Appointment Policy

Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners

Appointment Policy

Purpose: Citizen involvement is a key element to open government. It provides an opportunity for public input in the decision-making process. This appointment policy governs the process for making appointments to boards established by the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners and those established by legislation or interlocal agreements requiring appointments by the Board of Commissioners. Appointments to boards established by legislation or interlocal agreements shall be done consistent with the legislation or interlocal agreements for those boards as hereby noted in the policy.

1. Eligibility for Appointment

A. Any person appointed to a board must be a resident of Mecklenburg County.
B. The general intent of the Board of Commissioners is to not appoint an individual to more than one board at the same time. The Board, however, reserves the right to do so under special circumstances, as determined by the Board.
C. A person appointed to one board who has also applied for other boards shall automatically be removed as an applicant for the other board(s).
D. To be appointed to a board, an individual must either be nominated by a member of the Board of County Commissioners and receive the votes of at least a majority of the entire membership of the Board (five votes if all members are present at the dais), or be appointed by a motion receiving the votes of at least a majority of the entire membership of the Board (five votes if all members are present at the dais).
E. Mecklenburg County employees are prohibited from serving on any board where appointments are made by the Board of Commissioners or where funding is provided by Mecklenburg County, including special study committees appointed for the purpose of recommending funding or policy. This policy does not prohibit County employees from serving in an ex-officio and/or non-voting capacity on any board when required by law, or when such service is deemed by the Board of Commissioners to be in the best interests of the County.

2. Nomination Process

A. Nominations to boards shall appear, as appropriate, on the agenda for the second regular business meeting of each month; appointments will be made at the first regular business meeting of each month; however, the Board reserves the right to deviate from this schedule.
B. At the meeting when nominations are being made, a person who is eligible for re-appointment may be re-elected by majority vote of all members of the Board present at the dais at the time of the vote, provided at least a majority of the entire membership of the Board (five members) is present at the dais and votes on the re-appointment.
C. Persons may be nominated and appointed at the same meeting if the number of nominees equals or is less than the number of vacancies and by a majority vote of all members of the Board present at the dais at the time of the vote, provided at least a majority of the entire membership of the Board (five members) is present at the dais and votes in favor of the re appointment.
D. Persons nominated for the following boards must go through an interview process conducted by an ad hoc committee of the Board, in each instance, appointed by the Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners. Designated staff may serve as non-voting members. The ad hoc committee shall bring a recommendation(s) for appointment back to the full board for consideration. Those boards are: Alcoholic Beverage Control; Central Piedmont Community College Board of Trustees; Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Commission; Library Board of Trustees; and Board of Equalization and Review.

Nominees for the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board must also complete the "Mecklenburg County Alcoholic Beverage Control Board Nominee Questionnaire" and deliver the completed questionnaire to the Clerk to the Board at least three (3) business days prior to their interview.

3. Voting Procedures

A. To be appointed to any board, an individual must receive the votes of at least a majority of the entire membership of the Board of County Commissioners present (five votes if all members are present).
B. When a member of the Board of County Commissioners is present at a meeting, he or she must vote at least once on the nominations before the Board for each board being considered. The maximum number of times that a member of the Board of County Commissioners may vote is the lesser of the number of vacancies or the number of nominees.
C. If any position remains unfilled after the first ballot vote, the voting should be repeated for that position as many times as necessary to obtain the votes of the majority of the membership for a nominee to fill the position. When repeated voting for a position is necessary, only the names of nominees having received votes are kept on the ballot. If after repeated voting the position remains unfilled, the Board shall direct the Clerk to continue to advertise for the vacancy.

4. Membership Terms

A. Except in extraordinary circumstances or where otherwise restricted by legislative authority creating or authorizing the creation of a board, it shall be the policy of the Board that terms of membership shall be staggered and that members serve not more than two full consecutive terms. Therefore, any person appointed to an unexpired term would be eligible to serve two full consecutive terms after completing the unexpired term. The preferred length of terms is three years; however, it may be more or less. A person having served two full consecutive terms on a board must wait at least a year before being eligible to serve again on the same board. However, in extraordinary circumstances, the Board reserves the right to deviate from this provision.
B. Effort should be made when creating new boards and with present boards to consolidate expiration of terms for members to expire at one time during each quarter of each year.

5. Attendance Requirement

A. Any member who fails during any calendar year to attend 65% of all regularly scheduled committee or board meetings from the time one's term begins until the end of that calendar year and each subsequent calendar year thereafter, shall be automatically removed from said board. There are no excused absences.
B. Members must be present for 50% of a meeting in order to be counted present at that meeting.
C. Members cannot miss three consecutive regularly scheduled committee meetings.
D. The chairman or his/or designee of each board shall submit to the Clerk to the Board an annual attendance report by January 31st listing any member who at the end of the previous calendar year failed to meet the attendance requirement stated above. Persons not meeting the attendance requirement are removed automatically upon receipt of the annual report by the Clerk to the Board. Any board member missing three consecutive regularly scheduled meetings shall be removed immediately upon notice of attendance failure. Vacancies resulting from members' failure to attend the required number of meetings shall be filled as provided herein.

