After failing twice to give the public a choice in who sits on Harford County’s governor-appointed school board, officials are asking for a temporary fix before filling two openings this summer.

Harford’s delegates in Annapolis tried and failed again this year to get a switch to elected school board members or establish a commission for recommending nominees, leaving the county’s government, citizens and interest groups without a way to weigh in on the governor’s appointments.

The Harford County Council intends to introduce a resolution Tuesday night that would create a temporary committee for vetting potential school board candidates, so that there will be some local input on who gets the governor’s nod, said Councilman Richard Slutzky, liaison to the county schools.

“Fundamentally, the county is devoid of any process at this time,” Slutzky said. “If we don’t have a process, then we need to create one.”

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Board President Tom Fidler has announced his intent to step down from the board in July, and Vice President Salina Williams is up for reappointment. Candidates to fill the open seat submit their resume directly to the governor’s appointments secretary, without any recommendations from parents or the local government.

The temporary committee would have three members of the County Council, including Slutzky and at least one of the two Democrats on the council, two representatives of the county executive’s office, one state senator and one state delegate. If the resolution passes Tuesday, the committee will establish a timeline and procedures for soliciting applications and will start interviewing candidates according to open-meeting laws.

Slutzky emphasized the committee was in no way an endorsement or an attempt to revive the “permanent nominating caucus” that had given representatives of various county interest groups the power to interview and recommend nominees. He had criticized the caucus in the past, claiming it was too easily manipulated and ultimately ignored by the governor.

“I don’t want it connected to the nominating caucus — that is a process that had failed,” he said.

msantoni@baltimoreexaminer.com