meeting. For any official action taken in a formal joint meeting, the Commission shall specify in a resolution the scope of any individual Commissioner's participation. Action taken by individual Commissioners in an informal joint meeting shall follow the general direction of the Commission.
(b) Each Commission may involve representatives of other neighborhood groups in the work of its standing or special committees.
(c) The Mayor shall appoint a service area coordinator for each ward who shall act as the chairperson of the service area committee in that ward and shall coordinate all District government services at the ward level to residents of the ward. The head of each District government department or agency that delivers services at the ward level shall appoint a service area manager who shall oversee the day-to-day operations of the department or agency within the ward and shall represent that department or agency on the service area committee of that ward. The service area coordinators and managers shall work closely with the Commissions in their service area ward and shall provide them with any technical assistance necessary to the performance of their duties and responsibilities.
(d)(1) The Council may assist the individual Commissions in the following areas:
(A) Dispute resolution between the entities of the District government and the individual Commissions to facilitate the advisory process;
(B) Providing the training to Commissioners with respect to the procedures and content of District laws, including, but not limited to, laws governing zoning and licenses to sell alcohol; and
(C) Any other assistance necessary and feasible to enable the Commissions to perform their statutory duties.
(2) The District of Columbia Auditor shall provide assistance to the Commissions in the following areas:
(A) Review of quarterly financial reports to ensure compliance with current law;
(B) Monitoring of Commission expenditures and responses to inquiries from individual Commissions on the legality of proposed actual expenditures; and
(C) Training of Chairpersons and treasurers regarding required financial reports and submissions.
(3) The Mayor shall provide assistance to the Commissions in the following areas:
(A) Legal interpretations of statutes concerning or affecting the Commissions, or of issues or concerns affecting the Commissions. These interpretations are to be obtained from the Corporation Counsel and may be requested directly by any Commission;
(B) Liaison efforts between the individual Commissions and District government entities to ensure responsiveness to Commission requests and compliance with current law;
(C) Provision of government-owned or leased office space to any requesting Commission pursuant to § 1-309.13(q);
(D) Within 180 days of June 27, 2000, issue regulations to provide parking privileges for Commissioners while on official business; and
(E) Any other assistance necessary to ensure that a Commission is able to perform its statutory duties.
(e) Whenever a District government entity is required to establish a citizen's advisory mechanism, appointments to that mechanism shall be made in such a manner as to ensure as far as possible the equal representation on the mechanism of each electoral ward, provided that, members of the advisory mechanism possess skills relevant to the tasks for which the advisory mechanism was established and, in the event that the size of the advisory mechanism requires the appointment of more than one person per ward, ward appointments shall be made in such a manner so as to ensure as far as possible a fair representation of each Commission area.
(f) Each executive and independent agency, board, and commission of the District of Columbia and the Council shall assign an individual to act as an Advisory Neighborhood Commission Liaison who will serve as the primary contact for all Commissioners conducting official business with said government entity. The Office of Advisory Neighborhood Commissions shall maintain a list of the Liaisons.
CREDIT(S)
(Oct. 10, 1975, D.C. Law 1-21, § 15, as added Mar. 26, 1976, D.C. Law 1-58, § 2, 22 DCR 5463; Mar. 6, 1991, D.C. Law 8-203, § 3(e), 37 DCR 8420; Jun. 27, 2000, D.C. Law 13-135, § 3(c), 47 DCR 2741.)
HISTORICAL AND STATUTORY NOTES
Prior Codifications
1981 Ed., § 1-263.
1973 Ed., § 1-171k.
Effect of Amendments
D.C. Law 13-135 rewrote this section, which formerly read:
“(a) Commissions may meet jointly either formally or informally to deal more effectively with or respond to common issues and concerns. A Commissioner of an individual Commission may represent and participate in a formal joint meeting only after the individual Commission has authorized the participation of the Commission in the joint meeting. The Commissioner selected by the individual Commission to represent the Commission at a formal joint meeting may only vote on issues or concerns that have been discussed at a public meeting of the Commission and on which the Commission has voted to take a formal position. The Commissioner selected by the individual Commission to represent the Commission at a formal joint meeting shall, in the Commissioner's official capacity, follow the general direction of the individual Commission in all discussions at a formal joint meeting.
“(b) Each Commission may involve representatives of other neighborhood groups in the work of its standing or special committees.
“(c) The Mayor shall appoint a service area coordinator for each ward who shall act as the chairperson of the service area committee in that ward and shall coordinate all District government services at the ward level to residents of the ward. The head of each District government department or agency which delivers services at the ward level shall appoint a service area manager who shall oversee the day-to-day operations of the department or agency within the ward and shall represent that department or agency on the service area committee of that ward. The service area coordinators and managers shall work closely with the Commissions in their service area ward and shall provide them with any technical assistance necessary to the performance of their duties and responsibilities.
“(d)(1) The Council may assist the individual Commissions in the following areas:
“(A) Dispute resolution between the entities of the District government and the individual Commissions to facilitate the advisory process;
“(B) Providing the training to Commissioners with respect to the procedures and content of District laws, including, but not limited to, laws governing zoning and licenses to sell alcohol; and
“(C) Any other assistance necessary and feasible to enable the Commissions to perform their statutory duties.
“(2) The District of Columbia Auditor shall provide assistance to the Advisory Neighborhood Commissions in the following areas:
“(A) Review of quarterly financial reports to ensure compliance with current law; and
“(B) Monitoring of Commission expenditures and responses to inquiries from individual Commissions on the legality of proposed actual expenditures.
“(3) The Mayor shall provide assistance to the Advisory Neighborhood Commissions in the following areas:
“(A) Legal interpretations of statutes concerning or affecting the Commissions, or of issues or concerns affecting the Commissions. These interpretations are to be obtained from the Corporation Counsel and may be requested directly by any Commission;
“(B) Liaison efforts between the individual Commissions and District government entities to ensure responsiveness to Commission requests and compliance with current law; and
“(C) Any other assistance necessary to ensure that a Commission is able to perform its statutory duties.
“(e) Whenever a District agency is required to establish a citizen's advisory mechanism, appointments to that mechanism shall be made in such a manner as to ensure as far as possible the equal representation on the mechanism of each electoral ward, provided that, members of the advisory mechanism possess skills relevant to the tasks for which the advisory mechanism was established and, in the event that the size of the advisory mechanism requires the appointment of more than 1 person per ward, ward appointments shall be made in such a manner so as to ensure as far as possible a fair representation of each Commission area.”
Legislative History of Laws
For legislative history of D.C. Law 1-21, see Historical and Statutory Notes following § 1-309.01.
For legislative history of D.C. Law 1-58, see Historical and Statutory Notes following § 1-309.10.
For legislative history of D.C. Law 8-203, see Historical and Statutory Notes following § 1-309.14.
For Law 13-135, see notes following § 1-309.01.