Agenda - 02-02-2021 Virtual Board Meeting;12-5 - Information Item - Appointment of Commissioners to Full Membership on the Orange County ABC Board

Browse Search

1 INFORMATION ITEM Appointment of Commissioners to Full Membership on the Orange County ABC Board Local Alcohol Beverage Control Board Appointments The BOCC has expressed interest in having the commissioner appointee to the ABC Board be a voting member rather than a non-voting liaison. There are multiple options available to the BOCC if the BOCC is dissatisfied with some aspect of ABC operations or governance or if the BOCC simply believes changes should be made for other reasons. 1) Change the Chair. The BOCC has full authority to appoint the Chair. 2) Change or reduce salaries. Again full authority to do so rests with the BOCC. 3) Adopt standards of conduct for ABC board members. 4) Appoint commissioners or senior county employees to the ABC board. Both have been done by counties in North Carolina. This fourth option is further explored below. As authorized by statute the BOCC appoints both the members and the Chair of the ABC Board and members serve three-year terms. Due to the fact that terms are for three years it maybe administratively best to appoint a commissioner who has at least three years left in office. However,this is not absolutely necessary because vacancies are filled by the BOCC to complete the term of the member who created the vacancy and should a commissioner leave office another could be appointed to fill the ABC role for the duration of the original appointee's term. There may be some concern about the prohibition of dual office holding if a commissioner is appointed to the ABC board, however, so long as the appointment is ex officio the dual office holding prohibition is not a concern. Under North Carolina law ex officio appointees have the same rights and authority as any other appointee. Regarding the dual office non-issue North Carolina General Statute §128-1.2 reads: Ex officio service by county and city representatives and officials. Except when the resolution of appointment provides otherwise, whenever the governing body of a county or city appoints one of its own members or officials to another board or commission, the individual so appointed is considered to be serving on the other board or commission as a part of the individual's duties of office and shall not be considered to be serving in a separate office. As used in this section, the term "official" means (i) in the case of a county, the county manager, acting county manager, interim county manager, county attorney,finance officer, or clerk to the board and(ii)in the case of a city, the city manager, acting city manager, interim city manager, city attorney, finance officer, city clerk, or deputy clerk. As used in this section, the term "city"has the meaning provided in G.S. 160A-1. One important consideration in appointing a commissioner to the ABC board is the appointment would create occasional conflicts of interest for the appointed commissioner. That commissioner could not vote, and would have to be excused from voting, on ABC board members' salaries,the ABC board travel policy, or other items that could have a financial impact on the commissioner. There are two current ABC board members whose terms expire 6/30/21. According to the Orange County advisory board webpage Patrick Burns is serving the first of two potential terms and Jane Cousins is serving the second of two terms. Should the BOCC determine to appoint one,or more, of its own members to an ABC board position one of these two positions is most realistic for the appointment because outright removal of ABC members may only be for cause. Of the remaining members' terms one expires in 2022 and two expire in 2023. The ABC Board Response to this Proposal is Attached