City of Mineola boards and commissions will continue to be selected from the Mineola school district boundaries, as they have for several years.

Following a brief workshop Thursday, the city council voted unanimously to leave the boundaries as is.

Council member Polly Jones, who had requested the boundaries be extended to the 75773 postal ZIP code, was not in attendance.

The exceptions to the policy, by law, are the board of adjustments and the board of appeals, which must be made up of city residents.

City Manager Cindy Karch gave the council examples from several other cities and concluded that they each have their own ideas.

Jones had requested expanding the boundary to help fill open seats on boards.

In offering pros and cons, Karch said keeping the appointments within the city  means board members have a direct financial and civic stake.

Cons include risking outside influence and undermining the city’s credibility.

Council member Jimmy Alexander noted that volunteers can still attend meetings and offer ideas.

Karch said that while most of the boards are not required to post their meetings, she said the city would do that  to allow more people to be involved.

She also said that the section of the policy that states the council will consider appointments in closed session will be deleted, as state law does not allow that.