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Lake County Planning Commission administers oaths, elects chair and vice chair and announces new staff hires
Summary
At its Jan. 23, 2025 meeting the Lake County Planning Commission administered oaths of office, elected Commissioner DeBarto Chavez as chair and Commissioner Zoller as vice chair for 2025, approved the Dec. 12, 2024 minutes and heard a department update announcing new hires.
The Lake County Planning Commission opened its Jan. 23, 2025 meeting with administration of the oath of office before conducting internal elections and a department staffing update.
Maria Valadez, registrar of voters, administered the oath of office to new and returning commissioners at the start of the meeting. After the oaths, the commission held nominations for its 2025 leadership. A commissioner nominated Commissioner DeBarto Chavez for chair; the nomination was seconded and the commission confirmed the chair for 2025. Commissioner Zoller (District 5) was nominated and seconded for vice chair; the commission confirmed the vice chair for 2025. The commissioners then swapped seats to reflect the new leadership.
On the consent calendar the commission voted to approve the minutes from the Dec. 12, 2024 Planning Commission meeting. The motion passed without public opposition.
In a department update, Maria Turner, community development director, told commissioners the department had hired three new staff members: Jason Gordon and Logan Smith (code enforcement) and Zachary Zerba (plans examiner), who replaced Jack Smalley after his promotion to chief building official. Turner said Ruby, a long-standing staff member who has supported zoning-administrator and cannabis-ordinance task-force meetings, moved into an accounting technician role. Turner also said the department has an open recruitment for an Office Assistant Level 3 position, which supports zoning administrator meetings, the cannabis ordinance task force and other administrative duties. She added she had sent a reminder to new supervisors requesting appointments to fill planning-commission vacancies for Districts 1 and 4.
The meeting adjourned at 9:33 a.m.
Why it matters: The oath and officer elections organize the commission for the year ahead; the staffing announcements indicate recent internal promotions and open positions that affect departmental capacity for permitting, code enforcement and planning support.
