ENCINITAS — The City Council hopes a proposed business commission can help facilitate communication between elected officials and local business interests.
An ordinance to establish the Encinitas Business Commission was approved unanimously at Wednesday’s meeting and will need to return to the council for adoption.
According to city documents, the commission would consist of seven to nine members who own businesses in Encinitas.
Commission members would have two avenues for appointment. Under the proposal, there must be at least one member representing a business in each of the city’s four districts. Those representatives may live outside the district — or even outside the city — but must have ties to companies registered in those districts, according to city documents.
The commission would also include at-large appointments, with the stipulation that those members be registered voters in Encinitas, according to the documents.
Deputy Mayor Jim O’Hara said the goal of having representatives from across the city is to develop plans that address conditions specific to each area.
For example, he said the commission could examine the impact of zoning on economic development and “whether that encourages occupancy or we find that it discourages it.”
Delilah Welnick, an analyst who works on economic development for Encinitas, said staff recommended one representative from each of the city’s four districts, along with at least two at-large members. To avoid an even number of votes, Welnick said staff recommended the commission include either seven or nine members, with the additional seats filled by at-large appointees.
Mayor Bruce Ehlers asked about potential conflicts of interest involving commission members from organizations that receive funding from the City Council. Encinitas is home to three organizations recognized by Main Street America: Cardiff 101 Main Street, Leucadia 101 Main Street Association and Encinitas 101 Main Street Association.
Ajit Thinad, interim city attorney for Encinitas, said identifying potential conflicts of interest “early on” would be important for commission members.
“If there is a conflict of interest, then they will hopefully recuse themselves,” Thinad said.
Ehlers also said he would prefer decisions such as the creation of subcommittees be left to the commission.
O’Hara said next year would be the commission’s “first go-around and it may change” in future years as the process evolves.
“Staff spent an exorbitant amount of time to get this to the best place we could for launch as far as representation,” he said. “I don’t know that we think it’s perfect, but we think this is the fairest of all options that were thrown around, and it’s the most open-ended to change.”
