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The Livermore City Council Monday chose seven applicants vying for three seats on the planning commission to move forward to the interview process.
"I would like to say thank you to all the people that applied. This is not easy, there is a remarkable pool of talent out there and this is not a small task, this takes a tremendous amount of time to serve on the planning commission," Mayor John Marchand said to the 14 total applicants before the council selected its choices to move ahead.
One of the open spots was previously held by Evan Branning who vacated his seat on the commission after being elected to the City Council in the Nov. 8 general election.
The other two seats are currently occupied by John Stein and Jacob Anderson, whose terms are expiring next month. Both applied for reappointment but only Anderson was chosen Monday to be one of the interviewees.
The additional six applicants who are set to be interviewed by the council on March 2 include Yolanda Fintschenko, executive director of i-GATE Innovation Hub and Daybreak Labs; Tracy Kronzak, nonprofit technology consultant and co-founder of Livermore Pride; Asa Strout, senior business analyst and Unify Livermore director; Mel Chiong, self-employed travel agent and a 2022 City Council candidate as well as Erik Bjorklund and Neal Pann, who both previously served on the Planning Commission.
Fintschenko and Kronzak were the only two applicants to receive votes from all five councilmembers to advance.
The planning commission consists of five members who are interviewed and appointed by the City Council. Members are limited to serving two consecutive four-year terms, after which they may be appointed to the planning commission again following a two-year break in service, according to city staff.
The city held a recruitment period from Dec. 16, 2022 to Jan. 27 of this year. Due to the large number of applications received, staff's initial recommendation was for the council to choose the top six candidates to interview. However, the council unanimously decided to interview the top seven.
Applicants who were not selected to move to the next stage include Stein who was appointed to the planning commission in 2019 and previously held a seat on the City Council from 1982-85 and again in 1989 to 2000.
Stein faced controversy in 2021 after likening the Eden Housing affordable community planned for downtown to a "ghetto." At the time, the City Council considered removing Stein from the planning commission in the wake of community backlash but ultimately voted 4-1 for him to retain his seat under the conditions that he participate in special training and meet with city human services staff.
Projection activist Alan Marling was also among the larger group of applicants as well as real estate broker William Aboumrad, postdoctoral researcher at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Zachary Consenza, product designer Parker Ehret, self-employed community member Constance Kopps and facilities space planner Julie Perea.
During Monday night's meeting Councilmembers Branning and Bob Carling were appointed to be the City Council subcommittee tasked with drafting interview questions.
A complete recording of the Feb. 13 council meeting is available here.
