Los Altos City Council members discussed Planning Commissioner Kate Disney’s alleged violations of city norms and rules at last week’s council meeting, though whether any punitive action will be taken remains unclear.
Council members ultimately agreed during the Sept. 26 meeting, without a vote, that Vice Mayor Jonathan Weinberg would have a private one-on-one discussion with Disney to address the alleged violations and next steps.
The agenda item was brought before the council by Weinberg, who serves as the council liaison to the Planning Commission. Although Weinberg said raising the matter at the meeting “was not something (he) wanted to,” he alleged that Disney violated the city’s norms and rules by emailing council members the day after the Planning Commission voted Sept. 7 to approve zoning amendments that would allow – not ensure – the construction of higher-density housing at Rancho Shopping Center.
Disney, the only commissioner to vote against the amendments, said she was concerned about the loss of potential commercial growth at Rancho in favor of residential construction. She requested that the council allow the Planning Commission to look into other issues, such as light and noise pollution, thus undermining the commission’s near-unanimous decision.
Weinberg noted that he responded to Disney’s email, looping City Manager Gabriel Engeland into the email thread, and told her to call him. Weinberg said he did not receive a call or a follow-up email from Disney, which prompted him to bring the matter to the council.
“Simply put, we must hold our commissioners accountable for their actions and we must make it clear that commissioners have to know the rules and regulations and abide by them,” Weinberg said.
According to Weinberg, Disney’s email violated “several” of the council’s norms: She didn’t preface her email with the disclaimer that she was writing in her capacity as a resident rather than as a commissioner; her email was persuasive and she intended to use her position as a commissioner to further her desires; she did not seek the consent of two other commissioners; she attempted to undermine and disrespected the majority decision of the commission of which she’s a part; and she did not request that a copy of her email be sent to the rest of the commission.
“Commissioner Disney’s actions are serious violations of our Commission Handbook and they also undermine the trust and effectiveness of the planning commission. … We simply cannot allow 80 commissioners to believe that they can appeal to the council this way whenever they are in the minority,” Weinberg said.
Although the outcome rested on a discussion, the intent of the council item was a question throughout the meeting for council members including Neysa Fligor. Councilmember Lynette Lee Eng emphasized that she didn’t want the council’s ultimate action to be punitive.
Disney defended herself during the council meeting, but the council’s livestream cut out during her allotted speaking time. Although the Town Crier reached out to city officials for a full recording of the meeting, it was not uploaded to YouTube before Monday afternoon’s print deadline.
Commissioner education
Nearly all council members said they would have appreciated Disney acknowledging her missteps and noted that she did indeed violate city norms, an admission that was allegedly missing during her statement.
Weinberg and Councilmember Pete Dailey were also skeptical of Disney’s claims that she did not receive a Commission Handbook and that her understanding of commissioners’ expectations was deficient.
Joe Beninato, a planning commissioner appointed at the same time as Disney, spoke as a resident during public comment at the council meeting about his experience with “inadequate” and “weak” commissioner training from the city, which included links and a YouTube video.
He added that before their first Planning Commission meeting, commissioners were required to earn and submit a certificate showing compliance with state training on ethics from the Fair Political Practices Commission.
“We have to get better at educating our commissioners,” Beninato said.
City spokeswoman Sonia Lee said the commissioner onboarding process is “extensive.”
“Topics include California Fair Political Practices Commission, California Public Records Act, Ralph M. Brown Act and a two-hour ethics training course,” she said. “Additionally, a thorough training of commission roles, policies and procedures takes place at this time.”
In addition, the Commission Handbook, available online, addresses conflicts of interest and incompatible activities, meeting procedures and the Brown Act.
Training is conducted annually after commissioners are appointed; this year’s training is coming up and will be held in person.
“Training will be completed in person as an agenda item for each commission in October and/or November,” Lee said. “During the pandemic, a general virtual training was held for all commissioners, and then specific commission training was provided as well. Additional training takes place throughout the year, if needed.”
