The Avalon City Council appointed new members to the Planning Commission at last week’s council meeting. The vote was 4-0 with Councilmember Yesenia De La Rosa absent.
Current terms for the Planning Commission end on June 30 of this year, according to the staff report by Administrative Analyst/Deputy City Clerk Devin Hart.
Returning planners are:
- Eric Huart
- Yolanda Say
New planners are:
- Brenda Carel
- Jessie McDonald
The four planners will serve four-year terms set to end June 30, 2028.
The alternate planner is:
- Sean Sterling.
Sterling will service a two-year term set to end June 30, 2026.
The discussion
Mayor Anni Marshall said Avalon had 12 applications for four vacancies plus an alternate.
“So that was very good, but of course that brings on additional challenges because now you have to make a selection from these people,” she said.
Marshall said she usually did this herself but she called on Mayor Pro Tem Lisa Lavelle to help because it was bigger than just saying “yeah, thank you for playing, and here you are.”
Marshall said they had so many people show an interest that it seemed time to give other people an opportunity to participate, to learn, and to grow within the city.
She said they would not recommend putting some of the existing planners back on the Planning Commission.
Lavelle thanked each of the 12 for applying and going through the interview process.
“It’s not as if any member on the Planning Commission previously was doing a poor job,” Lavelle said.
“But we felt like there was a need to bring in additional people who haven’t done this role before both to learn from their experence and then also to have a little bit of different experience in their backgrounds and try to diversify the Planning Commission,” Lavelle said.
Lavelle said she was encouraged that there were a few applicants who were not homeowners or business owners.
“It was a broad gorup of people that I was kind of encouraged to see,” Lavelle said.
Lavelle asked Marshall to name the new planners. Marshall said she probably should have typed up something but they had resolved the issue just that day (June 18).
Councilmember Mary Schickling said she spoke with Sterling before he applied to the Planning Commission. She described her as passionate. Schickling said she had been in town forever. “She worked at Edison and she worked for the city in the Fire Department and she’s a homeowner but not connected to real estate or anything like that,” Schickling said.
“Same with Brenda,” Schickling said.
Schickling said it was a good mix of new blood and past experience.
“I wish we could create another commission for all the other people that applied to be on, because they want to get involved and be helpful and that’s a good thing,” Lavelle said.
But Lavelle didn’t know what the city council could create.
“In two years we’ll be doing this again for three positions,” Marshall said. She said those who have already applied to the Planning Commission would have to apply again. Marshall recommended that people attend or watch videos of Planning Commission meetings.
Schickling said she had a hard time with people who work for vacation rental companies or real estate agents serving on the Planning Commission.
However, Schickling said she didn’t want to put anything in an ordinance but she wanted her concern on the record.
Appointee
backgrounds
- Huart, a current planner, described himself in his application as a business owner.
- Say, a current planner, wrote in her application that she felt she had knowledge and experience to continue to help with the challenges Avalon faces such as housing, short term rentals, infrastructure, and quality of life.
She is currently the general manager for the Hotel Metropole and a Realtor for Metropole Real Estate
- Carel is a property owner who described herself in her applicaiton as active in the Fairview Terrace homeowners assocation. She is retired after working for 35 years as a registered nurse. She served nine of those yuears at the Catalina Island Medical Center (now known as Catalina Island Health).
- McDonald is a past employee of the Fire Department who recently retired from the Southern California Edison desalination plant.
The alternate planner is:
- Sterling described himself as a life-long resident. He described his educational background as “Lots of hands on learning.”
