Hanford council sets process to pick 11-member Measure H oversight board, agrees to rank all applicants

The Hanford City Council on Feb. 13 agreed on a public, multi-step process to select 11 members for the Measure H Oversight Board, directing staff to collect ranked applicant lists from each council member and schedule interviews for a narrowed pool.

City Finance Director Chris Tavares told the council that 27 applications had been received by the Feb. 13 close and outlined a two-phase process: council members will each submit ranked lists of applicants, staff will compile those rankings to identify roughly 15 interviewees, and council will interview that smaller group at a special meeting. “Each council member shall review all applications,” Tavares said, describing the proposed workflow and scoring options.

The council emphasized transparency and practicality in selecting members to oversee the voter-approved Measure H transactions-and-use tax and its expenditure plan. Tavares and Finance Manager Destiny Borba proposed that interviews be 10 minutes long with up to five questions, scored afterward. Staff suggested scores be averaged, with the top 11 named to the board; staff also proposed that the six highest-scoring members serve initial three-year terms.

Council members requested several changes to the staff proposal during wide-ranging discussion. Vice Mayor Travis Paden and others urged that each councilor rank every applicant — not stop at a preselected subset — so the city clerk could tabulate results and reveal a natural break in support before interviews. Council members also agreed to expand the scoring range to reduce tie votes, settling on a 1-to-10 scale for interview scoring and to allow council to pare questions down to three or five on the day of interviews.

Council and staff set an operational timetable: the application period would close Feb. 13; council members were to submit ranked lists to the city clerk by Feb. 17; staff would compile a list of roughly 15 interviewees for council review on Feb. 18; a special meeting for interviews was penciled in for Feb. 26; and the oversight board would begin orientation and training in March. Staff warned the full Measure H budget work remains on a fast timetable, with draft budgets planned for May and June and the board needing to review Measure H components before council consideration.

On process rules and transparency, councilors said conflicts of interest and close family ties should be disclosed. Councilmember Mark Kairis said only immediate family or direct business partners should be treated as potential conflicts requiring formal recusal; others noted that informal acquaintance is common in a small city and not necessarily disqualifying. Staff confirmed application materials and rankings would be public records and that applicants would see individual scores.

Public commenters urged geographic balance and community representation. One resident asked the council to ensure voices from South Hanford and other neighborhoods are included; another asked the council to favor applicants who demonstrated support for Measure H’s goals. Council members said the approved selection criteria are merit-based, consistent with the ordinance and resolution that created Measure H oversight obligations.

The council did not take a roll-call vote on a specific motion, but members reached a consensus on the steps above and asked staff to return the compiled rankings and the proposed interview list at the Feb. 18 meeting. No formal appointments were made at the Feb. 13 meeting.

Looking ahead, staff will prepare the interview questions (to be released the day of interviews to preserve the integrity of the process), publish applicants’ materials as public record, and schedule the special meeting. Council members also asked staff to include rules on applicant conduct during interviews — for example, limiting phone use in the waiting area — and to prepare a brief public explanation of how ties would be resolved should they occur.

The selection process will determine which community members advise the council on Measure H annual expenditure plans and audits going forward, and the council emphasized that the oversight board will focus on ensuring Measure H spending follows the plan voters approved.