BoC appointments lack transparency

Curious about how appointments are made to county boards and commissions (or not made, as the case may be,) I called Jason Brooks at the County Clerk’s office. More specifically, I was wondering why I wasn’t chosen for either of the boards I applied for, the Community Action Board and the Workforce Development Board.

First, a bit about the process. Open positions on county boards or commissions are posted on the county website. Twice per year, in spring and fall, a public notice is posted requesting applications for the various open positions (either due to vacancy or terms ending.) The Board of Commissioners then make the appointments 2-3 months later.

When I asked when and how the decisions are made, Brooks said that when Commissioner Irwin headed the BoC, an appointment caucus was made during a public meeting. Since Commissioner Sizemore has taken over, appointments are now made with input from county departments and individual commissioners. The appointments are then announced at a BoC meeting. As far as I can tell, the names of candidates are never released to the public.

So this begs the question, if you don't know the commissioners or members of the county staff, do you just cross your fingers and hope that no one else applied? If you don't have a stellar resume, but really are interested in getting involved and participating, where does all of this leave you? Maybe it's just me, but this process smacks of cronyism.

Here’s where my situation becomes relevant. In order to be considered for the Workforce Development Board, you need to have a recommendation from your local Chamber of Commerce. I received a phone call from the Ann Arbor Chamber of Commerce a month or two ago, and was told they would send a letter recommending me to the BoC.

So on November 18, I showed up to my first BoC meeting and waited to hear the results. While speaking with several commissioners after the meeting, I mentioned that I had attended to hear the results of my applications to the CAB and WDB. They told me that those decisions would be tabled until the next meeting on December 2.

Preparing for the meeting on December 2, I pulled up the agenda and the resolutions which would be used to approve the new appointments. For both boards, there were blank slots for each of the open seats. During the meeting, the appointments were quickly called and my name was not included for either board. I was especially confused about the WDB, as I had received the recommendation of the Ann Arbor Chamber.

During my conversation today with Jason Brooks, I was told that they never received a recommendation from the Chamber for me. So I had automatically been pulled out of the running. Had I known this was the case, I would have called the AACC to see why they did not send the recommendation. Perhaps they had changed their mind? Maybe it got lost in piles of paperwork? Or maybe they forgot? The point is, there was never any way for me to know that I wasn’t being considered, because the appointments are not debated in public and there isn’t any feedback from the county on the status of your application (other than the date when the appointments are to be announced.)

All this being said, I think there is definite need for reform in the process. First, any debate on the appointments should be held during a regular BoC meeting. Second, the county should follow up with applicants regarding the status of their application. I’m not saying they need to babysit applicants through the process, but a quick note like “Ms. Jones, your application cannot be considered at this time because it was not accompanied by a recommendation from your local chamber. If you would like to be considered, please have your local chamber submit a recommendation by XX/XX/XX.” This would be especially prudent considering some of the requirements are only listed in the public notice, not on the web pages that list open positions and duties of each board.

Why didn’t I see the public notice? Because when I decided I wanted to get involved, I searched for open positions and used a link to fill out the application. I guess you could say I didn’t hear the BoC’s call for citizens to apply, I heard my own instead. All of this being said, I am still waiting to hear from the Ann Arbor Chamber to find out why my recommendation wasn’t sent. I’ll be sure to let you know what happened. In the meantime, I guess I’ll be waiting 6 or so months until the next round of appointments. So much for trying to get involved.