A proposal to change the committee selection process from individual appointments to a majority vote in the village of Islamorada faced criticism from a number of members of the Local Planning Agency at a recent meeting.
Village Attorney John Quick told the group of seven members making up the LPA that the proposal is based on directives received at village council meetings in January and February. Vice Mayor Sharon Mahoney expressed interest in changing the way committees are selected from the current practice, which sees each council member making their own appointments and two at-large members approved by a super-majority vote. The village has nine committees, of which two have openings, according to the village’s website.
“I think we’re not looking at a lot of people in this community who want to be on some of these committees … because they don’t know us personally or know how to go about it,” Mahoney said at a Jan. 19 meeting.
Susan Raffanello, LPA member, strongly criticized the proposal for a number of reasons — one being that it consolidates power to a few members of the village council. She said the move would leave the minority view of citizens behind at the will of three council members who would control who sits in the seven LPA seats.
“They will stack each committee with their own viewpoints, because that’s how they operate no matter who they are,” she said. “We need to keep the open philosophies (and) we need to keep the different viewpoints. That’s how we can have such robust discussions we’ve been enjoying on this board.”
In response, Village Manager Ted Yates said he came from an Ohio community that had a process similar to the proposal before the dais. He said it’s refreshing to see different people, whom the council may not know, step forward and apply to be part of the community.
Yates said committee appointments made by council members in the past have been politically motivated. Having qualified and interested individuals apply, go through an interview and get approved by the council could bring more opportunity and consistency. Yates said he would suggest the council approve appointments with four out of the five members versus a majority vote, which needs only three members. Those committee assignments would be staggered and go for two years.
“The way it is today, there’s no real application. I know you apply and fill out an application, but it’s only after you’re picked by a council member to do that,” Yates said.
Raffanello said she’s all for eliminating politics in the selection process, but she believes the proposal as framed does the opposite.
“You really have a consolidation of power,” she said.
Deb Gillis, LPA chairwoman, served on the village council for more than eight years. Gillis said she was always open to anybody expressing interest when she had open committee positions. She particularly took issue with the village’s lack of effort in the past to create an application process or even publicize the openings.
“If you happen to have a pack going on, they’re going to end up controlling every committee. You’re not going to get the minority views of some of the citizens,” Gillis said. “We’ve had some characters sit on some of these committees but they bring an interesting point to the committees. How they (council members) appoint is really up to them, but I’m not overly opposed to what’s going on.”
Lorie LaLonde, vice chair, has sat on a number of committees through the years. She said she’s been tapped by certain council members to fill a seat. Other times, she filled out an application for council’s consideration. LaLonde said there may be an avenue where a pool of interested candidates are reviewed by the dais. Those potential committee members who are considered to be good candidates for the job could be individually appointed by a council member.
“These council members need to have some say in who they appoint versus everyone voting and accepting one particular candidate,” she said.
Pastor Tony Hammon was tapped to be on the LPA by then-Councilman Mike Forster. He was re-appointed by then-Councilman David Webb for another term. Hammon expressed his desire to see a more standardized process.
“I do think there are a lot of well-qualified individuals out there. The way we’re doing it now doesn’t allow the council to look at people at large and make a selection based on people who they think would do a decent job with the position,” he said.
Jimmy Rhyne, new LPA member, said he likes the idea of each council member having the opportunity to appoint someone to give the LPA a broader outlook. LPA member Dr. Stan Zuba issued his support for the current appointment system.
