San Gabriel council appoints Danny Tang to Planning Commission after candidate interviews

SAN GABRIEL — The City Council appointed Danny Tang to the San Gabriel Planning Commission for a term ending May 31, 2027, after interviewing three applicants at a special meeting Tuesday evening.

Council members conducted timed interviews with applicants Danny Tang, Caitlin Au and Kevin Dipp for one unscheduled vacancy on the commission. The council voted by ballot and announced a 5-0 result in favor of Tang; the council then moved to formally appoint him.

The interviews, which the clerk said were limited to three minutes per council member for questioning, focused on applicants’ backgrounds and views on local planning issues. Danny Tang described his education and work experience in civil and structural engineering and noted previous service on a planning commission in another city. He said his technical background and experience reviewing projects had prepared him to balance development and neighborhood concerns.

Caitlin Au, who told council members she works with the San Gabriel Mission Playhouse and has lived in San Gabriel since 2022, emphasized the city’s Mission District history, pedestrian safety and public-right-of-way maintenance. She cited sidewalk improvements and bicycle facilities as examples of recent local projects she supports and suggested using underused lots and microtransit options to address parking and visitor access to cultural venues.

Kevin Dipp said he has worked in sustainability program management for health-care organizations and identified vacant lots, housing affordability and energy programs as priorities. He urged greater community outreach on redevelopment, described financing tools for energy- and water-efficiency upgrades, and mentioned state measures and Metropolitan Water District programs in the context of turf conversion and lighting upgrades.

Discussion by council members touched on balancing historic preservation with new development, timelines for residential permits, neighborhood impacts of mixed-use projects, pedestrian safety near schools, vacant-lot maintenance, and transit and parking for cultural venues. No public comments were received during the public-comment period that opened the special meeting.

Votes at a glance

- Appointment of Danny Tang to the Planning Commission (term ending May 31, 2027): approved by ballot, motion carried 5-0.

The council chair set the next regular City Council meeting for 6:30 p.m. the same day and closed the special meeting after the appointment vote.