WSABRB Proposed Mini Zoom Training
Alison Sing, Education Committee Chair
Shelby Miklethun, King County Executive Secretary
The Washington State Association of Boundary Review Boards (WSABRB) was originally formed as an organization for the purpose of building unity and collaboration among the counties that formed a Boundary Review Board (BRB) as authorized under RCW Chapter 36.93.
WSABRB has historically held annual conferences that allow BRB member and professional staff to meet their counterparts, exchange views and challenges and learn new information regarding the latest changes made by the Legislature and recent legal decisions that might affect our decision-making process.
Dramatic changes during the COVID-19 pandemic forced many of us to use alternative means of meeting as opposed to face-to-face public meetings/hearings. These recent adaptations created new challenges for how we conduct our business and public hearings. However, and the Chinese Calligraphy character for “danger” has a dual meaning. The alternative meaning is “opportunity.”
In preparing for our 2024 Annual Conference, the WSABRB Executive Board recognized the financial and budgetary constraints faced by our fellow BRB counties and elected to hold a online conference on October 24, 2024. We also understand that a single annual conference does not fully address the educational needs nor the challenges facing our professional BRB staff. We will be discussing the following premise:
What if the WSABRB could conduct 2-3 Mini-Zoom sessions of 60-90 minutes with our participating BRB counties during the year leading up to the Annual Conference?
We seek to gauge interest of BRBs regarding interest in participating in these voluntary sessions for board members and professional staff.
The focus of these sessions is to share the following:
Therefore, we would like to see how many counties are interested in participating in mini-Zoom sessions. It would be advantageous if staff and BRB members could meet together for these training sessions. This would allow the BRB staff and board members to discuss their own needs. Additionally, hearing how other counties are managing the same issue can be productive. These sessions provide an opportunity to share knowledge and processes without reinventing the wheel.
WSABRB will discuss this in further detail at our annual conference this Fall. Our goal is to plan for and schedule three miniZoom sessions in 2025 leading up to the Annual Conference in 2025.
If you are interested in participating or want more information, please contact the following:
We would like to hear from folks regarding interest by August 30, 2024.
WSABRB has historically held annual conferences that allow BRB member and professional staff to meet their counterparts, exchange views and challenges and learn new information regarding the latest changes made by the Legislature and recent legal decisions that might affect our decision-making process.
Dramatic changes during the COVID-19 pandemic forced many of us to use alternative means of meeting as opposed to face-to-face public meetings/hearings. These recent adaptations created new challenges for how we conduct our business and public hearings. However, and the Chinese Calligraphy character for “danger” has a dual meaning. The alternative meaning is “opportunity.”
In preparing for our 2024 Annual Conference, the WSABRB Executive Board recognized the financial and budgetary constraints faced by our fellow BRB counties and elected to hold a online conference on October 24, 2024. We also understand that a single annual conference does not fully address the educational needs nor the challenges facing our professional BRB staff. We will be discussing the following premise:
What if the WSABRB could conduct 2-3 Mini-Zoom sessions of 60-90 minutes with our participating BRB counties during the year leading up to the Annual Conference?
We seek to gauge interest of BRBs regarding interest in participating in these voluntary sessions for board members and professional staff.
The focus of these sessions is to share the following:
- Recent legislative changes that affect BRBs and what steps are required to implement these new changes. This would provide an opportunity for BRB staff to share their concerns and to develop common sense procedure for implementing these changes.
- We recognize that the BRB staff are responsible validating the Notices of Intention (NOI) that are submitted to the BRB. Further, it is the professional staff’s responsibility here to dot the i’s and cross the t’s before the BRB may even consider the formal matter placed before them. Understanding the challenges and process for validating the NOI submittal process is important for the BRB members and the Chair to understand the challenges facing staff. Additionally, it is critical that BRB members remain supportive of the efforts of staff to deal with the all the details.
- Ongoing training for BRB members is critical in running a smooth public hearing process. Individuals who are appointed to fill board vacancies come with excellent credentials, their knowledge of BRB processes is usually quite limited. From the Education Committee’s perspective, we want to know what is missing so that we can better serve our fellow board members. We also want to make sure your BRB members know how to navigate the WSABRB website in order to access our Education Committee materials. We also seek additional information regarding the educational needs of from BRB colleagues and staff.
Therefore, we would like to see how many counties are interested in participating in mini-Zoom sessions. It would be advantageous if staff and BRB members could meet together for these training sessions. This would allow the BRB staff and board members to discuss their own needs. Additionally, hearing how other counties are managing the same issue can be productive. These sessions provide an opportunity to share knowledge and processes without reinventing the wheel.
WSABRB will discuss this in further detail at our annual conference this Fall. Our goal is to plan for and schedule three miniZoom sessions in 2025 leading up to the Annual Conference in 2025.
If you are interested in participating or want more information, please contact the following:
- Shelby Miklethun, King County BRB Executive Secretary at 206-263-9772 or email [email protected]
- Alison W. Sing, Snohomish BRB - WSABRB Education Chair at 425-742-1782 or email [email protected]
We would like to hear from folks regarding interest by August 30, 2024.