The discussion to appoint council members to the EDC was first brought up during the May 12 meeting when Snyder made a motion to appoint himself to the board. Serving previously as the EDC liaison, he said during meetings he spends 90% of the time in the lobby because the majority of each meeting is spent in executive session, which is closed to those outside of the board.
Snyder suggested council member appointments to boards as a possible solution to months of back and forth between the council and the EDC board.
The motion was not acted on at the time due to council members requesting the item be postponed two weeks later.
The city of Hutto used to have council members serve on the EDC. Other cities such as Round Rock and Pflugerville also have council members serve on their economic development boards. Round Rock Mayor Craig Morgan and Place 5 Council Member Writ Baese serve on the city’s transportation and economic development corporation board. Pflugerville Place 5 Council Member Mike Heath serves on the Pflugerville Community Development Corp. board.
Council Member Mandi Villarreal Salvo said she realized the benefits of having a council member on the board due to its budget of around $2 million.
"The way I see it, I see we're just getting back to what the original intent of the EDC is and where our EDC started, which was having council members on it," she said.
Council Member Robin Sutton said she thought it was important to have a council member on the board who knows what is going on opposed to a liaison who might not show up and keep the council in the loop.
With Snyder's background in commercial real estate and experience serving as the board's liaison, she said she thought his appointment was a good choice.
Snyder said just as the City Council can appoint members, they can remove them. During the May 12 meeting, he said if the council felt his appointment does not fix communication between the board and council then the council could try something else in three months.
The motion to appoint Snyder was approved 6-1 with Council Member Peter Gordon voting in opposition.
