Commission approves 2025 meeting schedule despite clerk availability conflict

The City of Riverside Planning Commission approved its 2025 meeting calendar and filing-deadline schedule during the organizational meeting, but members noted the commission’s clerk will not be available for meetings held on Wednesdays.

The scheduling decision affects when the commission can meet and who will perform clerking duties. Planning staff told commissioners that if the commission stays on Wednesdays the clerk will not attend; staff (Community Development staff and a staff member named Jim) will support procedural matters and take minutes instead.

“According to our bylaws, the planning commission secretary is normally the clerk and I know that we’ve kind of — it’s kind of been because of tonight’s meeting being on a Wednesday and it was presented for the filings on Wednesday, I just want to bring up 1 point is that if we do have our meetings on Wednesday night, our clerk will not be at our meetings because she is not available,” the chair, Julie Denning, said during the calendar discussion.

Commissioners discussed alternatives, including second/ fourth Mondays and alternating dates; staff noted the regular city-council calendar uses first and third Mondays, leaving second and fourth Mondays open. Commissioners who had conflicts with Mondays said Wednesdays or Thursdays were preferable for them.

The commission voted to approve the 2025 City of Riverside Planning Commission meeting and deadline schedule as presented by staff. Roll-call votes recorded “yes” from Commissioners Rogers, Owens, Denning, Hairston and Vasquez; the motion carried. Staff also said the March meeting would be canceled (the commission had no cases for March), so there will be no March meeting.

Staff asked commissioners to review proposed meeting dates and said they could reconsider the schedule later in the year if Wednesday meetings proved problematic.