LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport Planning Commission held a brief regular meeting on Wednesday evening to elect its officers for fiscal year 2014-15.
Planning Service Manager Andrew Britton, who is serving as the commission's secretary, explained that the commission is required to elect a new chair and vice chair each year.
Accordingly, the commission unanimously elected Tom Gayner – who has served this past year as vice chair – as the chair for the new year, with Commissioner Suzanne Russell to be the new vice chair.
In the discussion leading up to the vote, Britton pointed out that the terms of three of the commissioners are about to expire.
Russell's term expires in August – she was first appointed by the Lakeport City Council in August 2010 – with Ross Kauper's and Harold Taylor's terms expiring in October.
On Wednesday, Taylor – first appointed in January 2003 – indicated he intended to apply to the city council for reappointment.
Kauper, the commission's longest serving member who was first appointed in October 2002, said he is “on the fence” about seeking another term.
Gayner's second term is up in June 2016, a month after outgoing Chair Ken Wicks Jr.'s term ends. Wicks was first appointed to complete a partial term in July 2011.
Britton said the city is expected to follow past practice and invite applications from the public at large – as well as the sitting commissioners – for the seats when the terms expire.
Wicks thanked everyone for their support and for having made him chair for two years in a row. Taylor then made the motion appointing Gayner chair and Russell vice chair, with the commission voting 5-0.
The commission recently finished major projects including work on the updated housing element and the city's general plan update. The housing element update is to go to the Lakeport City Council in August, Britton said.
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