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Milton council agrees to extend board appointments while it revises ward-residency rules
Summary
Council members signaled consensus to extend current Community Improvement Board appointments for 90 days while city attorneys rewrite ordinances to allow preferential (but not strictly required) ward-based appointments and implement a staggered term schedule.
The City of Milton council directed staff to prepare a 90-day extension of current Community Improvement Board appointments and to draft ordinance language that gives priority to ward residents without strictly limiting appointments to those wards.
At a work session discussion about implementing recently amended board ordinances, a council member said, "My recommendation is we just, as a board, we pass a resolution that says we're gonna extend those appointments by 90 days" to allow time to revise the ordinance language and complete staggered appointments. Staff and the city attorney agreed extension and ordinance edits would allow the council to avoid leaving seats vacant while it develops a consistent approach to staggering terms.
Council members debated whether the ordinances' current wording'which requires appointees to reside in Santa Rosa County or own a business in the city'would unintentionally exclude qualified candidates. One council member urged prioritizing residents of the home ward but allowing appointments from elsewhere in Santa Rosa County when suitable candidates cannot be found locally. City Attorney (speaker 9) recommended "extend" as the proper term to keep current members in place until formal appointment action is taken.
Public commenters at the workshop urged maintaining local expertise. Vernon Compton said the Historic Preservation Board and Community Improvement Board have historically benefited from locally based property owners and business owners, asking the council to "consider the same" geographic representation for the CIB. Teresa Masak, a longtime preservation-board volunteer, told the council she preferred three-year terms so members gain experience.
Staff said it will prepare revised ordinance language reflecting a 2-2-3 stagger option and suggested the council consider assigning seats to staggered groups by the existing online list. The city plans to return proposed ordinance edits and a draft resolution to a future workshop and to place the extension resolution on the agenda for the council's regular meeting. The work session did not include a formal recorded vote; council members expressed consensus on the approach.
The council said it would aim to discuss and finalize the ordinance edits and the resolution at upcoming meetings; staff was asked to circulate any additional suggested edits to facilitate consensus before the February 19 workshop.
