Boards and commissions are an established feature of Austin's municipal government. State, federal and Charter provisions establish several of the City's boards and commissions, while most result from the passage of ordinances. Boards and commissions address a multitude of topics including planning, zoning, transportation, parks, libraries and the airport. Their influence and value are significant because they lend a more diverse viewpoint for the City Council to consider, by offering citizens an opportunity to participate in the City's governmental process. A full list of the current City of Austin boards and commissions is available on the City of Austin website.
Coordinating appointments to City of Austin boards and commissions are overseen by the City of Austin Office of the City Clerk. The City Clerk website is also a clearinghouse for disseminating information about boards and commissions to the public. However, each board and commission has an advising representative from a relevant corresponding city department.
The Resource Management Commission currently (in 2010) consists of seven members that serve for a term of three years. The Commission maintains an overview of all programs, studies and proposals concerning the efficient use of energy, alternate energy technologies, renewable energy resources, including solar and wind, and the conservation of energy; excluding the use of conventional coal, nuclear, natural gas, or petroleum technologies. To meet this objective the Commission receives citizen input on alternate energy technologies, renewable energy sources, and on energy conservation, as well as reviews and analyzes energy conservation technologies and renewable energy sources as to their short-term and long-term feasibility in the city; energy conservation policies, alternate energy technologies, and renewable energy projects in other cities and states; water conservation policies, alternate technologies, and water conservation projects in other cities and states; the City Code to identify potential amendments that encourage the use of alternate energy technologies and renewable energy sources, and the conservation of energy. In addition, the Commission advises city council in developing and reviewing city plans and programs in the area of alternate energy technologies, renewable energy sources, and energy conservation; as to available funding from private and public sources which are available to the city for alternate energy technologies and renewable energy, and for the conservation of energy; on energy conservation, on alternate energy technologies, and on renewable energy sources and report to city council on the status of its activities at least annually; in developing and reviewing city plans and programs that encourage water conservation as it relates to water consumption from the tap to customer and within structures or building; and regarding appropriate City Code amendments that encourage the use of alternate energy technologies and renewable energy sources, and the conservation of energy.
Precursors to the Resource Management Commission were the Energy Conservation Commission (ECC) which was established in 1974 (Ordinance No. 740017-8) and the Renewable Energy Resource Commission (RERC) which was created in 1979 (Ordinance No. 790308-0). In 1983 Austin City Council approved an ordinance to create the Energy Advisory Commission; the same ordinance dissolved both the ECC and the RERC (Ordinance 830224-L). In 1984 the name changed to the Energy Management Commission (Ordinance No. 840419-H), and then a year later the name was changed again to the Resource Management Commission (Ordinance No. 850627-G).
The majority of the collection consists of meeting agendas, meeting minutes, Commission resolutions (recommendations for city council action) and backup materials of the Resource Management Commission (RMC) dating from 1984 through 2006. Backup materials include reports, studies and correspondence presented and/or submitted to the RMC by City of Austin staffers, Austin citizens and other interested parties, that concern the issues under the perview of the Commission. During the 1980s and early 1990s formal meeting minutes were taken and approved by the Commission. By the mid-1990s formal meeting minutes were no longer included and were replaced by a meeting agenda and copies of each resolution that was endorsed or failed to be endorsed by the Commission during each meeting. Occasionally hand written meeting minutes are included in the files and some of the agendas have hand written notes presumably taken during the meeting. There are also audio recordings of various Commission meetings and sub-committee meetings dated from 1997 through 2006, as well as a few random pre-1997 meetings. These audio recordings supplement the Channel 6 video recordings of the RMC meetings at the Austin History Center.
In addition to the Commission meeting materials there are copies of City of Austin ordinances related to creation and activities of the RMC; rules and regulations of the commission; annual reports to city council; RMC performance measures; legal documents; and reports and initiatives related to energy concerns.
There are video recordings of the Resource Management Commission meetings dating from 1995 to current in the Channel 6 Video Recordings Collection.
This record series is indexed under the following controlled access subject terms.
Open to all users.
None.
Austin (Tex.). Boards and Commissions. Resource Management Commission Records (AR.2011.018). Austin History Center, Austin Public Library, Texas.
Donor #: DO/1999/013
Donation Date: 2004, 2006, 2008
Records have also been transferred to the Austin History Center in accordance to the City of Austin Records Management schedule.
These records were originally included in AR.2004.015 as part of the Austin Energy Records but were separated out to be its own distinct collection.