SOLANA BEACH — From a field of 25 applicants, council members at the Jan. 24 meeting appointed 17 people to the city’s five advisory commissions, with one position still vacant on Public Arts due to a lack of candidates.
Most seats are filled by the council at-large. However, each council member selects one of the five members for Budget and Finance and five of the seven on View Assessment.
With five vying for two spots on the former, Judith Hamilton was reappointed by Mayor Ginger Marshall and Sharon Gross was named by Councilman Mike Nichols.
Jeff Anderman, Nichols’ prior appointment, did not reapply to serve.
There were seven applicants for four available positions on View Assessment. All four incumbents were returned to their seats.
Gary Garber and Paul Bishop were nominated by Marshall and Councilman Dave Zito, respectively. In the at-large vote, Pat Coad and Molly Fleming were reappointed.
“He is the only architect that I know of on the commission right now and I really value his contribution,” Zito said of his nominee.
All remaining vacancies were filled by at-large votes.
Jolene Koester, Tracy Richmond and incumbent Linda Swindell were three of four candidates who applied and were selected to serve on Parks and Rec. Gross and Mac Law, whose terms expired, did not reapply.
A total of seven people sought to fill five vacancies on the Climate Action Commission.
Three were required to be residents, although all applicants were, one must be a professional in the environmental or scientific community and another could be a council member or other type of council-determined candidate.
Mary Yang, Jonathan Goodmacher and Heidi Dewar will serve as residents. Jeff Martin was named as either a professional or resident, and Sarah Richmond will fill the professional seat.
Incumbent Paul Basore applied as both a resident and a professional but was not selected to serve again.
Sharon Klein, Brad Auerbach and Nancy Pfeiffer were all returned to their positions on Public Arts. They were the only applicants for four vacancies. Nellie High did not reapply.
Applicants are still being accepted by anyone interested in serving on the committee. Information is available on the city website.
The panel, which meets at 5:30 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of each month, carries out art-related events and assists in the selection, acquisition, installation and maintenance of public art.
Duties also include encouraging private arts funding and developing cooperative arrangements with other agencies to provide arts facilities.
Applicants must live in Solana Beach and be at least 18 years old.
“Thank you everybody for applying and for your community service,” Marshall said. “We really appreciate it.”
“For those that were not appointed, please reapply,” Councilwoman Jewel Edson said. “There’s always an opportunity and we have such a marvelous pool of talented people again this year. It’s amazing. We have a great community.”
“For those who are interested I would encourage you to actually go to all the commission meetings and participate,” Zito added.
All commission members serve two-year, unpaid terms.
