The Clatsop County Board of Commissioners appointed seven new members to the county Planning Commission Wednesday.
On March 23 the board voted to vacate the seven positions on the panel effective June 30, and invited both current members and new applicants to apply for the positions.
On March 28 Board of Commissioners Chairman Dirk Rohne sent a letter to all seven planning commissioners informing them of the board’s actions, thanking them for their service and inviting them to re-apply.
“By serving on the planning commission you invested your time and talent into the community in which we live. Motivated, perhaps, by the desire to have a positive role in improving the quality of life for the benefit of all,” the letter stated. “It is our desire, with respect to your service, to cast a wider net to see what interest there may be in serving on the very important land planning commission.”
“This decision is not aimed at any one individual member and is not personal,” the letter added.
Clatsop County Ordinance 01-10 states that “all members of any board, commission or committee of the County shall be appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the Board of Commissioners,” and that “the Board may remove any board, commission or committee member from his or her appointment by affirmative vote of at least three commissioners.”
The county received a total of 14 applications from citizens around Clatsop County. The former members of the planning commission informed the county they would not re-apply for their positions.
On June 22 the board appointed seven of the applicants to the panel. The selection complied with the planning commission bylaws, which allow no more than two members from incorporated cities and no more than two members who work in real estate-related businesses. Members are also to be drawn from the various geographic areas of the county.
The commission will maintain the staggered terms that ensure overlap of membership. Two of the terms expire June 30, 2012, three expire June 30, 2014 and two expire June 30, 2015. The Board of Commissioners left it to the new planning commissioners to choose which member will assume which term.
The new members are:
Bruce Francis of Warrenton
Susana Gladwin of Jewell
Kay Foetisch-Robb of Seaside
Jan Mitchell of Astoria
Robert Stricklin of Warrenton
Lianne Thompson of Arch Cape
Mike Tiedeman of Astoria.
The new membership includes a number of citizens with experience in land-use planning, including two former planning commission members. Bruce Francis served on the commission for 11 years, including several years as chairperson, and chaired the panel during the lengthy public hearings over the Bradwood Landing LNG land-use application in 2007. Robert Stricklin also served as chair of the commission in 1997-98.
Jan Mitchell served as a planner for the city of Fresno, Calif. for 24 years, and led a long-term planning team. Kay Foetisch-Robb, a former Community Coordinator for the city of Gresham, was a planning commissioner for the city of Troutdale from 1978 to 1990.
Mike Tiedeman is a long-time local educator and former Knappa High School principal who currently leads the Knappa Schools Foundation. Lianne Thompson, a consultant, has served on a community development non-profit in Manzanita. Susana Gladwin, a farmer, served on a local citizens advisory board when the state’s land-use system was established in the 1970s.
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