Calls on City Council to Fill Vacant Board Seats
2023.4.6Please be advised that the public Police Accountability Board meeting scheduled for Thursday, April 6, 2023, is canceled due to the lack of quorum.
This is the second time the agency has not been able to conduct a public meeting following City Council’s inability to fill the three vacant board seats within the 60-day period established by the charter (18-4 K). At this time, the PAB calls on Rochester’s City Council to hold a special meeting by April 15, to approve all prospective candidates and ensure that the Police Accountability Board can continue its work.
“City Council released a survey over the weekend asking the community if the PAB is accessible, transparent, and doing the work. At the same time, the failure to appoint candidates to our board has forced us on more than one occasion to cancel the PAB’s public board meetings and has slowed our progress. Not having all the board seats filled means if more than one board member has a religious, health, or personal obligation, we cannot address the public.
Council has conducted interviews for the seats. At this point, any vacancies that can be filled should be done quickly so the new board members can begin the orientation and training process necessary to do the work the Community is expecting of our Board.” Said Larry Knox, Chair of the Police Accountability Board.
The next regularly scheduled PAB meeting will be held on April 20, 2023, at 6:30 P.M. Below are a list of the vacant seats on the Police Accountability Board and the number of days they have gone unfilled by City Council. A copy of the City’s charter can be found on the PAB website.
Alliance Seat 1
Vacant 300-days
Alliance Seat 2
Vacant 77-days
Council Seat- South District
Vacant 77-days.
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