Agenda - 03-19-2013 - 5a - Laserfiche WebLink

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21 1 Commissioner Price said that in the case of forming an opinion or judgment on an issue, 2 they should remain neutral unless supported by full board. 3 Chair Jacobs acknowledged that there are different views and the issue does not need 4 to be resolved today. 5 Commissioner Dorosin referred back to the topic of the appointment process. He noted 6 that currently boards bring forth recommendations and they as Board of County Commissioners 7 have freedom to accept those or choose differently. He said that his issue is, if there is a 8 recommended candidate, does it make sense to let the board chair know that this is someone 9 they support or have recruited. He said that the negative side of this is the idea that it is exerting 10 undue influence. He said he is not sure this concern is legitimate, because ultimately the choice 11 is up to the Board. He said is a heads up to the advisory boards more fair to them than for them 12 to submit a name and the Board to put its own people on and blindside them. He said from a 13 good government standpoint, there is a triangle of Boards, Advisory Boards, and residents that 14 are being reached out to. He noted the interest in gender, age, race, socio-economic diversity. 15 He said it is easier for the Board of County Commissioners to help reach the diversity goal and 16 he would be in favor of working more closely with the advisory board chairs and having better 17 communication. He said the other issue and concern of his is the high number of vacancies on 18 some of these boards. He noted that there was only one recommendation for boards that had 19 two or more vacancies. He said that he thinks the Advisory Board Chairs should be instructed to 20 fill those vacancies as quickly as possible. He referenced his experience of waiting a year to be 21 placed on the Carrboro Economic Development Commission while knowing there were four 22 vacancies. He said it wasn't a priority for the board and it turns citizens off who are interested. 23 He said that it leads to boards that are more insular and clubby. He said he would like to 24 encourage boards to bring forward as many applicants as possible. 25 Chair Jacobs said he believed that if there are vacancies and there are applicants, they 26 should be filled. He said that the better way to do it is to put boards on notice that if positions are 27 not filled, an explanation should be given and, if needed, the Board of County Commissioners will 28 fill them. He said this also gives the Clerk a chance to make sure applicants still reside in the 29 county. 30 Clerk to the Board Donna S. Baker said that many times applicants apply and then 31 some boards take time to go through the due diligence process to make sure the person can 32 attend the meetings and has the necessary availability. She said that many persons apply for a 33 vacancy and then sit out there for a year. Once they are approached, they may not have 34 availability. Often when contacted, people have an obstacle preventing them from filling the 35 position. She said there is an effort to contact applicants on a regular basis to update their status. 36 Chair Jacobs said that it should be communicated to the board chairs, that it is important 37 to move these candidates forward and fill vacancies. If there is a process involved, it should be 38 communicated. If a candidate is not moved forward and a reason can't be given, the Board will 39 step in. He said there should be parameters set, such as operating in a timely manner. He said 40 that he knows there is not time to change policy tonight, but he wanted the issues to be raised, 41 such as how to know candidates better. He referenced his experience in applying to serve with 42 OWASA, when he was interviewed by then Commissioners, Moses Carey and Verla lnsko. 43 Commissioner Gordon said issues that need to be addressed should be flagged. She 44 raised the question about elected officials serving on other boards. She quoted a stipulation from 45 the old policies that stated "Elected officials from other jurisdictions shall not be appointed to 46 county boards and commissions, unless specifically representing their boards in an elected 47 capacity." She said that if it was desired that someone be on a board, a position could be 48 created. She said that there are boards and commissions they don't take recommendations 49 from. She said that historically the reason recommendations are taken from boards and 50 commissions is because there was a problem of not knowing enough about the applicants on the