CYPRESS : Plan Unit Revival to Be Put on Ballot
After months of debating whether to revive the city’s now-defunct Planning Commission, City Council members decided last week not to decide the issue at all. Instead, they will put it on the November ballot and let residents determine the panel’s fate.
The council’s long debate has turned on uncertainty about its own makeup after November. Some council members have expressed concern that if the commission were revived now, many of the appointments to it might be made by officials who would no longer hold office after the fall balloting.
Council members Walter Bowman and Margaret M. Arnold are up for reelection this year, and John Kanel is not able to run because he has already served two terms, the city’s limit.
Bowman asked the council more than a year ago to consider re-establishing the commission. He has argued that it will make council agendas more manageable and also give citizens another opportunity to be heard.
Mayor Cecilia L. Age and Councilwoman Gail H. Kerry oppose the proposal. Both say the cost of the commission is not worth the benefits. No exact cost figure has been presented, and estimates range from $20,000 to $95,000 a year.
Kerry also argues that the commission is not directly responsible to the citizens and that appointments could become “positions of favor.”
If approved, the commission would be composed of five council-appointed members.
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