The chair of the Peninsula Community Planning Board has announced her intent to resign from the position, although she will apparently continue in an active role on the board.
Dee Wylie made the announcement in an Oct. 5 e-mail to fellow board members, city officials and community members.
A new chair will likely be voted in at the next planning board meeting on Thursday, Oct. 18 if board members accept the resignation, according to vice chair Geoff Page. Although next in line for the position, Page said he would prefer not to take the role of chair for various reasons.
Wylie said she is resigning because she does not want to stand in the way of project applicants and others. She said the board has not served the public good during recent meetings because of “personal agendas and personal perceptions.”
She said she plans to travel on family business during the month of November and will not be able to continue her responsibilities as chair, she said.
Wylie had been considering her decision prior to a series of recent letters to the editor submitted to the Peninsula Beacon about her and the board’s overall performance, which she said reflect poorly on the board.
“Bottom line is that I’m concerned the board looks bad because of the improper accusations,” she said.
Page said he hopes that once a new chair is elected and the meetings are held according to board guidelines and rules of decorum, the PCPB will be able to “get back on track.”
Although Page would likely act as chair at the outset of the Oct. 18 meeting, he said he would prefer that someone else take the position longer term.
He said work commitments would prevent him from effectively running the board because of the responsibilities of creating agendas and assuming the direct responsibility of communicating with the city over potential projects. He also said his personal politics could give the community a bad impression of the board.
“I’ve become a bit of a lightning rod “¦ I wouldn’t want that standing in the way, that’s for sure,” he said.
Page said he would like to see someone “more neutral” take over the chairmanship. He said he does not expect the next chair election to be as contentious as some of the board’s recent rounds.
Past board and committee elections illustrated the PCPB’s sharply divided opinions over how the board should treat its responsibilities as an advisory committee to the city’s Planning Department.
At the heart of recent board discussions was who should be the Peninsula Community Planning Board representatives to the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority’s Airport Noise Advisory Committee and to a Land-Use Advisory Committee to the airport.
Page said with this settled, the board as a whole can attend to its main function in reviewing and recommending to the city development proposals in Point Loma.
For more information, visit www.pcpb.net.