Members of the Arlington government’s Tenant-Landlord Commission are aiming to forge deeper bonds with both its constituencies.

At the advisory panel’s Feb. 12 meeting , commission chair David Timm said the body was seeking to “cultivate some relationships” among tenant groups at some of Arlington’s larger apartment complexes.

The goal of relationship-building would be, in part, to become aware of issues of concern sooner rather than later.

“We don’t want to have situations that blow up and become huge festering sores,” Timm said.

Among those attending the meeting was Saul Reyes, a representative of the tenant-rights organization BU-GATA .

“We definitely support that,” Reyes said of the outreach proposal.

The concept was delegated to a commission subcommittee, which currently also is working on proposals to update the county government’s tenant-relocation guidelines and the commission’s charter.

On the landlord side of the equation, Timm spoke in support of the commission’s Gold Star initiative, which recognizes county landlords that go above and beyond in their service to tenants.

To another of Timm’s desires — encouraging more speakers to participate in the public-comment periods of commission meetings — some of his colleagues said that might prove challenging.

“Some residents seek anonymity,” said commission member Andrew Ferreira, citing “the fear of retribution” for speaking out in public.

The effort of The Tenant-Landlord Commission to expand its outreach efforts comes as the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is mulling the elimination of that county’s tenant-landlord advisory panel.

The Fairfax panel has been in existence for more than a half-century, but has had trouble recruiting members and getting enough participation to hold meetings, county officials say.

Also at the Feb. 12 meeting, Arlington Tenant-Landlord Commission members said farewell to their longest serving colleague, Kirit Mookerjee, who did not seek reappointment to a new term.

“I’m a little sad … [but] the time is right,” he said at the close of the meeting.

Timm said Mookerjee “genuinely cares about all the issues so deeply,” and was always heavily engaged.

“It’s hard work. It can be difficult,” Timm said.

Mookerjee said he was leaving the body in good hands.

“It’s a good group. I’m not worried,” he said.