Note: This opinion article by TRN Media employee David Martin does not reflect the view of SweetwaterNOW, The Radio Network, or TRN Media.
Author’s Note: Rock Springs Mayor Max Mickelson reached out to us and said the selection process used to appoint Councilman Eric Bingham to Brent Bettolo’s unexpired term earlier this year was open and allowed residents to hear from the candidates. This is correct. Bingham was appointed by the Council after hearing from candidates Cassandra Vincelette and Ken McNalley. Read more about that decision through this link.
How open should the selection process to fill a vacant Board or city Council position be?
The process the Sweetwater County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees utilized should have been more open and transparent to give residents a closer look at what the board members were looking for in a candidate. While the district provided the letters of intent it received by the candidates, the district could have been more transparent.
Residents following the appointment process Monday were met with just over two hours of closed-door interviews and discussion amongst the board’s members taking place in an executive session. For applicants to a high-level position such as the president of a community college, this kind of approach makes sense – it’s a personnel issue after all. However, when appointing someone to fill what is otherwise a publicly-elected position, transparency should be the leading idea a board should consider. After all, these positions are answerable to the public.
This should in no way be read as a criticism of the school board itself – the process of having closed-door interviews for board hopefuls is legally acceptable. What I’m arguing is that while the process itself is legal, it doesn’t hold a high value on public transparency. Just because the process is legal doesn’t mean it is the best way of doing business. The process utilized by the Board, which required hopefuls to submit letters of intent and be interviewed privately by board members, is one that is commonly used by Boards and Councils.
This process was used to appoint Ron Wild to the Western Wyoming Community College Board of Trustees a few years ago. We would have seen the same happen in SCSD No. 1 when Josh Sorensen was appointed and when David Thompson was appointed to the Rock Springs City Council if those two were not the only people seeking appointment to their respective positions.
Residents deserve to know where a candidate stands on issues impacting an elected body and the organization they’re responsible for. They deserve to hear elected officials ask questions of the candidates, to learn what they believe are the important issues facing the district. They deserve to know what exactly led to a candidate being nominated to the vacancy.
Great examples of more transparent appointments to public office exist. When Rachelle Morris resigned amid embezzlement allegations that later sent her to prison, Sweetwater County School District No. 2 hosted public interviews with candidates for her board seat, even filming and screening an interview with a candidate who could not attend the meeting.
Also, consider two county office appointments that have taken place for treasurer and commissioner. Both utilized a process outlined in state statute that requires the political party the prior holder of a position was affiliated with to select three candidates for the county commissioners to choose from. The opening in the treasurer’s office occurred when Robb Slaughter announced his retirement from the position. Slaughter was a Democrat at the time, which resulted in the Central Committee of the Sweetwater County Democratic Party hosting a meeting to select three candidates for the county commissioners to consider. The commissioners interviewed the three in public and publicly chose Slaughter’s replacement. When Commissioner Don Van Matre died while in office, the Central Committee of the Sweetwater County GOP hosted a similar meeting to select three candidates, who were then publicly interviewed by the commissioners and chose their preferred candidate after two open votes. Both political parties worked to be as transparent as possible and invited local media to attend their proceedings. The commissioners should be commended for committing to such an open selection process.
Boards and Councils should consider transparency as one of the highest priorities to uphold when working with a vacancy because while private interviews can take place with candidates, it doesn’t mean they should take place. A publicly-elected body isn’t hiring an employee, they’re looking for a colleague who will be just as answerable to the public as any other member of that body.
