Title
Consideration of Appointments to the Mayor's Committee for People with Disabilities
Purpose
PURPOSE/BACKGROUND:
Category A: Jane Hobbs, Barbara Stewart and Larry Townsend have each completed their second terms which ended on March 30, 2020, and they are not eligible for reappointment. Council is being asked to appoint two individuals (Dora Parker-Jimenez and Venezio Jimenez) to first terms which would expire on June 30, 2024. This will intentionally leave one vacancy.
Category B: The following individuals have completed partial terms which ended on March 30, 2020, they each are eligible for reappointment to their first full term which would expire on June 30, 2024: Valda Claiborne, Vivian Austin, Tyrell Mullen, Irene Ferrainolo, Deborah Apperson, Sharon Griffin, Rev. William Anderson and Gwendolyn Burnett. Council is being asked to reappoint these eight individuals to first full terms expiring on June 30, 2024.
Category C: James Nieder, Evelyn Alston and Kennard Dukes have each completed their first terms which expired on March 30, 2020, and each of them are eligible for reappointment to a second term expiring on June 30, 2024. Council is being asked to reappoint each of them to second terms expiring on June 30, 2024.
There are currently six vacancies on this board plus the additional vacancy created by only filling two of the available slots in Category A.
There are individuals in the Board Bank who have expressed a desire to serve on this board. Those applications are being provided to Council.
Current Demographics
|
Name of Board |
# of Members |
# of Vacancies |
Gender |
Age |
Ethnicity |
|
|
|
Mayor's Committee for People with |
24 |
20 |
Male - 0 |
|
|
|
|
|
Disabilities |
|
|
Female - 4 |
71+ |
African American |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Unknown - 3 |
Unknown - 3 |
|
|
Applicants Currently Serving on Other Board/Commissions:
Desre Willingham currently serves on the Neighborhood Commission until June 30, 2023
James Fleetwood currently serves on the Hampton Clean City Commission until September 2021
Angelo Suggs Jr currently serves on the Citizens Police Advisory Group until December 2021
Recommendation:
Rec
As stated above, Council is being asked to appoint Dora Parker-Jimenez and Venezio Jimenez to first full terms expiring on June 30, 2024; and
to reappoint Valda Claiborne, Vivian Austin, Tyrell Mullen, Irene Ferrainolo, Deborah Apperson, Sharon Griffin, Rev. William Anderson and Gwendolyn Burnett to their first full terms until June 30, 2024; and
to reappoint James Nieder, Evelyn Alston and Kennard Dukes to second terms until June 30, 2024.
It is the staff's recommendation that the number of participants on this committee be decreased from 24. Council's actions as above will accomplish this goal by decreasing the number of members to 17. While the bylaws of the Mayor's Committee for People with Disabilities (MCFPWD) allow a maximum of 24 members, experience has demonstrated that this is too large a number for this committee to operate in an effective and efficient manner. In this specific case, the large number of members has been a contributing factor in the occasional inability to achieve a quorum in the past with absences (some of which are caused by medical concerns and other legitimate reasons).
The bylaws have a clause that permits the Mayor to unilaterally amend or change the bylaws in whole or in part. Assistant City Manager Steve Bond, who serves as liaison to the MCFPWD, is recommending that taking the actions above will not negatively impacting any individual who is currently active on the commission and will accomplish a decrease in size of the MCFPWD. Additionally, the MCFPWD also holds public meetings so any individual who has an interest in the work of the committee is free to attend and voice any concerns during public comment. If the bylaws aren't officially changed and the slots are left vacant, it becomes problematic as the MCFPWD will potentially continue to expand to fill those slots leading to potential quorum issues, longer and less efficient meetings, and increased difficulty in gaining consensus to resolve issues that come before the committee.