Planning commissioner -- the selection process

Francisco Oaxaca, pictured, was appointed to the planning commission yesterday in a quick, simple and transparent process that seemed to have worked for the City Council throughout the years.

When there's a vacancy on the commission, residents 18 years or older can apply. A subcommittee consisting of council members Sam Spagnolo and Diane Williams sifted through 11 applications and whittled it down to five.

The five candidates -- Sharon Baer, Michael Dowd, Tim Johnson, Ed Dietl and Oaxaca -- spent 15 minutes answering four questions yesterday. After the interviews, the council took turns speaking about their top picks. The selected commissioner must receive a majority vote from the council and the majority must include Mayor Don Kurth's vote.

For Williams, Michael and Spagnolo, Oaxaca was their first pick. Gutierrez liked Dietl and the historic perspective he would give. Dietl is the founder of the Historic Preservation Association.

There was also some discussion about Johnson, who works for Supervisor Paul Biane as a district director. Johnson played a key role in crafting the city-county agreement related to the 1,200-acres project.

Last May, the city and county solicited requests for qualification to develop 1,200 acres north of Los Osos High School. The project was eventually shelved after the Board of Supervisors filed a civil lawsuit against Gutierrez for his alleged role in the Assessor's Office scandal.

Yesterday, Williams said she was concerned about appointing Johnson because of an "appearance of a possible conflict of interest."

"I just don't think we need that," she said.

In the end, the entire council voted to appoint Oaxaca. The entire process was under two hours.