Welcome to the DRCOG Board! Here are a Few Things You Need to Know

A Resource for Board Members and Alternates

Welcome to the DRCOG Board! Here are a Few Things You Need to Know.

The Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) is a nonprofit, public agency dedicated to serving local governments. Created in 1955 in the midst of the 1950s post-war growth boom, DRCOG continues its founding philosophy today by bringing city and county governments together to work on common issues that affect the region's future.

The region is nationally recognized for its forward-leaning successes in legislative advocacy and funding, grant awards and programs and travel modeling tools. For example, the organization

˜ Supported the legislation creating the Regional Transportation District (RTD) and hosted RTD's organizational meeting,

˜ Played a lead role in the creation of the Regional Air Quality Council,˜ Conducted the study which resulted with the selection of a site for Denver International Airport (DIA),˜ Efficiently and effectively distributed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Stimulus) funds for

regional transportation projects garnering kudos from the National League of Cities,˜ Through its Area Agency on Aging (AAA), has earned the reputation as a local and national leader for

its work on older adult issues, ˜ Was one of 56 communities nationwide to receive a prestigious Federal Sustainable Communities

Regional Planning grant, and ˜ Created a voluntary approach to growth management with an “urban growth boundary.”

The organization's activities fall into three main categories:

1) DRCOG serves as the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the region. An MPO is a federally mandated and funded transportation policy-making organization. As such, it ensures

existing and future expenditures of funds for transportation projects are based on acollaborative planning process involving local governments and major planning partners such

as the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and the Regional Transportation District (RTD).

2) DRCOG functions as a Regional Planning Commission per Colorado state statute and prepares the plan for the physical development of the region, known as Metro Vision. This long-range plan to manage growth within the region fully recognizes the importance of each community's local vision and aspirations and that its implementation depends on local action. Each DRCOG member government implements Metro Vision in ways that complement its local vision

and plans.

3) DRCOG is the federally designated Area Agency on Aging (AAA). The AAA carries out programs pursuant to the Older Americans Act and Older Coloradans Act. In doing so, the AAA advocates for the rights of seniors in long-term care facilities and distributes funding for programs serving seniors, from transportation to meals.

WELCOME TO THE DRCOG BOARD!

As a DRCOG Board member you are directly involved with discussions and actions in the following areas:

˜ The Urban Growth Boundary anticipates and directs growth to maximize infrastructure investment

˜ DRCOG-designated urban centers are intended to accommodate more housing and employment, and many of them occur around existing or proposed transit stations

˜ The Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) is adopted approximately every

five years and includes all of the transportation projects the region plans to undertake. The plan also highlights the projects for which funds are expected to be available.

˜ The Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) identifies a short-term “budget,” which includes the projects selected by the Board to be built within five years.

˜ DRCOG was actively involved in the development of the current federal transportation legislation, working with peer agencies all over the United States to ensure they communicated about the legislation with their respective Congressional delegations

˜ DRCOG is currently communicating the harmful effects of sequestration on the region's senior citizens. As with federal transportation legislation, DRCOG is working with peer Area Agencies on Aging throughout the United States on sequestration and the reauthorization of the Older Americans Act.

˜ DRCOG prioritizes the needs of older adults in the region and provides funding to agencies and non-profits that provide home-delivered meals, legal assistance, transportation, home health care and other services.

˜ DRCOG advocates for the rights of residents living in assisted care or nursing home facilities though its Ombudsman program.

Regional growth and development planning emphasizing the integration of transportation and land use

Moving people and goods: prioritizing and funding projects

Advocacy for transportation and older adult programs at the state and federal level

Providing services for the region's older adults through the Area Agency on Aging; disbursing funding

Here are a Few Things You Need to Know

Provide services on a regional basis, such as:

Who sits at the DRCOG Board table?

˜ Denver Regional Aerial Photography Project (DRAPP): DRCOG participating member governments and other agencies collaborate on this program to produce high-quality base mapping data for the region and participants, saving work and money.

˜ FIRE Testing: The Firefighter Intraregional Recruitment and Employment (FIRE) program is available to member governments and fire districts within the region who pay an additional fee to have DRCOG administer firefighter testing, saving time and money and avoiding duplication of effort.

˜ Way to Go: Way to Go provides reliable, easy, environmentally friendly, no-nonsense commuting options for Denver area commuters, saving them time and money, and reducing stress, traffic congestion and air pollution.

˜ Denver Regional Data Consortium: DRCOG convenes member governments and regional partners to improve collaboration among GIS professionals in the region.

Each of the 56 member governments comprising DRCOG appoints an elected official from its respective Board of County Commissioners, City Council or Town Board to serve at DRCOG. There are three non-voting Board members appointed by the Governor and one non-voting member appointed by the Regional Transportation District (RTD). In addition, each member government appoints an alternate (also an elected official) who can fill in for the Board member when necessary. Alternates are welcome to attend all Board meetings and special seating is available for them when they are not substituting at the table for the Board member.

WELCOME TO THE DRCOG BOARD!

Meeting Information and Working with DRCOG staff

Expectations of Board members

After appointment to the DRCOG Board, members receive a letter of welcome from Executive Director Jennifer Schaufele. The letter is accompanied by a Board member handbook (also available on the website) and information about ways to travel to the DRCOG offices and where to park. The Board Liaison will follow up to schedule an orientation session about DRCOG at your convenience.

