CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Anyone serving on a city advisory board should be a city resident, the Cleveland City Council decided Monday.
The issue came up last week during a Cleveland Animal Control Board meeting. The board wanted to fill a vacancy with a qualified person, but learned that she lived outside the city limits.
Later, City Manager Janice Casteel said, she learned there is no written policy.
The person was appointed to the Animal Control Board, but the council then adopted a resolution to change the policy.
The change will require city residency or that a person be qualified to vote in city elections. Current members of city committees and boards who don’t live in Cleveland will be allowed to complete their terms.
“I agree people serving on our advisory boards and commissions ought to have some vested interest in the city,” Mayor Tom Rowland said.
In making those appointments in the future, both the council and the mayor should be aware of which district the appointee lives in, Councilman Avery Johnson said.
“Sometimes, even though we don’t look at that, we are putting neighbors on the same board,” Mr. Johnson said.
Councilman Richard Banks’ concern was that expertise may be lost on those boards simply because a person lives on the wrong side of the street.
But the new policy also could open opportunities for others to serve, Mr. Johnson said.
“We have plenty of qualified people in the city,” he said.
Regardless of residency, state requirements for some boards always would come first, City Attorney John Kimball said.