The Audit and Finance Committee of the Austin City Council voted to refer proposed amendments to the Commission on Immigrant Affairs bylaws back to that commission for consideration.

Council Member Ryan Alter moved to send the language back to the commission; Council Member Vela seconded the motion. The motion passed 4–1, with the mayor pro tem recorded as the lone dissenting vote.

Alter read the proposed edits aloud during the special-called meeting, saying the amendments would add three “nonvoting stakeholder members” appointed by the commission. “The 3 nonvoting stakeholder members serve in an advisory capacity only and may participate at board meetings, but may not vote or bring a motion and do not count towards calculation of a quorum or any other minimum vote count required by city code or state law,” Alter said as he read the draft.

Supporters of the change said the additional seats were intended to increase representation of immigrant communities that might not be reflected among council-appointed members. Council Member Vela described the idea as modeled on a similar structure used by the Austin Asian American Quality of Life Commission and said the nonvoting seats would allow the commission chair to identify gaps in representation from different immigrant communities.

The mayor pro tem said they objected to the proposed amendment, citing concern for the immigrant community amid “unprecedented attacks” and expressing support for the recommendation from the Immigrant Affairs Commission. Council Member Duchin asked whether the change was meant to address quorum shortfalls; Alter responded that the change was intentionally not designed to alter quorum calculations but to expand community participation.

A staff member explained Austin code provisions for vacancy due to attendance, saying automatic vacancy can occur after three consecutive absences or a third of a rolling period but council may waive that and restart the attendance clock. The staff member said outreach to council offices has improved and that offices are generally responsive when staff contacts them about attendance concerns.

Next steps: the committee’s referral sends the draft amendment back to the Commission on Immigrant Affairs for its consideration and recommendation to the full council.