The Corte Madera Town Council has created a new finance committee, replacing an ad hoc version of the advisory panel.

The council adopted a resolution to create the board at its meeting on Feb. 18.

“The new committee that staff is proposing would be a standing committee that would be subject to the Brown Act, which is different from the previous one that was an ad hoc committee and not open to the public,” Town Clerk Lorena Barrera said, referring to the state law on government transparency.

The town started a finance committee in 2017 that included the town manager, the finance director and two council members. The committee’s goal was to devise short- and long-term strategies to achieve fiscal sustainability and review other financial topics.

In 2018, the town changed the committee makeup to one council member and three community members. In 2020, James Andrews left the Town Council but stayed on the committee as a fourth community member. Later, Fred Casissa was elected to the Town Council and appointed to the committee.

Last December, town staff recommended dissolving the ad hoc committee because its composition had “significantly changed” from the council’s original design, according to a staff report. A member of the committee had died, and Andrews and Casissa had been elected to new terms.

Instead of nixing a financial committee altogether, staff proposed creating the new panel, Barrera said.

The committee will be composed of up to five residents who have financial or governmental expertise, and the town’s finance director will serve as the staff liaison.

“It’s a body that advises the council and I don’t think we should be advising ourselves.”

— Councilmember Eli Beckman

“Shouldn’t there be a Town Council member that chairs that committee?” Casissa asked.

Town Manager Adam Wolff said the town has moved away from having council members on advisory committees. He said a council member’s voice could “overpower” the conversation on the committee.

“If the council wants an advisory committee to give true, third-party — I guess is a good way of describing it — advice on financial matters, that would be my recommendation,” Wolff said.Councilmember Eli Beckman said, “It’s a body that advises the council and I don’t think we should be advising ourselves.”

The terms would be for two years and staggered. Two seats will have one-year terms from July 1 through June 30, 2026, and three seats will have two-year terms from July 1 through June 30, 2027.

The panel will also serve as an advisory body for Marin Sanitary District No. 2.

The application process will start this month, with Town Council interviews in May or June. Additional details are online at shorturl.at/B1QCt.