Prior to the change in form of government, the City Council used a committee structure. However, upon implementation of the Council-Manager form of government in 2009, the committee structure was replaced with study sessions, which are intended to function much like a committee of the whole. This change was to create a structure that is consistent with the Council-Manager form of government. The success of a city manager depends upon the manager providing and sharing information equally with all members of the governing body. One of the main problems with council committees is that they create an imbalance of knowledge on the council. 

Good governance is responsive and transparent government. The use of council committees frequently results in redundancy because of the desire for the full council to become equally educated and informed as the members who serve on the committee. Another problem is less transparency to the public because council committees tend to be less on the public’s radar. The recent experience with the Critical Areas Ordinance is a very real example of how the use of a council committee can be inefficient and less transparent than study sessions with a committee of the whole approach. 

Use of council committees creates extra staff work, including noticing the meetings, preparing for and staffing meetings, and then producing the minutes, etc. Currently, City staff support numerous citizen advisory board and committee meetings as well as weekly meetings of the City Council. Meeting space at City Hall is frequently scheduled 3 to 4 evenings each week, which means additional committee meetings would likely need to be scheduled during business hours. Attending council committee meetings during business hours would reduce the time staff has to complete existing workloads.

Some Council-Manager cities are currently using standing committees. Of those who responded to an email inquiry, commonly used committees include finance, public works, land use and environment, and general government. Those who reported some success with standing committees noted that the committees have clear charters and work plans approved by the full council. In addition, of those Council-Manager cities using standing committees, the majority reported that committee recommendations are placed immediately onto the consent agenda for approval by the full Council.