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Councilors recommend Berman, Updike and Fox for Planning Commission; Stringer named citizen advisor pick
Summary
City councilors recommended that the mayor appoint Bob Berman and John Updike to full terms on the Newport Planning Commission and to fill a one-year vacancy with Mr. Fox; they also recommended Christy Stringer for a nonvoting citizen-advisor role, with formal appointments to be taken up at a January council meeting.
Newport city councilors on Jan. 11 recommended that the mayor appoint two incumbent commissioners and one replacement to the Planning Commission and designate an additional applicant as a nonvoting citizen advisor.
The councilors said they would forward recommendations that Bob Berman and John Updike be reappointed to the Planning Commission, that the mayor appoint Mr. Fox to the seat created by a resignation, and that Christy Stringer be named to the commission's citizen-advisor (nonvoting) role. A councilor moved the recommendation, another seconded it and the body approved it by voice vote for placement on the January council agenda.
The recommendations come after interviews with four applicants in which candidates described their priorities and experience. John Updike, who said he has served on the commission since 2022, called housing affordability the city's "number 1" land-use challenge and urged moving the form-based code and city-center redevelopment from planning into implementation. "It's affordability without question," Updike said when asked about the city's top planning challenge.
Bob Berman, a 12-year commission member, recounted a recent Windhaven development hearing in which neighbors raised traffic concerns. Berman said the contractor volunteered to help address intersection problems, an example he described as applying municipal code while accommodating citizen concerns: "We were able to talk through those, listen to their complaints, make some suggestions, and actually even ended up with the contractor volunteering to assist those citizens," he said.
Christy Stringer, a Lincoln County School District McKinney-Vento advocate, framed her candidacy around local roots and firsthand experience with housing instability. "I was born and raised in Newport. I currently work in Newport. I have started my family in Newport, so I am highly invested in the city," Stringer told councilors, and she urged support for shelters and nonprofits that serve vulnerable residents.
Council members said experience with municipal code and quasi-judicial procedure weighed in deliberations. Several councilors praised Stringer's enthusiasm and recommended she be considered for the citizen-advisor post so she could gain experience without immediately assuming a voting role on the quasi-judicial body. Staff reminded the panel that three planning commission positions are open now: two full terms that expire at the end of the calendar year and one shorter term that expires at the end of 2026 because of a resignation.
The formal appointments to the commission will be made by the mayor and appear on the council agenda at the first meeting in January. Staff said they will notify the candidates in advance of the council meeting date for final appointment.
The council adjourned after completing its recommendation.
