Nearly every City Council meeting ends with appointments to boards and commissions by councilmembers.
There always seem to be a lot of seats that need to be filled.
It is rare for someone nominated to a board or commission not to be unanimously approved, but that might change.
The City Council decided that there was not enough geographic diversity on the boards and commissions and began making an effort to appoint an equal number from each City Council district. Since most boards and commissions have nine members and there are five council districts it is a mathematical impossibility to ever reach this goal.
The current concern on the City Council is that despite the fact that most boards and commissions have nine members with one member appointed by each councilmember, there is not enough racial, age and gender diversity on some of the boards and commissions. So along with being from the correct council district, the City Council has decided to also choose new appointees based on their race, age and gender, which will make the process of vetting new appointees more challenging.
But for those who would like to serve their city by participating on a board or commission there are a lot of possibilities.
The boards and commissions that currently have openings include:
Bryan Park Golf Commission
Commission on the Status of Women
Greensboro ABC Board
Greensboro Historic Preservation Commission
Greensboro Housing Authority
Greensboro Criminal Justice Advisory Commission (GCJAC)
Greensboro Public Library Board of Trustees
Guilford County/City Insurance Advisory Committee
Guilford County Historic Preservation Commission
Human Relations Commission
Minimum Housing Standards Commission
Participatory Budgeting Commission
Piedmont Triad Regional Water Authority Board of Directors
Redevelopment Commission
Solid Waste Management Commission
War Memorial Commission
Of course, wanting to serve and having the qualifications to serve are no longer enough to get appointed. A person also has to be from the correct council district and be of the race, age and gender to create the desired diversity on that particular board or commission.
I’m no social justice warrior, but this feels discriminatory.
That being said, I would still like to see a gender, sex, race, religion, age, district, sexuality, marital status, parental status, & political affiliation breakdown of what that the standard each board needs to be comprised of is and that assignments based on diversity are not made up on an ad hoc basis.
It will also be interesting to see which of those categories don’t make the cut. What is diversity and what isn’t. How many boxes does one have to check to be considered diverse?
Any way to get the same diversity requirements for the city council?
JB, only if there is a lack of hypocrisy. Otherwise, that would be a big negatory.
Also, I forgot to add personal wealth diversity as well as annual income diversity in my initial list.
Just another way to make sure the commissions are skewed to favor a certain race in the city of black love. Only young angry black women need apply. Maybe throw in an angry black man for diversity!
How about hiring the most competent? Duzzn’t matter who they are. Considering the bloated salaries of Govt, it should be easy to find qualified people.
I’ll clear this up for anyone confused, it’s basically saying qualified white males are no longer considered unless no other options are available.
Just more evidence that the city is governed by a council of morons.
The Greensboro City Council is elected by being voted in by the citizens of each district. Once this Council was placed into office THEY voted THEMSELVES into a second term in office. Would someone please explain how it was legal to vote for themselves. Why does the citizens in Greensboro allow this behavior to continue. AND, by the way, this Council of no white male members are in office for another year sense they voted for themselves and NOT the citizens of Greensboro. Will Greensboro survive another year of the same?
I think “diversity” should include an equal number of fat & thin people; too many people are excluded because of being obese.
I think we should add stoopid peeple, along with those who look like Liz Wheeler. Fat is good, because I are, so thin peeple are out.
I think diversity has to start with the council. We now have a bunch of old white and black women and one young black male whom no one will let speak. Some of you old women should volunteer to retire to open up spaces for some more men, white black and hispanic. Show us just how committed you are to diversity. Retire!
Who elected these clowns, citizens of Greensboro?