OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

32nd Board of Reps Appointments Committee Meeting - Dec 18, 2025

Board of Representatives — Thursday, December 18, 2025
BodyStamford, Connecticut
SessionBoard of Representatives
DateThursday, December 18, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 28:19

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Welcome.

0:01

I'm Coach Felix Gardner, joined by co-chair Stephen Shaw, and very well welcome to the first meeting of the 32nd Board of Representatives Appointments Committee.

0:12

It is Thursday, December 18th, 2025 at 6.31 p.m.

0:20

And I call this meeting to order.

0:27

Okay.

0:28

Angie, could you help us with the roll call if possible?

0:33

Sure.

0:34

Um Phil Bradford.

0:38

I don't see him.

0:39

I think he's excused, I think.

0:41

Yeah.

0:42

Karen Camparelli.

0:47

Present, and just as a reminder, I'll only be present for the first half an hour of the meeting.

0:52

Okay.

0:54

Felix Gardner.

0:56

Present.

0:58

Went and Hill.

1:00

Reverend and I don't see him.

1:02

No.

1:03

Bobby Pavia.

1:05

Present.

1:07

Laurie Hyatt.

1:09

Present.

1:11

Stephen Shore.

1:13

Present.

1:15

Candace Weathers.

1:18

President.

1:20

Carl Weinberg.

1:22

President.

1:23

Okay.

1:24

And you have there's other members of the board on uh Kendria Waston.

1:30

And I believe that's all.

1:35

Thank you, Angie.

1:36

So I believe we have a quorum.

1:38

We can get started.

1:40

So I think we only have one item on our agenda this evening.

1:43

And uh that is item Alpha 32, period 001, which is an overview of the board's and commission's appointment process.

1:53

And that's going to be presented to us by uh Madam Bridget Fox from the Mayor's Office.

1:58

So the floor is yours, Ms.

2:00

Fox.

2:00

Thank you.

2:01

Thank you, Representative Gardner, and thank you all.

2:05

I am really excited to be here tonight and very much look forward to working with all of you on this appointments process.

2:12

I am joined by my colleague Paula Russell, who is the director of human resources for the city.

2:18

And after I share my remarks, she's just going to give a very brief presentation on best practices for interview interviewing.

2:27

So we're really happy to be here and just wanted to take this opportunity to provide a brief overview of the process and then open it up to question and answers that anyone might have.

2:38

So I think Stanford is the best city because we have so many opportunities for residents to serve on in volunteer capacities on a ton of boards and commissions.

2:51

Currently we have 31 active boards and commissions with over 175 positions available for residents to sit in.

3:01

Each commission has its own set of rules and composition requirements, all of which are detailed in the board packet that I shared through Angie today.

3:11

So that packet provides it looks just like this, and it provides an overview and description of each board and commission and all of the uh rules that go along with each one of those boards and commissions.

3:27

So I'm gonna take an opportunity to provide an overview of the process of how a resident gets to sit on one of these boards and commissions.

3:36

So first and foremost, it's about awareness.

3:40

So people hear about boards and commissions in a number of ways.

3:44

The mayor's office shares weekly in our newsletter and on our website, and through public publicizing opportunities at community events, the open opportunity for residents to serve.

3:57

So we always offer the opportunity for residents to go online to our uh webpage and take a look at all the positions.

4:06

We have put an emphasis on recruiting new people to serve on boards and commissions over the past four years, and we've done a decent job of increasing, for example, the number of women who are serving on board.

4:19

So currently we have 32 percent of all of our boards and commissions are um we have women's seated seated in those positions, which is an increase over previous years.

4:32

So the only requirement to serve on a board or commission is being a resident elector of the city of Stanford.

4:38

So that has come up in the previous board, but we did get clarity.

4:42

So in order to uh apply to be a member of a board, you have to be a resident of Stanford.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Committee Assignments█████████████████████████████████████████████48%
Procedural███████████████16%
Personnel Matters███████████████16%
Public Engagement████████████13%
Education███████7%
Summary of Proceedings

Meeting Overview

The 32nd Board of Representatives Appointments Committee convened on December 18, 2025, to review the city's board and commission appointment process. The meeting featured presentations from Bridget Fox of the Mayor's Office and Paula Russell, Director of Human Resources, outlining the application workflow, recent recruitment statistics, and best practices for conducting unbiased interviews. The committee discussed strategies for improving candidate pipelines, addressing expired terms, and standardizing their future interview procedures.

