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Council signals support to remove planning commission ordinance term limits
Summary
City manager and staff recommended eliminating a three-term (nine-year) ordinance limit on the Citizens Planning Commission to ease recruitment and retain experience; councilmembers said they favor relying on reappointment discretion and asked for ordinance amendment language and required public hearing steps.
Manager Robinson brought forward item 57-43 asking council to consider removing the ordinance term limit that currently restricts Planning Commission members to three three‑year terms (nine years total). Staff said most other city boards set term limits in bylaws, not ordinance, and that removing the ordinance restriction would help retain experienced commissioners and ease recruitment for precinct‑based appointments.
"The planning commission... each commissioner serves three year terms and they shall serve no more than three terms," staff told council while explaining the existing ordinance language and why it differs from other boards that set limits in bylaws. Staff noted council would continue to vet reappointments and has the authority to remove members if performance or attendance lagged.
Councilmembers expressed support for eliminating the ordinance limit. One member said it was preferable to leave reappointment decisions to council rather than an inflexible ordinance cutoff. Staff confirmed that any ordinance change would require a public hearing and two readings before adoption.
Next steps: staff will prepare ordinance amendment language and return the item for the public‑hearing and reading process required for ordinance changes.
