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A spirit that is not afraid

New board selection process approved

<p>Auburn City Council holds its first meeting of the new year, Jan. 8, 2018.</p>

Auburn City Council holds its first meeting of the new year, Jan. 8, 2018.

In a 5-to-3 vote, the Auburn City Council passed a resolution that outlines new procedures and qualifications for board and commission appointments. 

These new procedures will be put to use for the first time with upcoming appointment for a vacancy on the Board of Education, which Tracie West held before being elected to the Alabama Board of Education. 

Mayor pro-tem and Ward 3 Councilmember Beth Witten and Ward 4 Councilmember Kelley Griswold led the boards and commissions task force that created a draft of the resolution, which they presented at the Council’s first December meeting. In the following month the Council meet to discuss the draft to create the resolution that they voted on Tuesday night. 

The resolution faced some scrutiny after it was presented at Tuesday’s Council meeting. Each of the councilmembers gave their thoughts on the resolution.

Griswold and two other councilmembers spoke against the resolution because it allows for non-residents to be selected for Auburn boards and commissions. 

During the discussion before the vote, Ward 4 Councilmember Brett Smith said all board and commission members are all volunteers working to better their community. 

“I appreciate all of the views and regarding that we may eliminate some talent as we restrict our processes but as [Smith] said people that want to come together to represent their community,” Griswold said. “Folks that live outside the city are not in our community.”

Witten disagreed with Griswold, stating that just because someone doesn’t live in the city limits doesn’t mean they are not a member of the community. 

The viewpoints they each shared at the beginning of the discussion matched their votes as Griswold, Ward 1 Councilmember Connie Fitch-Taylor and Ward 6 Councilmember Bob Parsons, the three that spoke against it, all voted against on the resolution. 

Ward 5 Councilmember Steven Dixon was absent from the Council meeting and therefore did not vote. 

Mayor Ron Anders noted several times during the meeting that any resolution can be modified as the Council sees fit. 

Taylor also brought up advertising vacancies on boards and commissions, urging the Council and city staff to better advertise the openings as to attract more candidates and to allow everyone the chance to apply.

Board and commission vacancy announcements are the first item addressed in the resolution. It states that announcements of vacancies must be made four weeks in advance of the appointment for all boards and commissions except Planning Commission and Board of Education, which must be made eight weeks in advance. 

The online application for each appointment will also be available four weeks before each appointment, and Planning Commission and Board of Education applications eight weeks prior. 

Announcements will include the qualifications for membership on the boards and commissions, which will be published on the city’s website, social media and other forms of city communication. 

The resolution also requires an annual open house where citizens can learn about each of the boards and commissions. 

Members of any board cannot serve on more than one board or commission at a time for no more than two consecutive full terms. 

When making appointments the Council will take residency status, current board or commission membership and length of tenure heavily into consideration but can make appointments of those that do not meet those requirements if a certain board or commission has certain needs such as time of appointment for continuity or experience. 

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“In our task force one of the things that we came up with that we thought was especially important was that all members of Auburn Boards and Commissions were Auburn residents,” Griswold said.

“The compromise will work, everybody will have an opportunity to consider that.”

The resolution also creates an application deadline for all board and commission positions. The bulk of the resolution outlines the process in which applicants and councilmembers will go through to choose the appointees for all boards and commissions. 

The process is now defined and has a rubric-like system for scoring applicants. An interview was also added to the application process for Planning Commission and Board of Education appointments. 

“At the end of the day, what we were trying to do, specifically, is provide a system that our citizens would understand,” Anders said.


Elizabeth Hurley | Community Editor

Elizabeth, senior in journalism and political science, is the community editor for The Plainsman

@lizhurley37

community@theplainsman.com


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