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Council hears from multiple applicants for planning commission vacancy
Summary
Minnetonka City Council interviewed several applicants for one planning commission opening, hearing candidates’ land‑use experience and views on decisionmaking, DEI and growth; councilors said they will retain applications for future openings and notify candidates next week.
The Minnetonka City Council heard interviews from several applicants for a single vacancy on the planning commission during its Jan. 6 study session.
Mayor Brad Werson opened the item and said the council would ask a set of four standard questions of each candidate and aim to finish the meeting by 8:30 p.m. The council introduced applicants and then heard from candidates who described a range of professional backgrounds, including architecture, university facilities, civil engineering, local government public works and neighborhood volunteer work.
Mark Partridge, an architect and University of Minnesota system architect, told the council he would bring a design perspective and experience with planning and large institutional projects. “Half my job now is planning and certainly land‑use projects,” Partridge said, explaining his interest in issues such as parking, circulation and building scale.
John Baron said his background includes long service with neighborhood development and capital project review and experience managing budgets; he emphasized practical skills gained running a small business and working on capital projects. “Water is a million times more important than most people think,” Baron said, adding that infrastructure and financing experience inform his view of local planning.
Another applicant, Scott, described decades of public‑works and city engineering experience in the Twin Cities and emphasized running an inclusive public process and balancing neighborhood concerns with broader city interests.
Council members asked each candidate how they make decisions amid differing opinions, how they would incorporate diversity, equity and inclusion into planning work, and what individual and group challenges they expected on the commission. Candidates generally stressed listening, consensus building and the need to align short‑term development decisions with long‑term plans and environmental protection.
Mayor Werson told applicants the council would retain applications for future openings and expected to notify interviewees next week. No appointment was made at the meeting.
What happens next: staff will compile council rankings and the mayor will review them, with the council expected to act on appointments at a later meeting or retain candidates for future vacancies.
