HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 11-20-2017 - 6-e - Board of Commissioners - BOCC Chair-Vice Chair Voting Process
ORANGE COUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: November 20, 2017
Action Agenda
Item No. 6-e
SUBJECT: Board of Commissioners - BOCC Chair/Vice Chair Voting Process
DEPARTMENT: Board of Commissioners
ATTACHMENT(S):
Information from County Attorney John
Roberts
INFORMATION CONTACT:
Donna Baker, 919-245-2130
PURPOSE: To discuss and/or approve a process for selecting the BOCC Chair and Vice Chair
during the Board’s annual organizational meeting in December.
BACKGROUND: The Board has historically utilized paper ballots for selecting the Board Chair
and Vice Chair at its annual organizational meeting in December. This process consists of the
Clerk to the Board distributing ballots to each Commissioner to complete and sign. The Clerk
then collects the ballots and reads out loud the selected nominee on each ballot. The ballots
are a public record and are kept in the Clerk’s office in the permanent agenda files.
At the Board’s November 9, 2017 work session, two options were proposed:
Option 1:
To add an additional step to the current selection process which is to have the Clerk to the
Board, after collecting the ballots, to not only read the nominee’s name on each ballot, but also
read the name of the signatory on each ballot so as to make the process transparent to the
public attending the meeting and also to those viewers watching on the web and/or television.
Option 2:
Utilize a selection process in which the current Chair requests nominations from Board
members for the position of Chair. The current Chair would close the nominations and then
solicit votes by show of hands for each nominee for Chair, with each Board member only having
one vote. The nominee receiving four or more votes would be elected to the position of Chair.
The newly-elected Chair would request nominations from Board members for the position of
Vice Chair. The newly-elected Chair would close the nominations and then solicit votes by
show of hands for each nominee, with each Board member only having one vote. The nominee
receiving four or more votes would be elected to the position of Vice Chair.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact associated with this item.
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SOCIAL JUSTICE IMPACT: There are no Orange County Social Justice Goals associated with
this item.
RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board discuss and/or approve a
process for selecting the BOCC Chair and Vice Chair during its annual organizational meeting in
December.
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Information From County Attorney John Roberts
The voting statute (below) is very generic and doesn’t require a specific manner of
voting and neither do the Board’s rules of procedure. In my opinion the Board may vote
in any manner that is open, with the very limited exception of some closed session
topics, and is recordable in the minutes.
Generally, all that is required to pass an action is “an affirmative vote” usually of a
simple majority. The Board’s Rules of Procedure reference Robert’s Rules of Order in
situations of ambiguity. Robert’s Rules recognizes that votes may be taken any number
of ways as follows: “In small assemblies the vote is often taken by "show of hands," or
by "raising the right hand" as it is also called. The other methods of voting are by rising;
by ballot; by roll call, or "yeas and nays," as it is also called; by general consent; and by
mail. In voting by any of the first three methods, the affirmative answer aye, or raise the
right hand, or rise, as the case may be: then the negative answer no, or raise the right
hand, or rise.” The only one of these methods recognized by Robert’s that I would say
would not work in North Carolina is the final example, mail. The others are fine.
§ 153A-42. Minutes to be kept; ayes and noes.
“The clerk shall keep full and accurate minutes of the proceedings of the board of
commissioners, which shall be available for public inspection. The clerk shall record the
results of each vote in the minutes; and upon the request of any member of the board,
the ayes and noes upon any question shall be taken and recorded.”
John L. Roberts
Orange County Attorney
(919) 245-2318
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