EAST PALO ALTO
CITY COUNCIL
STAFF REPORT
DATE: June 12, 2023
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
VIA: Melvin E. Gaines, City Manager
BY: James Colin, City Clerk
SUBJECT: Planning Commission Seat and Term Assignments Clarification Recommendation
Vote to:
1. Assign Uriel Hernandez to one of the two open regular Planning Commission seats
2. Assign Javanni Brown-Austin, Iliana Nicholas, or another candidate from the list of applicants each to one of the two remaining open planning commission seats. a. In the event of a tie vote, use a randomized method of selection proposed by the City Clerk.
Alignment with City Council Strategic Plan
This recommendation is primarily aligned with:
• Promote Health & Public Safety
• Promote Housing, Economic and Workforce Development
Background
On May 16, 2023, the City Council voted on the selection of the Planning Commission members for seat numbers 1, 2, and 8 (with seat 8 being the alternate seat). For those seats, the City Council considered candidates including Uriel Hernandez, Javanni Brown-Austin, and Iliana Nicholas and others, but did not assign any given candidate to a specific seat.
The current term durations for the commission seats are as follows:
• Regular Seat 1 (3-year term, full): This term is from 5/31/2023 to 5/31/2026. • Regular Seat 2 (1-year remaining of a 3-year term, partial): This term is from 5/31/2021 to 5/31/2024
• Alternate Seat 8 (1 year term): This term is from 5/31/2023 to 5/31/2024.
On May 16, 2023, the Council appointed Uriel Hernandez to a regular Planning Commission seat, but did not specify whether Mr. Hernandez would be appointed to Seat 1, for a full 3-year term, or to Seat 2, which is a seat vacated by former Commissioner Ofelia Bello that has 1- year remaining of a 3-year term. For the remaining open Planning Commission seats, the Council provided the most votes for Javanni Brown-Austin and Iliana Nicholas but did not provide a majority of votes to either potential commissioner. Only four Council Members were present, and Javanni Brown-Austin and Iliana Nicholas each received two votes. Because of this tie vote, no applicant was appointed to the remaining regular seat or alternate seat. While the Council may have intended to decide only between Javanni Brown-Austin and Iliana Nicholas for appointment to the remaining two seats, they did not make an official vote to make this certain. Therefore, The Council may consider all applicants who submitted complete Planning Commission applications for appointment to the remaining two seats.
Analysis
The purpose of this staff report is to provide clarification and recommendations regarding Planning Commission seat assignments and term durations.
Accordingly, staff recommends that the Council approach this appointment in two steps:
1. Vote to assign Mr. Uriel Hernandez to either Seat 1 or Seat 2
2. Vote to appoint an eligible applicant to the remaining Seat 1 or Seat 2
3. Vote to appoint an eligible applicant to Seat 8, the alternate seat.
In the event of a tie vote, staff recommends following a randomized selection procedure such as picking names out of a hat. This approach would provide a transparent and neutral method of overcoming a tie.
Picking out of a hat is a simple and widely used procedure to select or assign items randomly.
It is often employed when a fair and unbiased method of selection is needed, ensuring equal chances for all participants. The procedure typically involves the following steps:
1. Ballot Preparation: The City Clerk will write each participant's name on a separate piece of paper once. A staff member will verify that each candidate is represented by one such piece of paper.
2. Randomization of Ballots: The City Clerk will roll each piece of paper with each participant’s names written on them and place them into the hat or container and will shake the container to thoroughly mix each ballot, ensuring a randomized selection can be made.
3. Blind Selection: With all the names inside the container, another staff member will: a. announce the seat for which the selection made; and then, b. randomly and blindly select a name out of the hat or container associated with the specified seat.
4. Announcement: Once an item has been selected from the hat or container, the City Clerk will announce the randomly selected name for the given seat.
Public Notice
The public was provided notice by making the agenda and report available on the City’s website and on a bulletin board located at City Hall: 2415 University Avenue, East Palo Alto.
Environmental
The proposed action does not constitute a “project” with the meaning of the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines sections 15378(b)(4) and (5) in that it is a governmental fiscal, organizational or administrative activity that will not result in direct or indirect changes in the environment.