Take Politics Out of Board Appointments?

Columnist Jackie Bueno Sousa said in the Miami Herald that the Jackson Health System Board should not be politicized. She takes issue with putting, for example, union representatives on the board:

Putting labor in the boardroom only worsens the accountability problem and muddies the issue of financial responsibility.

She instead recommends that the Board be "an independent body distanced from the power plays of special interests, including county officials..."

The Urban Environment League has a seat on the Independent Transportation Trust nominating committee and we have found that it is a struggle to get qualified people on the Trust because the Commissioners have the final say on who is appointed. The nominating committee narrows down the choice from a field of candidates for the Commissioners but the Commissioner can reject the candidates submitted by the committee.