HomeMy WebLinkAbout(2000, 03/14) - A-2 - AmendedA -2
BOARD AND COMMISSION APPOINTMENTS
Service on City Boards and Commissions is one of the principal means by which
citizens can participate in the conduct of City government. The number of citizens
qualified for such service always exceeds the number of appointments that periodically
can be made by the Council.
On or before December 31 of each year, the City Clerk shall prepare a list of all
appointive terms of Boards, Commissions and Committees which will expire during the
next calendar year, with the name of the incumbent appointee, the date of appointment,
the date the term expires, and the necessary qualifications for the position. Also, the
City Clerk shall list all Boards, Commissions and Committees whose members serve at
the pleasure of the City Council, and the necessary qualifications of each position.
The City Clerk shall further maintain a file of Candidates for Board and Commission
appointments, which shall be reviewed each year by the City Clerk to insure that those
applicants are still available for appointment. Applications shall be retained in the
active file for two (2) full years; thereafter they will be destroyed.
Two months prior to a scheduled vacancy, the City Clerk shall prepare and submit to
the various newspapers, information relating to the vacancy including meeting dates
and times, Board or Commission functions, and the method of obtaining and
submitting applications and establishing the third Wednesday prior to June 1 as the last
date to submit applications. The City Clerk shall notify each applicant of the receipt of
their application.
Within twenty days after an unscheduled vacancy occurs on a Board or Commission, a
special vacancy notice shall be posted in the City Clerk's office, and other locations as
directed by City Council. Additionally the City Clerk shall prepare and submit to the
various newspapers information relating to the vacancy including meeting dates and
times, and Board or Commission application procedure. Final appointment (other than
emergency appointments) shall not be made for at least 10 working days after the
posting of notice.
If an unscheduled vacancy occurs within one year from the expiration of the term, the
City Council has the discretion to appoint a replacement to serve the balance of the
unexpired term plus one full term of four years.
Periodically, situations may arise wherein due to the occurrence of a number of
simultaneously scheduled Board or Commission vacancies, it may be appropriate to
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make certain adjustments in the advertising and recruitment procedures, which are
regularly utilized to fill these vacancies. In these cases, the City Council may make the
following adjustments by majority vote at a regular public meeting:
A. The two -month period prior to the occurrence of a scheduled vacancy, which is
established for advertising purposes, may be extended to three months.
B. The last date to submit applications for a vacancy may be changed from the third
Thursday prior to June, to no sooner than the third Thursday prior to May 1.
C. The period established for the ad -hoc Appointments Committee's
recommendation to the Council of candidates, may be extended from at least two
weeks, to at least four weeks prior to the date of appointment.
When vacancies occur, the City Council shall make every effort to appoint the best -
qualified person to serve the interest of Newport Beach. The City Council shall only
appoint persons who have filed an application for appointment with the City Clerk no
later than five (5) days prior to the date on which the City Council nominates
candidates for positions. The application shall serve as a basis for determining if the •
person is a qualified elector of the City, has no conflict of interest that would prevent
the applicant from serving, and otherwise satisfies the criteria for appointment specified
in the City Charter and any relevant ordinance or Council policy. The City Council
prefers that members of Boards and Commissions represent different geographical
areas of the City, but residence is a consideration only when applicants are otherwise
equally qualified.
To afford the maximum opportunity for citizen service, no person shall be eligible for
appointment to any one City Board or Commission for more than two consecutive four
year terms, exclusive of a prior appointment to fill an unexpired term. Appointees shall
serve on only one standing City Board, Commission or Committee at any time, with the
exception of individuals who serve on committees as representatives from other City
Boards, Commissions or Committees (i.e. a Planning Commissioner may be seated on
the Economic Development Committee as a representative of the Planning
Commission).
At such time when an appointment to a Board or Commission is necessary, the Mayor
will establish an ad -hoc Appointments Committee composed of three Councilmembers.
The Committee's duties are as follows:
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A. Review all applications for position to City Boards and Commissions. The ad-
hoc Appointments Committee will review applicant answers to all questions
contained in the application,
B. Conduct any necessary interviews with individual applicants; and
C. At least two weeks prior to the date of appointment, recommend to the full City
Council at a regular public meeting, two or more candidates for each Board or
Commission vacancy. Members of the Council may wish to interview the
recommended candidates further prior to final selection by the Council. By
requiring two or more candidates for each vacancy, it is the intent of the City
Council that at least two separate individuals should be considered for each
vacancy, i.e., if there are two vacancies, at least four separate individuals will be
considered.
The ad -hoc Appointments Committee, in conducting their review of applications and
interviews with the individual applicants, shall attempt to determine if there exists a
potential conflict of interest, which might interfere with the performance of the
applicant's duties in an impartial manner free from bias. It is generally recognized that
from time to time it is possible for any individual to have a conflict on any one given
issue.
The ad -hoc Appointments Committee, however, shall endeavor to avoid
recommending appointments of applicants with a substantial conflict of interest, which
would require repeated disqualification from voting on issues that are likely to come
before the Board or Commission.
PROCEDURE FOR VOTING ON APPOINTMENTS TO CITY COMMISSIONS,
BOARDS AND COMMITTEES
A. The Council will vote on all appointments and seats on each Board/ Commission
simultaneously. The voting will be by paper ballot and the City Clerk will
tabulate and announce the results, including the vote tally.
B. Each member of the Council will cast the number of votes as indicated on the
paper ballot for each seat from the list of the nominees. In order to be appointed,
the nominees must receive at least four votes.
C. For boards/ commissions with two vacancies, if two of the nominees receive four
or more votes, they will be automatically appointed.
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D. If there is a tie vote, ballots will be distributed to the Council Members to vote for
the tying candidates only.
E. In the event that no one receives four votes, nominees receiving zero or one vote
will be dropped and the Council will cast two votes from the list of the
remaining nominees and the determination will be made as previously stated.
The City Clerk shall also be responsible for the following functions associated with
Board and Commission as well as Citizens' Advisory Committee appointments:
A. Preparation of letters for the Mayor's signature notifying successful candidates of
their appointment.
B. Preparation of letters for the Mayor's signature notifying unsuccessful
candidates for appointment.
C. Preparation of letters for the Mayor's signature thanking outgoing members for
their service and coordination with the Purchasing Agent in the preparation of •
formal Certificates of Appreciation.
Once the final appointments are made by the City Council, the ad -hoc Appointments
Committee will be dissolved.
Adopted - June 28,1965 Amended - November 23,1981
Amended - August 15, 1966 Amended - January 24,1994
Amended - September 26,1966 Amended - February 26,1995
Amended - June 10, 1968 Amended - August 12,1996
Amended - July 12,1976 Amended - February 24,1997
Amended - September 12,1977 Amended - March 22,1999
Amended - November 28,1977 Amended - July 12,1999
Amended - December 19,1977 Amended - September 27,1999
Amended - June 26,1978 Amended - March 14, 2000
Amended - March 12,1979
Amended - July 27,1981
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