Residents say planning-board shake-up favors contractors, urge turnout at July 7 commissioners meeting

Voices of Warren County organizers and former planning-board members called on residents to attend a July 7 county commissioners meeting after alleging that the county has repopulated its planning board with contractors and others who have business before the board.

The charge came from Lauren Miller, a former planning-board member, who said the planning and zoning director and Commissioner Davis have moved to replace diverse, citizen-appointed members with people who work in development. "They began to revert to the old school way of doing things, which was basically the good old boys network," Miller said, and added that she had been removed as chair and reassigned to a second-alternate slot before resigning.

That, Miller and others said, creates the appearance of conflicts when developers, contractors and real-estate professionals sit on a board that reviews land-use recommendations. "If the planning and zoning director is pushing to have people who have conflicts sit on that board," she said, "you have to ask yourself why." Miller urged residents to show up at the July 7 board of commissioners meeting to demonstrate public concern.

A current planning-board member who identified herself in the program as Barbara Espinosa described problems in the application process for volunteer boards, saying some residents filed "interest to serve" forms and were not contacted. "If you are going to give up our time and energy to fill out these interest-to-serve forms . . . at least they could look at our forms and submit them to the boards in a timely manner," Espinosa said, adding that commissioners should not strip volunteers of board decisions without investigation.

Ronaldo Espinosa, a Voices of Warren County member, also urged an investigation into April appointments and described the behavior he witnessed as "unacceptable" for county officials.

Organizers said their goal is policy transparency and stronger safeguards: candidates suggested a written policy barring people with financial conflicts from serving on the planning board or, at minimum, stronger review and timing requirements for interest-to-serve submissions. The speakers framed their request as a practical step to prevent rapid land-use changes — such as large-scale solar projects or industrial sites — from being approved without community input.

The county commission was asked during the town hall to reconsider the April decisions and to review the appointment process. Organizers said they believe public pressure can prompt a re-evaluation.

Next steps: organizers asked attendees to sign petitions and show up at the July 7 commissioners meeting; the town hall did not record any formal motions or votes.