City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the City Council appoint and/or reappoint members to the
Planning Commission, Parks and Recreation Commission, Civil Service
Commission, Cultural Affairs Commission, Landlord-Tenant Mediation Board, and
the LA County West Vector Control District Board of Trustees.
BACKGROUND:
In March 2013, staff updated the standard application and created a fill-in form that
could be completed electronically, then emailed, printed out and faxed, mailed or
hand delivered. New for 2013, is a supplementary application page for the
Landlord-Tenant Mediation Board so that information specific to that body could be
included in the application process. All applications were sent out with a 2 page
information sheet providing information for successful completion of the
application.
In order to fill vacancies on the various commissions, committees and boards, staff
has taken the following steps to provide public notice:
• Advertisements ran in the Culver City News on April 18 and 25, May 2 and 9.
• Notice was posted on the City’s website starting on April 17
• Notice was posted on www.culvercitycrossroads.com and
www.thefrontpageonline.com from April 18-May 12.
Meeting Date: May 28, 2013 Item Number: A-2
CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM: Appointments and/or Reappointments to the
Planning Commission, Parks, Recreation and Community Services Commission,
Civil Service Commission, Cultural Affairs Commission, Landlord-Tenant Mediation
Board and the West LA Vector Control Board.
Contact Person/Dept.: Jeremy Green Phone Number: (310) 253-5859
Fiscal Impact: Yes [] No [ X ] General Fund: Yes [] No [ X]
Public Hearing: [ ] Action Item: [ X ] Attachments: [X]
Commission Action Required: Yes [] No [X] Date: _______________
Public Notification: Applicants (); Meetings and Agendas – City Council (05/21/13);
Applicants (05/21/13)
Department Approval:
Martin R. Cole (05/21/13)
City Attorney Approval:
Carol Schwab (by H. Baker) (05/21/13)
Chief Financial Officer Approval:
Jeff Muir (by M. Noller) (05/21/13)
City Manager Approval:
John Nachbar (05/21/13) City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
• Notice was sent via email through GovDelivery on April 18 and 25, and May 2
and 9.
• Emails and/or phone calls were sent to commission/committee/board members
who were eligible to apply for reappointment.
• Emails were sent to past applicants.
DISCUSSION:
Consideration of Appointments:
Planning Commission – Three seats are available for appointment/re-
appointment. Office No. 2, currently held by John Kuechle, expires on June 30,
2013. Mr. Kuechle has served two terms on the Commission and is not eligible to
reapply at this time. Office No. 3 currently held by Scott Wyant, expires on June
30, 2013. Mr. Wyant was appointed to the Commission in 2009. Mr. Wyant
submitted a new application indicating his interest to again serve. Anthony
Pleskow, who currently holds Office No. 5, informed staff that he would be
resigning from his office. Mr. Pleskow’s seat expires on June 30, 2014; therefore,
whoever is appointed to Office No. 5 will be serving a partial term of one year.
A total of eleven (11) people submitted timely applications indicating an interest in
serving on the Planning Commission as follows:
Peter Capone-Newton
Troy Jackson
Grady Lee
Cliff Moser
Dana Amy Sayles
David Steinitz
Dane Twichell
Scott Voelz
David VonCannon
Erin Walker
Scott Wyant
When making these appointments, the City Council is requested to indicate which
appointee will complete the unexpired term of Mr. Pleskow.
Parks, Recreation and Community Services Commission – Two seats are
available for appointment/re-appointment. Office No. 4, currently held by Laura
Stuart, expires on June 30, 2013. Ms. Stuart was appointed to the Commission in City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
2009. Ms. Stuart submitted a new application indicating her interest to again
serve. Office No. 5, currently held by Mary Ann Greene, expires on June 30, 2013.
Ms. Greene was appointed to the Commission in 2009. Ms. Greene submitted a
new application indicating her interest to again serve. A total of four (4) people
submitted timely applications indicating an interest in serving on the Parks,
Recreation and Community Services Commission as follows:
Mary Ann Greene
Scott Shipley
Laura Stuart
Scott Zeidman
Civil Service Commission – One seat is available for appointment. Office No. 2,
currently held by Sandy Stivers, expires on June 30, 2013. Ms. Stivers has served
two terms on the Commission and is not eligible to reapply at this time. A total of
three (3) people submitted timely applications indicating an interest in serving on
the Civil Service Commission as follows:
Michel Chagouri
Darryl Cherness
David Friedland
Cultural Affairs Commission – Two seats are available for appointment/re-
appointment. Office No. 1, currently held by Gayle Smashey, expires on June 30,
2013. Ms. Smashey has served two terms on the Commission and is not eligible
to reapply at this time. Office No. 2 is currently held by John B. Williams who was
appointed on November 1, 2012 to complete Marlyn Musicant’s unexpired term.
