Reasoned and Open Selection

A few years ago I suggested having the council apply for board appointments and that the council should explain their selections. The council appoints representatives to all sorts of very powerful agencies where much of their work is not know to the public, or even the council, although the later is improving. The idea was considered one of those pie in the sky ideas I come up with because I have nothing else to do.

I was at a SANDAG meeting a few years ago when Chair Lori Holt Pfeiler made a suggestion that smelt like apple pie. She suggested that the board's nominees for appointments submit applications and that there are at least two candidates for each position. Good idea! Otherwise it can look like the selection was done in the backroom and for reasons other than merit and good public administration and policy. Some of the other board members clearly did not like apple pie.

Jerome applied for Chair of SANDAG. Here is the meat of his application.

NOTES: Click the image to enlarge. Jerome is currently responding to my questions about the toll road purchase, the sophisticated side of eminent domain reform, and the SANDAG chief's $270,000/yr (plus underfunded benefits) pay package with a yearly $10,000 raise.

I like the idea of the council applying for their appointments to boards like NCTD or the County Water Authority. I would hope their applications required a little more info than SANDAG's. It would be good if they were clear on the relevant principals applicants would apply when voting on these boards AND describe the seeds of the policy initiatives that they plan to spearhead while on those boards.

Do you think our representative to NCTD should say something about what they will do about Leucadia's trees near the rail corridor in their application? Will they seek pension reform at SANDAG or the Water Authority? (These agencies have little internal fiscal incentive to ever fix their pensions, because they can just say that the extra costs belongs in your water bill and that's that. It will take leaders who truly care to come in and bring up the issue.)

We've had enough bananas. It is time for apple pie.