Planning commissioners may be forced to resign

Erin Neff

Thursday, Jan. 13, 2000 | 11:26 a.m.

When the Las Vegas Planning Commission meets tonight, the 70 items on the agenda won't be all that is under consideration.

Planning commissioners will likely be thinking about the future of their positions thanks to a proposed city ordinance that could force resignation of the entire board.

The bill, which faces a public hearing Tuesday, would amend the city's municipal code to make the terms of planning commissioners correspond to those of the City Council members.

Since the commissioners' terms are currently staggered, discussions about asking the entire board to resign to allow reappointments have surfaced throughout City Hall.

"If we have to go into somebody's term of office to accomplish this, then so be it," City Councilman Gary Reese said.

The two recent resignations by Planning Commissioners Michael Mack and Leni Skaar gives Reese a head start on getting two of the positions lined up with council members' terms.

But the remaining Planning Commissioners are left feeling uncertain about what they view as a political maneuver.

"I've heard that we're supposed to resign, but that's (just) rumors," Planning Commission Chairman Michael Buckley said. "No one's heard that officially, but I think it would be a shame to bring in seven new planning commissioners.

"I guess that's all politics, and I'm not very political," Buckley said.

The Planning Commission hears annexation petitions, requested zoning changes, general plan amendments and special-use permits for development. It generally hears items 30 days before they come before the City Council.

Some Planning Commission decisions are final, but they can be appealed to the council. Other decisions are used by the council as recommendations when that board hears the item.

Reese and fellow Councilman Michael McDonald both said they wanted the council terms to run concurrently with the Planning Commission terms for the sake of a uniform vision.

"I have been very proactive in revitalizing the neighborhoods, and I've been lucky to have a Planning Commissioner in Stephen Quinn who has the same vision," McDonald said. "But, what if I would leave office, and someone came in who was pro-business? That person would have my pro-neighborhood commissioner."

Since Quinn's was just reappointed to the Planning Commission last September and has a term of office similar to McDonald's, he said he isn't too worried about his own position.

"One of the bad downsides that I see is that there's two other good commissioners who live in Ward 1," Quinn said.

What would happen if the Planning Commissioners resigned and Quinn, Buckley and Marilyn Moran were suddenly left vying for a council member to reappoint them? It might be hard for two of the three to find support from another council member.

McDonald said he does not think it is a good idea to force resignations on the commissioners, and would rather "grandfather" some of the positions in.

"We have some of the best community leaders on the commission," McDonald said. "I don't think it's in our best interest to ask them to resign their jobs."

Neither does the city's Planning Director Tim Chow -- but for a decidedly different reason.

"We understand that elected officials would prefer to have direct involvement in the selection of a planning commissioner," Chow said. "I think that's normal, but it's also normal for most planning departments to want to have continuity.

"It takes a long time for a commissioner to learn the ropes," Chow added.

Planning Commissioner Craig Galati said that despite his experience in architecture and presenting projects to various government agencies, he still had a sizeable learning curve.

"For me, it took a good year to understand how to evaluate and look at these projects," Galati said. "I would hope that the City Council would look at the experience that we have on there and give us a vote of confidence that we're doing a good job."

Mack, who resigned from the Planning Commission to become a City Councilman, said he can understand wanting the terms to run concurrently, but he doesn't want to force resignations on the board.

"That's a very tough thing to ask them to do," Mack said. "To ask them to step off with no reassurances that they're going to get reappointed is just wrong.

"These people need to be applauded for their service, not slapped in the face," Mack said.

The actual ordinance was proposed by City Attorney Brad Jerbic at the request of the council. It provides the means of recommending appointments to the Planning Commission and the basis for determining the corresponding terms of office.

It is possible the ordinance could be amended at Tuesday's Recommending Committee meeting to include language asking the commissioners to resign.

"I just try to stay out of politics," Quinn said. "I have zero desire to ever be a councilman, ever, ever, ever."