If, as the City Council recently directed, the Planning Commission and Design Review Board (see City Council Votes to Merge Planning Commission and Design Review Board February 24, 2007) are combined into a single new body on August 1, 2007, the mayor will have nine new members to appoint. This merger may not be as slam dunk as some would have us believe. The City attorney”s office will probably not have a draft ordinance on an agenda until June 5, right in the middle of budget deliberations. It will have to be voted on twice to take effect. Since the devil is in the details, and there will by that time probably be substantial public interest, I would expect the process to drag on for some time and perhaps even falter.
Meanwhile, the existing Planning Commission and Design Review Board will be out of business by at least June 30, 2007, because they will no longer have a quorum. Already, the Planning Commission is down to six members and often has trouble assembling a quorum because the City Council has refused to approve the mayor”s appointments. If you have a project that needs action by either of these, best you get it agendized before July, or just take the summer off. On the other hand, I suspect the mayor doesn”t want to hold up the wheels of progress in Richmond, so she could appoint new members to the presumably lame duck Planning Commission and Design Review Board to make sure they are at voting strength during July and perhaps earlier.
However, the point of all this is not to speculate on the fate of the Planning Commission and Design Review Board but to solicit motivated and qualified people to apply for these positions. Both bodies (or the combined body) need people who want to make a difference in the future of Richmond. They particularly need people who are familiar with some aspect of planning, design and construction so that they know what is possible and what can be. All too often, people who do not have that level of familiarity are tempted to be taken in by arguments that doing good projects is economically or technically infeasible. We need people who are dedicated to making Richmond the best it can be, not the lowest common denominator.
So, if you are one of those persons who want to make Richmond better, apply for the Planning Commission and/or the Design Review Board NOW. Click here for an application. Fill it out and get it to the city clerk, who will transmit it to the mayor. It may be helpful to attach a letter to mayor McLaughlin explaining in some detail how and why you want to make Richmond better and why you are the right person to do it.
If you want to know more about what these organizations do, go to the Design Review Board and Planning Commission web pages, and read the agendas and minutes.
Following are the current memberships.
Design Review Board Members
Ordinance No. 7-99 N.S.
Two-Year Terms – Four Consecutive Full Terms
Meetings are held every 2nd and 4th Wednesday
at 6:00 p.m.
Council Chambers
Name
Appointed
Term of Expiration
Robert Avellar
11/09/2004*
11/01/2005 (R)
10/01/2005
10/01/2007
Jonathan Livingston
11/15/2005
09/01/2007
Donald L. Woodrow
10/19/2004*
07/12/2005 (R)
06/01/2005
06/01/2007
Ted J. Smith
01/01/1999
05/29/2001 (R)
06/17/2003 (R)
07/12/2005 (R)
06/01/2001
06/01/2003 (R)
06/19/2005
06/19/2007
Eileen Whitty
01/01/1999
05/29/2001 (R)
07/01/2003 (R)
07/12/2005 (R)
08/01/2001
08/01/2003
08/01/2005
08/01/2007
Michael Woldemar
01/01/1999
05/29/2001 (R)
07/01/2003 (R)
07/12/2005 (R)
08/01/2001
08/01/2003
08/01/2005
08/01/2007
Diane Bloom
09/24/2002
10/05/2004 (R)
07/11/2006 (R)
06/30/2004
06/30/2006
06/30/2008
Membership: 7
Vacancies: 0
* – Completing unexpired term
Revised: 12/27/2006
Planning Commission Members
Ordinance No. 1435
Residents – Two-Year Terms/Four Full Consecutive Terms
Meetings are held every 1st and 3rd Thursday at 7:00 p.m.
Council Chamber, City Hall
Name
Appointed
Term Expiration
Zachary Harris
06/05/2001
07/15/2003 (R)
07/19/2005 (R)
06/30/2003
06/30/2005
06/30/2007
Stephen A. Williams
07/13/1999
06/05/2001 (R)
06/17/2003 (R)
07/19/2005 (R)
06/30/2001
06/30/2003
06/30/2005
06/30/2007
Vickie L. Winston, Chair
07/13/1999
06/05/2001 (R)
06/17/2006 (R)
06/19/2005 (R)
06/30/2001
06/30/2003
06/30/2005
06/30/2007
Nagaraja Rao
07/23/2002
06/29/2004 (R)
06/20/2006 (R)
06/30/2004
06/30/2006
06/30/2008
Virginia Finlay
07/30/2002
06/29/204 (R)
06/29/2006 (R)
06/30/2004
06/30/2006
06/30/2008
Ludmryna Lopez
09/24/2002
06/29/2004 (R)
06/20/2006 (R)
06/30/2004
06/30/2004
06/30/2008
Jeff Lee
07/11/2006
06/30/2008
Membership: 9
Vacancies: 2
* – completed unexpired term
Revised: 12/27/2006