Confusion over Buda Economic Development Corporation (EDC) Board of Director applications prompted city leaders to pause on appointing new members Feb. 6.
The move, which was done via a 6-1 Buda City Council vote to table appointments, aims to give residents more time to apply. Buda City Council member Wiley Hopkins voted against tabling the item.
Ann Miller, Buda EDC executive director, said four seats are eligible for appointment to the EDC board in 2018. Each seat on the Buda EDC has a two-year term limit which expires in January.
Miller said the EDC advertised the openings two months before the terms expired. Those advertisements were placed in the Hays Free Press and outside of the EDC office in downtown.
However, only four people, including Eileen Altmiller and Jose Montoya,both seeking reappointment to the board, applied for the open seats.
Council member David Nuckels, however, wanted to table the item after he struggled to find where they were advertised. He said he could not find them after a search on the internet.
Miller said the EDC Facebook page was used to get the word out, along with the newspaper and city bulletin boards.
“There’s a lot of people, several people that I know of, that have been looking to get on this and they didn’t even know until tonight that it had been open,” Nuckels said.
Nuckels said the root of his argument was not just in the dissemination of the information, but also the differing timeline of the EDC board member terms of service versus city boards and commissions.
According to city documentation, city board and commission terms end in April.
Nuckels said he wanted to get everybody on the same time frame when it comes to boards and commission expiration dates. Miller said the only way the EDC could make those changes would be to amend its bylaws.
An amendment to the council’s decision, which was added by Buda Mayor George Haehn, allowed the EDC to make those changes.
Miller said the EDC plans to amend its bylaws by the end of March to have the terms end in April.
Deadline for applications to the Buda EDC has been extended to March 26. The city council plans to bring the item back for appointment in April.
