Republican members of the Fishers City Council on Tuesday voted down a proposal by Democrat Jocelyn Vare aimed at increasing diversity when the council makes appointments to boards and commissions. When Vare’s proposal came to a vote, only Vare and fellow Democrat Sam DeLong voted in favor, with the seven GOP councilors voting no.
DeLong
Vare
In a statement, Vare describes the language on the city website encouraging local citizens to apply for seats appointed by the council.
“In practice, however, an extremely unrepresentative group of people have the opportunity to participate on boards and commissions, while other groups within the community are routinely excluded,” Vare said. “The 95 available seats on boards and commissions include very few people of color, women, members of the LGBTQ community, and persons with disabilities.”
Vare cites data provided by the city showing 80 percent of appointees to city boards and commissions are white males. Five recommendations Vare says would remedy the situation were voted down in the 7-2 party line vote.
No Republican member of the council commented during the public meeting as to why they opposed Vare’s proposal.
You can read the entire statement from Councilwoman Vare at this link.
For a list of the appointments that did receive council approval Tuesday, click here.