During the February 14 Oakley City Council meeting, the council will interview and selected two candidates to be appointed to the Oakley Planning Commission.
There are two openings because both Shannon Shaw and Hugh Henderson were recently elected to the Oakley City Council, which forced them to vacate there planning commission seats and caused two openings on the 5 member board.
The City of Oakley put out an application period ranging from January 5-27 in which 9 applicants were received. The council will then rank the candidates until 2 are selected. 1 applicant will have a 2-year term and 1 applicant will have a 4-year term.
Applicants Include:
- Jeanne Krieg
- Micah Langley
- Adam Sterud
- Garfield Samuels
- Laura Medina
- Dan O’Leary
- William Swenson
- Jimmy Ramirez
- Mary Zirkle
- Planning Commission Applications (9 Total) – click here
The City of Oakley brought back its planning commission after more than a decade hiatus. The planning commission was formed in 1999, however, by 2009 the council took over the duties due to lack of development. On May 3, 2022, the planning commission held its first meeting.
Ordinance for Mayor & Vice Mayor Annual Selection
At its January 10 meeting, the Council considered a number of options for how to annually select its leadership positions and, after discussion, directed the City Attorney to return with an ordinance implementing a rotation system based on City Council districts.
The proposed ordinance, at direction of the council, would create a system by which the Mayor and Vice Mayor are annually appointed based on the number of their City Council districts.
- In general. The ordinance would require that except in specified cases (to be discussed), the Mayor and Vice Mayor will annually be selected based on a rotation schedule determined by the number of their council districts. (Proposed § 2.1.003(a)-(b).)
- Implementation. The transition to the new selection system would begin in calendar year 2025. The draft ordinance maintains the current selection process through 2024 and has language providing for the sunset of this process immediately after the 2024 General Election. (Proposed § 2.1.003(g); Amended § 2.1.005(j).)
- Establishment of rotation schedule. The rotation for Mayor and Vice Mayor will count backwards, from five down to one. The Vice-Mayor will be selected from the Council district numbered immediately below the Mayor’s district number. Thus, if the Mayor is selected from Council District Four, the Vice Mayor will be from Council District Three; and if the Mayor is selected from Council District Two, the Vice Mayor will be from Council District One. When the Mayor is selected from Council District One, the ordinance will restart the count-down by providing the Vice Mayor shall be selected from Council District Five. (Proposed § 2.1.003(d).)
- Which district goes first as Mayor? The proposed ordinance has somewhat cumbersome, but necessary, language for determining which Council district will be the first to serve as Mayor in 2025. The lengthy text in proposed paragraph (c) of Section 2.1.003 attempts to deal with the contingencies related to the experience of the councilmembers who will serve in 2025. The paragraph is intended to ensure that the Mayor that year will have at least one full year of service on the Council. At this time, of course, it is not known who will be serving in each of the Council districts. Three districts will be up for election in 2024. And theoretically, any council district could become vacant if a Councilmember leaves office for any reason. (I make no assumptions that this will actually occur; I note only that in drafting, this is a hypothetical situation that must be addressed.)
Oakley City Council Meeting
February 14, 2023
6:30 pm
3231 Main Street
Agenda – click here