DRCOG Board meetings take place on the third Wednesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. at 1290 Broadway, Denver, in the Independence Pass Conference Room. About 1 week prior to the meeting you will receive electronically an agenda packet with background material, which will help you prepare for the meeting. Each agenda topic includes the contact information for relevant staff members. Should you have questions about any of the agenda topics, please don't hesitate to contact staff. DRCOG staff is your staff, too!

Any Board member can bring up an item for Board consideration during the section of the agenda, “Other Matters by Members.” If relevant, a simple majority of the Board can determine whether to pursue the item further. If an issue arises between meetings that a Board member would like the DRCOG Board to address, the Board member must request, in writing to the Chair and executive director, the issue be placed on an upcoming agenda. The DRCOG officers and the executive director, at their regularly scheduled meeting, will decide when to schedule said issue on the Board's agenda.

Feel free to contact the executive director or senior management staff with questions or concerns. Senior management staff will assess if the request requires more than three hours or less of staff time to fulfill. Requests that need more than three hours of staff time require approval of the executive director. Requests that are not part of the DRCOG work program require consideration similar to that described above in placing items on the agenda.

Expectations of Board members are similar to those in your county or city: regularly attend, participate in the meetings and be prepared for discussion. Board members are encouraged to avail themselves of other opportunities to be informed of regional and national issues. The Board operates according to Norms/Code of Conduct adopted in 1999 that address “respect, unity and leadership.”

The executive director prepares a monthly electronic newsletter about DRCOG activities and programs for the Board, which is an excellent source of information about current activities.

DRCOG offers many opportunities for Board members and alternates to learn more about the work of the organization and issues of regional significance. These opportunities involve orientations; national speakers;

Here are a Few Things You Need to Know

information about workshops and conferences; and short courses for Metro Vision, Aging and Transportation. As with your respective jurisdictions, the extent to which you immerse yourself in these issues and topics is left to your discretion.

The DRCOG Articles of Association govern the organization and explain the items you will be casting a vote on. The adoption of regional plans and amendments, changes to the Articles of Association and positions on ballot measures and legislative issues have specific voting requirements. In addition, the Articles of Association provide for a weighted vote (population and assessed valuation), which may be called for by any member.

When the Colorado General Assembly is in session (January – May), a good portion of each DRCOG Board meeting is spent discussing and voting on positions on relevant bills. These bills are mostly about issues relative to transportation and aging programs.

The Board's policy development is focused on the regional plans with Metro Vision serving as the policy framework for most of the DRCOG Board's decisions. All of the plans are available on the DRCOG website. The major plans, some of which were highlighted earlier, include:

˜ Metro Vision 2035

˜ Regional Transportation Plan

˜ Transportation Improvement Plan

The Board's work is informed by its committees which are described in the Board-adopted “Committee Policy, Guidelines and Descriptions.” They include:

˜ Administrative Committee: execute contracts; recommend a budget to the Board; manage the executive director

˜ Metro Vision Issues Committee: chief policy developing committee of the Board˜ Regional Transportation Committee: with planning partners, CDOT and RTD, the committee

approves plans, programs and documents as outlined in the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the partner agencies in fulfillment of DRCOG's role as the MPO

˜ Transportation Advisory Committee: an advisory committee to the Board and the Regional Transportation Committee on the regional transportation planning process

˜ Aging Advisory Committee: an advisory committee to the Board on issues and funding relating to the region's older adults

Voting

Policy Development and Committees

˜ Area Plan on Aging

˜ Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan

˜ Transit Plan

WELCOME TO THE DRCOG BOARD!

Funding and Fiscal Matters

Partners

More Information

Federal transportation planning monies comprise the majority of DRCOG's funding sources. Member governments pay dues (based on population and assessed valuation). These monies comprise about 8 percent of DRCOG's budget, provide important local match for federal funds and help fund the organization's state and federal legislative advocacy efforts. The Board adopts its budget annually at the recommendation of the Administrative Committee in the fall.

The Board's primary partners in transportation planning are the Regional Transportation District (RTD) and the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT). The MOA entered into by the three agencies in 2001 explains the collaborative regional transportation planning process. What is most important to remember is that DRCOG is required by federal law to have a collaborative planning process with its primary partners and, as the MPO, DRCOG takes the lead.

The RTC, described earlier, is where the three agencies come together and make recommendations to the DRCOG Board. The Board has numerous other partners with which it works in a variety of capacities. Chief among them are many of the region's economic development corporations, chambers of commerce and business organizations, such as the Home Builders Association of Metro Denver and the Colorado Association of Realtors. Individuals from these organizations serve on DRCOG committees and DRCOG and these organizations co-host activities (e.g., US Senate and gubernatorial debates).

The Way to Go program is an innovative partnership with local Transportation Management Associations (TMAs) to address the region's traffic congestion and air quality issues.

As resources shrink and issues become more complex, DRCOG continues to expand the groups with which it partners. These include affordable housing groups; foundations and other non-profits. The DRCOG Board has provided direction to include a broad cross-section of groups in the Board's Metro Vision work.

For additional information about your new roles and responsibilities refer to the expanded version of the Board member's handbook on the DRCOG website. Please don't hesitate to contact staff with questions or concerns:

Jennifer Schaufele, Executive Director1290 Broadway, Suite 700Denver, CO 80203jschaufele@drcog.org303 455-1000

Here are a Few Things You Need to Know

DENVER REGIONAL COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS

We make life better!

1290 Broadway • Suite 700 • Denver, Colorado 80203 - 5606 • Tel 303-455-1000 • FAX 303-480-6790 E-mail: drcog@drcog.org • Website: www.drcog.org