• "I can't believe you wrote that."

Monday, April 2, 2012

Boards & Commissions

Turns out, Missouri has a bunch of boards and commissions. At least 800 citizens serve as members. Many of them hold their seats for years after their terms have expired, mostly because no one steps up to replace them. A lot of position holders are attorneys. On some boards, including the three that are full-time salaried ones, the number of Republicans and Democrats serving is limited. So sometimes a governor of one party may have to appoint someone of another. My guess is that those appointments get made with limited enthusiasm. The governor appoints each member of every board, and new members attend a tea party at the Governor's Mansion once their appointment is approved by the General Assembly. So everyone gets a say--even if the board is one that oversees amusement park ride safety or hairstylist certification.  Some boards stayed filled with influentials, like the pardons and paroles board and the board of county sheriffs. Other boards teeter on the brink of losing their quorums and without a quorum, they can't make decisions. Missouri's two historically black schools Harris-Stowe State College and Lincoln University fall in that category--along with the hairstylists. If I can't get my hair cut when I want, it's a nuisance. If a newly minted hairstylist can't get her license, it's a crisis--ditto for colleges trying to function for their students. No one at the intro meeting jumped up to serve on anything--it wasn't a volunteer-on-the-spot situation. But the crowd asked questions, mostly about the background check required of applicants. "What if 'someone' has bad credit...a criminal record...owes taxes...is related to someone else who has a criminal record?" I left the meeting knowing that Missouri wants 'someone' to serve if they can get on the path to right with their finances and haven't personally committed a felony serious enough to embarrass the state. My finances are fine. My felonies are nonexistent. And Missouri is a lot more likely to embarrass me than I am to embarrass it.

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