Consent Calendar

  • No routine motions or unanimous approvals were recorded for the single agenda item; the meeting proceeded directly to discussion questions and the adoption of adjournment.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Representative Weinberg: Expressed curiosity regarding how the committee can assist in filling the pipeline and was advised to mention appointment opportunities during constituent services and community events.
  • Representative Bemberg: Advocated for leveraging constituent service interactions as a primary method for identifying and encouraging potential candidates based on their professional and vocational backgrounds.
  • Representative Weathers: Inquired about a compiled list of upcoming vacancies for 2026 planning; was informed that the Mayor's Office does not maintain a single up-to-date list and directs committee members to check individual board pages on standforct.gov, where many seats currently have expired terms or vacancies.
  • Representative Pavia: Asked for clarification on the process for the Independent Party (distinct from unaffiliated voters) and explicitly sought reassurance that the Mayor's Office intends to fill the backlog of expired terms.

Discussion Items

  • Appointment Process Overview (Bridget Fox):
    • Stated that the city has 31 active boards/commissions with over 175 positions; noted a 32% increase in women serving.
    • Described the workflow: Applications go to the Mayor's Office, where they are routed to the respective Political Party Committee (Republican or Democratic) for initial screening if the applicant is registered; unaffiliated applicants are screened internally by the Mayor's Office team.
    • Clarified that Independent Party registrants currently follow the same path as unaffiliated voters, as no distinct Independent process exists.
    • Confirmed that nine candidates are already lined up for January to address the backlog of expired terms.
  • Interview Best Practices (Paula Russell):
    • Stated a strong recommendation to avoid ranking candidates numerically to prevent subjectivity and potential FOIA challenges regarding personal impressions.
    • Advised using defensible, standardized questions tied to essential duties and taking only objective, job-related notes.
    • Offered to share internal guides and templates regarding bias awareness and structured interview formats.
  • Committee Questions & Responses:
    • Representative Pavia: Accepted the clarification that the goal is to clear the backlog and accepted the offer of HR guides.
    • Representative Weathers: Requested specific interview templates and questions; Dr. Russell agreed to email relevant materials.
    • Representative Shore: Asked for a guide on organizing interviews; Dr. Russell committed to sending a customized internal guide within two days.

Key Outcomes

  • Strategic Directives: The committee agreed to touch base with the Mayor's Office at the beginning of each month to coordinate the volume of candidate submissions.
  • Data Referral: Committee members directed to standforct.gov to research specific board vacancies and expired terms, as a centralized list is not maintained by the Mayor's Office.
  • Resource Sharing: Paula Russell committed to providing the committee with interview templates, bias awareness checklists, and a customized organizational guide within the next two days.
  • Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 6:49 p.m. with a motion carried unanimously.

Meeting Transcript

Welcome. I'm Coach Felix Gardner, joined by co-chair Stephen Shaw, and very well welcome to the first meeting of the 32nd Board of Representatives Appointments Committee. It is Thursday, December 18th, 2025 at 6.31 p.m. And I call this meeting to order. Okay. Angie, could you help us with the roll call if possible? Sure. Um Phil Bradford. I don't see him. I think he's excused, I think. Yeah. Karen Camparelli. Present, and just as a reminder, I'll only be present for the first half an hour of the meeting. Okay. Felix Gardner. Present. Went and Hill. Reverend and I don't see him. No. Bobby Pavia. Present. Laurie Hyatt. Present. Stephen Shore. Present. Candace Weathers. President. Carl Weinberg. President. Okay. And you have there's other members of the board on uh Kendria Waston. And I believe that's all. Thank you, Angie. So I believe we have a quorum. We can get started. So I think we only have one item on our agenda this evening. And uh that is item Alpha 32, period 001, which is an overview of the board's and commission's appointment process. And that's going to be presented to us by uh Madam Bridget Fox from the Mayor's Office. So the floor is yours, Ms. Fox. Thank you. Thank you, Representative Gardner, and thank you all. I am really excited to be here tonight and very much look forward to working with all of you on this appointments process. I am joined by my colleague Paula Russell, who is the director of human resources for the city. And after I share my remarks, she's just going to give a very brief presentation on best practices for interview interviewing. So we're really happy to be here and just wanted to take this opportunity to provide a brief overview of the process and then open it up to question and answers that anyone might have. So I think Stanford is the best city because we have so many opportunities for residents to serve on in volunteer capacities on a ton of boards and commissions. Currently we have 31 active boards and commissions with over 175 positions available for residents to sit in. Each commission has its own set of rules and composition requirements, all of which are detailed in the board packet that I shared through Angie today. So that packet provides it looks just like this, and it provides an overview and description of each board and commission and all of the uh rules that go along with each one of those boards and commissions.

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