SOLANA BEACH — With 18 residents applying to fill 17 vacancies — and nearly two-thirds of them seeking reappointment to their respective positions — council members had a somewhat easy task naming members to the city’s five citizen commissions.
But the annual process wasn’t completed as scheduled during the Jan. 28 meeting. There were only three applicants for four open seats on the Parks and Recreation Commission, so the city will readvertise for that position.
And on Public Safety, only two of the four vacancies were filled, giving that commission a quorum to hold meetings until a staff review determines if the group should be disbanded.
Four people volunteered to fill three available seats on Budget and Finance. Ed Murphy, Michael Whitton and Gordon Johns were reappointed. Michael Pfeiffer was not selected and did not apply to serve on any other commission.
Jewel Edson, Dean Pasko and Jack Hegenauer are returning to View Assessment, one of two groups that had five applicants for three vacancies. Not chosen were William Howden, whose only choice was View Assessment, and Mark Haines, who also applied to serve on Public Arts.
Brett Reisdorf and Stephen Ostrow were reappointed to that commission, which also had five applicants for three openings. Kathryn Schmiedeberg will fill the vacancy left by Allen Moffson, who did not apply for another term.
Public Arts was the second choice for Chris Hohn, who was reappointed to Parks and Recreation. Joining him are new members Rachael Friedman and Peter McConville.
Public Safety had the same number of applications as vacancies but only two of the four — Bernhard Geierstanger and David Bittar — were selected to serve until staff returns with a summary of actions, if any, the group has taken during the past four or five years.
The review will submitted in a month or so, City Manager David Ott said. Should the city choose to keep the commission intact, council members could appoint the other two applicants, Pakso and Jason Barry, rather than advertise to fill the positions.
Commissioners must live in Solana Beach and be at least 18 years old. Members of the View Assessment and Budget and Finance commissions must also own property within the city. Each group has seven members, except Budget and Finance, which has five, and all meet once a month.
All terms filled at the Jan. 28 meeting expire in January 2017. All appointments were unanimous. Four applicants were not named to any commission.
