With the Mission Bay Park Committee in a transition period, the committee’s regular July meeting was cancelled. According to Mayor Jerry Sanders’ spokeswoman Rachel Laing, the mayor and City Council are in the process of identifying and considering candidates to fill the committee seats by September. The Mission Bay Park Committee typically does not meet in August. When the board resumes action, it will also act as the Improvement Fund Oversight Committee. This new role was stipulated by Proposition C which was passed by voters in November of 2008. The role entails meeting quarterly to review and audit expenditure of the Improvement Fund, including determining priorities for fund expenditure, making sure it’s being properly collected and allocated according to priorities and in accordance with Proposition C, and reporting improper expenditures, Laing said. In light of Prop. C, City Council voted in June to term out the current 15 committee members by July 1 and replace them with an 11-member board with expertise in city finance and management. Of the 11 members, all are appointed by the mayor – three directly and three from nominations by District 2 Councilmember Kevin Faulconer and District 6 Councilmember Donna Frye. Committee members must possess expertise, experience or knowledge in one or more of the following areas: auditing, finance, general business planning, biology or environmental science, resource management or protection, wildlife management or protection, construction management, recreation management or planning. “There are no standard criteria for measuring qualifications or experience,” Laing said. “People are recommended or nominated, and our vetting determines whether their experience and background affords them the necessary knowledge.” Judy Swink, who had served on the committee for 15 years before being termed out, said she is concerned that the criteria for member nomination and selection is not broad enough. “The criteria initially was far too rigid and limiting for what is a citizen’s advisory committee,” Swink said. “This committee is dealing with anything and everything having to do with policy and activities and projects in Mission Bay Park, yet the criteria seemed to focus exclusively on the oversight role.” Swink said it would be beneficial for the new committee to retain some of the old committee members to ensure a continuous progress. “To suddenly start from scratch on something that’s been continuing for over 40 years – there’s an awful lot of institutional history that gets lost if there isn’t an overlap,” Swink said. “Even with the overlap, new people often are not aware of what has gone before and they start reinventing instead of finding out what may have happened before.” Laing said members of the old committee may be considered and reappointed to the new committee if they meet the mayor and City Council’s criteria for qualifications.