Amending Board Appointments

The Saratoga Town Council is continuing to amend sections of its municipal code regarding council member participation on committees, a process which began last year with the Saratoga Recreation Department.

At the October 1 meeting of Saratoga’s governing body, the municipality held the first reading of two ordinances which would amend code regarding the Saratoga Planning Commission and the Saratoga Airport Advisory Board.

Saratoga Planning Commission

While the current code regarding the term of office for the planning commission—section 2.16.010—doesn’t dictate that the mayor must appoint a member of the town council to the seven member commission, it has been commonplace to do so.

Indeed, the current code only stipulates that the mayor may make appointments to the planning commission with the approval of the council for a term of five years. Over the past five years, appointments to the commission have been few and far between with the planning commission having as few as three or four members. It was only recently that the ancillary board filled all seven of its vacancies with Mayor Chuck Davis appointing himself to the planning commission.

In previous meetings of the planning commission, Davis has made a point not to vote on most matters, leaving it to the remaining six members to make a determination of what recommendations to make to Saratoga Town Council. One exception was in August, when Davis was the tie-breaking vote regarding a zone change at 804 W. Bridge Avenue.

The ordinance which would amend section 2.16.010(B) of the Saratoga Municipal Code would codify not only the stance Davis has taken for himself, but the appointment of council members to the planning commission.

The language in the ordinance reads “A town council member shall be appointed as a liaison to the board by the mayor and shall serve at the pleasure of the mayor. The Liaison Council Member shall not be a voting member of the Board and shall have no authority over the Board. The Liaison Council Member may be removed with or without cause by the mayor in his sole discretion. The Liaison Council Member is not to be considered a member of the Board.”

Saratoga Airport Advisory Board

The ordinance changing board appointments to the Saratoga Airport Advisory Board will be the first changes this board has seen since it was formed in 2019. Before the Airport Advisory Board, the Saratoga Municipal Airport was governed by the Saratoga Airport Board. The board was disbanded by the Town of Saratoga under Mayor John Zeiger and the airport advisory board was formed.

Under section 14.08.020(A) of the Saratoga Municipal Code, at least one of the appointments to the airport advisory board may be a member of the town council.

Under the ordinance before the Saratoga Town Council, the language is very similar to that in the planning commission ordinance.

It should be noted that Davis also appointed himself to the Saratoga Airport Advisory Board.

How did we get here?

This isn’t the first time there’s been discussion on the ability of a town council member to vote on an ancillary board to which they have been appointed. In 2013, the concern was raised by Saratoga resident Chris Shannon. Shannon, who served on the planning commission at the time, expressed concerns about Councilmember Steve Wilcoxson—who was appointed to the commission by Zeiger—voting one way during planning commission meetings and another way during town council meetings.

For nearly a decade, those concerns went unaddressed and fell out of the concern of the Town of Saratoga. That is, until last year.

The current push to define the council member as a liaison on ancillary boards began with an amendment to Section 2.24.020(B) of the Saratoga Municipal Code. The ordinance appeared to come following concerns over how Councilmember Kathy Beck was directing the Saratoga Recreation Commission. Most notably was Beck’s approval of purchases of shirts for the Recreation Department’s inaugural pickleball tournament and the approval of a bid for food services.

New Code, New Vacancies

Should the ordinances before the Saratoga Town Council pass second and third reading, and following publication in the Saratoga Sun, this will likely mean there will be new vacancies on both the Saratoga Planning Commission and the Saratoga Airport Advisory Board. The planning commission, with the council liaison being made a non-voting member, would need another member to ensure it has an odd number of members. The same would be for the airport advisory board, which has five members.