Volunteer committee recommends Bruce Anderson and Sam Ghosh for Planning Commission

The Keizer Volunteer Coordinating Committee voted to forward recommendations for three openings on the Planning Commission to city council on Aug. 13. Committee members closed nominations and approved a motion to recommend Bruce Anderson for position 4, the incumbent (letter) for position 5, and Sam Ghosh for position 7; city council will make the final appointments.

Bruce Anderson introduced himself as a former city councilor and planning commission chair with decades of local land-use experience and said he follows Oregon planning rules closely. “I will say I'm a bit of a nerd when it comes to Oregon's land use planning system,” Anderson said, describing past work on Keizer's infill development code and station-area proposals. Members questioned Anderson and Ghosh about traffic, ingress/egress and legacy driveway issues on River Road; both candidates emphasized careful vetting of development and attention to long-term impacts.

The committee read a letter from the incumbent (recorded in the packet) explaining an anniversary conflict with the interview date and outlining three years' experience on the commission and related appraisal work. The committee approved the recommendation by voice vote and directed staff to forward the list to city council. Final appointment dates will be set when council reviews the recommendations.