Carlberg Exits Planning Commission

After a 16-year tenure, Jean Carlberg attended her last meeting as an Ann Arbor planning commissioner on Tuesday, June 14 – a working session held in the city council workroom at city hall.

Carlberg is a Democrat whose 12 years on city council  (1994-2006) representing Ward 3 overlapped with her time on the planning commission. She will not be serving on any other city government boards or commissions, at least for the moment. She is a board member of the Washtenaw Housing Alliance, a nonprofit consortium of groups working to end homelessness in the county.

Carlberg indicated that she had talked with mayor John Hieftje about a year ago about her decision not to seek reappointment. The mayor is responsible for nominating candidates to the city’s boards and commissions. Those nominations must be approved by the city council, but in recent years, dissent has been a rarity.

Hieftje is expected to put forward a nomination for Carlberg’s replacement at the council’s June 20 meeting, but has told neither Carlberg nor Wendy Rampson, head of the city’s planning staff, the name of the candidate. Tony Derezinski, a Ward 2 city councilmember who serves as the council’s representative on the nine-member planning commission, said he also hadn’t been told who would replace Carlberg.

According to Ann Arbor city code (Section 1:171 – 1:183 of Chapter 8, Title I): ”The Mayor shall notify Council at least 30 days prior to the expiration date of the term of office of any person serving on a board or commission. The Mayor shall place on the table the name of all reappointments no later than 60 days after the expiration date of the term of office.”

Wendy Woods, another former city councilmember who serves on the planning commission, is expected to be reappointed by Hieftje to another term. The current three-year terms for both Woods and Carlberg officially end on June 30. Regular meetings of the planning commission are held on the first and third Tuesdays of each month, but next Tuesday’s meeting – on June 21 – has been cancelled.