A special City of Raleigh committee voted to disband the Community Engagement Board and to recombine a set of advisory bodies, directing staff to bring legal questions and implementation details to the full City Council.

The committee approved a motion to dissolve the Community Engagement Board and reallocate its remaining members to other advisory boards where their assistance is needed, and approved a separate motion to merge the Human Relations Commission with the Hispanic and Immigrant Affairs Board and to incorporate the as-yet-unseated African American Affairs Board into that commission. The committee also declined to proceed with renaming the Raleigh Transit Authority at this time and asked the city attorney to review whether the transit authority's statutory powers or HUD funding rules affect other board-name changes.

Tyesha Moseley of the Community Engagement Department summarized the group's work to date and the decisions before the committee: "We have a couple of things that we're gonna review today. We're gonna remind the public of the committee's charge," she said, and outlined actions already adopted, including a bylaw template and guidance for council liaisons.

Councilor Jones said public comment at the committee's earlier hearing showed clear resistance to combining distinct advisory boards into a single entity: "There was a strong opposition to being molded into one organization under one board," Jones said, urging the committee to consider other options for how advisory boards feed advice to the council.

Mayor (name on the record as Mayor) argued for consolidating some advisory functions into a strengthened Human Relations Commission, saying, "We shouldn't have a Jewish Affairs Board, a Muslim Affairs Board, Hispanic Affairs Board, South Asian Affairs Board. We should be working together." The committee moved to adopt that approach, while at the same time directing staff and board chairs to develop subcommittee structures to preserve focused work on specific communities.

Committee members asked the city attorney to examine two legal questions before the full council acts on some items: whether the Raleigh Transit Authority meets the statutory definition of an "authority" that confers particular legal powers, and whether changing the Fair Housing Hearing Board's name to Fair Housing Advisory Board could affect HUD funding or compliance. A committee member said an email raising the HUD funding concern had been received that morning and forwarded to the city attorney for review.

The committee discussed implementation details for the merged Human Relations entity: staff noted the combined membership of the two standing boards would total about 33 positions at present (Human Relations Commission 16 seats; Hispanic and Immigrant Affairs Board 17 seats) and suggested any eventual consolidated board size be achieved by natural attrition rather than by removing seated members. Staff also recommended the merged commission and related subcommittees develop an annual work plan that would return to council for review.

On the Community Engagement Board, the committee found the board's original role — which had been created to replace CACS when those bodies were not active — was now largely redundant with the return of CACs and other engagement structures. The committee voted to disassemble the Community Engagement Board and direct staff to work with the remaining members on reassignment and appointment processes for any members who wish to serve elsewhere.

The committee also signaled that the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission and the Raleigh Transit Authority would remain independent for now; members asked the city attorney to analyze whether the transit authority's existing powers warrant keeping the "authority" designation.

Finally, the committee voted to recommend the City Council dissolve the special committee on boards and commissions, and asked staff to forward the legal analyses and implementation steps to the full council for final action.

Votes at a glance
• Disband Community Engagement Board and reallocate remaining members: committee voice vote in favor; no roll-call tally recorded (motion approved).
• Merge Human Relations Commission with Hispanic and Immigrant Affairs Board and incorporate African American Affairs Board: committee voice vote in favor with recorded opposition during roll call discussion; staff to implement via work plan and subcommittees (motion approved).
• Do not rename Raleigh Transit Authority at this time; staff/legal review requested (no formal motion required).
• Recommend dissolving the special task force on boards and commissions and forward items to full City Council (motion approved).

Next steps
Staff will ask the city attorney to report back to the full City Council on statutory questions about the Raleigh Transit Authority and on any HUD-related implications of renaming the Fair Housing Hearing Board. The chairs of Human Relations and Hispanic and Immigrant Affairs were directed to coordinate on a joint work plan and subcommittee structure; staff will follow the appointment process for any members who seek transfer to other boards.