City staff briefed the Richardson City Council on a new board‑management platform and recommended changes to the boards and commissions appointment process and recording practices. Amy Niemer, the city’s liaison for boards and commissions, said the city implemented a cloud‑based Granicus board‑management system on Sept. 1 that centralizes applications, tracks attendance and stores oaths and training records.

Niemer said the system required current members to reapply under the new form; the city received 68 reapplications from 77 members so far and has about 50 active new or migrated applications. The platform also offers a demographic dashboard to help the city track representation by district, gender and ethnicity.

Council discussed whether to keep the annual applicant reception or move it to every other year; several councilmembers favored retaining the reception annually (with a lighter format) because it offers face‑to‑face contact with prospective volunteers. The council also discussed interview and appointment practices: most benchmark cities conduct interviews in public session for non‑quasi‑judicial boards; Richardson’s practice of holding quasi‑judicial interviews in executive session was affirmed.

A major focus was whether to televise and broadcast board interviews. Council members expressed concerns about privacy for applicants, potential chilling effects and the administrative cost of recording many more meetings. Greg Sol (staff) and Amy Niemer presented technical options: continuing the current video/director model for city council and planning commission is routine, but expanding full video production to multiple rooms would require new audiovisual equipment ($~76,000 plus ~$28,000 audio per room estimated as a capital cost) and raise recurring annual platform and staffing costs (staff estimated one full‑time equivalent and roughly $150,000/year in additional recurring costs). Staff recommended a more cost‑effective first step: on‑demand audio recordings for boards and commissions. Granicus estimated a modest contract increase (about $3,100 in the first year) to support audio posting and searchable on‑demand access.

Council members broadly supported a phased approach: start on‑demand audio recordings for boards and commissions effective Jan. 1 to honor current terms and allow notice to volunteers, then plan full AV capability in the new city hall build‑out and evaluate future video expansion and staffing needs.

Ending: Staff will adjust online materials for board applicants, bring more detailed appointment rubrics and scoring options back to council, and prepare a phased AV plan for the new city hall while implementing audio recording on Jan. 1.