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Council directs staff to revise appointment process so council sees planning‑commission applicants
Summary
After discussion of SB 174 and the current mayoral appointment practice, the council directed staff to draft ordinance options so council members can review and, if desired, interview all applicants for the Planning Commission and to consider extending that visibility to other committees.
Council discussed changes to the appointments process after staff warned that Senate Bill 174 shifted some land‑use review to appointed bodies and that the council currently receives a mayoral nominee with advice and consent but not the broader applicant pool.
Unidentified Speaker 12 reviewed code requirements: applicants must be full‑time residents of at least one year, applications should seek geographic/socioeconomic/cultural diversity, and interviews (when held) must be in public per state law. Several council members expressed concern that the mayor could present only a single name without the council seeing the full slate of applicants. Unidentified Speaker 5 urged more transparency: the council "shouldn't be in the dark" about applicants. Members suggested several options, including requiring the mayor to submit multiple nominees for the same position, making all applications available to council via email, or holding public interviews at a council meeting for contested seats.
Council directed staff to draft code language to increase council visibility and to return with ordinance options focused initially on Planning Commission appointments; staff was asked to consider whether the same approach should apply to other appointed committees. The council also asked staff to ensure proposed language complies with state law governing public interviews and appointments.
