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Appointments to Appearance Commission
PURPOSE: The purpose of this agenda item is for Town Council to consider appointments to the Appearance Commission.
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Department
DEPARTMENT: Town Clerk
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Contact
CONTACT INFORMATION: Wesley Barker, Town Clerk, wbarker@carrboronc.gov <mailto:wbarker@carrboronc.gov>, 919-918-7309
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Council Direction
COUNCIL DIRECTION:
___ Race/Equity ____ Climate ____ Comprehensive Plan __X__Other
Council Direction Statement
Advisory Board appointments follows the Town’s Advisory Board Recruitment and Appointment Policy originally adopted by Council on 11-21-2017 and most recently revised on 3-16-2021. <https://www.carrboronc.gov/DocumentCenter/View/5358/Town-of-Carrboro-Advisory-Board-Recruitment-and-Appointment-Policy-> This Advisory Board Recruitment and Appointment Policy Racial Equity Lens has been completed by staff and is currently being evaluated by the CORE team and will then be sent to the Racial Equity Commission. Council will consider revisions to this policy at a Council meeting in May 2023.
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Information
INFORMATION: The Appearance Commission is comprised of nine seats appointed by Town Council. All members of this Commission shall either reside, own property, or operate a business within Carrboro's planning jurisdiction. The Commission currently has four unfilled vacant seats.
At the March 7, 2023 Town Council meeting, Council re-appointed two current seated members to an additional three-year term (David Markiewicz and James Scott).
New applications have been received by Nathan Jorgensen and Samantha Carney, who have both attended a meeting, and had a chair form submitted for each. Applications and chair forms are included as Attachment B.
Continued recruitment is ongoing to recruit a more diverse applicant pool for the Appearance Commission. The staff liaison has notified the Clerk’s office that the Appearance Commission has potential quorum issues based on the current number of vacancies.
If appointments of the two applicants above are made by Council, this would still leave two vacant seats on the Commission. These two vacant seats could be reserved for diverse applicants, based on discretion of Council.
A member matrix is included as Attachment C. Racial Equity Pocket Questions are included as Attachment D.
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Fiscal and Staff Impact
FISCAL IMPACT: N/A
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Recommendation
RECOMMENDATION: It is recommended that Town Council review and consider appointing Nathan Jorgensen and Samantha Carney to the Appearance Commission to alleviate any quorum concerns.
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