Council confirms board and commission appointments
May 11, 2010
By Warren Kagarise
Former City Council candidates Nathan Perea and Vincent Ippolito will serve the city in a different capacity in the years ahead: as volunteer members of a city commission.
City Council members confirmed 35 appointees to city boards and commissions May 3. The appointees — selected by board officers and Mayor Ava Frisinger — advise officials about everything including development, the environment and the arts.
The mayor reappointed 18 members and chose 20 people for other positions. Some appointees, like former Councilman Joe Forkner, serve on multiple boards.
“Congratulations, and welcome to the many volunteers who will be helping the city with a wide array of issues and important work,” Frisinger said after the council OK’d the appointments.
Rules do not require appointees to live in Issaquah, but officials said most of the members reside in the city. The council praised members for donating time and expertise to the myriad boards and commissions.
“As you read this list of recommendations and realize that all of these people are volunteers to our community, I think our community is so rich in its citizens volunteering time, dedication to our community and the tremendous amount of resources that the city is getting,” Councilwoman Eileen Barber said.
Perea faced Tola Marts for a council seat last year; Marts clinched the post. Marts and other council members confirmed Perea as a member of the city Planning Policy Commission, the group tasked with reviewing growth blueprints and land-use decisions. He also serves as a member of the Urban Village Development Commission. Members oversee large-scale projects in the Issaquah Highlands and Talus.
The council also appointed Ippolito to the Planning Policy Commission. The former council candidate faced Joshua Schaer in the 2007 race.
“There’s a lot of names on here that are quite familiar to all of us on the City Council from various things — elections and roles in other boards and commissions — and it just shows that people want to get involved in whatever way they can,” Councilman Schaer said before the council decision.
Potential appointees applied for board and commission seats in January. Each panel conducted interviews with applicants, and then forwarded recommendations to the mayor for approval. The council had been scheduled to confirm the appointees last month, but some members had problems accessing a website to read the appointees’ applications. Officials delayed the decision until May 3.
“This is one of the great things about Issaquah, the amount of volunteer effort we get at the city and the involvement of the community,” Council President John Traeger said. “It’s what makes it the great place that it is.”
Warren Kagarise: 392-6434, ext. 234, or wkagarise@isspress.com. Comment at www.issaquahpress.com.
City Board and commission appointees
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