Lt. Gov. Judge encourages women to serve on local boards, commissions

DES MOINES - Lt. Gov. Patty Judge has a message for Iowa women who have never served on a local government board or commission - try it.

It's likely cities and counties will be looking for more women to fill roles on planning and zoning boards and other government entities in the coming years.

Legislation signed into law this year requires local governments to make a good faith effort to achieve a gender balance when filling vacancies on local boards and commissions beginning Jan. 1, 2012.

Gender balance on state-level boards and commissions has been required for more than two decades.

Judge said women need to be encouraged to fill those roles.

"I've always believed that when women are part of a discussion the discussion is better," Judge said. "It's more rounded, more issues are brought forth, and I think decisions are better."

Serving on local boards and commissions is often the first step to careers in politics and public service for many women.

"There are so many great reasons to do this, but one of them is really building that local leadership pipeline," said Rachel Scott, division administrator for the Iowa Commission on the Status of Women.

The commission, along with other organizations, has developed a guide for cities and counties on how to strike a gender balance when recruiting for these positions.

They also developed a guide for women on how to find out about opportunities in their areas and what it takes to qualify and apply.

Scott recommends to women interested in serving on local boards and commissions that they visit their city or county office or Web site and let an official know they are interested.

Although the requirement doesn't go into effect until 2012, Scott said it is not too early for local governments to begin building lists of possible candidates in the event of a vacancy.

Rep. Dawn Pettengill, R-Mount Auburn, is skeptical of the law and voted against it. As a former mayor, she is concerned about the difficulty of recruiting people to serve on these boards and commissions, especially in rural areas.

Under the new law, local governments that still cannot find a suitable candidate after three months could see the gender balance requirement waived, but Pettengill thinks that is too long.

"I have no doubt that there are women that are the most qualified, but getting them to step up is where the problem is," Pettengill said.

She is organizing a conference in September to teach women how get into policy-making positions and set up networking and mentoring systems.

Judge is optimistic about the prospects of having more women serving.

"I think that there are so many talented women out there that just need a little encouragement to step forward, and I think if they do, the rewards to their community and to the state will be immeasurable," Judge said.

On the Web -

The Iowa Commission on the Status of Women has guides on its Web site about how to apply for local government boards and commissions and how cities and counties can recruit gender-balanced boards.

Visit www.women.iowa.gov. Click on "What's New"