Exceptions:

1) Persons appointed to boards where appointments are made by both the Board of County Commissioners and Charlotte City Council and administered by the City of Charlotte shall comply with the attendance requirement as prescribed by the Charlotte City Council. Those boards are the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Commission and the Bicycle Committee.
2) Persons appointed to boards established by legislative authority shall comply with the attendance requirement as prescribed by the applicable legislation. Those boards are but may not be limited to: Adult Care Home Community Advisory Committee, Nursing Home Community Advisory Committee, Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, Central Piedmont Community College Board of Trustees, and Library Board of Trustees.

6. Removal Of Members From Boards

A. The Board of Commissioners reserves the right, at any time and for any reason, to remove any member of any board when a motion for removal receives the votes of at least a majority of the entire membership of the Board present at the meeting. Any board member removed for failing to meet the attendance requirement shall remain ineligible for reappointment for a period of one year after removal, unless sooner approved for reappointment by the board after appearing and offering a satisfactory explanation justifying reconsideration.

Exceptions:

Removal of persons appointed to boards established by legislation and/or interlocal agreements shall be done so in accordance to the legislation and/or interlocal agreement governing that board. Those boards include but may not be limited to: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Commission, Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, Central Piedmont Community College, and Library Board of Trustees.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Commission - Interlocal Cooperation Agreement, Section 3.33.3
Alcoholic Beverage Control Board - N.C.G.S. 1SB-704
Central Piedmont Community College Board of Trustees - N.C.G.S. 1150-19
Library Board of Trustees - Chapter 70 of the 2007 North Carolina Session Laws

7. Committee Reporting

All Committees must report at least annually to the Board of Commissioners on their activities. Reports can be submitted to the Clerk to the Board for distribution to the Board in writing, or for formal presentation at a regular Board Meeting. The committee's assigned liaison shall work with the Clerk to the Board on establishing the annual reporting schedule.

8. Committee Bylaws

All changes to Committee Bylaws, excluding boards established by legislative authority, must be brought to the Board of Commissioners as a Consent Item for approval. Boards established by legislative authority shall comply with the requirement for change as prescribed by the applicable legislation.

9. Committee Funding

No Committees may independently raise or solicit funds. If any Advisory Board has a legitimate need, they must go through their aligned Department to request funding. The business reason must align with Department priorities and will come from the aligned Department's budget.

10. The Board reserves the right to deviate from any portion of this policy not otherwise required to be followed by legislation or interlocal agreements.

11. Administrative Procedures

A. The agenda item for appointments to boards will be prepared by the Clerk to the Board and provided to the Board as part of the Board's agenda package. The agenda item will include the name of the board, its purpose, membership criteria, number of vacancies, applicant information, and current membership information.
B. The Clerk to the Board will prepare and post on-line an annual schedule of upcoming board appointments and revisions as they occur.
C. The Clerk to the Board will maintain all appointment records pertaining to boards.
D. Applications submitted for appointment consideration to any board will remain on file for one year from the date of its receipt by the Clerk to the Board, after which they will be destroyed.
E. Applicants must complete an original application for each board of their interest.
F. Appointments and reappointments of board members will be coordinated by the Clerk to the Board having direct contact with the board chairperson and/or staff liaison.
G. The Clerk to the Board shall notify the board chairperson and the staff liaison of upcoming vacancies.
H. The board chairperson and/or the staff liaison shall notify the Clerk to the Board of any discrepancies in the upcoming vacancy report received. They shall also notify the Clerk to the Board in writing of any resignations.
I. The Clerk to the Board shall provide copies of applications to board chairpersons and/or staff liaisons upon request. After the chairperson and/or staff liaison have reviewed the applications, he or she will notify the Clerk to the Board, in writing (to include e-mail), of any recommendation for appointment, if they so desire.
J. Applications received after the appointment package has been prepared for distribution to the Board of Commissioners will not be considered in that month's appointments process but will be filed and submitted to the Board at the next appropriate time.
K. The Clerk to the Board shall advertise all current vacancies and all upcoming appointments.
L. Minutes of appointed board meetings will be maintained by the County Agency Director with an assigned staff liaison to said board. Said minutes are to be kept in perpetuity. Minutes of Boards established by legislation and/or interlocal agreements shall be maintained in accordance with the legislation or interlocal agreement governing that board.

Adopted:

March 16, 1981

Revised:

March 1, 1982
July 19, 1982
May 20, 1985
November 3, 1986
April 5, 1988
June 6, 1988
September 5, 1989
October 2, 1989
October 16, 1989
November 2, 1992
February 21, 1994
March 19, 1996
May 20, 2003
November 18, 2008
October 5, 2010
February 15, 2011
September 19, 2017
March 19, 2024

STAFF CONTACT:

County Attorney, Tyrone C. Wade, 980-314-2908

Clerk to the Board, Kristine M. Smith, 980-314-2939

^{Adopted March 16, 1981}
^{Revised March 1, 1982}
^{Revised July 19, 1982}
^{Revised May 20, 1985}
^{Revised November 3, 1986}
^{Revised April 5, 1988}
^{Revised June 6, 1988}
^{Revised September 5, 1989}
^{Revised October 2, 1989}
^{Revised October 16, 1989}
^{Revised November 2, 1992}
^{Revised Februa,y 21, 1994}
^{Revised March 19, 1996}
^{Revised May 20, 2003}
^{Revised November 18, 2008}
^{Revised October 5, 2010}
^{Revised February 15, 2011}
^{Revised September 19, 2017}
^{Revised March 19, 2024}