More than 80 residents - roughly 1 percent of the town of Signal Mountain's population - make up the town's 14-plus boards and commissions, which advise the Town Council and, in some cases, make decisions regarding the town's future.
Councilman Bill Wallace recently publicly questioned the turnover rate of some of the town's boards. Several of the current 80-plus board members have served on their board for six-plus years. Some before them served for decades.
While Wallace said he appreciates all the work current board members are doing, he wonders if there is enough opportunity for potential new members.
"Of course there is [opportunity]," Vice Mayor Susan Robertson said in a follow-up phone interview. "We advertise [open board positions] publicly. We go around and talk to people.
"People aren't standing in line to be on boards. The positions are there; we always have some empty ones."
No term limits exist for town board members, though they do have to reapply every three years if they want to continue to serve, according to Section 2-102 of the town's board ordinance. If the majority of the town council is pleased with a member's work and he or she meets all the necessary qualifications, he or she could be reappointed for an indefinite number of terms.
Some, however, would like to shorten the terms. Tish Gailmard, for instance, sat on the Parks Board for six years - a term she calls "entirely too long" - before deciding not to apply for reappointment.
"Six years is insane. That needs to completely be redone," she said, noting that she can only speak in terms of the Parks Board since that is where she served. "We need new blood. Sometimes when you have volunteers there for a very long time, they lose their effectiveness. I work for a nonprofit. We survive on volunteers. If you have volunteers that are ineffective, you don't keep them."
Gailmard said she thinks two-year terms are more appropriate, or a maximum of one four-year term.
Robertson said some of the boards, like the Planning Commission and the Board of Zoning Appeals, require members to obtain education outside of the board. There's a learning curve that can take years to invest in, she said.
"Why would you ever let a good board member go?" Robertson asked. "They have hard decisions to make and a lot of information to understand and go by. They volunteer, which is awesome, because some of these boards take quite a lot of work. It's not always easy to find volunteers. You never take anybody for granted."