Friday, July 15, 2005

Board appointment law changes (proposal?)

Proposed ordinance #1 (NEW)

ADD
Section 2.02.16 Appointment to County Boards
(1) Wasatch County Board members will be appointed by the County Manager with the advice and consent of the County Council. The County Manager will submit the names of all interested individual applicants, with his recommended preferences.
(2) All County Board positions will be filled within 90 days of vacancy.
(3) Board Members shall not serve concurrently on the Planning Commission and the Board of

Adjustment Rationale:
1 The current system being used gives too much power to the County Manager, allowing him to submit a single name for approval or disapproval; the Council is not necessarily provided the names of other interested individuals, who might be preferred by the Council members. This will expand the Council's input into the selection process.

2 There is currently no (?) time limit on filling vacancies, a procedure should be developed (see 3.04 (6)) to identify vacancies and interested individuals and fill vacancies as soon as practical. A file of interested applicants and their qualifications for various boards could be kept for future vacancies.

3 As the BoA sometimes acts on appeals to Planning Commission decisions, it seems inconsistent to allow one member to act as an appeal judge to a decision in which he may have participated.

4 This is consistent with Optional plan sect 3.04 and Ut Code: Section 3.04. . . . The specific enumeration of powers herein shall not be construed to limit or expand the executive powers of the County Manager as provided for in Section 17.52.505(2) and (4) of the state code. Except as limited by an ordinance by the county council pursuant to Section 17-52-505(2) (a), the County Manager's powers include, the power to: 6. Appoint, suspend and remove the members of appointed County commissions and boards, with Council advice and consent. In the exercise of this power, the Manager shall have the power to establish standards, qualifications, criteria and procedures to govern these appointments, in accordance with state statute and county ordinance.
UT code 17-52-505 (2) The county manager shall be the administrative head of the county government and shall have the powers, functions, and duties of a county executive, except:(a) as the county legislative body otherwise provides by ordinance; (4) In the council-manager form of county government, the legislative powers of the county shall be vested in the county council, and the executive powers of the county shall be vested in the county manager.

Proposed Ordinance #2 (modification)
Section 2.02.08 Planning Commission
(1) Establishment and Membership. There is hereby established a county-wide Planning Commission consisting of seven regular members. Members of the Commission shall be appointed by the County Manager with the advice and consent of the County Legislative Body.
DELETE: The remaining member of the Commission shall be a member of the County Legislative Body and shall be appointed by majority vote of the County Legislative Body.

(3) Term of Office. DELETE: Except for the member of the Commission who is a member of the County Legislative Body, Each regular member of the Planning Commission shall be appointed for a three-year term. Alternate members of the Commission shall be appointed for two-year terms. The terms of at least two regular members shall expire each year.

(4) Removal and Vacancies. Denote the last sentence as (a)
ADD at end of paragraph: (b) Attendance requirement: Two (2) unexcused absences or three (3) excused absences within a twelve (12) month period will be cause for removal from the Board.

Rationale:
1 As many decisions are recommendations to the Council, one member should not be making decisions in both groups.

2 Continuing regular attendance is desirable to maintain familiarity with continuing issues.

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