FYI, here is what's come in to the Blog that relates to this office/rank.
   For recent questions sent in, check out Robert Hickey's Blog.
   For specific offices/ranks, check out Robert Hickey's On-Line Guide.

How to Address a Member of a Commission?
        How would one address an appointed member of a city commission (in this case, amember of the city arts commission)?  Would he be The Honorable Wilson Harding or Mr. Commissioner?
        -- Mickey

Dear Mickey:
        Appointed officials are not The Honorable unless they are very high, for example, someone appointed by the President of the United States and approved by the Senate.
        Mr. Commissioner or Commissioner (Name) are forms normally used by a singular official who is a commissioner as the Commissioner of Baseball, the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue, or the Commissioner for Patents at the United States Patent and Trademark Office .... not someone serving as a member of a city commission.
        Use Mr.:
                Mr. Wilson Harding
                Arlington County Arts Commission
                3456 78th Street
                Arlington, Virginia 22201
       and in a salutation or in conversation use:
                Dear Mr. Harding,
         -- Robert

How to Address a Commissioner and His or Her Spouse?
    Please tell me how to address an envelope to our state's commissioner of taxation and finance and his/her spouse?
          -- Karen S. in Fort Pierce, Florida

Dear Karen:
    On pages 145-146 in my chapter on Joint Forms of Address I answer this question.
    If the commissioner is elected in a general election ... he or she is addressed as "The Honorable"  If he is the honorable and you are inviting a couple, an invitation is social correspondence ... and the social form would be:
            The Honorable William Smith
                and Mrs. Smith
                   Address
            The Honorable Jane Smith
                and Mr. William Smith
                    Address
   Men using the same last name as their spouse get their full name. Women don't .... so she is just Mrs. Smith and he is Mr. William Smith.   Not fair perhaps ... but that's the tradition.
    If he's an appointed commissioner ... well .... appointed officials are not generally addressed as "The Honorable" but to be certain -- check with his office.  If he is not "the honorable ... then:
            Commissioner William Smith
               and Mrs. Smith
                    Address
            Commissioner Jane Smith
                and Mr. William Smith
                   Address
     -- Robert Hickey

Back to directory of titles  /  See who is using Honor & Respect

For forms of address for invitations, place cards, name badges, introductions, conversation, and all other formal uses, see Honor & Respect: the Official Guide to Names, Titles, and Forms of Address.

Copyright © 2012 Robert Hickey.     All Rights Reserved.
Photo: Marc Goodman.