Agenda - 09-02-2021; 8-a - Minutes

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23 1 2 f. Board of Commissioners Vacancy 3 The Board considered the process by which the July 31 BOCC vacancy will be filled. 4 5 BACKGROUND: 6 Commissioner Mark Dorosin recently notified the BOCC he will be resigning his position 7 effective July 31, 2021. Orange County is subject to North Carolina General Statute NCGS 8 153A-27, which provides that in Orange County a vacancy is filled by the Board of 9 Commissioners subject to several pre-requisites for filling a vacancy. The nominee must be a 10 member of the same political party as that of the member being replaced and a resident of the 11 same district. Before filling the vacancy the Board of Commissioners must consult the 12 appropriate political party, but is not bound by the party's recommendation. 13 14 The Board of Commissioners must fill the vacancy within 60 days of the date (7/31) the vacancy 15 becomes effective. In this situation the deadline to fill the vacancy will be September 29, 2021. 16 If not filled by that date the Clerk of Superior Court must fill the vacancy. The appointee will 17 serve in the position until the first Monday in December following the 2022 general election. 18 The remainder of the unexpired term will be served by the winner of the seat in the November 19 2022 general election. The last vacancy on the BOCC in 1981 was filled through an open 20 process in which the Orange County Democratic Party presented three applicants to the BOCC 21 for consideration. A twist in this vacancy is that the district may require adjustment to its 22 boundaries once census numbers are received. 23 24 The Orange County Democratic Party (OCDP) proposes to begin the application process in 25 July. It will create an application, including questions from the BOCC; it will accept applications 26 through July and potentially some part of August; it will host an open public meeting and 27 advertise that meeting to the public; and will nominate three candidates to the BOCC in time for 28 the first BOCC meeting in September. The party requests that: 1) the BOCC inform them of 29 how the BOCC will fill the position, whether through motion and vote, or nomination and ballot, 30 2) the BOCC refer all interested applicants to the party to participate in the process, and 3) the 31 BOCC, if it so desires, provide questions to include in the application form, by forwarding those 32 questions to the BOCC Chair who will send them to the Party by July 10. 33 34 Chair Price said she met with the Orange County Democratic Party. She said the Party 35 will accept and review applications, and will hear 2 minute speeches at an open meeting. She 36 said the Party will then send 3 nominations to the BOCC. She said it is important to note that 37 nothing the Party does is binding, and the BOCC makes the final decision. She said the Board 38 can submit questions to the Party by June 26. She said the Board needs to vote on the Party's 39 proposal. She said the Party intends to have everything ready for a BOCC vote at its first 40 meeting in September. 41 Commissioner Fowler asked if the Board should direct questions to a particular person. 42 Chair Price said to send any questions to her, and she will submit them to the Party. 43 Commissioner Fowler asked if the Board will be able to see all applications that are 44 received. 45 Chair Price said yes, the Party will send a list of the candidates and applications to the 46 BOCC for review. She said the process would be similar to appointments to Advisory Boards. 47 Commissioner Hamilton said she is concerned about timing. She said if the BOCC does 48 not support any of the recommendations from the Party, she is concerned there may not be 49 enough time to get something in place before September 29th. She said she wants to make 50 sure there is enough time built in.