Minutes 10-03-2019 Work Session - Laserfiche WebLink

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9 address diversity. He said many of the recommendations come from the boards, and there needs to be training or outreach offered to these boards to encourage diverse recruitment. He said there may not be targeted outreach, or there may not be diverse applicants that are applying, but there are more components to the issue than decisions being made by the BOCC. He said it is important to be supportive of the boards, and if they have vetted applicants, the BOCC leans on that recommendation. He said diversity is a value and a goal, and the question should be how to operationalize that goal. He asked if the Board should be making appointments at work sessions to allow deeper review and discussion. Chair Rich said she does not like to hurriedly make appointments at the end of regular meetings, and likes the possibility of discussing them at a work session, and appointing at a regular meeting. Commissioner Dorosin said this process would give the Board an opportunity to review the diversity, and ask the chair of the Advisory Board what type of recruitment they did. Commissioner Price said if an applicant of color applies, but is not recommended to the BOCC, she would like to know why. Chair Rich said the subcommittee will be Commissioners Dorosin and Price, who will meet with David Hunt and Donna Baker. She said to be sure to take into consideration ways to get the age of the applicant. She said the BOCC got a lot of accolades about having an 18 year old on the Housing Advisory Board. Commissioner Dorosin said the BOCC should ask the question about what an applicant can bring to the board to help achieve the diversity goal. Commissioner Marcoplos said he is always struck by the lack of young people, and wants to get them involved. He asked if there is a reason to not ask an applicant's age. Commissioner Bedford said it can be discriminatory. She said if it were up to her she would not ask age, race, or ethnicity. She said there is a big social problem of trust, but diversity is important. Commissioner Marcoplos asked if the questions could be optional. Commissioner Bedford said yes, but one will feel pressured to fill it out if it is on the application. Commissioner Dorosin said if the question asks age, then the BOCC just knows a number. He said he would rather see the person who wants to bring the perspective of the young person, and the Board must be cautious about reducing the application to any one metric. He said asking the aforementioned question is more valuable. Commissioner Marcoplos said he appreciates the point, but he would like to make it easy to decipher the information. Commissioner Dorosin said this can be addressed with the Advisory Board's recruitment practices, and asking if recruitment is occurring in a variety of places (UNC, Young Republicans, Young Democrats, etc.). Chair Rich asked if there is a way to reach out to the current boards that are making recommendations. Bonnie Hammersley said staff support for each board leads the recruitment, and would talk directly to the boards. She said she could attend these meetings, and talk about recruitment. She said staff support calls Thom Freeman-Stuart in the Clerk's Office about open seats. Chair Rich summarized the following action steps: • subcommittee should revise the application, including Commissioner Dorosin's question. It should be kept to 2 pages, with links to further information if necessary. • consider changing the applications review to a work session. Let's keep the application to 2 pages.