La Habra council interviews six applicants for Planning and Community Services commissions; appointments deferred

La Habra City Council met March 3 in a special session to interview six applicants for expiring and alternate seats on the Planning Commission and the Community Services Commission; the council did not make appointments and moved the item to a future meeting.

The interviews, held in the City Council Chamber, featured candidates who described volunteer and professional experience they said would inform service on either commission. Applicants included Denise Schmidt, a longtime Community Services Commission member; a recent homeowner who identified himself as Miranda; Carrie Surridge; Lindsay Lefebvre; Ginger Logan Cannon; and Yami (Yamile) Lara. Jeanette Cortez had withdrawn her application prior to the meeting.

The council's consideration of the applicants included disclosures and recusals. During the Denise Schmidt interview a councilmember disclosed that Schmidt was a relative and recused themself from that interview. A different councilmember recused themself from the interview of Lindsay Lefebvre after disclosing that Lefebvre had worked on that member's compensated campaign in the last election cycle.

Applicants emphasized different priorities. Denise Schmidt, an applicant for the Community Services Commission, described long-term volunteer work and said she hoped to expand senior programming: "I started my time being volunteering for the city when I became a member of the beautification committee ... I think I will contribute ... maybe look at the senior, you know, participate in the senior program." A candidate identified as Miranda, a recent La Habra homeowner, said public safety and neighborhood engagement would be his focus after reporting repeated calls to police near his Euclid Street home.

Carrie Surridge, a La Habra resident of 35 years, cited prior leadership organizing the traveling Vietnam Wall and a long record of volunteer service. Lindsay Lefebvre, who said she has lived in La Habra 12 years and holds a graduate degree, told the council she sees serving on the Planning Commission as a continuing education opportunity and said she "believe[s] in local control" when asked about state versus local authority. Ginger Logan Cannon, a retired state employee with decades of community involvement, and Yami Lara, a planner with a nonprofit urban-design studio in Long Beach, both spoke to community engagement; Lara said she would prioritize pedestrian infrastructure and stronger support for local small businesses.

Timing and process questions arose during the interviews. The council initially set a five-minute timer per interview, later agreed to add three additional minutes for the final three candidates, and at one point discussed extending the timer to eight minutes. Candidates and councilmembers also referenced the city's upcoming centennial celebration and local issues raised during public discussion, including homelessness, traffic, and park amenities such as bike racks.

No members of the public spoke on the item. At the conclusion of the interviews the council took a procedural action to carry the appointments to a future meeting rather than make selections on March 3. A motion was made to "receive and file and look forward to the next council meeting" for formal appointments; the council scheduled the appointments for a later City Council meeting.

The City Clerk will bring the applicants' materials forward at the next meeting when the council takes the formal appointment votes. Until the council acts, the interviewed candidates remain applicants; no seats were filled at the March 3 session.