Time to reassess the commitment of Mayor Singh-Allen's planning commission, other committee appointments?
Just how committed are these planning commissioners to fulfilling their duties?
Elk Grove operates under a city manager and a weak mayor style of government. Put another way, a city manager directs the day-to-day operations of the city with broad policy guidance from a city council.
For Elk Grove, one of the five members is a directly elected mayor, who is essentially a ceremonial role in a city manager's weak mayor system. Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen conducts city council meetings and is elected on a city-wide basis, unlike her four city council colleagues, who are elected on a by-district basis, and is the de facto city council representative.
Aside from these ceremonial duties, in Elk Grove's weak mayor system, the mayor is responsible for one function—the nomination of residents to the city's various commissions and committees. The mayor nominates individuals, and appointments are confirmed with the consensus of the other four city council members.
With this in mind, it was surprising to receive an email stating that the planning commission meeting on Thursday, August 15, had been canceled. The reason for the cancellation was noteworthy.
The meeting was not canceled because planning applicants pulled their requests from the agenda. However, it was canceled 72 hours before it was to be convened "due to a lack of quorum."
Put another way, no more than two of the five planning commission members would attend the meeting. In other words, at least three of the five members said they would skip the meeting.
Other meetings could have been canceled because planning commissioners decided to skip ahead of time, but we cannot recall when or if that has ever happened.
Mayor Singh-Allen appointed all five Elk Grove Planning Commissioners. Just how committed are these planning commissioners to fulfilling their duties?
Given that the mayor quit a crucial regional homelessness policy committee, could her nominations reflect her willingness to solve problems vexing municipal governments? After all, anybody can pose for social media selfies, but it takes authentic leadership to roll up your sleeves and do the people's work.
Ultimately, the responsibility of vetting the mayor nominations falls to her four city councilmen, who may or may not be willing to question the commitments of nominees to various commissions and committees.
Regardless, given this cancellation, at a minimum, the commitment of the mayor's nominees needs to be examined in the future.
