Commissioners have their say

Your question as to “should council members be allowed to speak at

other city committee meetings?” misses the issue. Newport Beach has

many advisory committees; some of which have City Council members on

them. Council members routinely attend and participate in these

meetings.

The Planning Commission alone, of all city committees, is a body

that is charged with holding public hearings on legislative and

quasi-judicial matters affecting zoning and use of property. Some of

these matters go automatically to the City Council for final

approval, and others may end up there on appeal by citizens or

council members. These matters become highly technical and are

governed by complex state and local laws.

Because of this, most legislative bodies in California have

appointed planning commissions to conduct public hearings on these

matters. This lightens the workload of the city council and allows

the city council more time to deal with other municipal matters.

For this to work properly, the city council must have faith and

confidence in its planning commission and planning commissioners. In

addition, the planning commissioners need to feel the freedom and

ability to evaluate each issue before them on an independent and

influence free basis.

In general, the planning commission should reflect the philosophy

of the city council, but should feel free to make each decision based

upon the facts and not upon what it thinks the city council wants.

Each decision should be a reflection of weighing the factual

information against city policies and state and local zoning and

planning laws. Any interference or appearance of interference in this

process is improper.

Attendance by city council members at planning commission public

hearings can be interpreted as such. Council members testifying at

planning commission hearings raises the level of improperness.

Furthermore, it questions the ability of the council member to be

objective and impartial in a matter which may be before the city

council when the council member has already taken a formal position

on the matter at a planning commission public hearing.

The current Newport Beach Planning Commission has the backbone and

integrity not to be influenced by such behavior. However, if this

were to become common practice by City Council members, the Planning

Commission could become a compromised body which would do little to

serve the interests of the citizens of the city.

Councilman Dick Nichols’ unfounded suggestion that planning

commissioners were “taking money for this one” is almost laughable.

However laughable, it cannot go unchallenged.

The success of government is only a strong as the public’s

confidence in its integrity. To make such an unfounded comment and

have it widely reported in the press only undermines public

confidence and further reinforces the feelings that many in our

society have toward government. As such, it is an affront to the

current Planning Commission and does a great disservice to the many

hardworking and honest city staff and citizen volunteers who give

countless hours of their time for the betterment of our city.

Councilman Nichols should cease attending and speaking at Planning

Commission public hearings and he should publicly apologize to the

Planning Commission and the citizens he serves for his improper

behavior and unfounded charges. The bell cannot be un-rung, but such

an apology would partially undo the damage his behavior has done.

EDWARD SELICH

Newport Beach Planning Commissioner

Newport Beach

A clarification of the question is in order. Since council members

chair “committees,” I believe the question should refer to

“commissions.” City commissions do not include council members. The

“committees” research, investigate and discuss issues facing the city

and make recommendations to the city council. They do not make

decisions for the city. On the other hand, commissions do make

decisions directly affecting residents. The members of both the

committees and commissions are appointed by the city council. My

response is to the question, Should council members be allowed to

speak at commission meetings?

Commission meetings are public meetings and must abide by state

law (Ralph M. Brown Act) governing public meetings. Since council

members do not give up their rights as citizens, they are entitled to

speak at these public meetings and cannot be prohibited from doing

so. As City Atty. Burnham states, this is a matter of decorum, so

outright prohibition is not an option. The council could agree that

they will avoid such testimony, but I hope they do not.

The council appoints commissioners. This could lead people to

conclude that commissioners give more deference to a council member

than to an average citizen. This is both unfair to the commissioners

and to the council members. Both have been democratically chosen to

do a job, the council by direct selection (vote), and the

commissioners indirectly by being appointed by the elected officials.

It is unrealistic to believe that the two entities operate in

isolation from each other. As a resident, I prefer to have council

member comments on commission business aired in a public forum and to

be part of the public record.

As a commissioner, I invite and encourage comment at commission

meetings from all members of the public, including council members. A

person’s reputation, expertise and understanding of the situation is

what gives them standing, not their title or position.

DENNIS BAKER

Newport Beach Arts Commissioner

Newport Beach