Not even a coin flip to fill resigning Debbie Beck’s chair.
The city’s charter allows for the mayor to choose a new councilmember, but newly elected Mayor Nick Smith wisely declined, instead saying that he wanted a majority of the council to choose from a field of applicants.
The applicants include some with previous city experience, including two current members of the Planning Commission (Ross Davison and Donald Murphy), a former councilmember (Cynthia Garfield), the chair of the P.G. Architectural Review Board (Anna Bornstein) and a member of the Economic Development Commission (Michael Gibbs).
The remaining three citizens who applied include a man with an extensive background in the federal government (Melvin Dubee), an entrepreneur with a law degree (Jennifer Kelly) and a software engineer and community volunteer deeply concerned about climate change (Eugene Loh).