Planning Commission appointments deserve the utmost public scrutiny; especially with billions of dollars at stake from development opportunities including the Concord Naval Weapons property and infill projects in and around an expanded Redevelopment District and Downtown Concord that will create thousands of homes, jobs, and potential tax revenue.

Unfortunately, the public knows very little about the process or the applicants including their economic or political interests. And the public can only guess about the unseen backers—the usual suspects—who provide not a little arm twisting of council members to make sure their man gets the job that may hasten some project’s approval by Council.

And let’s not forget that the Planning Commission’s got juice, and once established as a player, such an appointment is a safe sinecure from which to solidify connections and rev up for a run for a council seat.

For instance, this bunch of applicants includes Robert Hoag, a retired Account Manager for IBM and recent unsuccessful applicant for the recent vacant city council seat the CNWS Community Advisory Committee (ed. mistake). Harmon West, is a five year member of Concord’s Community Services Commission who has run twice for City Council unsuccessfully. Along with some other candidates, there is also Ron Leone, who works for Antioch School District, and serves as a director on the Mt Diablo Hospital Board.

Interestingly, in the past city council election, Leone’s unsuccessful campaign benefitted from an (apx) $22,000 donation in the form of a mailer sponsored by an independent expenditure funded by the East Bay Business Coalition.

So is this a fair fight or what? Do you believe this is an open and honest application process? Or is it so corrupt it’s not even worth talking about? Should a sitting council member who has received campaign donations from the East Bay Business Coalition recuse themselves from such a vote? What can be done to make Planning Commission appointments more transparent and invite more public input than what we have now? Hell…should there even be a Planning Commission the way it’s organized now?

In addition to the usual statements of Economic Interest, perhaps the City could require and make available to the public, applicant statements concerning past campaign contributions they have received. And, in addition to regular filings required by the State of California, City Council members could voluntarily republish for distribution on the City website their own campaign contribution list with name of donor, date, and amount of donation.

This way the public might have a chance to connect the dots, figure out what’s what, and raise a ruckus sooner than later after the fix is in.