How independent can city commissioners be?
There’s a larger issue lurking behind the dismissal of longtime community activist Mark Abramowitz from the Planning Commission position he’s held the past three years: just how independent can commissioners be from the council members who appoint them?
Certainly, the elected council has the right to pink slip any of the 20 commissioners who they name to serve on the four advisory bodies that deal with matters related to planning, parks and recreation, traffic and the public library.
And commissioners with viewpoints different from the council members who selected them have, on occasion, landed in hot water, starting with George Machado, who often ruffled council feathers after his appointment to the first Planning Commission in 1968.
Machado, chief architect of the city’s 1972 voter-approved low-density General Plan, led a slate of slow-growth candidates that in 1970 took majority control of the council, which shaped this city’s annexations and semi-rural development for the next decade.
Only a few of the 91 individuals who’ve served as commissioners have been booted mid-term, although some resigned or departed quietly when their terms expired, after they had incurred the wrath of their council bosses.
Abramowitz thinks his dismissal resulted from his opposition to Measure Z last year. Voter approval of Z, which lost by 197 votes out of 26,491 cast, would have allowed council to rezone 3.2 acres of Savi Ranch land for high-density, low cost housing units.
He expressed his disagreement, largely on environmental grounds, in a letter to the editor that was published on the Yorba Linda Star’s website a few days before the Nov. 2 ballot.
In addition to stating concerns about the health of potential apartment dwellers and council transparency, Abramowitz noted, “By writing this, I am sure to upset some that have appointed me, so this may cost me my appointment.”
On Dec. 7, council placed the Abramowitz dismissal on the Dec. 21 agenda, with the firing--“without cause”--accomplished 4-1; just newly seated Tom Lindsey dissented.
Councilman John Anderson, who supported Z with the other council members, said his decision was based “on a complete review of Mr. Abramowitz’s votes and rationale on the Planning Commission” and activity at a cell site, according to meeting minutes.
Only Anderson explained his vote at the meeting, but in an e-mail, Councilman Mark Schwing noted commissioners “serve at the pleasure of the City Council and are to carry out the duties of their office as set [forth] in the city code and the policies of the council.”
Schwing added, “Mr. Abramowitz was setting forth his own agenda and policy that was at cross purposes of those of the City Council,” and his letter to the Star in opposition to Z “was not the reason he was removed from his position.”
Abramowitz, an environmental consultant who is president of his own company, Community Environmental Services, told me council members hadn’t expressed concerns to him about his commission votes, only his opposition to Z.
Commissioners need the council’s confidence to perform effectively, but independent thinking shouldn’t disqualify individuals from commission service; and commission decisions shouldn’t be threatened by a follow-council-wishes-or-be-fired philosophy.
Certainly, the elected council has the right to pink slip any of the 20 commissioners who they name to serve on the four advisory bodies that deal with matters related to planning, parks and recreation, traffic and the public library.
And commissioners with viewpoints different from the council members who selected them have, on occasion, landed in hot water, starting with George Machado, who often ruffled council feathers after his appointment to the first Planning Commission in 1968.
Machado, chief architect of the city’s 1972 voter-approved low-density General Plan, led a slate of slow-growth candidates that in 1970 took majority control of the council, which shaped this city’s annexations and semi-rural development for the next decade.
Only a few of the 91 individuals who’ve served as commissioners have been booted mid-term, although some resigned or departed quietly when their terms expired, after they had incurred the wrath of their council bosses.
Abramowitz thinks his dismissal resulted from his opposition to Measure Z last year. Voter approval of Z, which lost by 197 votes out of 26,491 cast, would have allowed council to rezone 3.2 acres of Savi Ranch land for high-density, low cost housing units.
He expressed his disagreement, largely on environmental grounds, in a letter to the editor that was published on the Yorba Linda Star’s website a few days before the Nov. 2 ballot.
In addition to stating concerns about the health of potential apartment dwellers and council transparency, Abramowitz noted, “By writing this, I am sure to upset some that have appointed me, so this may cost me my appointment.”
On Dec. 7, council placed the Abramowitz dismissal on the Dec. 21 agenda, with the firing--“without cause”--accomplished 4-1; just newly seated Tom Lindsey dissented.
Councilman John Anderson, who supported Z with the other council members, said his decision was based “on a complete review of Mr. Abramowitz’s votes and rationale on the Planning Commission” and activity at a cell site, according to meeting minutes.
Only Anderson explained his vote at the meeting, but in an e-mail, Councilman Mark Schwing noted commissioners “serve at the pleasure of the City Council and are to carry out the duties of their office as set [forth] in the city code and the policies of the council.”
Schwing added, “Mr. Abramowitz was setting forth his own agenda and policy that was at cross purposes of those of the City Council,” and his letter to the Star in opposition to Z “was not the reason he was removed from his position.”
Abramowitz, an environmental consultant who is president of his own company, Community Environmental Services, told me council members hadn’t expressed concerns to him about his commission votes, only his opposition to Z.
Commissioners need the council’s confidence to perform effectively, but independent thinking shouldn’t disqualify individuals from commission service; and commission decisions shouldn’t be threatened by a follow-council-wishes-or-be-fired philosophy.
posted by Jim Drummond at 12:00 AM
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