Council appoints planners — again

<p>For the third time, the Petaluma City Council on Tuesday night appointed new planning commissioners in an effort to finally put to rest an issue that has confounded the divided council for the better part of this year.</p><!-- Nothing to do. The paragraph has already been output --><p>But, as the topic has done since spring, it wouldn't go down without controversy.</p><p>Two planning commissioners who were replaced by the council's majority challenged the meeting as unlawful. One councilman sought to cut off the debate early. Council members on both sides of the debate expressed profound frustration with the process.</p><p>On a 4-2 vote, with one member absent, the council confirmed its appointments of the same members of the "reconstituted" planning commission it voted on in June and on Nov. 2.</p><p>"This is like 'Groundhog Day,' " Councilman Mike Harris said, shaking his head after his 'no' vote, referencing the movie where a man repeats the same day over and over.</p><p>In April, the council's slow-growth majority sought to merge the planning commission and the architectural review boards, replacing members who were in the middle of their terms with members of the new council's choosing.</p><p>The action was billed as a step toward efficiency, to move development proposals through the city process more seamlessly. Citizens and developers alike had complained about the city's lengthy, multi-step review process.</p><p>But the council's three-member minority said it was a power grab meant to replace duly-appointed planners with those who are in lockstep with the majority's political views.</p><p>The council reconfigured the commission in June, then reversed its decision after three sitting planning commissioners sued, arguing the council violated the city's municipal code in the way it conducted the merger.</p><p>In response, the council changed the codes and on Nov. 2 reappointed the same applicants.</p><p>The commissioners who sued challenged that vote Monday, saying Mayor Pam Torliatt improperly adjourned -- and then reconvened -- the meeting when former councilman Bryant Moynihan interrupted a budget discussion after the public comment period had closed.</p><p>Tuesday's council meeting was hastily called Monday evening, with six minutes to spare to satisfy the state's open meetings law that requires 24 hours' notice for an emergency session.</p><p>Although City Attorney Eric Danly said the Nov. 2 meeting was legally conducted, he said reconfirming the vote before Tuesday night's scheduled planning commission meeting would solve any potential legal problems with the new commissioners' appointments.</p><p>Politically opposed councilmen David Glass and David Rabbitt tussled Tuesday when Glass sought to limit further debate on the propriety of voting at the last-minute meeting.</p><p>Rabbitt said he happened to check his e-mail and otherwise wouldn't have known about the meeting. He questioned whether a vote was appropriate, noting there were almost no community members present, suggesting they hadn't been effectively notified of the impending action.</p><p>Glass called for an immediate vote, asking to limit debate to another 10 minutes and accusing Rabbitt of trying to filibuster before the planning meeting set to begin 70 minutes later.</p><p>Rabbitt called that "utterly ridiculous" and said the characterization "compounds the idiocy" of the recent council actions.</p><p>The new planning commission members are Melissa Abercrombie, Christopher Arras, Dennis Elias, Jennifer Pierre, Curtis Johanson, Marianne Hurley and Councilwoman Teresa Barrett.</p>