In my work today, I came across two coards* that have sunset dates in the coming months. One, the Tenant Advisory Council, sunsets next Monday, and the other, the Advisory Committee to the Office of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Affairs, sunsets at the end of March. I mention these specifically in the event that either of these issues is important to you and you think the sunset of the coard is a concern.

More generally, however, I raise the issue in this space because I was asked  the question “why?”

I don’t really know. I wasn’t around for the establishment of either of these coards (now I’m just using the word as much as possible to engrain it in your mind). I have been told, though, that the Office of Boards and Commissions has the intent to include a sunset date in all Orders establishing new coards. This is so that coards don’t exist on paper long after they have ceased existing in fact…or continue to exist long after their purpose is met. I don’t know how consistently this has been applied, and I don’t know if the length of time between establishment and sunset is approximately the same for each coard or if context/substance/policy/politics come into play. It would be an interesting thing to look into.

But tonight I’m rearranging furniture. Remind me later?

*This started as a typo in a tweet, but I decided I like it as an intentional abbreviation for “board/commission/committee/council/group/panel/taskforce.” Another thing that I would love to look into but don’t have time is the difference (if there is one) between each of these types of entity.