Minutes 10-03-2019 Work Session - Laserfiche WebLink

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8 diversity on the boards. He said he would not recommend setting aside one or two seats, but having a goal of diversity and targeting recruitment efforts towards achieving diversity is perfectly legal. Commissioner Dorosin said the Board could include a statement, in the recruitment process, which says Orange County believes in insuring diverse representation, and hearing from a range of voices a diverse population, and ask how the applicant's appointment to the board would contribute to achieving this diversity. He said this would allow the applicants to describe it themselves, and gets buy-in for being on the board. He said the desire for diverse representation is one of the Board's social justice values and, stating it as such, helps to establish expectations. Chair Rich said the application form is 8 pages long, which can turn deter people from applying. She said there is also a problem with putting this type of information in the in-house database. David Hunt said some of the current application is disclaimers for certain boards, and instructs an applicant what they must agree to to serve on the board. He said a lot of questions are asked, and there is not consistency among all boards. Commissioner Dorosin suggested setting up a subcommittee to review the entire process. He said it is important to apply, but applicants do not need to be experts. He said he would volunteer to be on the subcommittee. He said most of the boards are full, so maybe the application is not a deterrent. David Hunt said part of the hypothesis is that, the more complex the form, the less people want to complete it. Commissioner Price said she originally raised this agenda item, and her concern is not with the length of the application. She said the issue is increasing diversity, and the Board has done a poor job at this. She said some boards have asked the BOCC to wait to get a certain type of person, which is fine. She said recently, the BOCC had an opportunity to add diversity, but the board was primarily white. She said the people who have applied are not able to get on a board when they want to, because they might not be seen as having the right qualifications. Commissioner Rich said she does not believe this to be true anymore. She said the BOCC voted to put 3 people of color on the Visitor's Bureau Board. She said efforts are being made. Commissioner Price said she has tried to get people of color onto boards, and the BOCC has voted against it. Chair Rich said in general boards are trying. She said there is a certain group of people that are abused by serving on too many boards, and a diversity of people needs to be found. Commissioner Price said she is concerned with the selection actions of the BOCC, and when opportunities arise to put people of color on a board, the BOCC is failing to be intentional. Chair Rich said the BOCC is not picking applicants because of being personal friends with them. She said that is not a good statement to put out there. Commissioner Price said sometimes people are appointed because a Commissioner knows them. Chair Rich said one can know an applicant for many reasons, and not necessarily be friends with them. She asked if creating a subcommittee would be a long process. Commissioner Dorosin said that an 8-page form is discouraging people from applying, as it is daunting. He said the Board should be conscious of adding more requirements. He said the Board either needs to jettison some of it, or do something else; and he believes it is best to jettison some of these additional requirements. He said if one is interested, one should be able to apply. He said it is important to have some questions to