Chamber Calls for More Variety on State and City Boards, Commissions

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(KCPW News) Salt Lake City, County and the State of Utah rely on an army of people appointed to make policy decisions on hundreds of boards and commissions. But former Salt Lake City Mayor Dee Dee Corradini thinks elected officials are drawing from too small a pool to fill those positions:

"There are so many boards and commissions and a small group of people sit around thinking 'Oh my gosh, we've got this opening, who are we going to get?'" says Corradini. "The same people come up over and over again. You tend to recycle the same people - not because you want to but because you haven't come up with a new idea."

Corradini has a new idea. She's heading an effort by the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce to create a database of one-thousand people the city, county and state can tap to fill those slots.

"So instead of always asking the CEO to be on the board, let's find someone in middle management with great ideas and new perspective," says Corradini. "But we don't know who those people are."

The Chamber of Commerce is collecting applicants from the thousands of businesses in its membership database. When a vacancy opens on a board or commission, Corradini says her committee will troll the database and forward qualified applicants to the Governor or Mayor for consideration.

Email to a friendPosted in KCPW Newsroom. Copyright 2008 KCPW