City Council Agenda
Regular Meeting
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
4:30 p.m., Open Session
Selected excerpts, as follows:
VIII. Public Hearings
If you challenge the nature of the proposed action in Court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at the public hearing described in this notice, or in written correspondence delivered to the City Council at, or prior to, the public hearing.
A. Consideration of an appeal of the Design Review Board’s decision to deny a Design Study and Coastal Development Permit applications for the substantial alteration of a residence located on the eastside of San Antonio between 11th & 12th Avenues. The appellant and property owner is Shan Sayles.
B. Consideration of an appeal of the Design Review Board’s decision to approve a Design Study for the demolition of an existing residence and the construction of a new residence located on the southeast corner of San Antonio and 10th Avenues. The appellants are Peter Boutin and Paul McKnight. The property owner is Richard Kashfi.
C. Consideration of an appeal of the Design Review Board’s decision to deny the installation of a metal roof on an existing residence and the construction of a new residence at a property located on the eastside of Santa Fe, two south of Mountain View. The appellant and property owner is Nancy Ripken.
XI. Orders of Council
A. Consideration of City Council Appointment to fill the Council vacancy resulting from the resignation of Council Member Mike Cunningham.
COMMENTS:
At today’s City Council meeting, Mayor Sue McCloud and Vice Mayor Ken Talmage will recommend to City Council Members Paula Hazdovac and Gerard Rose their choice among interviewed applicants Amber Rose Archangel, Conrad Kohrs and Karen Sharp to fill the vacant seat of recently resigned City Council Member Michael Cunningham.
While the “Consideration of City Council Appointment to fill the Council vacancy resulting from the resignation of Council Member Mike Cunningham” agenda item is basically the last item on the agenda, Mayor Sue McCloud stated in a recent Monterey County Herald article, “but I think we will try to move it up,...We really want to because we have so much coming before us in the way of appeals, if you don't have a full council and it's a 2-to-2 vote, the (matter) loses. A split vote is a no vote." Moreover, she stated, the new council member could assume the seat as soon as a decision is made, which, if the council settles on a fifth member Aug. 7, would give it a full cast for the rest of the meeting. “They could be sworn in at the beginning of the meeting by the city clerk and take their seat.”
QUESTIONS:
• If the newly appointed City Council Member is chosen and sworn in at the beginning of the meeting, how will the newly appointed City Council Member have the requisite knowledge and information to fairly decide the three Design Review Board appeals? Ostensively the three City Council candidates have not been privy to the packet of information about the three appeals that the other four City Council Members have in their possession.
• Would this action well serve the Design Review Board appellants who deserve a fair and informed decision of their respective appeals?
• What is the legal opinion of the City Attorney Don Freeman regarding the appointment of a new City Council Member at the beginning of a meeting without that Member’s prior access to information about three Design Review Board appeals?
REFERENCES:
The item is listed toward the end of Tuesday's agenda, "but I think we will try to move it up," McCloud said. "We really want to because we have so much coming before us in the way of appeals, if you don't have a full council and it's a 2-to-2 vote, the (matter) loses. A split vote is a no vote."
(Source: Council looks to fill vacant seat: Carmel: Three candidates eye slot vacated by Councilman Mike Cunningham, LAITH AGHA, Herald Staff Writer, 08/05/2007.)
McCloud said the new council member could assume the seat as soon as a decision is made, which, if the council settles on a fifth member Aug. 7, would give it a full cast for the rest of the meeting.
"They could be sworn in at the beginning of the meeting by the city clerk and take their seat," she said.
(Source: Council looks to fill vacancy: Cunningham replacement sought, LAITH AGHA, Herald Staff Writer, Monterey County Herald, 07/26/2007.)
2 comments:
It would not be out of character for McCloud, having picked her candidate, who most people watching the process assume will be McCloud ally Karen Sharp, to have privately told her (or possibly him) how to vote on issues before the council today. It is unlikely the mayor would pick someone not in her pocket. To be fair McCloud has misjudged this in a couple of cases and people she has selected have not towed the line once they felt comfortable on the council. Fortunately for McCloud she has so far picked weak ineffective people, who will not or cannot effectively stand up to her. She has clearly tried to do the same with her committee, board and commission appointments and unfortunately she has often been successful in selecting people whose weakness and lack of competence have hamstrung the body to which they were appointed. Fortunately, some of her appointments have turned out to be willing to do their job properly and have had the necessary ability as well. Presumably they will not be reappointed.
A pox on us if we don't care enough for carmel-by-the-sea to recognize we can no longer continue down this path of trickery and gamesmanship and lack of style and substance.
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