Carbondale Planning & Zoning Commission elects Jared as chair and Jesse Garcia as vice chair; commissioners raise pay for consideration

The Carbondale Planning & Zoning Commission voted to install Jared as chair and Jesse Garcia as vice chair during its regular meeting. Jared accepted the chair nomination, saying, “I accept the nomination.” Jesse accepted the vice-chair nomination; commissioners approved both appointments by voice vote (no roll-call tally was recorded in the transcript).

The commission’s annual election followed a staff reminder of the municipal code requirement to select a chair and vice chair each year, and a short discussion about whether a chair who does not live in Carbondale would create a conflict. One commissioner noted that the municipal code permits nonresidents to serve and described the chair’s role as primarily procedural: presiding over meetings and keeping discussion civil and on time. Commissioners highlighted experience, attendance and meeting management as criteria for leadership roles; several members praised Garcia’s communication, with one saying he articulates and explains code interpretations “in a way that I think we could all understand.”

During commissioner comments, a member announced an immediate resignation as chair and urged the commission to send a formal request to the Board of Trustees asking that Planning & Zoning members be compensated for their time and effort. “I would like to send up a formal request to the BO that PNZ members are compensated for their time and efforts put into this commission,” the commissioner said. Supporters described modest pay as an incentive to broaden applicant pools; one commissioner recalled being paid $100 per meeting in another town and called the stipend an acknowledgement of the work involved.

The commission asked staff to coordinate the formal request and follow the town’s internal procedures for forwarding the proposal to trustees. No formal vote on compensation occurred at this meeting.

Next steps: staff will work with the commission to prepare and forward any formal compensation request to the Board of Trustees; newly elected chair Jared will also be invited to participate in upcoming RFP interviews for a code consultant (see separate story on staff updates).