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Council alters face of Planning Commission
By Steve Enders
The Saratoga City Council made a drastic move last week, appointing four brand-new members to the city's Planning Commission, choosing them over former commissioners who were hoping to return for new terms.
Former commission chairman Mark Pierce did not seek another term, but Marcia Kaplan, Cheryl Martlage and Henry Murakami had reapplied for re-appointment.
Instead, the City Council on April 27 picked newcomers Lisa Kurasch, Erna Jackman, George Roupe and Ann Waltonsmith to sit on the seven-member panel, which advises the council on land use, zoning and development issues. Their terms will last four years.
Mary-Lynne Bernald will serve as the commission's new chairwoman.
The four new members have no firsthand experience with city decision-making policies, but some have been firsthand witnesses to various segments of city politics.
Erna Jackman
Jackman failed in her run for a City Council seat last November, as Evan Baker squeaked to victory over incumbent Gillian Moran and Jackman, a former nurse and Saratoga resident of 16 years. After her loss, Jackman pledged to remain active in city issues.
Lisa Kurasch
Lisa Kurasch has also taken an active role in city issues, lately as a vocal opponent of the city's drive to upgrade the Marshall Lane Elementary School playfield, near her home.
Because of her proximity to the school, however, Kurasch will probably be forced to abstain from voting on any decision if and when the issue ever reaches the Planning Commission.
City Council member Nick Streit is in the same quandary, unable to vote or hear public testimony as a councilmember because he also lives near Marshall Lane.
"I may not be able to vote," Kurasch affirmed, adding that she had her sights on a Planning Commission seat long before the playfields issue came up. Kurasch privately consults on landscaping projects and said she hopes to bring knowledge of environmentally sustainable building options to the commission.
"Everyone's got their freedom of expression, and I never thought I'd become such a spokesperson [against the fields]," she said.
George Roupe, a Saratoga resident for 28 years, retired last year from General Electric's Nuclear Energy Division after working there since 1962 in various engineering and sales functions. Roupe is also active with AYSO soccer, and has served as a fundraiser for the Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST).
Waltonsmith has helped lead the Saratoga Hills Road Association, and lists affiliations with the Sierra Club's Loma Prieta Chapter and the League of Women Voters.
Despite the council's decision to change the guard, the overall ethic of the commission doesn't appear to have been dramatically altered.
In every one of their application statements, each new commissioner lists similar opinions on open-space issues, concern over neighborhood "character" for new home development and maintaining a distinct, small city in light of nearby urban sprawl.
Saratoga Mayor Jim Shaw said that the council's decision to appoint four new commissioners was a relatively easy one that did not require a lot of discussion time.
"When we got to evaluating them, everything just kind of fell into place," Shaw said. He continued, saying that the individuals shared many of the same ideas as the council on the issues talked about over the two weeks of interviews with the applicants.
Shaw said that the commissioners' toughest duties ahead will probably be in the "ever-continuing pressure" to build large houses on small lots in the city, and to deal with neighborhood character.
The city's planning department will have a busy time ahead in acquainting the new commissioners with the city's codes and regulations. According to City Clerk Susan Ramos, when Community Development Director James Walgren returns from a planners' conference he will begin meeting with the new commissioners.
Walgren had said in previous interviews that he was looking forward to working with whoever the new members turned out to be.
The four planning commissioners are sure to see a busy year ahead. What's been time mostly spent on building applications for single family homes and home development over recent months is likely to change soon as larger issues begin appearing at City Hall.
Projects the commission will probably see in coming months, besides the playfields issue, include the Sobrato development on the Sisters of Notre Dame property, a yet-to-be-proposed expansion of the facilities at Our Lady of Fatima and possible expansions of both the Saratoga Community Library and the Saratoga firehouse, should voters choose to finance those projects with bond money.
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Saratoga, California Since 1975
