Barry
05-31-2008, 10:28 AM
Sebastopol council picks Thille to fill vacancy
Planning commissioner replaces Pierce, who resigned after dispute with fellow council member
By KEVIN McCALLUM
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
<!-- /BYLINE --> <!-- PUBDATE --> Published: Friday, May 30, 2008 at 4:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, May 30, 2008 at 6:15 p.m.
https://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20080530/NEWS/805300414
<!-- /PUBDATE --><!-- ARTICLE --> https://srimg.ny.publicus.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=SR&Date=20080530&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=805300414&Ref=AR&MaxW=250&border=0 (https://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20080530/NEWS/805300414#)
Jen Thille, familiar with city's redevelopment plans The Sebastopol City Council on Thursday chose planning commissioner Jennifer Thille to fill the seat vacated earlier this month by Councilman Sam Pierce.
The council selected Thille for the seven-month post from a field of six applicants that included an architect, an attorney and two former mayors.
But as a planning commissioner, the 46-year-old Thille was probably the applicant most familiar with the city's contentious Northeast Area Specific Plan. The planning commission has already passed the plan, and the council is expected to begin deliberating on it next week.
Thille said she would "start all over" as a council member and remain impartial when discussing the plan.
"I've done my due diligence on the planning commission," she said. "(But) I don't claim to know it all. I don't claim to have all the answers."
Thille told the council she thought revitalizing the local economy, water conservation and traffic were the three biggest issues facing the west county community.
The other applicants were former Mayors Richard Johnson and Nick Stewart; Sebastopol school board member Guy Wilson; former planning commissioner Craig Williams; and Palm Drive Health Care Foundation board member Kathleen Shaffer.
Thille and Shaffer already had announced their intentions to run for the council in the fall, and Thille had received endorsements from Councilman Larry Robinson and Mayor Craig Litwin.
Councilwoman Linda Kelley asked Thille whether she could be independent in light of those endorsements.
Thille said remaining independent would not be a problem. "I'm not in anybody's pocket," she said.
The four council members interviewed each applicant for about 20 minutes. Their questions focused on leadership styles, ideas for balancing the budget, views on affordable housing and even traffic roundabouts.
Kelley asked Thille for her thoughts on the balance between chain stores and locally owned businesses.
"I don't want to see a lot of formula stores, but I think a few might be appropriate," Thille said.
After the interviews, council members voiced up to three top choices. Wilson and Shaffer each got two votes. Thille was the only one to get three votes.
The council then voted 3-1 to accept Thille for the post, with Kelley voting no.
Thille was sworn in moments later, and the council continued with other business.
Pierce, whose term was to expire at the end of the year, resigned earlier this month. He had been on the council for more than three years and said he stepped down "due to recent developments -- personal, professional and within the council."
His resignation came two days after he failed to obtain an inquiry into Kelley's conduct during her recent vandalism trial.
Kelley went on trial this spring for allegedly using a key to scratch a truck belonging to a friend of Pierce's. The jury deadlocked 9-3 in favor of convicting Kelley of misdemeanor vandalism. Kelley later reached a plea agreement in which she paid $500 to the truck's owner.
Pierce had claimed that in the trial, Kelley's attorney suggested he was conspiring against Kelley with the police department.
After Pierce resigned, some officials and community members urged the council to bring more civility to meetings.
Thille's appointment comes just days before the council resumes its public hearings on the northeast redevelopment proposal. The plan includes a public square, 300 new housing units and nearly 400,000 square feet of business and civic space and has drawn both support and strong criticism.
The council will take up the issue at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Sebastopol Community Center.
You can reach Staff Writer Kevin McCallum at 521-5207 or [email protected].
Planning commissioner replaces Pierce, who resigned after dispute with fellow council member
By KEVIN McCALLUM
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
<!-- /BYLINE --> <!-- PUBDATE --> Published: Friday, May 30, 2008 at 4:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, May 30, 2008 at 6:15 p.m.
https://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20080530/NEWS/805300414
<!-- /PUBDATE --><!-- ARTICLE --> https://srimg.ny.publicus.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=SR&Date=20080530&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=805300414&Ref=AR&MaxW=250&border=0 (https://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20080530/NEWS/805300414#)
Jen Thille, familiar with city's redevelopment plans The Sebastopol City Council on Thursday chose planning commissioner Jennifer Thille to fill the seat vacated earlier this month by Councilman Sam Pierce.
The council selected Thille for the seven-month post from a field of six applicants that included an architect, an attorney and two former mayors.
But as a planning commissioner, the 46-year-old Thille was probably the applicant most familiar with the city's contentious Northeast Area Specific Plan. The planning commission has already passed the plan, and the council is expected to begin deliberating on it next week.
Thille said she would "start all over" as a council member and remain impartial when discussing the plan.
"I've done my due diligence on the planning commission," she said. "(But) I don't claim to know it all. I don't claim to have all the answers."
Thille told the council she thought revitalizing the local economy, water conservation and traffic were the three biggest issues facing the west county community.
The other applicants were former Mayors Richard Johnson and Nick Stewart; Sebastopol school board member Guy Wilson; former planning commissioner Craig Williams; and Palm Drive Health Care Foundation board member Kathleen Shaffer.
Thille and Shaffer already had announced their intentions to run for the council in the fall, and Thille had received endorsements from Councilman Larry Robinson and Mayor Craig Litwin.
Councilwoman Linda Kelley asked Thille whether she could be independent in light of those endorsements.
Thille said remaining independent would not be a problem. "I'm not in anybody's pocket," she said.
The four council members interviewed each applicant for about 20 minutes. Their questions focused on leadership styles, ideas for balancing the budget, views on affordable housing and even traffic roundabouts.
Kelley asked Thille for her thoughts on the balance between chain stores and locally owned businesses.
"I don't want to see a lot of formula stores, but I think a few might be appropriate," Thille said.
After the interviews, council members voiced up to three top choices. Wilson and Shaffer each got two votes. Thille was the only one to get three votes.
The council then voted 3-1 to accept Thille for the post, with Kelley voting no.
Thille was sworn in moments later, and the council continued with other business.
Pierce, whose term was to expire at the end of the year, resigned earlier this month. He had been on the council for more than three years and said he stepped down "due to recent developments -- personal, professional and within the council."
His resignation came two days after he failed to obtain an inquiry into Kelley's conduct during her recent vandalism trial.
Kelley went on trial this spring for allegedly using a key to scratch a truck belonging to a friend of Pierce's. The jury deadlocked 9-3 in favor of convicting Kelley of misdemeanor vandalism. Kelley later reached a plea agreement in which she paid $500 to the truck's owner.
Pierce had claimed that in the trial, Kelley's attorney suggested he was conspiring against Kelley with the police department.
After Pierce resigned, some officials and community members urged the council to bring more civility to meetings.
Thille's appointment comes just days before the council resumes its public hearings on the northeast redevelopment proposal. The plan includes a public square, 300 new housing units and nearly 400,000 square feet of business and civic space and has drawn both support and strong criticism.
The council will take up the issue at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Sebastopol Community Center.
You can reach Staff Writer Kevin McCallum at 521-5207 or [email protected].