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E-mail StoryPlanning commissioner’s fate a numbers game
| Friday, Apr 18 2008 5:22 PM
Last Updated: Friday, Apr 18 2008 5:22 PM
Ken Weir will have to convince three of his fellow city council members Wednesday to let him remove a planning commissioner.
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Russell Johnson generally votes with the majority on the Bakersfield Planning Commission. So does Ken Weir. Here are a few key votes:
- In October 2007, the planning commission voted 4-2 in favor of an industrial development near Hageman Road. Johnson voted against it, saying it was premature until infrastructure is built to the area. The council, including Weir, approved the project, but with a requirement that the developer build some of the missing road.
- In July 2007, the Planning Commission voted 4-2 against a 348-unit apartment complex in Weir’s ward; Johnson voted for it. Weir voted for it when it was approved by the council.
- In September 2006, Johnson was among the commission members that voted 6-0 for the Hillside Ordinance, opposed by developers of The Canyons. Weir has never voted on the Hillside Ordinance, and hasn’t stated a definitive position, but is a friend of, and has received some money from, one of the investors.
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Planning commission vice chairman Russell Johnson, shown during Thursday's regular meeting, appears to be headed for a showdown next week with the City Council.
It takes a vote of five members. Weir has two so far — himself and Councilwoman Jacquie Sullivan.
Three others say they haven’t decided yet, and two couldn’t be reached Friday.
Weir wants to remove Russell Johnson from the Bakersfield Planning Commission a year early so that he can appoint someone else. The move is allowed under Bakersfield’s code, but unprecedented since the current appointment system was created in 1999.
Sullivan said she prefers the old system, in which councilmembers worked together to choose the commissioners. But the system now allows individual members to pick their commissioners, so Weir should get to pick his, she said.
Others said they weren’t sure.
“I have no idea,” said Councilman Harold Hanson. “I’m just goihg to get up and listen, and hopefully make the right decision.”
He did allow that in state and federal politics, the Democrats get to install their people when they’re in charge, and the Republicans get to install theirs.
Councilman Zack Scrivner expressed similar sentiments.
“As always, I’ll keep an open mind going into the meeting, and listen to his reasoning as to why he wants to have someone else represent Ward 3,” he said.
“The planning commission is one of the few appointments that the council members make for their particular ward,” he noted.
And Councilwoman Irma Carson said she hasn’t read the packet yet.
“I think that’s a discussion we have to have in public,” she said.
Weir has said he’s not dissatisfied with Johnson. He just wants someone who will better reflect his ward’s needs, he said. Exactly what that means — how he would want his planning commissioner to vote differently than Johnson — he won’t say.
Weir’s proposal will be on the agenda at the Bakersfield City Council meeting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at 1501 Truxtun Ave.