In light of today’s city and county government internal-leadership elections and amidst partisan and often personal conflicts within the City Council and County Board, this week The Badger Herald is examining the workings of these groups and the roots of the surfacing tensions, such as the power of committees today.

A visit to the City of Madison website reveals a list of 53 committees, 40 ad hoc committees, subcommittees or task forces, and 23 mayoral or Council appointments to non-city committees — 116 separate groups guiding public policy beneath the City Council.

Ald. Tom Powell, District 5, says the actual figure is closer to 150. Some Council members would like to see the number reduced and have even created another committee — the Common Council Organizational Committee Subcommittee on Committees — to look at shrinking the size of city government.

The committee’s recommendations are set to come before the City Council at its meeting tonight.

The Subcommittee on Committees was created in 2000 by past Council President Dorothy Borchardt, District 12.

Chaired by Council president hopeful Matt Sloan, who represents District 13, the subcommittee was charged with reviewing and making recommendations on committee structure.

Powell said the final recommendations include merging or eliminating a handful of committees, which he says “is ridiculous after a year of work.”

“I think so many people chimed in with a vested interest in keeping their committee that they really had a sway over the subcommittee,” Powell said.

Powell said he opposes keeping the large number of city committees because they “slow down legislation.” Because most policy initiatives must be reviewed by numerous committees before they can be adopted, a faction of Council members, including Powell, says the Council should try to eliminate more than just a few committees.

“It becomes an incredible muddle,” he said.

However, Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said the large number of committees is not always detrimental to the legislative process.

“Madison has a long tradition of governing through committees,” Verveer said. “It’s a hyper-democracy. Overall, the fact that Madison truly values citizen involvement in government is a positive thing. One of the ways we do that is through dozens of city committees, the vast majority of which are made up of private citizens.”

Verveer is running against Sloan for Council president. He said presidents have the power to influence issues such as the number of committees through their agenda-setting ability.

“Borchardt was president when the subcommittee was first proposed, and they have been working on it ever since,” he said. “A president is able to say, ‘This is an issue I want to work on.'”

One of the subcommittee’s recommendations includes merging the Commission on the Environment with the Solid Waste Advisory Committee. But Ald. Todd Jarrell, District 8, who serves on the Commission on the Environment, said many Council members are opposed to the merger.

While he agrees the large number of committees allows for public input, Jarrell noted that some committees have to cancel meetings regularly because they do not have enough members to meet.

“[They] have trouble making quorum sometimes because we can’t get people appointed to all of them,” he said. “There are at least 50 vacancies right now.”

Jarrell speculated any power a Council president has over the issue is rooted in esteem and suggested a president could successfully alter the number of committees because the Council is “more willing to go with what they suggest.”

The Council will meet to discuss the subcommittee’s recommendations and elect a leader today at 6:30 p.m. in room 260 of the Madison Municipal Building.