Upon the director’s request, the board shall submit to the director the names of three or more natural persons, each of whom shall be a citizen and resident of this state and not a producer, shipper, distributor, packer, or processor, nor financially interested in any of those entities, for appointment by the director as a public member of the board. The director may appoint one of the nominees as the public member on the board. If all nominees are unsatisfactory to the director, the board shall continue to submit lists of nominees until the director has made a selection. Any vacancy in the office of the public member of the board shall be filled by appointment by the director from the nominee or nominees similarly qualified submitted by the board. The public member of the board shall represent the interests of the general public in all matters coming before the board and shall have the same voting and other rights and immunities as other members of the board.