The Nominating Committee said it will not reopen nomination applications for the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future’s Accountability and Implementation Board (AIB) following concerns about diversity.
On September 10, Governor Hogan sent a letter to the committee requesting it reopen applications in order to attract a more diverse pool of candidates for the AIB, which will oversee the state’s ambitious educational plan, “Blueprint for Maryland’s Future.”
The Nominating Committee declined Hogan’s request in a September 17 letter:
We write in response to your letter of September 10, 2021, expressing your concerns about the demographic diversity of the slate of nine nominees submitted to you by the Nominating Committee on September 1 for your consideration in making the initial appointments to the Accountability and Implementation Board (AIB) and the process for selecting these nominees. Your letter also requests that the Nominating Committee restart its application process in order to send you additional or substitute nominees to address your concerns. We respectfully decline to do so.
The Committee worked diligently to meet its statutory charge to select qualified nominees with expertise in the areas specified in the law and, to the extent practicable, that represent the diversity of the State. We are confident that we have fulfilled our charge. The Committee believes the process it followed in soliciting and selecting nominees was fair and known. It was important to the Committee to begin the process and make its recommendations as soon as possible so as not to further delay the appointment of the AIB, which is a critical component of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future to ensure that the policies and use of funds are implemented with fidelity and achieve the intended outcomes.
Earlier this month, a slate of nine nominees was sent to the governor for consideration; four nominees reside in Montgomery County, three in Baltimore City, one in Baltimore County, and one in Anne Arundel County.
The governor has until October 1st to appoint seven of the nine nominated candidates, who are also subject to Senate confirmation. The governor, Senate president and House speaker will jointly appoint a chair of the panel.
More background on the AIB may be found in previous Conduit Street coverage: