Typically, the Sac City Council makes appointments to area boards, commissions, and committees during the first or second City Council meeting of the year. On December 14, 2009, the Sac City Council will discuss a new mandate from the state that requires gender balance on the boards to which they appoint beginning 2012.
The issue the Sac City Council will discuss refers specifically to House File 243.
According to http://statelibraryofiowa.org, the following is the wording of House File 243.
HOUSE FILE 243
AN ACT
PROVIDING FOR GENDER BALANCE ON LOCAL BOARDS, COMMISSIONS,
COMMITTEES, AND COUNCILS, AND INCLUDING AN APPLICABILITY
PROVISION.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
Section 1. Section 69.16A, Code 2009, is amended to read
as follows:
69.16A GENDER BALANCE.
1. All appointive boards, commissions, committees, and
councils of the state established by the Code, if not
otherwise provided by law, shall be gender balanced. No
person shall be appointed or reappointed to any board,
commission, committee, or council established by the Code if
that appointment or reappointment would cause the number of
members of the board, commission, committee, or council of one
gender to be greater than one=half the membership of the
board, commission, committee, or council plus one if the
board, commission, committee, or council is composed of an odd
number of members. If the board, commission, committee, or
council is composed of an even number of members, not more
than one=half of the membership shall be of one gender. If
there are multiple appointing authorities for a board,
commission, committee, or council, they shall consult each
other to avoid a violation of this section.
2. All appointive boards, commissions, committees, and
councils of a political subdivision of the state that are
established by the Code, if not otherwise provided by law,
shall be gender balanced as provided by subsection 1 unless
the political subdivision has made a good faith effort to
appoint a qualified person to fill a vacancy on a board,
commission, committee, or council in compliance with
subsection 1 for a period of three months but has been unable
to make a compliant appointment. In complying with the
requirements of this subsection, political subdivisions shall
utilize a fair and unbiased method of selecting the best
qualified applicants. This subsection shall not prohibit an
individual whose term expires prior to January 1, 2012, from
being reappointed even though the reappointment continues an
inequity in gender balance.
Sec. 2. APPLICABILITY. This Act is applicable to
appointive boards, commissions, committees, and councils of a
political subdivision of the state on and after January 1,
2012.
According to a press release issued by the Office of Governor Culver on May 26, 2009, House File 243 was signed into law and will take effect on January 1, 2012.
According to the wording of this law, "This subsection shall not prohibit an
individual whose term expires prior to January 1, 2012, from being reappointed even though the reappointment continues an inequity in gender balance."
If the wording of the bill at http://statelibraryofiowa.org is correct, Sac City will not be impacted by this law for a full two years, including the appointments to the Revolving Loan Fund Committe that are due on December 31, 2011.
The following is the gender make-up of Sac City's boards, commissions, and committees to which the Sac City, Iowa Council appoints.
Fine Arts Council
4 women, 1 man (needs men)
Revolving Loan Fund Committee
4 men, 1 woman (needs women)
Airport Commission
5 men, 0 women (needs women)
Library Board
8 women, 1 man (needs men)
Park Board
4 men, 1 woman (needs women)
Board of Adjustment
4 men, 1 woman (needs women)
Planning & Zoning
4 woman, 3 men
Housing Committee
3 woman, 2 men
Trees Forever
3 woman, 2 men
Copyright (c)2007-2009 Curtis Bloes
All Rights Reserved
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