Agenda 12-02-19 Item 8-a - Minutes

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9 1 Commissioners hereby establishes certain general conditions to which applicants and 2 members of advisory boards should conform. 3 4 B. Composition 5 1. The Advisory Board on Aging is composed of twelve (12) voting members. 6 2. Members shall consist of seven members over the age of 60 years, one person who 7 is a resident of the Town of Chapel Hill, one person who is a resident of the Town of 8 Carrboro, one person who is a resident of the Town of Hillsborough, and two 9 persons who are residents of unincorporated areas. 10 11 During the September 17, 2019 BOCC Regular meeting, the commissioners appointed three 12 (3) individuals to fill vacant positions. Two (2) of those appointees were not over the age of 13 Sixty (60) years. At the time, there was only one position that would accommodate a person 14 under the age of Sixty (60) years. 15 16 Chair Rich said the BOCC's last appointment to this Board was not in the right age 17 bracket, as one of the appointments must be over age 60. 18 Thom Freeman-Stuart, Clerk's Office, said that both previous appointments were 19 under the age of 60, and the positions on the advisory board for persons under 60 years old 20 are limited to five. 21 Chair Rich said the BOCC had no way of knowing an applicant's age. 22 Thom Freeman-Stuart said this was a surprise after the appointments were made, 23 and staff has not run into this problem before. He said the requirement is in the advisory 24 board's bylaws. 25 Chair Rich asked if there was a way the BOCC could have known. 26 David Hunt said the BOCC does not know the applicant's age from the application, 27 and staff was not aware of the problem until it actually happened. He said, historically, the 28 Advisory Board makes the recommendation, as it does know the requirements of the 29 positions that are available. He said the BOCC and staff were not aware of the problem. He 30 said tonight's task it to narrow it down to one appointment. 31 Commissioner Marcoplos asked if this is discriminatory because of age. 32 David Hunt said it is based on State guidelines that a certain percentage of 33 members need to be over 60. 34 Chair Rich said in the future the BOCC will need this information. 35 Thom Freeman-Stuart said, going forward, he will make that notation on the 36 abstract. He said this issue has never happened before. 37 David Hunt said the new application includes an age category. 38 Commissioner Dorosin said knowing the age of the person is helpful, but the BOCC 39 should be made aware of any Board that has these types of requirements, via the abstract. 40 He said it is also important for the public to know of any statutory requirements. 41 Thom Freeman-Stuart said position numbers generally list any special 42 requirements. 43 Commissioner Price said, in looking at the responses, she feels Karen Green- 44 McElveen gave more positive responses in her experience, expressed a stronger desire to 45 be on the Board, and appears to be better qualified. 46 Commissioner Marcoplos agreed, and said he also considers how long an applicant 47 has been a part of the community. 48 Commissioner Dorosin said the other candidate has more work-related experience, 49 and working in the field of aging would be more relevant. He said he puts less stock in how 50 long someone has lived in Orange County, versus the experience one might have.