A real estate developer and a construction project manager are
the two newest members of the Morgan Hill planning commission.
A real estate developer and a construction project manager are the two newest members of the Morgan Hill planning commission.
The city council unanimously approved Mayor Steve Tate’s recommendation to appoint Jerry Dommer and John McKay to fill two vacant seats on the commission.
Tate said he gathered input from council members before recommending Dommer and McKay to the seats. The council members agreed that the two candidates were the most qualified among the field of nine applicants.
“All of the candidates were great, but (Dommer and McKay) are familiar with the kind of issues that planning commissions deal with,” Tate said.
Dommer will serve a four-year term on the commission, on a seat left empty by the resignation of Robert Escobar. McKay will finish an unexpired term that was formerly occupied by John Liegl, who also resigned recently. McKay’s term will expire June 2013.
Both will begin serving as commissioners June 1.
Dommer’s resume describes his 40-year-plus career in architecture and real estate development. He is the CEO of both Viridian Development International and Condor Development, companies that develop residential, office and commercial projects in the U.S., Asia, Central America, Europe and Africa.
He is also the president of Dommer Architects.
Dommer wrote in his questionnaire submitted with his application to be a commissioner that this experience qualifies him to help advise the city on planning issues.
“I have been the developer, designer, builder and real estate entity,” he wrote. “I have worked with planning departments and planning commissions for my entire career. They go hand in hand.”
McKay lists his occupation as “construction project manager,” specializing in developing projects throughout the design-build process, he wrote on his commissioner’s application. He is currently in the process of starting his own construction management firm that will be based in Morgan Hill and conduct business throughout the Santa Clara Valley. The focus of such a firm would be “tenant improvement work with new construction projects welcomed as they again become more prevalent,” his application states.
McKay said the “skill set” he possesses as a construction manager and which qualify him to be a commissioner “includes a natural inquisitiveness, quickly understanding new concepts, understanding and balancing needs with boundaries, expressing and executing directions clearly, build-in knowledge of construction (and) working well in a team environment while the strength to dissent.”
Reappointed to remain in their seats for another four-year term were commissioners Susan Koepp-Baker, Joe Mueller and Wayne Tanda.
Nine people applied to fill the five available seats, and all were interviewed by the city council May 4.
The planning commission is a seven-member board consisting of local residents who advise the council on development, planning and land use-related issues, ensuring that the city grows in accordance with its general plan.
Recent items the commission has voted on include numerous extensions of previously approved private residential construction schedules, a new medical marijuana dispensary ordinance, and zoning amendments – all of which will require follow-up consideration and approval by the council.
