Pursuant to Section 2.24.040(C) of the La Habra Municipal Code, the Planning Commission is to select a Chair and Vice Chair for the coming year, typically at the first regular meeting in April.

Traditionally, the positions of Chair and Vice Chair have been rotated equitably between the members of the Planning Commission.  However, there is no Municipal Code or City Council policy that governs this process. The following table shows the Planning Commission appointment history for the past five years.

Recent Appointment History
 

The Commission has a couple of options to consider:

Chair - It has been the Commission’s past practice to nominate the Vice Chair to fill the Chair. Under the current rotation Commissioner Munoz would be the next Chair.  The Commission may also choose to deviate from standard/past practice by nominating another Commissioner.

Vice Chair - It has also been the Commission’s past practice to nominate a fellow Commissioner to serve as the Vice Chair with the expectation that the following year this Commissioner would become the Chair.  The positions of Chair and Vice Chair have been rotated equitably between the members of the Planning Commission in the past. If Commissioner Munoz is appointed as Chair, the next Planning Commissioner up for Vice Chair would be Commissioner Rojas.  Again, the Commission may also choose to deviate from standard/past practice by nominating another Commissioner for the Vice Chair position.

For reference here are the terms of the current Commissioners. On April 4, 2022, the City Council reappointed Commissioner Rojas to a four-year term and Commissioner Surich to fill the remainder of the term vacated by Darren Nigsarain, which expires on March 31, 2023.
 

It is suggested that the following process be implemented and allow the Deputy Director of Community and Economic Development (Deputy Director) to facilitate the Commission’s nomination through the following process (generally from Robert’s Rules of Order):

1. The Deputy Director will ask for nominations from the Commission for the Chair position (the same process would be subsequently used for the Vice Chair position as shown in parentheses).
“Nominations are now open for the position of Chair (Vice Chair)”

2. A Commissioner will nominate a Commissioner.
“I nominate Commissioner X.”

3. A Commissioner may Second the Nomination (optional but not needed).
"I second Commissioner X."

4. The Deputy Director will ask the Nominee to Accept or Decline the Nomination.  
"Do you accept the nomination?"
“I accept/respectfully decline the nomination.”

5. The Deputy Director will call for other Nominations and Steps 2-4 will be completed as necessary.
“For Chair (Vice Chair), Commissioner X has been nominated.  Are there any further nominations for Chair (Vice Chair)?”

6. The Deputy Director will close the nominations. 
“If not…[pause], nominations are closed.”

7. The Deputy Director will direct the Secretary to hold either a roll call or electronic vote, as needed, on the nominations in the order that the nominations were received.
"Will the Commission please vote on a motion of the Planning Commission of the City of La Habra appointing Commissioner X as Chair (Vice-Chair)?"

8. Once a Chair is selected, the process will be repeated for the Vice Chair.

In order to reorganize the Planning Commission in an orderly fashion, consistent with previous reorganizations, staff recommends that the Chair direct the Deputy Director to follow the above process.