The General Assembly House Education Committee killed a bill Wednesday that proposed adding an 18th member to the University's Board of Visitors.
The Board currently is comprised of 16 voting members and one non-voting student member.
In a 12-2 vote, the committee discarded the measure, sponsored by Del. Mitch Van Yahres (D-Charlottesville), to ensure that the new member would be selected from the Charlottesville and Albemarle County area.
The bill, which was requested by the Charlottesville City Council, lost support from many members of the General Assembly who feared that Council members would use the additional member for their own political means.
"I would have favored the bill so long as that [additional] member was not a member of the Charlottesville City Council," Del. Paul Harris (R-Albemarle) said.
Board members also expressed concerns regarding the political implications of the additional member. Board member William Crutchfield, who presently lives in the Charlottesville and Albemarle areas, vehemently voiced his disapproval in letters to delegates and committee members.
If interest groups are allowed to petition City Council members regarding matters with the Board, then "before we know it we will have a great big unwieldy Board filled with special interest seats," Crutchfield said.
University Rector John P. Ackerly III echoed Crutchfield's fears that other boards of visitors across the state of Virginia would become subject to the special interest groups' concerns. "I just don't think it is the best interest of the state to have special interests on the Board of state colleges and universities," Ackerly said.
But Charlottesville Mayor Blake Carvati insisted that City Council never considered political motivations in writing the proposal.
Council can foresee a time when the Charlottesville community may not have a representative on the Board because the last two governors have treated appointments with a political tilt, Caravati said.
"This is a long-term issue to assure that we have outstanding members like Bill Crutchfield" on the Board, he said.
But Crutchfield said he disputes that, saying after a long history of appointing members from the Charlottesville and Albemarle communities, beginning with Thomas Jefferson in 1819, there is no reason to expect a deviation from that tradition.
"For 182 years the community has had a representative on the Board," Crutchfield said.
Besides the fear of political maneuvering on the part Council, Crutchfield also said he felt the Board needed to limit itself to remain productive.
"In my company, I don't allow more than 10 people in a meeting at a time," Crutchfield said.
When boards become much larger than 10 members, it also becomes incrementally less effective, he added.
Van Yahres said he was not surprised by the lack of support.
"I had no illusions or delusions about his thing," Van Yarhes said. "I just wanted to get the point ac ross that the governor needed to appoint someone from the ... area"
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