Orange County NC Website
Steve Brantley said that there are some enthusiastic candidates that are calling about <br /> this board — Chambers of Commerce and representatives from various business sectors. <br /> Frank Clifton said that there will really be two groups — an advisory board and those <br /> with a specific skill set to help with special projects. <br /> Chair Pelissier said that there was discussion about spinning this off to be a private <br /> entity at some point. She asked if that would be a role of this group. <br /> Frank Clifton said that he would want to make sure they have the right people in place <br /> before spinning off. <br /> Commissioner Yuhasz said that spinning off would be better as a specific charge to the <br /> board after it has been in session for a while. <br /> Commissioner Jacobs said that the working group idea is similar to the MPO format. <br /> He said that it sounds like they are not going to advertise for any citizen applicants or have any <br /> Board of County Commissioners' recommendations. <br /> Frank Clifton said that they wanted to go out to the community to find the people with <br /> the credentials they are looking for and bring back that list to the Board of County <br /> Commissioners. <br /> Commissioner Jacobs said that this Board has traditionally looked at the demographics <br /> for boards. He does not think that it is appropriate for the staff to do this. It is a function of the <br /> Board of County Commissioners. He would like to have some appearance that this process is <br /> open. <br /> Commissioner Gordon said that the way she reads this is that this is an advisory board <br /> and it should be appointed by the Board of County Commissioners. Also, she does not want <br /> the majority of this board to consist of non-Orange County residents. <br /> Commissioner Yuhasz said that this board does not need an open recruitment format <br /> because of the nature of this board. He suggested adding in that the majority of the board <br /> should be residents of Orange County. <br /> Frank Clifton said that the reality is that the development community does not know the <br /> boundary line. <br /> Commissioner Foushee said that she tends to agree with the comments that <br /> Commissioner Yuhasz said with moving forward on this board in a different manner. She said <br /> that this board needs the expertise to move forward with economic development. <br /> Commissioner Jacobs suggested also having someone from the non-profit sector <br /> because it is a different perspective. <br /> Chair Pelissier clarified that the Board does not want to open this up to the open <br /> recruitment process but wants to see more than 9 recommendations to vote on. She said that <br /> the County is also partnering with the Chambers of Commerce and there would be some <br /> vetting there too. <br /> Commissioner Gordon made reference to page 9, Section 3, item 3 and suggested <br /> leaving out "having direct economic development interest in Orange County." All other Board <br /> members wanted to leave this comment in. <br /> Commissioner Jacobs said that if there is a non-profit representative, there would be 10 <br /> members. <br /> Discussion ensued because the positions are not listed one-to-one. <br /> The Board agreed to change the membership to 10. <br /> Commissioner Gordon made reference to page 9, item 6-c, and asked if they should <br /> take out "and/or" because it seems ambiguous. <br /> Frank Clifton said that this is the technical group of advisors that would work on an <br /> individual project. The people chosen would depend on the type of project. <br />