HomeMy WebLinkAboutAdvisory Board Relations Affiliate Communications Policy
2008
Town of Westlake /
Westlake Academy
Town Council / Board of Trustees
CITIZEN ADVISORY
BOARD/COMMITTEE/AFFILIATE RELATIONS
AND COMMUNICATIONS POLICY
1
(adopted December 8, 2008)
CITIZEN ADVISORY BOARD/COMMITTEE/AFFILIATE
RELATIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS POLICY
Contents
I. POLICY PURPOSE. ................................................................................................................................... 2
II. POLICY GOALS. ........................................................................................................................................ 2
III. POLICY PARAMETERS ............................................................................................................................. 2
A. Annual Meeting with Board. ............................................................................................................ 2
B. IRS Tax‐Exempt Status Requests. ..................................................................................................... 3
C. Use of Town and Academy Name, Resources, and Logos. .............................................................. 3
D. Fiduciary/Stewardship Responsibilities and Requirements. ........................................................... 3
2
(adopted December 8, 2008)
I. POLICY PURPOSE. To establish a clear framework and process for enhanced
collaborative interaction, communication, and mutual understanding of roles and
responsibilities between the Town Council (TC) and the Board of Trustees (BOT) and
their various citizen advisory boards, commissions, committees, and organizations
affiliated with the Town of Westlake and/or Westlake Academy.
II. POLICY GOALS. The goals of this policy are:
A. Enhanced two-way communication between the TC/BOT and its various advisory
boards, commissions, committees and affiliate organizations (and vice versa).
B. Reaching mutual agreement regarding annual programs of work for these various
citizen advisory boards, commissions, committees, and affiliate organizations to
enhance and assist in the pursuit of the TC’s/BOT’s strategic priorities.
C. Achieving a common paradigm that all advisory boards, commissions, committees,
and affiliates of the Town of Westlake and Westlake Academy exist to further the
TC/BOT strategic agenda and are under the direct control of BOT/TC or, if they are a
Westlake Academy affiliate, are under the day-to-day direction of the Head of
School.
D. Creating a clear understanding, coordination, and agreement by the TC/BOT and its
citizen advisory boards, commissions, committees, and affiliate organizations as to
each group’s role, function, and scope of responsibility in terms of their relationship
to the Town of Westlake and/or Westlake Academy.
E. Establishing a direct link between Westlake Academy, its Head of School, and the
Academy’s Senior Management Team as being the first point of contact for
coordinating the activities of Westlake Academy affiliates.
III. POLICY PARAMETERS. To achieve this policy’s purpose and goals, the following
parameters are put in place:
A. Annual Meeting with Board.
All TC/BOT advisory boards, committees, commissions, and affiliate organizations shall
meet at least annually with the TC/BOT to:
1.) Report on progress to date in implementing that group’s program of work for the
current fiscal year
2.) Review a proposed program of work for the coming fiscal year as well as submit any
budget requests and requested staff resources for this proposed program of work.
Said program of work will be discussed within the context of the organization’s
program of work carrying out the TC’s/BOA’s strategic plan for both the Town and
Westlake Academy. All funding requests should be submitted not later than the July
1st prior to the upcoming fiscal year. Requests received after that time will not be
considered until the following fiscal year.
3.) Review fund raising activities underway or planned to support the current or
proposed plan of work.
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(adopted December 8, 2008)
4.) The chair of each advisory board, committee, and/or affiliate organization shall
schedule this annual meeting (or more frequent if needed) through the Town
Secretary’s office. The TC/BOT may choose to hold these meetings one or two
times per year.
5.) All affiliates of Westlake Academy, prior to meeting with the TC/BOT, will meet with
the Head of School to make sure they their proposed efforts are coordinated through
the Head of School and his/her designates.
B. IRS TaxExempt Status Requests.
All advisory committees, commissions, boards, and affiliates seeking tax-exempt status
from the Internal Revenue Service 501(c)3 must receive prior approval from the
TC/BOT. When submitting a request to the TC/BOT to apply for this IRS 501(c)3 status,
the organization wishing to apply must be able to demonstrate and illustrate to the
TC/BOT the benefits of this status for achieving TC/BOT strategic priorities as well as
the advantages of this designation not currently afforded by the Town’s existing tax-
exempt status. Further, the organization requesting to apply for this 501(c)3 status
must be able to demonstrate to the TC/BOT their organizational capacity to administer
and comply with all IRS regulations related to this status on an on-going basis.
C. Use of Town and Academy Name, Resources, and Logos.
Any advisory board, commission, or committee, as well as affiliate organizations of the
Town or Westlake Academy, that wish to begin using the Town or Academy’s name or
logo in their operational efforts must receive prior approval from the TC/BOT. Said
approval can be withdrawn at any time by the TC/BOT. Additionally, any on-going use
of Town facilities, resources, and staff by an advisory committee, commission, board, or
affiliate must be requested through the Town Manager’s office and is subject to his/her
approval prior to on-going utilization of those resources. Requests to add organizations
covered by this policy to the Town’s insurance policy shall be submitted to the Town
Manager for his prior approval before any insurance coverage is extended. If approved,
the annual cost of this insurance shall be borne by the requesting organization.
Requests to add staff to support any advisory board, commission, committee, or affiliate
shall be made through the Town Manger’s office as a part of the annual budget
preparation process and must be approved in advance by the TC/BOT. This request will
include the identification of funding resources to pay for this position, the operational
reporting arrangement for this position, and which payroll/insurance program this
position will fall under.
D. Fiduciary/Stewardship Responsibilities and Requirements.
All advisory boards, commissions, committees, and affiliates that expend funds through
their own bank accounts must first have TC/BOA approval to have separate bank
accounts. All such groups will also submit their financial control procedures to the Town
Manager or his/her designate for review and approval as to providing acceptable internal
control on collection and expenditure of funds from these bank accounts.
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(adopted December 8, 2008)
Additionally, if this approval for separate bank accounts is authorized by the TC/BOT, a
timely annual audit of this account(s) shall be submitted to the Town Manager or his/her
designate for presentation to the TC/BOT. Said audit may be conducted by an external
CPA auditing firm or may be conducted by the Town’s Director of Finance with that
decision being made by the Town Manager depending on staff workload requirements at
the time. Since the Westlake Academy Foundation has IRS 501(c)3 status at the time of
the adoption of this policy, that organization shall, at its cost, utilize the same external
auditor concurrently used to audit Westlake Academy finances. This Westlake Academy
Foundation audit shall be prepared on a timely basis for presentation to the TC/BOT at
the same time that the Academy’s audit is presented.
For those advisory boards, commissions, and committees funded by the TC/BOT
through the Town or Academy approved budget, use of approved budgetary allocations
shall be made on transaction by transaction basis. That is, the chair or president of that
organization will identify the vendor they wish to utilize, contact the Town’s Director of
Finance, and submit necessary invoices so that the vendor can be paid by the Town for
goods/services rendered to that advisory committee, commission, or board from their
TC/BOT approved budget. Use of approved Town budgeted funds by these
organizations shall be in accordance with State purchasing statutes and Town
purchasing policies.
All by-laws for proposed for citizen advisory boards, commissions, committees, and
organizations affiliated with the Town of Westlake and/or Westlake Academy shall first
be reviewed and approved by the TC/BOT.