Planning Commission, Parks and Rec among panels with open seats.

Tuesday evening’s Santa Clarita City Council meeting served as a job interview of sorts, as applicants for several City commissions and panels were chosen to fill vacant and expired seats.

These committees serve as recommending bodies for the City Council and they include the Planning Commission, Parks, Recreation and Community Services Commission and the Open Space Preservation District Financial Accountability and Audit Panel.

The positions are tied to select City Council seats, and expire every four years. Since Laurie Ender was elected to the City Council, she has fresh selections to make.  Mayor Bob Kellar had the option to either reappoint his existing commission members, provided they re-apply, or select new ones.

Here’s how the appointments went down:

New Parks Commission member Janell Cornell

Planning Commission: 2 seats were open due to Ender’s election and Mayor Kellar’s re-election.

• Laurie Ender nominated Dee Dee Jacobson.

• Bob Kellar re-nominated Bill Kennedy, who holds the seat currently.

Both applicants were unanimously approved by the City Council.

The other applicants included:

George Germek
Michael Hildebrand
Edward F. Hill
Spencer Leafdale
Maureen Martinez
John Mays
Dr. Jemiss Nazar

New Parks Commission member Matt Halliday

Parks, Recreation and Community Services Commission: 3 seats were open – 2 are due to the recent election cycle.

The 3rd seat was formerly held by Laurie Ender, prior to being elected to the Council. Since Ender held Council member Frank Ferry’s appointment, he will get to select a new member as well.

• Laurie Ender nominated Matt Halliday.

• Bob Kellar nominated Duane Harte, who formerly held the seat appointed by Laurie Ender’s City Council position. Since Kellar’s seat was vacated after Laura Houser resigned, he appointed Harte to take the seat.

• Frank Ferry nominated Janell Cornell, saying that that there is “no better advocate for youth.”

Again, all applicants were unanimously approved by the City Council.

Robin Bryce
Ryan Haslam
Michael Hildebrand
Edward F. Hill
Steve Jones
Ann Kerman
Linda Lambourne
Maureen Martinez
Dr. Jemiss Nazar
Kevin Schallert

Open Space Preservation District Financial Accountability and Audit Panel: 2 seats were open due to the normal election cycle. A 3rd seat was made vacant when Calvin Hedman resigned from the panel, giving Council member Laurene Weste a choice to fill the seat for the remaining two years of the term.

• Laurie Ender nominated Alan Ferdman, who currently holds this seat.

• Bob Kellar re-nominated Spencer Leafdale who also currently serves in this seat.

• Laurene Weste nominated Geoff WIlliamson.

Not to break the trend, the Santa Clarita City Council unanimously voted in favor of these candidates without discussion.

Other applicants included:

Michael Hildebrand
Edward F. Hill
Dr. Jemiss Nazar

In other City Council news…

Several changes to the City's Unified Development code were passed on to a second reading and the Council adopted a Parks, Recreation and Open space master plan update. 

Additionally, the Council voted to officially adopt an ordinance that creates stricter restrictions for peddlers and solicitors.  

The City Council will now enter into their summer break, and will resume their regular meeting schedule on August 26th.