A Dec. 21 Issaquah Council of the Whole meeting signaled key committee changes are coming as the City Council prepares to welcome new members and leadership in 2010.

The Council discussion of major changes for the coming year will most likely include disbanding the Sustainability Committee and splitting up the Services and Operations Committee. Councilmember Joshua Schaer, who volunteered to craft a proposal to restructure the committees, said the call for changes was prompted by an effort to adopt sustainability goals into all committee decision-making and the heavy work-loads of other committees, especially in Services and Operations. No decision has yet been made, but all council members expressed a desire to change their focus in the coming year.

“We need to balance responsibilities better,” he said.

The committees are a key component in crafting new city rules and bylaws, gathering public input and keeping everyone informed. The City Council periodically reviews the make-up of the various committees based on its own list of priorities. The five Committees, which are each comprised of three Council members, currently focus on Land Use, Operations & Services, Sustainability, Transportation and Utilities, and are scheduled to meet at least once a month.

The Services Committee was merged with Operations in April 2007, but council members found themselves overloaded with agenda items demanding their attention. Meanwhile, the Sustainability Committee — formed in 2008 — met more often than other committees but brought fewer agenda bills to the City Council. Its signature achievement was the citywide ban on Polystyrene containers, which was passed into law in November but consumed much of the committee’s time. In its place, several suggested that requiring use of the “Green Sheets” checklist could be used by each committee to accomplish many of the same aims. Formulated in the Sustainability Committee in 2008, the checklist can be used to evaluate agenda bills for social, economic and environmental sustainability.

“We still have a number of environmental concerns,” said Councilmember Dave Rittenhouse. “Maybe we can find a way the issues can stay together.”

Council President Maureen McCarry said she wanted more committee focus on two issues she sees as crucial to the future of Issaquah: Economic vitality and technology. With a drop in city revenues from retail sales and development-related activity, she hoped the committees could be either re-focused or renamed to better reflect the Council’s goals and skills.

“We need to make the council more accessible to people who are skilled,” she said. “We shouldn’t take on everything in the city.”

She also mentioned renewed interest in reviving the Major Development and Regional Affairs Committee or forming an Ad Hoc committee to tackle issues relating to development in the Issaquah Highlands.

Other council members had their own priorities. Councilmember John Traeger announced he’d be forming a technology task force to see how Issaquah could become more competitive and increase the quality of life for its citizens. Councilmember Eileen Barber pushed back against talk of splitting responsibility of the city’s Fire and Police services between two committees. Council Deputy President Fred Butler cited economic development and a skate park as areas of interest. Schaer said he believed human services would become a major focus in the coming year.

“This is quite a mixed bag,” Schaer said.

The reorganization flurry provided a candid view of differing priorities to two particular audience members that night, Council Position 7-elect Tola Marts and Council Position 1-elect Mark Mullet. At the beginning of each year members submit their preferences, ranked 1 through 5, on which committee they prefer to serve. Marts, who replaces Councilmember Dave Kappler, requested an appointment to two development-related posts on the Transportation Committee (his first choice) and the Land Use Committee (his second).

“I see traffic as a serious concern now and for the future of the city,” said Marts, who rides a motorcycle as his preferred means of transportation. “Do we want to become a city like Factoria? Or do we share a vision that reflects the unique character of our community?”

Issaquah Highlands resident Mark Mullet, who replaces Rittenhouse, hoped for a spot on the Services committee. Mullet is the first representative from the Highlands community on the City Council.

Hearing the news that the City Council appeared ready to drop their committee-level focus on sustainability, Sustainable Issaquah spokesperson Terry Phelan said she hoped this was a sign the city felt it had fully incorporated a sustainable design work ethic into all city business. An architect by trade, Phelan could envision the “Green Sheets” process becoming a routine part of committee work. She worried, however, if the City Council or administrators could provide enough oversight to make sure those goals were actually met.

“We see this as a good sign,” she said. “It’s hard to say until something is in use for a while to see how it works, but we’re cautiously hoping this is a good step forward.”

Another frequent visitor to city meetings, Issaquah Environmental Council spokesperson Connie Marsh, took a slightly more pessimistic perspective, charging the council had basically ignored the “Green Sheets” tool.

“The sustainability group didn’t do much of anything,” she said. “It was a concept that was so diffuse throughout the city … The demise of that committee won’t change very much.”