Planning Commission: Who stays and who goes?

At City Council’s first work session of the year, Mayor Steve Adler reminded his colleagues of the lawsuit by the state attorney general against the Planning Commission. The suit accuses the commission of being in violation of the city charter, which states that only one-third of its members can have ties to the real estate or land development industry. Two of the eight members cited in the suit have since left the commission, but two more will have to go for the commission to be in compliance, according to the suit. Council Member Alison Alter insists that her appointee, Patricia Seeger, is retired from real estate and therefore should not be considered an industry insider. Even if the attorney general agrees, that still suggests that Council members will have to negotiate with each other to ensure that more than four of the commissioners do not have real estate ties. Due to a charter amendment approved by voters in November, every commissioner’s term ends in June, at which point they can either be reappointed or replaced. Council will begin considering appointments to the commission in February.