[StBernard] HOSPITAL BOARD

[Westley Annis]

I hope that with the elections behind us soon, the parish administration
(whomever they may be) will put forth effort to fill vacancies on the
various boards and commissions in the parish, contact those who have
technically been in those positions since Aug 2005, although many have
expired terms, and terminate the ones who don't respond, and have the
organizations/companies who by law are to appoint a representative to the
Appointment Review Board.
 
The Planning Commission has no vacancies at this time, but the Zoning Board,
which approves or denies variances to the various building regulations, has
not convened since the storm. How's the library board doing? How's the
Coastal Zone Advisory Board doing? How's the American With Disabilities
Board doing? How's the Tourist Commission doing. I haven't been able to find
a list of who the various boards are and who were the last people on them. I
supposed someone in the parish administration does.
 
I was surprised to hear that the reason for not convening some of these
boards is beause the Appointment Review Board can't get a quorum to meet.
Yet, as I was being told this, I was sitting next to two of the other
members of the Appointment Review Board and I was a member. So it made no
sense.
 
I've had bigger things to put my time into, and certainly election time is
not the time to publicly advertise the vacancies, as the law requires it has
to be published in the Voice, nor the time to send the parish president a
recommendation for appointment. 
 
However, once the council and president are installed in office after the
election, as President of the St. Bernard Business and Professional Women's
Club (which by parish charter has one seat on the Appointments Review
Board), I will be pushing for convening the Appointments Review Board and
then ensuring the public is aware of the vacancies and residency
requirements for all other vacancies on other boards. Now that people are
settling down and moving back, it should be easier to get people to apply.
There are some great activists that I have seen at the COE meetings, the
Rediscover District C meetings, and Planning Commission meetings, as well as
those who aren't successfully elected but are running for office. 
 
All who want to make a difference need to apply when these various vacancies
are publicly advertised!  All it takes is filling out an application form
that provides some basic info about you.  Deborah Keller