When the members of the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors voted last month to approve the creation of a Municipal Advisory Council for Alamo, it was believed that community groups such as the Alamo Community Council would fade away, their functions absorbed by the incoming MAC.

Such is not the case, according to officials with District 3 Supervisor Mary M. Piepho's office.

At the Thursday meeting of the ACC, Piepho's Chief of Staff Tomi Van de Brooke gave an update on the process of choosing MAC members.

"Right now we have 20-25 applicants," Van de Brooke confirmed. "I'm not sure when it will get on the Board's agenda."

Applications are being accepted until Sept. 15, after which Van de Brooke and other members of Piepho's staff will examine the list of applicants and come up with a recommended list of seven members for the new MAC. Piepho will then either interview candidates with whom she may not be familiar or she will move ahead with the list of members and seek approval from the Board of Supervisors.

"The 25th of September is probably too tight," Van de Brooke advised. "But if I don't get it done by the middle of October I will be very disappointed."

The question raised by ACC members, given the time frame of creating the MAC, was whether they should plan an October meeting or not. Van de Brooke suggested the group move ahead with an Oct. 8 meeting, regardless of the situation with the MAC.

"If the MAC is formed we'll invite a member to attend," she suggested.

The question arose as to whether it would be possible to invite the entire MAC to the Oct. 8 meeting. Van de Brooke said that since the MAC would be bound by the Brown Act, she would need to check on how that would work and how much notice would needed if the MAC members were to attend the ACC meeting.

Afterward, Van de Brooke was asked about the future of the ACC and its place in Alamo once a MAC is established.

"The Alamo Community Council is a cross-sharing group that shares information on all the different organizations that Supervisor Piepho's office has traditionally sent the agendas out," she stated. "The group has agreed to meet again in October and what I heard tonight is that we'll evolve into how it interfaces with the MAC in the future."

Van de Brooke added that the supervisor's office is a strong supporter of the efforts of the ACC and it intends to remain involved at some level even after the MAC comes into existence.

"They are a great information-sharing organization and the spirit of that needs to continue. Although in what form that is I'm not sure and that's not something that we would necessarily attempt to dictate," she said. "We don't want to lose things, we don't want to make absolutes, so allow it to evolve naturally and see how it goes."