OVERVIEW
When Reno transitioned its Boards and Commissions program to the City Manager’s Office, leaders uncovered a deeply fragmented system — one where manual spreadsheets, outdated webpages, and disconnected recordkeeping tools made administration difficult and public participation confusing. The city activated its Granicus Agenda Management OE (OneMeeting) capabilities to centralize governance workflows, reduce administrative burden, improve compliance, and deliver a more accessible experience for residents — all without increasing costs. The result was an award-winning system of record that now serves as a model of operational excellence.
SITUATION
Reno’s previous Boards and Commissions program relied heavily on manual data entry and informal tracking. Advisory bodies had been created individually over many decades, resulting in inconsistent rules, disconnected governance standards, and no centralized source of truth.
Critical information lived in siloed recordkeeping systems — like in Excel spreadsheets or on more than 40 outdated webpages — that were updated independently and, often, inconsistently. Appointment processes regularly stalled for months, and staff had no reliable way to track vacancies, expirations, or onboarding status.
Understanding how to apply for or participate in a board was difficult and unclear for citizens. In some cases, residents were appointed to boards and never notified; in others, members continued serving after their terms expired, creating compliance risks and confusion.
“We kind of had everything everywhere,” said Cali Shy, agenda coordinator for City of Reno. “It was honestly a huge source of external confusion and internal tension.”
SOLUTION
City of Reno had been using Agenda Management OE for City Council meetings for years, but its Boards and Commissions functionality had never been activated. “I clicked on it and thought, ‘I can’t believe we’ve never used this!’” said Tyler Shaw, agenda manager for the city.
Recognizing this untapped potential, Shaw and Shy led a full, in-house integration of the solution across all boards and commissions.
Using Agenda OE’s membership tracking, data storage, and reporting tools, the city centralized all boards, commissions, and committees into a single platform. A new public facing portal (reno.gov/boards) now serves as a one stop hub for:
This centralized access to resources transformed the city’s public service to be more accountable than ever before. “That central hub for everything was a really huge change for us,” said Shaw.
Granicus now serves as the system of record — producing quarterly vacancy reports automatically and providing real-time visibility into every advisory body. Council members can view up-to-date information on appointments and terms, while board members receive faster onboarding and better training.
These upgrades have simplified access, reduced errors, and made government information more user-friendly. The ease of the platform allowed the team to complete all the integration and configuration work without assistance — delivering immediate cost savings while building internal expertise and confidence.
RESULTS
“Modernizing how Reno manages its boards and commissions was essential to strengthening transparency, accountability, and efficiency in how we serve our community,” said Shaw. “By activating technology we already owned and redesigning our processes, we reduced costs, streamlined appointments, and created a more accessible system for residents who want to engage in local government.”
The City of Reno reported the following financial benefits through its improved, govtech-powered process:
Operational improvements were equally impactful: more than 24 boards successfully onboarded into the centralized system, and more than 100 members were trained in using the platform.
Appointment timelines that once took months are now completed in days, ensuring vacancies are filled quickly, and members receive timely guidance. Manual tracking, duplication, and outdated records were reduced, improving accuracy and compliance with Open Meeting Law requirements.
As technology, policy, and community needs evolve, the city remains committed to using Agenda Management OE to modernize governance. “Every single time we look at the program and say, ‘Wow, it’d be really great if we could do this,’ and then we find a way,” said Shy.
For example, boards are now being onboarded into the HTML Agenda Builder to allow agendas and materials to be published directly in the platform.
This story highlights the hard work and innovation that earned the City of Reno recognition as a winner in the 15th Annual Granicus Digital Government Awards, honoring exceptional achievements in digital government.
