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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-03-2017 Item 3, WalkerCOUNCIL MEETING: I ITL -M NO.: JAN 03 2017 RK From: "Kathie Walker" < Date: Mon, Jan 2, 2017 at 9:40 PM -0800 Subject: Re: Advisory Body Subcommittees To: "E-mail Council Website" <emailcouncil@slocity.org> Mayor Harmon and Council Members, The City's website encourages all residents of San Luis Obispo to volunteer their time to serve on an Advisory Body. According to the city's website, "Residents are the underpinning of our community and your Mayor and City Council encourage your participation on a City Advisory Body. The City's Advisory Bodies are groups of volunteers that advise staff and the City Council on matters that affect policy and issues that will affect the future of the community." A subcommittee - made up of two council members and the chair of the Advisory Body - interviews and selects the citizen they feel would be the best choice for a vacancy. Obviously, that selection is extremely important, especially when it comes to Advisory Bodies that face controversial development issues such as Planning Commission, Architectural Review and the Tree Committee. The selection is based on the viewpoints of the subcommittee. On January 3, 2017, you will determine which Council members will serve on subcommittees for each Advisory Body. I've reviewed staff's recommendation and am concerned that one council member has been selected to serve as chair on each of the subcommittees for the Planning Commission, Architectural Review and the Tree Committee. Carlyn Christianson's exclusive selection is disproportionate and will unfairly weight the selection of candidates for each of these Advisory Bodies related to future developments in San Luis Obispo. Ms. Christianson has a strong personality and has shown bias against certain members of the public. It would be fair to have Ms. Christianson serve on one of these subcommittees and select other council members on the other two. According to the table provided by staff (attached) Dan Rivoire served on the ARC subcommittee and indicated he is interested in serving as its chair. Based on his experience, he would be the most logical selection, along with architect Andy Pease as the other subcommittee member. On Mr. Rivoire's list of preferences, he indicated he did not want to serve on the Jack House Committee yet he was chosen to serve on that subcommittee. One solution would be to switch positions of Ms. Christianson from ARC to Jack House and Mr. Rivoire from Jack House to ARC. Similarly, Ms. Harmon and Ms. Christianson each indicated similar preferences for serving on the Tree Committee and Human Relations Commission. Staff recommends Ms. Christianson to the TC and Ms. Harmon to the HRC subcommittees. Each could easily to switched, with Ms. Christianson serving on the Human Relations Committee and Ms. Harmon on the Tree Committee in order to attain more balance, as the Tree Committee makes important decisions about property and development issues. To support my previous contention of Ms. Christianson's bias, in October 2016 she opposed the appointment of Lydia Mourenza to the ARC even though Ms. Mourenza was unanimously selected by subcommittee members, John Ashbaugh, Dan Rivoire and ARC Chair, Greg Wynn. Ms. Mourenza is a retired attorney and judge and was to replace attorney Patty Andreen. Dan Carpenter was not present for the vote, therefore Ms. Mourenza's appointment failed 2-2 (Christianson and Marx dissenting). Ms. Christianson said that she opposed Ms. Mourenza's appointment because she was concerned about her "communication style" which referred to Ms. Mourenza's correspondence with Council regarding her opposition to the development on Palomar Street which is located directly across the street from her home. I did not know Ms. Mourenza but witnessed the situation and was upset by an obvious prejudice. Especially when Kim Bisheff, an English teacher with no planning experience, was appointed to Planning Commission. (I'm sure Kim Bisheff is great and merely point this out as an example that the appointment doesn't necessarily involve expertise but seems to be more about "who you know". Ms. Bisheff is friends with Ms. Christianson and Ms. Marx.) I later learned that after Ms. Mourenza was selected by the subcommittee, ARC Chair, Chuck Stevenson, had invited her to begin attending ARC meetings. She did so and also spent weeks studying the issues in order to be prepared to officially serve. She was dedicated and certainly qualified to serve on the ARC. Mr. Stevenson assured Ms. Mourenza that Council's approval was merely a formality. On the evening of the appointment, she proudly attended the Council meeting with her husband and young grandson, only to be humiliated by Ms. Christianson's motion to deny her appointment. Several members of the public were outraged and spoke out against Ms. Christianson in Council chambers. Mr. Ashbaugh conveyed his displeasure and warned citizens in the Council chambers and viewers at home, to ensure they have not written to Council on any controversial issue, or if they have, to make sure they speak with the Council members to clear up any "problems." Otherwise, he said, they would not be selected to serve on an Advisory Body. Notably, at the subsequent ARC meeting, Chairman Chuck Stevenson expressed exacerbation and his desire for feedback from a legal perspective stating, "I wish Patty were here." This is consistent with Mr. Ashbaugh's reasoning when he defended his choice of Ms. Mourenza, to fill in and balance the Commission in light of Ms. Andreen's vacancy. Unfortunately, his pleas were ignored by Ms. Christianson. Please ensure that the subcommittees concerning important development issues (Architectural Review, Planning Commission, Tree Committee) are more balanced. In this case, Ms. Christianson and Mr. Rivoire could trade places on Tack House Committee and Architectural Review Commission, and Ms. Harmon and Ms. Christianson could trade places on Human Relations Committee and Tree Committee to achieve more balance with important property development issues. Thank you for your consideration. On Mon, Jan 2, 2017 at 9:36 PM, Kathie Walker <kathiewalkerslo(@,,gmail.com> wrote: Mayor Harmon and Council Members, The City's website