Hoffman Estates might reduce seats on committees

A decline in volunteers for Hoffman Estates' appointed committees and commissions triggered the village board's general administration committee Monday to recommend reducing the required number of members for several of them.

"Several of these commissions we expanded over time because people wanted on, and then gradually people left," Mayor Bill McLeod said.

The panels that received such recommendations were those with the most significant vacancies, he explained. The move comes after about two years of trying to recruit people back up to the current standard numbers.

The recommended changes would reduce the Fire & Police Commission from five members to three; the Celtic Fest Commission from 15 members to nine; the Commission for Senior Citizens from 13 to nine; the 4th of July Commission from 15 to 13; the Utility Commission from 11 to five; the Youth Commission from nine to seven; and the Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee from 13 to nine.

McLeod said he couldn't explain the earlier surge in interest or the more recent decline, only that more people were finding it difficult to attend such meetings regularly.

He said he believed these committees did benefit from the influx of energy and ideas from interested volunteers, but that the recommended reductions will make it easier for the panels to meet with a smaller required minimum of members.

For the most part, the reductions would bring the commissions down to their current memberships, though the 4th of July Commission will still need one more appointment to meet its new standard of 13 members, McLeod said.

The village board will vote on approval of the recommendation at its 7 p.m. meeting next Monday, Feb. 17.