Redondo Beach Mayor, Council Squabble Over Appointments

Redondo Beach Mayor Barbara J. Doerr has accused the City Council of playing politics by not reappointing residents to city commissions.

The mayor appoints members to the city’s various commissions with the council’s concurrence, but Doerr often has had trouble getting the council to approve her appointments. If the appointments are not made in 60 days, the council can appoint members.

City Council members John Chapman, Kay Horrell, Archie Snow and Ronald A. Cawdrey refused to explain to Doerr at a meeting last week why they would not approve her attempted reappointments of attorney Steve Colin to the Public Improvements Commission and Julia Takahashi to the Planning Commission.

“I think it’s just because he (Colin) is going to run for office and they’re not supportive of him . . . He’s an individual who stands up and speaks out on the issues, and he normally takes a different point of view from the City Council,” Doerr said in an interview.

Last March, Colin ran for the District 3 council seat, which is currently held by Marcia Martin. Martin, who announced her resignation from the council effective Nov. 30 and was not at the meeting, beat Colin by just five votes.

Colin, a Doerr ally who often criticizes the City Council’s actions, has said he will run for the seat again in March.

Horrell, Chapman, Snow and Cawdrey supported Martin during the last campaign.

Colin has been a Public Improvements commissioner for four years, including two years as chairman, and city officials said he has an excellent attendance record. The five-member Public Improvements Commission recommends methods of obtaining and financing permanent public improvements in the city.

The council voted 4 to 0 last week to appoint Redondo Beach Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Ernie O’Dell to a Planning Commission seat that has been vacant since December, 1986.

Doerr said in an interview she did not know why the council would not reappoint Takahashi, who has been a part of the seven-member Planning Commission since September, 1986.