Agenda - 09-07-2017 - 2 - Board of Commissioners - Boards and Commissions Discussion

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9 as there are youth members on the Youth Advisory Board and the Safe Routes to School Implementation Committee. The average age of Hillsborough's advisory board members is 53 years, ranging from 27 to 80 years. Based on available data, the average age of Chapel Hill's advisory board members is 52 years, ranging from 17 to 81 years. Gender and Race/Ethnicity of Town and County Advisory Boards and the Overall Population,April 2017 Characteristic %(n) Orange County Carrboro Chapel Hill Hillsborough Board Board Board Board Members Members Members Members Overalla (n=282)b Overalla (n= 113)b Overalla (n=177)b Overalla (n=65)b Sex Female 52.3% 54.6%(153) 51.9% 44.2%(50) 53.5% 45.3%(78) 46.7% 45.3%(29) Male 47.7% 45.0%(126) 48.1% 54.9%(62) 46.5% 54.7%(94) 53.3% 54.7%(35) Race/Ethnicity Asian 7.3% -d 10.1% 3.7%(4) 12.8% 4.8%(8) 1.2% 1.8%(1) Black 11.7% 10.1(28) 8.1% 8.3%(9) 9.6% 12.5%(21) 36.1% 5.3%(3) Latinx 8.3% 2.2%(6) 13.8% 2.8%(3) 6.0% 0.6%(1) 4.2% 0 White 75.0% 81.5%(225) 71.3% 84.3%(91) 72.8% 81.5%(137) 57.3% 91.2%(52) Note.One OC board member(0.4%)and one Carrboro board member(0.9%)identify as gender-nonconforming(GNC).Numbers in parenthesis do not add up to total slots due to a small amount of missing data. Population-level demographic characteristics are from the 2011-2015 American Community Survey 5-year estimates. b The analysis includes 28 advisory boards in Orange County,15 in Carrboro,20 in Chapel Hill,and 8 in Hillsborough. Orange County does not collect age on advisory board applications;18.8%of board members reported being retired. d Orange County did not provide data on Asian race. Chapel Hill's board policies state, "at the meeting when board recommendations and applications are submitted to the Council, the Town Clerk shall give the Council a report on the race and gender composition of each board and commission." A statement on Orange County's appointment process says, "the Orange County Board of Commissioners shall endeavor to appoint members who represent the ethnic, cultural, demographic, and geographic diversity of the community." However, our interest in racial and gender inclusivity is not yet playing out in practice. All four jurisdictions have underrepresentation among Latinx residents. Orange County has a 2.2% Latinx representation compared to 8.3% in the population. Carrboro's boards are at 2.8%versus 13.8% of the population, Chapel Hill's are 0.6% (1 member)versus 6%, and Hillsborough has no Latinx members compared to 4.2% townwide. Hillsborough's boards are also underrepresented by black residents:just 5.3% (3 members) compared to 36.1% of the overall population. The other municipalities have roughly proportionate representation among black residents. Carrboro (3.7%versus 10.1%) and Chapel Hill(4.8%versus 12.8%)have underrepresentation among Asian residents. In terms of gender, Carrboro and Chapel Hill both have a disproportionate amount of board members who identify as male (54.9%versus 48.1% and 54.7%versus 46.5%, respectively). Given these disparities and the importance of the service these boards provide in our community, what are some ways we can make these boards more representative? First,we might want to think about outreach. How do we let all residents know about service and its importance? Can we appeal to local community groups that represent underrepresented populations? Can we think about how,when, and where advisory boards meet to increase accessibility for a more diverse membership? Chapel Hill recently implemented remote meeting participation for many boards. Is that something we should try across the county? We are currently in the filing period for our