Employment opportunity...

Nothing really newsworthy to report today, which is a good thing for two reasons: 1. It means everything must be going swimmingly; and 2. I have only a few minutes to post.

If you're the kind of person who loves meetings, how about getting paid to attend?

The Howard County Board of Appeals is short one member and stands to lose another in the coming weeks, and the County Council is pressed with filling one vacancy immediately.

“We have some cases already before the board [that] are controversial and complex in nature,” said County Council Chairman Calvin Ball, D-District 2, in an interview.

The five-member board, appointed by the council, decides zoning cases on requests for conditional land uses and variances to the zoning regulations.

At the council’s meeting Monday, members decided against advertising the position and opted to alert their contact lists and get the word out through a job notice.

So, I guess I'm doing the council's legwork here. Oh, well.

Anyway, here are more details courtesy of an email from my councilman, Calvin Ball.

The Howard County Council is seeking candidates to serve on the Howard County Board of Appeals. The current vacancies were filled by residents from councilmanic districts 1 and 5. Although the Board was equally represented by district, geography may be considered. The terms for the current vacancies differ. One would serve an unexpired term which ends December 31, 2009 and the other which ends on December 31, 2011. Members of the Board of Appeals must be registered voters and residents of Howard County.

The Board of Appeals consists of five members appointed by the Howard County Council. The Board hears and decides special exceptions, non-conforming uses and appeals of departmental or administrative decisions based on criteria and conditions in the County Zoning Regulations. Meetings are scheduled on Tuesdays and Thursday evenings as needed and scheduled by the chairperson of the Board. Board members receive $4500 per year plus $90 per session.

Interested applicants are to send a letter of interest and a resume to Dr. Sheila Tolliver, Council Administrator, Howard County Council, 3430 Courthouse Drive, Ellicott City, MD 21043. If you wish to send your materials via e-mail, please send to stolliver@co.ho.md.us or by fax at 410-313-3297. Applications will be accepted through December 20, 2006.

Not only would you be providing a valuable service to the county, but you'd also get paid for it!