After years of the full agenda packet being unavailable to the public online, the Turlock Irrigation District announced last Tuesday that staff reports are now available on their website.
Previously, the TID Board of Director meeting agenda was available, however, the supporting documents for the agenda were not. The supporting documents include history and additional information for each item on the agenda that help support the Directors decision making.
The question of agendas came up at the end of the March 24 Board of Directors meeting, when directors asked staff to look into the possibility of posting full agendas.
A week later, at the end of the March 31 Board of Directors meeting, General Manager Casey Hashimoto confirmed that the full agenda would be available on the TID website.
“Beginning this Friday [April 3], we will begin posting the entire PDF of the agenda to our website,” said Hashimoto on Tuesday.
The IT Department had issues with the size of the documents, according to Hashimoto, but now the issue has been resolved.
Agendas are typically posted the Friday before a given meeting and the full agenda with general supporting documents for the upcoming April 7 meeting is available now.
TID Director Rob Santos appreciates the direction TID is taking in trying to solve any transparency issues.
“I love that we are improving any transparency issues here at TID,” said Santos. “This is a step forward and I hope we continue moving in that direction.”
TID has previously dealt with transparency issues, as meetings are held at 9 a.m. on Tuesdays, when much of the public is at work. Additionally, meetings are not broadcasted or recorded for those who cannot attend.
To help solve some of the transparency issues, TID approved a trial of night meetings last June and have been exploring the idea of broadcasting meetings.
To access agendas, visit TID.org and follow the “News & Resources” tab and click the “Minutes & Agenda” link.
It’s 2015, and they are just now getting around to this? Maybe next they can update their website to allow for online autopay enrollment. Right now they have to fax you the forms and you have to mail them in.
@ Wow.
What the hell is a fax?
Isn’t it against the law, not to post a public board meeting agenda without the supporting material, documents, etc. This is why I miss Mike Shea at the Bee. Isn’t there a government agency which oversees how boards or councils work. This smells, and someone in Sacramento needs to know.