Committee declines recommendation on boards-and-commissions interview process after debate over diversity and ownership

West Chester — The Administration, Communication, and Technology Committee discussed the borough's process for filling vacancies on boards, commissions and committees on Feb. 11 and decided to take no recommendation back to council after hearing concerns about diversity and local ownership of interviews.

The nut graf: some members favored a standardized process that would let board chairs recommend candidates, while others worried that delegating interviews to boards could reduce diversity and concentrate appointments among like-minded applicants; the committee ultimately elected to forward the item to full council with no recommendation.

Committee chair Brian Travis summarized the prior proposal: allow individual boards and commissions to interview candidates and make recommendations that council would then approve or disapprove. "Our recommendation was 3–0 to adopt a single process," he said, describing the committee's earlier position. Debate focused on whether council should continue to interview candidates directly or rely on the recommending boards.

Alisa Dorsey, borough council, said she was concerned that if councils cede interviews to boards, the committees could end up nominating people who "walk like us, talk like us" rather than broadening perspectives. "My concern is having a group of people that not having a diverse group with diverse thoughts and experiences that can bring value to the committees," Dorsey said.

Lillian DeBaptiste, a resident, replied that most committee membership is volunteer and that volunteers typically join committees because they have an interest in the subject matter and are willing to learn on the job. "When you think about West Chester and think about how many people come out to volunteer on a committee, they come out to volunteer because they have an interest in that committee," DeBaptiste said.

After discussion, the chair proposed sending the matter to full council without a committee recommendation so council can debate and determine whether to adopt a single, standardized process or retain the current practice. The committee agreed; item 4b was recorded as having no recommendation and referred to council for further discussion.

Separately, during old business the committee approved the Jan. 2025 meeting minutes by voice vote, recorded as approved 3–0.