Zev Yaroslavsky, director of the Los Angeles Initiative at UCLA Luskin, weighed in on the L.A. City Council’s failure to vote on the appointment of a Los Angeles Police Commission member.

Erroll Southers previously served as president of the civilian panel that watches over the Los Angeles Police Department. While he has been the subject of criticism, he was nominated for a new term as a commission member.

The City Council typically has 45 days to approve a new member of any city commission. Since it did not act, Southers is expected to continue in the position by default for a full five-year term because he was already serving on an interim basis, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Failing to vote on a member of one of the city’s most high-profile commissions is almost unheard of, said Yaroslavsky, a former councilman and L.A. County supervisor.

“They have responsibility to confirm or not confirm,” he said of the council. “I never understood why you would campaign for office, as hard as you campaign to get there, and not vote on something that’s as important to the public.”