Mr. William’s current partial term expires on June 30, 2013. Mr. Williams is eligible
to be appointed to a first full term, which would expire on June 30, 2017 and is
further eligible to be appointed to a second full term upon the expiration of the first
full term, as per Section 3.03.015(A) of the Culver City Municipal Code. Mr.
Williams has submitted a new application indicating his interest to continue serving
on the Cultural Affairs Commission. A total of five (5) people submitted timely
applications indicating an interest in serving on the Cultural Affairs Commission as
follows:
Nathan Dana Aldrich
Susan Anderson
Elena Sweda Neff*
Eric Spies
John B. Williams
*Please note: Ms. Sweda Neff has also applied for re-appointment to a seat on the
Los Angeles County West Vector Control District Board of Trustees. Section City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
3.03.005 of the Culver City Municipal Code includes, in pertinent part, “…No
person may serve on more than one (1) Commission at the same time…” The
Vector Control District Board of Trustees is not a City Commission. So, the City
Council will need to determine if they wish to apply this standard to non-City
created bodies.
Landlord-Tenant Mediation Board – Please note that there are no term limits for
the Landlord-Tenant Mediation Board.
Tenant Representative/Tenant Alternative – With the retirement of Willard
Dunwoody III, there is one seat available for appointment. There is also a vacancy
for one Tenant Alternate position. Three applications were received for the Tenant
Representative and one of those applicants also expressed interest in the Tenant
Alternate position:
Claire-Elise (Michaels) Broner
Shireen Daytona
Taria Lewis (Tenant Rep or Tenant Alternative)
The Bylaws of the LTMB state that: “...all Tenant Members shall be tenants of
residential rental property within the City of Culver City and neither the applicant
nor the applicant's spouse or dependents shall have any financial interest in
residential income-producing property either in Culver City or elsewhere.” Please
note that Ms. Lewis is a tenant of residential property within the City of Culver City.
She does own investment property in St Louis, but that property is not income
producing and has been a vacant building for several years.
Landlord Representative/Landlord Alternate – Two seats are available for
Landlord Representative appointments. The Landlord Representative office,
currently held by Justin Lescoulie, expires on June 30, 2013, and Mr. Lescoulie
submitted an application seeking reappointment. The second seat was held by
Steve Reitzfeld, who stepped down from his position for a position on the Finance
Advisory Committee. There is one seat available for the Landlord Alternate Office.
The Landlord Alternate position, currently held by Michael Berlin, expires on June
30, 2013. Mr. Berlin has applied to be a Member-at-Large Representative. Three
applications were received for Landlord Representative:
Justin Lescoulie
Linda Shahinian
Olga Vaysberg
Member at Large Representative – There are two Member-At-Large positions,
which are currently vacant. One application was received for this position as
follows:
City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
Michael Berlin
The Bylaws for the LTMB include the following: “"Members-at-large" members
shall neither be tenants nor shall they own or have an ownership interest in any
residential income-producing property in Culver City. Furthermore, preferably,
neither "member-at-large" applicants or their spouse or dependents shall have any
direct business or financial relationship with either landlords, property managers or
real estate professionals within the City of Culver City or elsewhere. "Member-at-
large" applicants shall be residents of the City of Culver City.” (emphasis added)
Mr. Berlin has stated on his application that he is associated with Weatherby
Realty Inc as a Realtor and Property Supervisor. After further staff contact, Mr.
Berlin had mentioned that he, until recently, was the manager of a piece of
commercial real estate located in Culver City.
LA County West Vector Control District Board of Trustees – The City Council
also appoints one member to the LA County West Vector Control District Board of
Trustee, which is not a City-created body. Elena Sweda Neff* currently holds the
position and has submitted her application to be reappointed.
