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West District resident says council scrapped nominating committee, calls process "cold, closed, predetermined"
Summary
Kate Gaither, a West District resident, told the Carmel Common Council on March 17 she and others were surprised when a proposed nominating committee for boards and commissions was abandoned and replaced with an online application, calling the change closed and lacking transparency.
Kate Gaither, a West District resident, used the council's public‑comment period on March 17 to criticize the Common Council's handling of a proposed nominating committee for advisory boards, commissions and committees, saying the change undermined the council's recent pledges of openness.
Gaither told the council she attended the meeting that discussed forming a nominating committee and that the group had been planned to be three seated members. "The process was cold, closed, predetermined, and one‑sided," she said. Gaither said that just before the committee's first meeting President Austin announced he had "scrapped" the nominating committee and instead assigned Councilor Green to improve the city's website with a board and commission application form. "When the discussion of forming a nominating committee arose...the nominating committee was fleshed out and determined to have 3 seated...Never did one of the councilors express dissent," she said.
Gaither said the council's action was neither open nor transparent and warned it resembled the closed processes the current council pledged to change in the 2023 election. "At its worst, there never was going to be a nominating committee. At its best, you've committed an unforced error," she said.
No vote or formal response was recorded from the council during public comment on this issue; the council proceeded to other agenda items. Gaither's remarks were made during the public‑comment period and did not prompt a committee referral or staff report at the March 17 meeting.
