By LESTER CHANG
The Sunnyvale City Council has removed Kevin Cornish from the city's Housing and Human Services Commission for unexcused absences at three consecutive meetings this year.
The council didn't discuss its action at its Dec. 17 meeting, but it has the power to remove any commission member who acts in such way and to appoint a successor, according to city officials.
The unseating of a city commission member is a rare occurrence, said David Vossbrink, the city's community relations officer.
"He might not have been up to the task," Vossbrink said. "There have been only a couple of times when a commission member was unseated by the council for poor attendance."
Cornish was not available for comment.
In his place, the council appointed Carolyn Wilkins-Greene to the commission. An appointee of Councilmember Robin Parker, Wilkins-Greene is an instructor of intercultural and international studies at De Anza College.
Her term will expire June 30, 1999.
Cornish was appointed to the commission by Parker in June. He attended meetings in July and August and "disappeared" and "left no forwarding address," city officials said.
City documents said Parker and city staffers made numerous attempts to contact Cornish after he missed two consecutive meetings. But Cornish never responded, the documents said.
Ray Kiddy, vice chairperson on the city commission, said the removal of Cornish was "probably justified."
"He seems like a nice enough person. There wasn't anything about him that suggested there would be problems," Kiddy said. "They [city staffers] tried to get in touch with him, but he wasn't around."
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, December 25, 1996.
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