Aaron Fernando elected chair as commission adopts rotating facilitation approach

The commission discussed changes to internal structure and agreed in principle to a rotating facilitation model to spread meeting facilitation duties among members. Commissioners discussed having co-vice chairs or a second vice chair and whether facilitation should be mandatory; members emphasized that facilitation should be voluntary but encouraged as a capacity-building opportunity.

Aaron Fernando offered himself as a candidate for chair and a motion to elect him was made, seconded and approved. "Aaron will be our official chair," commissioners confirmed after the vote. The commission deferred selection of a vice chair until the next meeting and asked staff and the chair/vice chairs to draft a brief, generic protocol for ad hoc working groups and facilitation expectations.

Members also discussed forming temporary working groups to bring outside expertise on topics such as outreach, deer outreach and distributed energy resources; the groups would be largely ad hoc and project-based, with varying levels of staff involvement depending on formality.