Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Governance Appointments topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Supervisors press for clearer process after several uncontested board appointments
Summary
Supervisors raised concerns about the county’s appointment process, urging clearer, broader outreach and a public list of vacancies after multiple uncontested appointments and reappointments were presented March 18.
Several supervisors used March 18’s meeting to press county staff for clearer, more transparent processes for appointing members to special districts and advisory bodies, saying some vacancies were not broadly advertised and districts’ bylaws appeared to be inconsistently applied.
Supervisor Gaskin (Askew in transcript commentary) said offices were not alerted about vacancies and that some applicants reported they applied only after a personal encouragement rather than a public posting. "I'm concerned that none of these vacancies were advertised or even that our offices were alerted of the vacancies," she said, requesting a centralized, easily accessible appointments list for the public and supervisors.
Why it matters: Appointments to local boards and special districts determine governance of fire protection, sanitation, health and other public services. Supervisors said inconsistent notification and ambiguous references to "supervisorial district appointments" in staff reports may have deprived constituents of an opportunity to apply.
What the board discussed: Supervisors suggested several fixes: (1) post the county’s full appointments list (the "Maddie" list) on the public calendar and include it on the consent appointments page; (2) send notice to all supervisors when board-originated appointments are scheduled so supervisors can share openings with constituents; and (3) align staff report language with each entity’s bylaws to avoid implying a vacancy must be filled only by a specific supervisorial-district resident if the bylaws do not require that.
Case examples noted at the meeting included a contested regional fire district seat (item 20) and an at-large appointment to the resource conservation district (item 23), the latter of which the board approved for Jasmine Lopez after supervisors acknowledged a family conflict and supported the appointment. The board approved a fire-district appointment for Amy Dolli (listed as Amy Dahl/Dolly in records) after discussion and an expectation that staff will correct outreach practices in future processes.
Board direction: The CAO and Clerk’s offices agreed to work with staff to clarify agenda language, improve notice to supervisors and explore publishing a single appointments list online. The board indicated it may request formal referral or a future agenda item if additional policy changes are needed.
Ending: Supervisors asked staff to return with clearer language and process steps so that future vacancies are more visible to constituents and so the county follows the intent of each board or district’s bylaws.
