Cranston Planning Commission creates subcommittee to screen candidates for planning director

The Cranston City Planning Commission voted to appoint a three-member subcommittee to screen applicants for the city’s vacant planning director position and to conduct interviews.

The commission appointed itself, Commissioner Coop and Commissioner Lamphere to the subcommittee after the chair said the position had been posted the previous week. The motion to create the subcommittee and appoint those three members passed with an oral vote: “The ayes have it,” the chair announced.

The action follows the announced resignation of Director Pizzullo and the posting of the planning director job. The commission’s chair explained the city’s solicitor advised that the interviewing group be created at an open meeting and that a five‑person subcommittee would create open‑meeting issues, so the chair proposed a three‑member panel.

In public comment, Steven Stikos, identified for the minutes as “Steven Stikos, 37 Ferncrest Avenue” and referred to during the meeting as a councilman, urged the commission to use the hire to restore the department’s proactive role. Stikos said, “this is the hiring of a new planning director is probably the most important thing that you will do on this planning commission,” and criticized recent department performance on open‑space acquisition, affordable‑housing grants, and transparency on development proposals. He told commissioners the city needs a director “who's going to give it straight to the planning commission, the city council, the mayor, what their professional opinion is.”

Commissioners present said the subcommittee will review applications and interview candidates in public meetings and will return recommendations to the full commission for any required referrals to the mayor or city council.

The commission did not set a calendar for subcommittee meetings during the session and said interview scheduling would be posted separately. The chair also noted the city has posted the director position and that applicant review will follow established public‑meeting rules.

Votes at a glance: Motion to appoint the subcommittee (chair, Commissioner Coop, Commissioner Lamphere) — moved and seconded; passed by voice vote.

Next steps: The subcommittee will convene in public to review applications and interview finalists; any formal referral for hire or recommendation will be brought back to the full commission.