There was only one item of new business on the June 27 Planning Commission agenda, and it belonged to commissioner James Morris who announced he was retiring from the commission after 10 years and 2500 hours of service. He estimated he might have served with as many as 37 commissioners during his time, and his time was up.
Morris plans to spend more time traveling to see relatives and friends around the world. He said he has been thinking about retiring for about a year, but the final motivation came when a complaint to the ethics committee was filed against him by City Clerk/Treasurer Ann Armstrong because Morris did not file required paperwork.
According to Armstrong, all elected city officials and commissioners on the Planning Commission and the City Advertising and Promotion Commission are required to fill out a Statement of Financial Interest report annually.
Morris said he had lobbied for years to get rid of what he considered an unnecessary and obsolete requirement. “We take the oath of office just once, not every year,” Morris stated, and insisted he had the right to object to a particular law, so he chose not to file his financial paperwork but supplied a letter instead, which he claimed was just as good.
Morris noted Armstrong does an excellent job and is extremely thorough in her work, but he considered it “a stretch to do what she did” considering he has volunteered his time to the city for so long.
He stated it had been an honor and pleasure to serve on the commission, then removed his microphone and, to polite applause, left the room.
It’s parliamentary, my dear
In less time than it takes to write the word “parliamentarian,” commissioners voted to adopt as guidelines for running their meetings the modified parliamentary procedures presented by commissioner Doug Breitling at the previous meeting, primarily exceptions to proposals.
Other items
- In Public Comments, Bob Jasinski mentioned that Planning recently spent time discussing whether meals served at an event conflicted with Code. He stated the city had more important things to talk about, for example, the lack of regulations on vacation rentals. He said B&Bs have strict regulations for fire and safety inspections but there are no guidelines for vacation rentals. He claimed all properties with guests should be safe according to city guidelines.
He also stated there is no Code enforcement or follow up if someone performs contrary to what Planning approved.
- Commissioner Melissa Greene told commissioners the mayor’s office would set up a workshop with Planning and city council to discuss Planning’s recommended revisions to Code.
- Greene noted there is a vacancy on the commission.
Next meeting will be Tuesday, July 11, at 6 p.m.