encourages all residents of San Luis Obispo to volunteer their time to serve on an Advisory Body. According to the city's website, "Residents are the underpinning of our community and your Mayor and City Council encourage your participation on a City Advisory Body. The City's Advisory Bodies are groups of volunteers that advise staff and the City Council on matters that affect policy and issues that will affect the future of the community." A subcommittee - made up of two council members and the chair of the Advisory Body - interviews and selects the citizen they feel would be the best choice for a vacancy. Obviously, that selection is extremely important, especially when it comes to Advisory Bodies that face controversial development issues such as Planning Commission, Architectural Review and the Tree Committee. The selection is based on the viewpoints of the subcommittee. On January 3, 2017, you will determine which Council members will serve on subcommittees for each Advisory Body. I've reviewed staff's recommendation and am concerned that one council member has been selected to serve as chair on each of the subcommittees for the Planning Commission, Architectural Review and the Tree Committee. Carlyn Christianson's exclusive selection is disproportionate and will unfairly weight the selection of candidates for each of these Advisory Bodies related to future developments in San Luis Obispo. Ms. Christianson has a strong personality and has shown bias against certain members of the public. It would be fair to have Ms. Christianson serve on one of these subcommittees and select other council members on the other two. According to the table provided by staff (attached) Dan Rivoire served on the ARC subcommittee and indicated he is interested in serving as its chair. Based on his experience, he would be the most logical selection, along with architect Andy Pease as the other subcommittee member. On Mr. Rivoire's list of preferences, he indicated he did not want to serve on the Jack House Committee yet he was chosen to serve on that subcommittee. One solution would be to switch positions of Ms. Christianson from ARC to Jack House and Mr. Rivoire from Jack House to ARC. Similarly, Ms. Harmon and Ms. Christianson each indicated similar preferences for serving on the Tree Committee and Human Relations Commission. Staff recommends Ms. Christianson to the TC and Ms. Harmon to the HRC subcommittees. Each could easily to switched, with Ms. Christianson serving on the Human Relations Committee and Ms. Harmon on the Tree Committee in order to attain more balance, as the Tree Committee makes important decisions about property and development issues. To support my previous contention of Ms. Christianson's bias, in October 2016 she opposed the appointment of Lydia Mourenza to the ARC even though Ms. Mourenza was unanimously selected by subcommittee members, John Ashbaugh, Dan Rivoire and ARC Chair, Greg Wynn. Ms. Mourenza is a retired attorney and judge and was to replace attorney Patty Andreen. Dan Carpenter was not present for the vote, therefore Ms. Mourenza's appointment failed 2-2 (Christianson and Marx dissenting). Ms. Christianson said (fiat she opposed Ms. MOUrenza's appointment because she was concerned about her "communication style" which referred to Ms. Mourenza's correspondence with Council regarding her opposition to the development on Palomar Street which is located directly across the street from her home. I did not know Ms. Mourenza but witnessed the situation and was upset by an obvious prejudice. Especially when Kim Bisheff, an English teacher with no planning experience, was appointed to Planning Commission. (I'm sure Kim Bisheff is great and merely point this out as an example that the appointment doesn't necessarily involve expertise but seems to be more about "who you know". Ms. Bisheff is friends with Ms. Christianson and Ms. Marx.) I later learned that after Ms. Mourenza was selected by the subcommittee, ARC Chair, Chuck Stevenson, had invited her to begin attending ARC meetings. She did so and also spent weeks studying the issues in order to be prepared to officially serve. She was dedicated and certainly qualified to serve on the ARC. Mr. Stevenson assured Ms. Mourenza that Council's approval was merely a formality. On the evening of the appointment, she proudly attended the Council meeting with her husband and young grandson, only to be humiliated by Ms. Christianson's motion to deny her appointment. Several members of the public were outraged and spoke out against Ms. Christianson in Council chambers. Mr. Ashbaugh conveyed his displeasure and warned citizens in the Council chambers and viewers at home, to ensure they have not written to Council on any controversial issue, or if they have, to make sure they speak with the Council members to clear up any "problems." Otherwise, he said, they would not be selected to serve on an Advisory Body. Notably, at the subsequent ARC meeting, Chairman Chuck Stevenson expressed exacerbation and his desire for feedback from a legal perspective stating, "I wish Patty were here." This is consistent with Mr. Ashbaugh's reasoning when he defended his choice of Ms. Mourenza, to fill in and balance the Commission in light of Ms. Andreen's vacancy. Unfortunately, his pleas were ignored by Ms. Christianson. Please ensure that the subcommittees concerning important development issues (Architectural Review, Planning Commission, Tree Committee) are more balanced. In this case, Ms. Christianson and Mr. Rivoire could trade places on Jack House Committee and Architectural Review Commission, and Ms. Harmon and Ms. Christianson could trade places on Human Relations Committee and Tree Committee to achieve more balance with important property development issues. Thank you for your consideration. Kathie Walker C0UNCIL SUEC0MIMIITTEE ASSIGNMIENTS 2017 #1 - My Preference to Serve 42 -1 am willing to serve 93 - I prefer not to serve CM Ach iaory Badiae IntersriewReo. AppolnlrnenlF3dl=LL Comm. n Chrlatlanaon A3nnrr GGnwz Andy Peaeo Dan RJwLFMAE=bMAB Heidi Harmon Recornrnandation C JAIR h) =h19ER CIAIR h1EI'd 9 =R CFL -NIR i�1Eh1E•=R CF= = R CHAT R h1EME•=R CIAdR MEMBER Ad,rin:fi-rattup Rpwfimw 3x31 i 7 7I 7 i q I Ar.%te=ral ReO&w Corny isslon BI^ SIE CGmmt. 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