In principle, working with City Commissions should be just the same as working with the County Council, so also see that section. However, in practice, there are important differences, some ranging from troublesome to difficult.
Some commission members are resentful of what they see as "outsiders" interfering with their affairs, sometimes to the point of affecting the attitude of the whole Commission and staff. This can be true even if the outsider has a legitimate interest in the matter, or is a recognized expert in the field, or represents a group with many members in the city. One result is a tendency to ignore "outsider" input. Another is ignore "the whole picture", "the large view". About the only counter to this attitude, when found, is to find a spokesman who is a city resident. Except in the extreme case of an infected staff, working with them is especially important.
If you do encounter this situation, a strong recommendation is to work in pairs for any meeting, formal or informal. Keep careful records: it is a good idea to have a tape recorder also.
Most if not all commissions have heard the buzz words, "increase the tax base" so often that they do not see the long term implications of annexations. This despite many studies which show the importance of the hidden costs of new roads and streets, the cost of keeping them up, of new schools or extended bus routes, personnel and vehicles for police and fire protection, general staff increases, etc. There has not been such a study in this area. A goal when a major annexation comes up is to work with the finance office and sections which need expanding to develop the true cost of annexation.
In this connection, there is no good definition of "sprawl", nor any accepted method of measuring whether an action is sprawl. These need to be developed, and advocated until generally accepted.
Despite these problem areas, some of the municipalities have a good environmental approach.