Board Policy and Oversight

By Willard R. "Roger" Boedecker

In a perfect world an elected board sets policy, a staff administers the policy through procedures approved by the board and the board oversees the total operation, providing direction to staff as necessary and reviewing and revising policy as necessary. Unfortunately the Resort Improvement District is not a perfect world.

The lack of specific, standardized procedures tends to blur the lines separating the Board's oversight function from that of staff's management function. It is too easy, perhaps inevitable, for lay Board members to slip into micromanaging various aspects of District operational functions. Board members have to recognize that there is a distinction between the Board's oversight function and staff's management/administrative function.

Exercise of the oversight function may best be accomplished collectively, by a committee. The Board could identify a number of functional or organization areas and direct staff to establish advisory committees consisting of two Board members who would be resonsible for consulting with staff in these areas. These committees would operate in a manner similar to that followed by the Budget Committee. Other examples include the Golf Course Committee and the Fire Department Committee.

These advisory committees could make recommendations to staff regarding possible revisions in operational procedures. They could also provide input to the Board for possible Board direction to staff in certain matters. The result of the implementation of such a committee approach to oversight would have the effect of clarifying the distinction between the role of a Board in policy making and that of staff in managing/administering. Therefore I would call upon the Board to provide such direction to staff.