Board Members Could Get Booted For Absenteeism Some In Bonner County Regularly Miss Hearings
Bonner County’s planning and zoning commission members have been put on notice: Show up for meetings or get the boot.
Some commission members have regularly missed meetings and public hearings. Their absence has held up subdivisions and proposed developments for as long as a month.
The chairman of the appointed commission, Jim Erdman, missed four of the past seven meetings. Another member, Len Baumann, has missed five meetings and now lives part-time in California.
County commissioners are asking Erdman and Baumann to resign. Other members were told if they miss more than three meetings they could be yanked from the commission and replaced.
“If they don’t have the time to devote, we need to get some people who do,” county commissioner Larry Allen said. “We are not saying anything negative about their performance, we just have to have them there. If they don’t respond, I think this board is prepared to go ahead and have public hearings to remove them.”
Neither Erdman nor Baumann could be reached for comment. Baumann has a home in Bonner County but moved to work in California. He shows up for about every third meeting.
At times so many members are absent the commission can’t seat a quorum. In those cases, the meeting or hearing must be canceled, as was this month’s meeting. That can anger residents and developers who often have lawyers and engineers scheduled to address the commission and deadlines for projects.
“We need bodies so we can get on with business,” planning director Marty Taylor said. “We have a whole bunch of projects that are now bumped up another month.”
Taylor has been planning director for four years. Since then only two meetings have had to be canceled. Both of them were this year, in January and April. Taylor now polls the commission to find out if he has a quorum for a meeting, but even that has backfired.
One member, Patty Douglas, was asked if she was going to attend an October meeting. She refused to say if she would be there, Taylor said. “She told us it was none of our business if she shows up or not.” Douglas has been absent twice in seven months and was not available for comment.
County commissioners have officially set a minimum number of meetings for planning board members to attend. Those who don’t agree to the terms will be removed from the commission and replaced, Allen said.
A letter was sent to each commission member this week. It noted how many meetings each member has already missed and asked them to attend at least nine of the 12 annual meetings.
“If you are unable to attend the required number of meetings, we would regretfully request you consider resigning from the commission to enable the board to appoint a replacement,” the letter said. “Lack of a timely response … may result in your removal from the commission.”
The seven-member commission deals with controversial subdivision and zoning issues. The evening meetings can drag on for more than five hours and sometimes last until midnight.
Only one member, Doreen Anders, has made every meeting since last October.
Allen hoped to revamp the planning and zoning commission’s duties this year. The idea was to strip them from making zoning decisions and allow the commissioners to take on the task. The planning commission would then focus on a comprehensive land use plan for the county. The county’s current land use plan is 20 years old.
Some residents and planning commission members opposed Allen’s attempt at streamlining the planning and zoning process. Some feared Allen only wanted to scrap the commission altogether.
The county plans to use an advisory ballot in the upcoming general election. It will poll residents on what they want done with the planning and zoning commission.
TIME TO QUIT? Two members of the Bonner County planning and zoning commission have been asked to resign: Chairman Jim Erdman, who missed four of the past seven meetings, and Len Baumann, who missed five meetings and now lives part time in California.