Reform the City board process
For those of you who didn’t know, there are eighteen boards, authorities, and commissions that perform a variety of functions, advisory to quasi-legislative, for the City of Pensacola. Many of these boards are stacked with special interests. That’s because the system is designed to shut regular citizens out. Right now, whenever a vacancy opens up on a City board or commission, in order to even be considered, a citizen must be sponsored by a City Council member, which completely destroys any chance of impartial advisory bodies.
This process should be revamped.
Council should set requirements for citizens to sit on boards, and then, as seats open up, citizens meeting those requirements should submit applications directly to the City Clerk, who should then evaluate their qualifications and make the appointments. If more citizens meet requirements and submit applications than there are seats available, the seats should be awarded at random.
This process would ensure impartial advisory boards who could Council the best, most unbiased advice on the various issues they are charged to oversee.
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Same boards stacked with the same commercial realtors and architects. The only citizen seat on the ARB which oversees several districts was held by the same citizen representing the same district for 12 years.
And the ARB has a conflict with the number of architects serving on this board. There was a complaint, a letter from the State, more architects appointed, and still too many.
Great for the architects. Guess who citizens get to represent them before going for board approval???
I absolutely agree with you Derek. Previously, they wouldn’t even advertise the vacancies and kept it a dark secret how to apply. The citizens complained at the lack of ‘sunshine’ in the process. Now, they advertise the vacancies in today’s newspaper with a deadline of Monday, the 18th. WTF kind of notice is that? They know months in advance when these terms expire, yet give you a weekend to scramble calling City Council reps, hoping they aren’t out of town, and hoping to get a call back so you can beg for a nomination. If they are out of town and miss the call, you have to wait another two years for change to occur. Otherwise, they pretend no one wanted to apply and they re-appoint the same idiots who THEY placed there ten years ago as “YES” men to the Council’s diabolical plans and are the reason this town is so screwed up. It is a farce. It is never about what is right for Pensacola. It is always about “Who stands to make the money for the issue”. Every single change to zoning and the Land Development Plan can be matched with the name of one of the who’s who, who stands to profit from their decisions at the expense of the community, the taxpayer, and the underdog. Did you see the City Council meeting about a month ago when a lady went down to complain about their appointees on the City Planning Board? The majority of which voted on an item in the City’s favor on a issue and failed to recuse themselves as one worked for the company who owned the property in question, and the rest all worked for firms that had substantial city contracts. No chance for a fair and impartial hearing. No disclosure. Ethics violations. Enough of the crooked politics in this town. These boards decide important issues regarding rezoning, architectural standards, and code enforcement. We need ethical and intelligent candidates and not more good ole’ boy politics at work.
And we cannot count on the city attorney to notice anything.
Mike DeSorbo has given him his instructions on procedural issues.
Will the new council appoint someone other than the same list of Pensacola architects, realtors, or the like that do business with the city and represent applicants before these boards.?
Maybe somebody that doesn’t stand to make a buck.
“a citizen must be sponsored by a City Council member, which completely destroys any chance of impartial advisory bodies.”
Several years ago there was an application that could be completed and turned into the clerk if one was interested, but sounds like the council buried that.
Mike: You still have to complete an application and submit it to the clerk… but it will only be considered if you are nominated by a Council member.
Requiring a council sponsor would narrow the contenders and like Jack said
” then they re-appoint the same idiots who THEY placed there ten years ago as “YES” men to the Council’s diabolical plans and are the reason this town is so screwed up. It is a farce. It is never about what is right for Pensacola. It is always about “Who stands to make the money for the issue”. Every single change to zoning and the Land Development Plan can be matched with the name of one of the who’s who, who stands to profit from their decisions at the expense of the community, the taxpayer, and the underdog
Did you see the City Council meeting about a month ago when a lady went down to complain about their appointees on the City Planning Board? The majority of which voted on an item in the City’s favor on a issue and failed to recuse themselves as one worked for the company who owned the property in question, and the rest all worked for firms that had substantial city contracts. “