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Department staff says board members can vote on all matters going forward; members urge restraint when lacking expertise
Summary
Staff told the licensing board that, going forward, all board members will be permitted to vote on matters brought before the full board. Some members said they prefer to abstain on items outside their technical expertise, and the board discussed preserving subject-matter separations where appropriate.
Department of Consumer Protection staff told the licensing board that, going forward, all board members will be permitted to vote on matters before the full board, a change staff said matches practice on other advisory bodies.
Jane, a staff member with the Department of Consumer Protection, told members she had circulated an email from the commissioner clarifying that "everybody can vote on everything," and that she believed the change would be applied in future meetings. Board members welcomed the clarification but several said they would exercise caution.
John Messner and others said they would prefer to abstain from votes when the meeting lacked members with the profession-specific expertise required to evaluate an application. Bob Dawn and other members suggested preserving a practical separation so that, if only land-surveying members are present, the board should use common sense and either delay engineering matters or abstain on them. Members said that abstention is an appropriate individual response when a member feels they lack sufficient expertise.
Legal guidance cited by staff indicated that voting by the full board is allowed, and that individual members retain the option to abstain if they do not have expertise on a given item. The discussion ended with staff confirming that the practice would move forward and with members urging staff to follow up with any formal guidance if necessary.
