Maricopa County Boards and Commissions > Community Services Commission

COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMISSION
The Community Services Commission oversees the operation of the Maricopa County Community Action Agency and advises the CAA in its focus on programs to benefit the economically disadvantaged in Maricopa County outside the cities of Phoenix and Scottsdale.

MISSION: The Commission oversees the operation of the Maricopa County Community Action Agency (CAA). As required by regulation, under the Community Services Block Grant, the Commission advises the Community Action Agency in its focus on programs to benefit the economically disadvantaged in Maricopa County outside the cities of Phoenix and Scottsdale. The purposes of the commission is to focus on the economically disadvantaged as follows: To secure and retain meaningful employment; to make better use of available income; to make more effective use of other programs related to the needs of lowincome individuals; to obtain emergency assistance through loans or grants to meet immediate and urgent individual and family needs, including the need for health services, nutritious food, housing and employment related assistance; to provide, on an emergency basis, for the provision of such supplies and services, nutritious foodstuffs, and related services, as may be necessary to counteract conditions of starvation and malnutrition among the poor; to attain an adequate education (where education is a barrier to self-sufficiency or employment provide classes to remove the barriers); to obtain and maintain adequate housing and suitable living environment; to review contracts concerning Community Action projects and to recommend adoption of such contracts to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.
 


MEETINGS: The Commission holds an annual meeting in June of each year. Regular meetings are held at 7:00 p.m. on the fourth Monday of each month in the Durango Conference Room, at 2801 W. Durango, Phoenix, Arizona.<map>

LIAISON: Marge Leyvas, Assistant Director, Human Services, (602) 506-4983, e-mail: mleyvas@mail.maricopa.gov.

FORMATION AUTHORITY: The commission was established by the Board of Supervisors under a resolution adopted on February 24, 1970, in accordance with Public Law 90-222, Title 11, Section 211.

