A 2023 review that examined whether renters could be a permanent part of some boards and commissions eventually grew into a wider conversation. The questions: Are there gaps between the public and local boards and commissions that make it difficult to interact? And if so, what changes would open up the lines of communication between boards, the public and city leaders?
A follow-up study by CivicLex found a number of potential issues that may have contributed to a lack of accessibility.
“We found both demographically and in terms of how people feel about the city, there’s some really serious mismatches,” CivicLex Deputy Director Kit Anderson said. “The boards and commissions members tend to be older, they tend to be wealthier, they’re almost all homeowners, and less than five percent of boards and commission members are renters, (and) they’re more highly educated than Lexington.”…