City Council to discuss appointments Wednesday and could narrow the field for April 1 interviews.
A record 51 applications have been submitted for three openings on the seven-member Oceanside Planning Commission. Because of the large number of applicants, the Oceanside City Council is scheduled to review the selection process Wednesday and consider ways to narrow the field for public interviews at a meeting April 1.
The applicant interviews typically last about eight minutes each. None of the three commission members whose terms expire April 15 has reapplied for the position. They are: Louise Balma, who has served since 2006; Tom Rosales, since 2018: and Kevin Dodds, since 2022. “Being on the Planning Commission requires a significant time commitment and often having to make unpopular and hard decisions,” City Clerk Zeb Navarro said in an email. “I’m not sure why the three have not reapplied, but I thank them for their years of service,” Navarro said. “To my knowledge this might be the first time all three incumbents have not reapplied for the vacancy.” Four years ago, when Balma and Rosales were reappointed, the city had 28 initial applicants but only 16 of them agreed to take part in the public interviews by the City Council. More recently, the City Council agreed to have each member list their top four candidates, which produced a list of 12 names for the public interviews. “This is certainly a record ,” Navarro said. “I would attribute this to the city’s social media campaign asking for applicants. With many issues coming before the Planning Commission, I am sure many wanted to have a voice and get involved in the future of our city.” The Planning Commission meets on the second and fourth Monday of each month. Members are volunteers. It considers matters related to land use planning and development, implements the city’s general plan, reviews development applications and serves as an intermediary between the public and the City Council. In some matters the Planning Commission’s decisions are final unless appealed to the City Council. In others, such as applications for conditional use permits, the commission’s decision is only a recommendation to the council. Last year the City Council changed the process for appeals, which irritated some of the commissioners. Previously, when a Planning Commission decision was appealed, the City Council could only consider the issues raised by the appellant. The council changed the appeals to a “de novo” process, meaning “anew” or “from the beginning,” allowing the council to consider all matters relevant to the application, not just those raised in the appeal. At the time, Rosales called the council’s decision “another knock on the Planning Commission,” and said it showed the council’s lack of confidence in the commission’s decisions. Balma called the change “a jab” at the commission, and said, “You think you’ve been doing a good job all these years …. it does kind of hurt a little bit.” Balma and Rosales both said that during their years on the commission, the City Council had rarely, if ever, communicated with them about the commission’s work.San Diego home sales fell to their lowest level in recorded history to start 2026Fewer people are riding the San Diego trolley. Officials blame the unexpected drop on ICE and affordability.Readers offer alternative theories on decline in Trolley ridership This little-publicized tax break saves owners of historic properties tens of millions a year in San Diego County
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