FAQs

Advisory board or committee members are appointed by the Missoula County commissioners to provide information and guidance to county staff and the commissioners on important decisions. 

Missoula County has many other advisory boards or committees, including: 

• 9-1-1 Advisory Board
• Animal Control Board
• Aquatic Invasive Species District Board
• Big Sky Park Stewardship Committee
• Elections Advisory Committee
• Impact Fee Advisory Committee
• Fair Event Committee
• Food Policy Advisory Board
• Larchmont Golf Course Board
• Local Emergency Planning Board
• Missoula Consolidated Planning Board
• Missoula Development Authority
• Open Lands Citizens Advisory Committee
• Parks and Trails Advisory Board
• Tom Green Memorial Park Advisory Group
• Weed Control Board

This specific advisory board requires much care and thought, because the County and City are asking those involved, including Planning Committee members, Task Force members, and eventually Board members, to pull directly on their personal lived experience, which requires emotional labor, vulnerability and bravery, something not necessarily required in other advisory boards. 

Advisory boards are led by community-minded Missoula County residents who are volunteers, not County staff. No property tax dollars go toward advisory boards and their functioning. 

While the exact topics and action items will be determined in the process of creating the bylaws, the advisory board will address topics addressed in the JEDI Resolution. An example of an issue the board could take on assessing would be whether all residents have equal access to government services.

The JEDI Task Force is a group of three community members who are working on developing the structure, pe of work and bylaws for the advisory board. The Task Force members were supported by the Planning Committee, who were community members representing a broad array of personal and professional identities, expertise and experiences, and then the Task Force members were appointed by the Missoula County commissioners and Missoula City Council in the JEDI Advisory Board resolution. They do not make official recommendations, but, working closely with the County and City, organize the bylaws and structure of the to-be-created advisory board. The Task Force will dissolve once the Advisory Board members are appointed.

The JEDI Advisory Board will be a slightly larger group with different specific backgrounds to ensure a diversity of representation on the board, and they will meet regularly with published agendas and meeting minutes. The Missoula County commissioners and Missoula City Council will appoint members to the board with term limits and possible alternates, and all meetings will be open to the public. The board’s purpose will be to make recommendations to the commissioners on different JEDI-related initiatives, goals or issues.

Yes. The resolution passed as a joint effort between Missoula County and the City of Missoula. Both County and City staff are engaged with Task Force members during the development of bylaws, and both governments will appoint advisory board members.

Once bylaws have been approved by the Missoula County commissioners and Missoula City Council, JEDI Advisory Board meetings will be scheduled and open to the public like any other advisory board meeting. Information will be available online.