Alderman Bob Thomas expressed concern at Monday’s council meeting with how nominations for seats on commissions are handled. He suggested that once a nominee is not approved by council, the applicant should not apply for the same seat for a certain period of time, maybe a year.
Alderman James DeVito said the city has been so bereft of applications he is pleased when anyone wants to serve. He did not want to add an obstacle to the process.
The response from alderman Kristi Kendrick was concern the same people serving over and over to the exclusion of other interested parties.
Mayor Butch Berry said he noticed there has not been a backlog of applicants, so commissioners continue to serve. He said he didn’t know of any laws limiting how long commissioners could serve.
DeVito still insisted council did not need any new mechanisms for regulating terms because it could vote to remove a person if there were reason.
Thomas returned to his point that when someone is not approved, council could institute a time period before they could apply again. He moved they adopt this kind of policy.
Before there was a second to the motion, City Attorney Tim Weaver pointed out council would have to agree it would not take a vote on a person because the mayor can nominate whomever he wants.
“You can only cap the vote; you can’t cap whether a person is brought up,” Weaver said.
Council agreed to address situations on a case-by-case basis.