COMPOSITION: Bylaws, Article IV: “Composition – The number of commissioners shall be not less than fifteen (15) nor more than twenty-four (24), as determined during the annual meeting. The membership shall be divisible by three (3). The exact number of Commissioners shall be determined from time to time by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors on the recommendation of the Commission. The Commission shall be appointed by the Chief Elected Officials (Maricopa County Board of Supervisors) and be selected in accordance with provisions of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1974 as amended by the Community Services Act of 1974 and regulations promulgated thereunder. The Commission shall be so constituted that: 1. One-third (1/3) of the members of the Commission are elected public officials (to be determined and appointed by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors). Should the chief elected officials be unwilling to serve on the Commission, they may each select a representative to serve as an alternate on the Commission either full-time, in his/her place or whenever he/she is unable to attend a meeting. These alternates shall be public officials, and they shall have dull authority to act for the public officials whom they represent at meetings of the Commission. The Commission seats reserved for public officials are as follows: Prior to the annual meeting the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors shall determine their willingness to serve as the elected officials on the Commission. Should they be unwilling to serve, they shall then select representatives from a list of mayors currently holding office in the incorporated cities within the target area of Maricopa County, outside of the cities of Phoenix and Scottsdale. (Note: the Maricopa County Community Action Agency target area encompasses all of Maricopa County except the cities of Phoenix and Scottsdale). Should the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors be unable to fill the prescribed number of elected official seats on the Commission from the complete list of mayors, they shall then request other elected officials from target area communities to serve as their representatives. Should all elected officials not be available or be unwilling to serve, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors may then select appointed public officials to serve on the Commission. The public Officials shall have either governmental responsibilities or responsibilities which require them to deal with poverty-related issues. If the public officials, both elected and appointed, who are willing to serve do not comprise one-third (1/3) of the Commission, then the remainder of the seats allotted to public officials shall remain vacant. However, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors may fill these seats at any time, as soon as an official is willing to sit on the Commission. 2. At least one-third (1/3) of the members are persons chosen in accordance with democratic selection procedures adequate to assure that they are representative of the poor in the area served. Based on the most recent demographic United States census data, approximately fifty-eight percent (58%) of the poor persons in the Maricopa County Community Action Agency target areas reside on the East side of the County (East of Phoenix and excluding Scottsdale), while the other forty-two percent (42%) of the poor persons in the Maricopa County Community Action Agency target areas reside West of Phoenix. Therefore, in order to maintain a balance and assure equal representation, there shall be four (4) representatives of the poor, selected by democratic process, from the East side of the County each year and three (3) representatives selected from the West Maricopa County Boards and Commissions side each year. To further ensure equitable representation in the vast region of Western Maricopa County, where the poor are widely dispersed, the West side will be divided into two (2) parts – the Northwest, to include the target areas of Glendale, Peoria, El Mirage and Wickenburg; and the Southwest, to include the
target areas of Tolleson, Avondale, Buckeye and Gila Bend. The three (3) allocated seats on the Commission to be filled by representatives of the poor from the West side of the County shall be divided to give one (1) permanent seat each to the Northwest and the Southwest on a alternating annual basis. By mutual agreement of the affected target area Boards, this third seat will be filled by the representative of the poor from the Northwest in the even-numbered program years, and be filled by a representative of the poor from the Southwest in the odd-numbered years. The list of area representatives of the poor shall be reviewed from time to time and amended as necessary to assure reasonable compliance with “one man, one vote” provisions. The representatives of the poor shall never be less than one-third (1/3) of the total membership. There shall be representatives of the poor as indicated in Article IV, Section II, paragraph 2 above, which representatives shall be democratically elected, at duly called meetings, by neighborhood and area residents of the target area being represented. Such election may be held on any weekday. In selecting representatives of the poor there should be maximum possible involvement of low-income groups and individuals being represented. Where feasible, voting shall be limited to poor persons who are residents of the area represented. The Commission shall take all reasonable steps to insure that the selection of representatives of the poor is reasonably proportional to the number of poor persons residing in the area served. Each representative of the poor may have an alternate. Such alternate shall be elected at the same meeting using the same procedure as that used to elect the representative. There shall be no more than one alternate for each representative; an alternate may not be an alternate for more than one representative. An alternate may not hold office on the Commission. 3. The remainder of the members are officials or members of business, industrial, labor, religious, social service, education or other major groups and interests in the community. The representative groups of the “private sector” shall be reviewed from time to time (but not less often than annually) by the Commission members representing the public and poor sectors, acting without the private sectors members, to deliberate, vote upon and make recommendations to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. Prior to the Annual meeting staff shall provide a list of potentially eligible or interested organizations to the Commission for this purpose. Individual representatives and alternates of private sector interests shall be selected by their respective agencies. The agencies are selected by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. Agency representatives and alternates shall be selected by their respective organizations and nominated to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors for formal appointment to serve for a term of 1 year. An Alternate may not hold office of the Commission. 4. Representatives of the poor and those from private sector agencies shall be appointed by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors upon recommendations from their respective organizations. The power of appointment for individual representatives is ministerial and not discretionary as described above. Ex-Officio Members: The Executive Director of the Maricopa County Community Action Agency shall be an ex-officio member of the Maricopa County Community Services Commission. Residence: All members of the Commission shall be residents of Maricopa County, Arizona. All Commission members selected to represent a specific geographic area within the community must reside in the area represented. This requirement applies to representatives of the poor who are selected to represent the poor within specific target areas or parts of the community which are outside of target areas; and to representatives of community groups or interests which are organized on a geographical basis, such as citizens’ associations. Terms of Office 1. Term of Appointment. The term of appointment of each member of the Commission shall be for a period of one year. Commission members shall be reappointed or their successors appointed prior to the date of the annual meeting and the appointment shall become effective on the date of the annual meeting. The term of the appointment for alternates shall be the same as that established for representatives. 2. Limitation of Service. Commission members, other than public officials or their representative, shall not serve more than five (5) consecutive years, or a total of ten (10) years. For purposes of this provision, only periods of service on the Commission after July 1, 1968, will be counted against the five-year and ten-year limitations. A period of twelve (12) months must transpire between periods of consecutive service to be considered non-consecutive. Therefore, a Commission member subject to time limitation, five (5) consecutive years, may not be re-elected or reappointed to the Commission until a twelve-month period has passed since the individual last served on the Commission. Vacancies. There is a vacancy on the Commission when: a member has been notified of his/her official removal by action of the Commission for cause; a member notifies the Commission of his/her resignation; when the designating officials (Maricopa County Board of Supervisors) remove a Maricopa County Boards and Commissions public official; or when a public official leaves office. Whenever a vacancy occurs on the list of principal representatives, the “alternate” shall assume the title and responsibilities of “representative” for the balance of the unexpired term. If a vacancy occurs and there is no alternate, the vacancy shall be filled according to the selection procedures set forth in Section II hereof to fill the unexpired term. In the event a vacancy occurs in the public sector, the Commission shall ask the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to select another public official.

DUTIES AND POWERS: Bylaws, Section IX: “1. To participate jointly and to concur formally in the selection of the Executive Director of the Community Action Agency. 2. To exercise all powers which the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors chooses to delegate to the Commission. 3. To oversee the extent and quality of the participation of the poor in the programs of the Community Action Agency. 4. To determine, subject to DES and CSBG Office approval, rules and procedures for the Commission. 5. To elect the officers, Executive Committee, and all other committees of the Commission. 6. The Commission shall deliberate and vote upon the following matters and submit its written recommendations to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors: A. Determination, subject to DES CSBG Office policies, of major personnel, organization, fiscal and program policies. B. Determination of overall program plans and priorities. C. Approval of all program proposals and budgets. D. Approval of all evaluation and assessment studies and reports. E. Approval of all arrangements for delegating the planning, conduct, or evaluation of a component of the work program.” The Commission has established the following standing committees: 1. Community Organization, CAP Training and Technical Assistance, Legal and Legislative Health, Housing, Transportation, Senior Opportunities.