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Business Development Board alters role of elected officials; commission to nominate city voting member
Summary
The Business Development Board (BDB) changed its bylaws to make elected officials nonvoting liaisons and to require each jurisdiction to appoint a resident voting member; the commission asked staff to solicit nominations for the city seat.
Commissioners discussed changes to the Business Development Board’s representation and how the city should name a voting member after the BDB updated its bylaws to limit elected officials to nonvoting liaison roles.
Why it matters: The change alters how the city will be represented on the regional board that coordinates business development activities and may affect who communicates priorities between the BDB and the commission.
City Manager Mike Mortel said the BDB modified its policy because of Sunshine Law concerns; the board now requests a nonvoting elected official liaison and a separate resident voting member from each jurisdiction, including the City of Stuart. Mortel said he had previously nominated a city resident but that appointee was ineligible because a business tax receipt required for the slot had been active for less than six months.
Mortel proposed that commissioners submit names for the city voting seat by the end of the week so staff can distribute application forms and include any returned applications on the May 28 agenda for the commission to ratify. Commissioner Gioby and others discussed the trade-offs between keeping the mayor or a commissioner as the liaison versus appointing a resident voting member.
What’s next: Staff will solicit candidate names and application forms and attach returned applications to the May 28 agenda. Commissioners can choose whether to keep the current commissioner liaison in a nonvoting role and appoint a separate resident voting member as the BDB now requests.
