Commission on Immigrant Affairs not going away

Wednesday’s meeting of the City Council Audit & Finance Committee was the final one for the chair, Council Member Alison Alter, and her vice chair, Council Member Leslie Pool. Alter started the meeting by announcing that they would not be considering dissolving the Commission on Immigrant Affairs. If a commission fails to meet for six months, then the question of dissolution automatically appears on the committee’s agenda. However, a representative of the city clerk’s office said the committee had met recently. Assistant City Clerk Stephanie Hall said seven of 12 committee members must attend for a quorum but that is difficult because of vacancies. The committee met in September, October and November but missed a number of meetings earlier this year. There is supposed to be a member appointed by Travis County, Hall said. The county did send a nominee a couple of months ago but that person indicated that he or she has been a registered lobbyist with the city and so cannot serve, Hall said. Alter said they did not need to take any action. She thanked those in attendance. “It’s always important for us to hear that our commissions are mattering. I will point out Council Member (Natasha) Harper-Madison has an item on Thursday’s agenda about education of commission members,” she said, adding that Council Member Ryan Alter has another related item looking at all the city’s commissions and judging their relevance. In addition, the committee decided not to recommend that the College Student Commission be dissolved.