City Council Minutes 2016 09 20 - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Meeting Minutes September 20, 2016 Page 4 of 11 DISCUSSION/DIRECTION = POSSIBLE TERM LIMITS FOR BOARD AND COMMISSION MEMBERS AND MEMBERS OF THE LOUISVILLE REVITALIZATION COMMISSION City Clerk Muth stated this is a discussion of possible term limits for board and commission members. The initial draft ordinance would establish a limit of two terms for each board member except for Planning Commission members who would be limited to 12 years (which equals two of the Commission's 6 -year terms). She noted the Council would need to determine how many years or terms a person is required to sit out before he/she is eligible for reappointment. Public Comment Mark Persichetti, 1402 Taft Place, member of the Sustainability Advisory Board since 2004 suggested the ordinance is not necessary to broaden opportunities for public service. The existing decision making process gives the Council the option to not reappoint a person. He stated he does not feel he is entitled to be reappointed and the Council can appoint or reappoint as appropriate. If Council does feel the need to pass this, he suggested members should be required to sit out one year to be eligible for reappointment. Tom Tennesson, 775 Owl Court, member of the Local Licensing Authority (LLA), agreed with the previous speaker. He stated most members of the Licensing Authority sit for an average of seven years. The LLA has two long -serving members and without them the board would lose the continuity that is fundamentally important to the LLA. Council can always deny reappointment to anyone. The current system is more flexible and works. Councilmember Leh stated he is against term limits for a variety of reasons. It is important to retain good board members with knowledge and institutional history. Having term limits makes it easy for the City Council to not reappoint someone, but the Council really should take the board appointment process seriously appointing the best possible people regardless of how long they have served. The Council needs to make the tough decisions when it is necessary. For some boards and commissions it is absolutely essential to have institutional knowledge. Term limits create an artificial reason to not appoint someone to a board. If someone engages in malfeasance we can remove them, but there is no reason to remove someone just for having served a certain number of years. The Council should set a clear expectation that members are not guaranteed reappointment and should base each reappointment decision on the person's merits not number of years. Councilmember Leh noted that if term limits are created he strongly encouraged the Board of Adjustment, the Building Code Board of Appeals, the Planning Commission, the Revitalization Commission, and the Historical Commission not be included.