After weeks of dispute among members of the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors about who should have the power of proclamations, the board has unanimously voted to allow each supervisor to recognize any particular group without rejections from the chairman.
Supervisor Miguel Villapudua asked the board to review and reconsider guidelines for proclamation requests following a 3-2 vote taken on Feb. 1 that allowed the board chair, Chuck Winn, to have sole approval of proclamations, the board’s highest form of recognition and one it gives out at the start of meetings to designate a certain day, week or month for various causes or events.
“I believe every supervisor has a right to put something on the agenda and I don’t believe the chairman does have the right to veto it or not,” Villapudua said. “I just want to make sure everyone has the right opportunity … if they want to present something they have the right.”
Prior to the amended March 1 vote, board members voiced concerns regarding how many proclamations would be recognized at each meeting.
“I am concerned about the number of proclamation requests that we might be getting this year … so maybe the board wants to limit proclamations to five on any one agenda,” clerk of the board Rachel DeBord said.
Previously, Supervisor Tom Patti had addressed the same concerns saying that the new change could open a “Pandora’s box” of proclamations such as national pigeon day.
However, Winn said the board would first see how the revised policy works for the board and make changes if needed later.