*Please note: Ms. Sweda Neff has also applied for a seat on the Cultural Affairs
Commission. Section 3.03.005 of the Culver City Municipal Code includes, in
pertinent part, “…No person may serve on more than one (1) Commission at the
same time…” The Vector Control District Board of Trustees is not a City
Commission. So, the City Council will need to determine if they wish to apply this
standard to non-City created bodies.
FISCAL ANALYSIS:
Costs for advertising the availabilities totaled $2,040. For new appointees to the
Landlord-Tenant Mediation Board, there will be 30 hours of professional mediation
training at a cost of $625 each and AB 1234 Ethics training. These costs would be
absorbed in existing Housing Division Budget appropriations. For new
appointments to all other commissions, committees or boards, individuals who
have not already completed AB 1234 Ethics training must do so, along with Brown
Act training. Sufficient funds for training have been included in the Non-
Departmental Division of the City Manager’s Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year
2012/2013 and will be available should the City Council retain these funds in the
City Council Adopted Budget for Fiscal Year 2012/2013.
City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
ATTACHMENTS:
1. List of all applicants
2. Copies of all applications (with personal information redacted)
MOTION:
That the City Council:
1. Appoint/reappoint ____________________and ____________________to fill
Offices No. 2 and 3 of the Planning Commission for a four year term expiring
June 30, 2017.
2. Appoint __________________ to fill Office No. 5 of the Planning Commission
for a partial term of one year, expiring on June 30, 2014.
3. Appoint/reappoint ____________________ and ____________________to fill
Offices No. 4 and 5 of the Parks, Recreation, and Community Services
Commission for four year terms expiring June 30, 2017.
4. Appoint ____________________ to fill Office No. 2 of the Civil Service
Commission for a four-year term expiring June 30, 2017.
5. Appoint/reappoint ____________________ and ____________________to fill
Offices No. 1 and 2 of the Cultural Affairs Commission for four year terms
expiring June 30, 2017.
6. Appoint ____________________ to fill the Tenant Representative and
____________________ to fill the Tenant Alternative Offices, each to serve a
term of three years expiring June 30, 2016.
7. Appoint ____________________ and ____________________ to fill the two
Landlord Representatives Offices and ____________________ to fill the
Landlord Alternate Office all to serve a term of three years, expiring June 30,
2016.
8. Appoint ____________________ to fill the Member-at-Large Representative
Office on the Landlord-Tenant Mediation Board to serve a term of three years,
expiring June 30, 2016.
9. Appoint ___________________ to fill the LA County West Vector Control
District Board Office.
MEETING DATE: May 28, 2013
AGENDA ITEM: Appointments and/or Reappointments to the Planning
Commission, Parks, Recreation and Community Services
Commission, Civil Service Commission, Cultural Affairs
Commission, Landlord-Tenant Mediation Board and the
West LA Vector Control Board.
ATTACHMENTS
Pages
1. List of all applicants 1
2. Copies of all applications (with personal information 2-215
redacted)
COMMISSION, BOARD AND ADVISORY APPOINTMENTS
LIST OF ALL 2013 APPLICANTS
Planning Commission (3)
Peter Capone-Newton
Troy Jackson
Grady Lee
Cliff Moser
Dana Amy Sayles
David Steinitz
Dane Twichell
Scott Voelz
David VonCannon
Erin Walker
Scott Wyant*
Parks, Recreation and Community Services Commission (2)
Mary Ann Greene*
Scott Shipley
Laura Stuart*
Scott Zeidman
Civil Service Commission (1)
Michel Chagouri
Darryl Cherness
David Friedland
Cultural Affairs Commission (2)
Nathan Dana Aldrich
Susan Anderson
Elena Sweda Neff
Eric Spies
John B. Williams*
Landlord-Tenant Mediation Board (1 Tenant, 1 Tenant Alternate, 2 Landlord, 1 Landlord
Alternate, 2 Members at Large)
Michael Berlin* (Member at Large - was Landlord Alternate)
Claire-Elise (Michaels) Broner (Tenant Rep)
Shireen Daytona (Tenant Rep)
Justin Lescoulie* (Landlord)
Taria Lewis (Tenant Rep or Tenant Alternative)
Linda Shahinian (Landlord)
Olga Vaysberg (Landlord)
LA County West Vector Control District Board (1)
Elena Sweda Neff*
*Incumbent
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