TC Setting Quotas For Advisory Committee Appointments?

I had a short conversation with a township official who told me that the TC's discussion was part of an effort to increase the participation on advisory committee of members that are more representative of our town's various ages and racial/ethnic composition.  While this is a laudatory goal, I would hate to see any form of quotas adopted or the exclusion of qualified/experienced volunteers because of their age or race.  And, I am definitely against any codification of these goals.  

Here's a summary according to Joe Strupp, the Maplewoodian:

 "TC votes to set diversity goals 

A major push to increase diversity among
the Township's boards and committees has apparently begun as the
Township Committee this week passed a resolution that seeks to add more
minorities, renters and younger adults to its committees by the end of
2018.

The TC voted, 5-0, on the proposal that would set specific levels to be reached within the next two and a half years.

Mayor Vic Deluca pointed out that among
the 100 residents serving on town committees and boards, just 22% are
people of color. The resolution sets a goal of 33% by the end of 2018.

He also found that only 20% of the
boards have members who are between 40 and 49 years old, and none are
between 30 and 39 years old. He added that several boards have no
renters even though 22% of homes are occupied by renters.

The legislation sets a goal of having
25% of the boards and committee members be between the ages of 30 and
49, noting that most are 40 or older, Deluca said.

"Quite honestly some of our committees
are tilting way beyond the average age in Maplewood, the mean age is
under 40," he said. "We have to take a look at that."

Finally, Deluca sought to increase the
percentage of renters on the boards by 10%. "We are not close to the
number of renters in Maplewood," Deluca said.

"This is three appointment cycles, 2016, 2017 and 2018, so there is a fairly long process," Deluca said."

Are there term limits on all these committees? That seems more important than age or race. Anyone should be able to volunteer. Serving for years and years is ridiculous.

Not sure there are limits, but repeated appointees could be the result of lack of volunteers, or the importance of what certain members bring to the table, or both.

Personally, I think the the idea of legislating volunteer diversity seems a bit forced and rather incongruous.  

I think a simple step might be to follow South Orange's lead and put the form online so we don't have to find a fax machine (I do realize it says or email just being a bit dramatic.)

Also instead of a laundry list of interests you may have it would be nice to have Committee chairs or members post openings with a short description of what the Committee is about, what kind of time commitment to expect and so on.

I need to know more about this Rent Leveling Board and how it differs from the Affordable Housing Committee. 

Form is on-line.  Above is cut and paste from the official town website.

I think what CapnMarko was suggesting is a form that is also submitted online, not mailed, emailed or faxed.

Quotas (unofficial) were discussed and sometimes used as an excuse by our TC liaison for a committee that I served on for a few years.  I thought it was stupid concept since the committee was perpetually under-subscribed.

Goal #1 should be to get volunteers.  If a committee is full then the TC can worry about the make up of that committee, assuming more people want to join.

If a committee is top heavy in terms of age, the TC should be smart enough to consider that when evaluating recommendations from the committe.

ctrzaska said:

I have no idea what vacancies exist at the moment.  I'm sure others don't either.  That may, in fact, be a good bit of the problem.

Give that man a cigar!

Absolutely agree.

ctrzaska said:

Personally, I think the the idea of legislating volunteer diversity seems a bit forced and rather incongruous.  

yahooyahoo said:

Absolutely agree.

ctrzaska said:

Personally, I think the the idea of legislating volunteer diversity seems a bit forced and rather incongruous.  

And there's that too ... 

CapnMarko said:

I think a simple step might be to follow South Orange's lead and put the form online so we don't have to find a fax machine (I do realize it says or email just being a bit dramatic.)

Also instead of a laundry list of interests you may have it would be nice to have Committee chairs or members post openings with a short description of what the Committee is about, what kind of time commitment to expect and so on.

I need to know more about this Rent Leveling Board and how it differs from the Affordable Housing Committee. 

I agree with all of your points.  I'm in my 30s and have always enjoyed volunteering but I'm not aware of what opportunities are available in Maplewood.  I do think that the form needs to be set up so that it can be filled out and submitted online.  If you want younger people to volunteer, then the town needs to use social media.  

I also agree that a description of the committee, responsibilities, time commitment, etc. would be great.  For example, I'd be interested in working with the library or historic preservation but it would be helpful to get a sense of what this would entail.  

This point has been raised repeatedly but since I work full time, I'm not able to attend morning meetings but I could certainly make evening meetings.  

For those who have actually tried to volunteer, have you found the town(s) responsive? I live in SO so I can't speak for MW, but the few times I have tried to volunteer--either through the town's online form, or directly with someone who runs a committee--I have gotten nowhere. (These were committees who issued calls for volunteers.) The only answer I ever got was from a clerk who, several months after I submitted, told me my application had been forwarded to "town officials," who never got back to me. In other words, I have tried to volunteer, but have never been allowed to. I have also noticed that the committees only seem to want "experts"--i.e. architects for a committee dealing with development--or business owners in the town. That is why I am curious as to other people's experiences, as I wonder if "anyone" is truly allowed to volunteer, or if the system is, for the most part, closed to "outsiders."

I don't believe that volunteering on Maplewood's advisory committees is closed to outsiders, except that because of the methods used for recruitment, it is likely to be closed to those who do not know that these committees and other volunteer opportunities with the town exist.  Hopefully, this thread and similar discussion on other social media will help to raise this awareness.  

In regard to "experts" considering that these are advisory committees, I would assume that those with applicable backgrounds and experience would be the first choice for membership.