A local advisory board established pursuant to this article shall consist of seven members who shall be producers that supply market milk to the particular marketing area. A regional advisory board may consist of any number of members who are producers that supply market milk to any of the marketing areas in the region, but shall consist of not less than one member from each such marketing area in the region. The director may appoint one additional member on each such board who shall be a public member.
Upon the director’s request, each 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, or processor nor financially interested in any producer, shipper, or processor, 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 each 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.