New law pushes for gender balance on boards

A law signed by Gov. Chet Culver last month says that all boards, commissions, committees and councils with appointed members across Iowa will need to have a gender balance among members on and after January 2012.

The governing bodies responsible for appointing members must "make a good faith effort" to balance the amount of males versus females but must also consider candidates' qualifications, according to the law.

Two local officials share similar views -- they disagree with the new law largely because it may interfere with finding the best candidate for the job.

"I think it's ridiculous," said Plymouth County Supervisor Don Kass. "Being male or female has nothing to do with their ability to do these jobs."

Le Mars City Councilwoman Delana Ihrke said it could be difficult to consider gender when making appointments because of lack of interest.

"My personal opinion is that there are so few people willing or able to volunteer their time there is not always a choice," Ihrke said. "I'm afraid we are not going to get the best person for the position."

Kass echoed that fear adding that he would like to see some clarification in the law as to what a "good faith effort" is when it comes to trying to make appointive boards gender balanced.

"Are we going to be in trouble if we don't pick the right gender?" Kass said. "Now people have to wonder if they're there because they are best for the job or because of their gender."

Rep. Chuck Soderberg said he supported the legislation to make appointive boards gender balanced and emphasized the new law does not mean overlooking individual's qualifications.

"Every board has a function to do, you want to make sure you have somebody that is able to perform that duty," Soderberg said.

The new law's intent is that governing bodies do their best to gender balance the boards with the understanding that may not always be possible, Soderberg said.

"Sometimes there is just not an opportunity," he said.

The new law reflects a current push toward having gender balance on a variety of things, and the hope is that the various issues board's deal with will have both male and female perspectives, Soderberg said.

Gender balance among members on state appointive boards is already in place.

Kathy Murphy knows that firsthand.

The Le Mars woman was appointed in 1994 to the Environmental Protection Commission with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources partially because she's a woman.

"Part of it was gender, part of it was party affiliation, part of it was my being from northwest Iowa," Murphy said. "They were looking for those three criteria at the time."

But being a woman and a Democrat and from northwest Iowa weren't the only reasons she was chosen -- it was also because of her education and experience.

"I was questioned by individuals in both the House and the Senate on my views as far as environmental issues," Murphy said. "They were very pointed questions."

Murphy, who served on the commission until 2005, said she's in favor of gender balance, but said experience and availability must also be considered.

"I would not have been interested to serve if it was just because I was a woman," Murphy said.