Already.

So I'm gonna call to order this meeting of the legislative rules committee or the board of representatives at 701 p.m.

Today, April 28th, 2026.

I note that I see representatives blank and road, Vice Chair Caporelli, Representative Hughes, Pyatt, myself, Stone, Weinberg, all in attendance.

So the board that are attended that I haven't otherwise called, please go ahead.

Make yourself known.

No others.

So I declare that we do have a quorum.

And then we're going to move forward with item one on the agenda, which is LR 32.016, an ordinance for publication to repeal the appointments commission per article 17 of chapter 6, including section 6-121 through 6-124 of the code of ordinances submitted by the Caroline Senates.

With that, uh, do we have a motion to approve this item?

Motion to approve.

Thank you.

Uh a second.

Um we had a couple of invitees here today to discuss in more detail this item.

Uh we have uh former representative Jess Stella and also former chair of the appointments commission, Steve Gars.

Um the appointments, okay?

Marjorie.

Do you have any any opening um remarks?

Well, the appointments commission, this is the reason why I voted it was necessary, something that was losing from the uh I've been, I was like the chair mentioned I was on the board of reps.

So on the 29th board towards the end of it on the 30th board.

Um I used to go to the appointments committee.

And so many times the appointments committee, we used to always hear this is the only candidates submitted the name.

This is the best candidate that we have that that's been selected.

So I decided on the 30th board to actually have um a review on the process.

In the very beginning, some you know, some of the people felt like there was no necessary reason to have uh review, and I thought it was I thought differently at the time.

We had a review, and to make a long story short, I felt that we're taking the word of one person.

The person that um was in charge of was Marty Lamine at the time, and nothing to to nothing against them.

I just I've always felt that government should be transparent.

I should not take the word of anyone, just simply because they're telling me this is what's what's going on.

This is the best person that's been selected, and again, based on whom.

So with that, the more I kept digging into it, the more I felt like I think it was at this point.

We do need transparency.

There's got to be a system where the public gets to know how the process works, how it's moved forward, and and the more I kept digging into it, the more I it really happened.

Um I also discussed about the fact of we have a Democratic Party and we have a Republican Party.

What happens if you're not an affiliate?

What happens here if you're some other party member, the working class, whatever whatever party might you might be associated with, or you may be a Democrat or Republican but chooses not to go to DCC or the RTC or anyone else, but wants to be able to submit their name.

How would you do that?

And the only way you can is to have a commission that a commission is based on the fact that is open to the people, and does at the same time produce a way of having some sort of transparency for everyone.

Steve Steve took over as chair.

Um I forgot I forgot exactly when he went when he was selected, but the appointments commission never had a chance on the on the 31st board to actually do what it was supposed to do.

We're supposed to be in a nine-member board, and out of the nine, we only had three people, three civilians that were selected.

The chair resigned, and the vice chair that left us with no quorum and nowhere to form a meeting without right now.

You're the chair, right?

You have to have someone that presides over a meeting.

You cannot preside, but vote on anything, but you don't have a chair or vice chair, and unless and not have quorum.

And the only reason why we started establishing quorum also is because I asked if the two members of the board of refs representatives, there was one word budget, and one Democrat at the time in the very beginning of conception, we weren't allowed to vote.

And I asked, I need to we need to change that.

And by doing so, we were at time towards when Steve came on and you got Jackie Pioli, because prior to that we didn't have that.

We had three people on the board.

So how effective is a board of commissioning ever going to have you know do anything of substance if there wasn't members to begin with.

I mean, I could go on and on um on other things, but the other like another case in point that that that the reason why I thought about the employments commission too is that there was a person named Frances Lane.

She used to come to our board meeting, she used to go to our board meetings religiously before pre-COVID.

She submitted her name for the housing, right?

On commission.

She submitted her name, she submitted her name to DCC.

She submitted anything to office, and she never received anything, any information about an interview, what's going on with the process, so forth, whatever.

The only reason why she was interviewed, and the only reason why she was finally put in that commission, because she actually knew enough people on this board to say, hey, what's going on with the process?

And when it was brought up to the mayor at the time, Mayor Mayor Martin, I think Mayor Martin rightfully so stepped in and say, Hey, what's going on?

So she was interviewed, she was selected, but how many other people have fallen through the cracks as we speak that don't know what's going on with the process at all?

So um I've heard at times that where people say, Well, this is something that the appointments commission as a layer or somehow is redundant and so forth, whatever.