John Lindblom — Record-Bee staff
LAKEPORT — Frieda Camotta will conclude 10 years of service on the Lake County Planning Commission at the conclusion of 2006, according to District 1 Supervisor Ed Robey.
Robey, who appointed Camotta to the commission, said he is actively seeking her replacement and plans to begin interviewing applicants by next month.
“What I would like to see is that anyone who is interested send a letter to the courthouse to my attention by the end of September,” Robey said. “I am looking for a one- or two-page letter telling why they want to serve and their experience and qualifications in public service, including boards or commissions.”
Prior experience, he added, is not necessary, he added, but applicants must be residents of District 1.
Robey said he will interview all applicants and that the individual he appoints to the five-member commission “needs to be able to look at both sides of an issue.”
He explained, “That”s important because Planning Commission decisions are not simple. The planning commissioner is a quasi-judicial position. In a lot of cases you are sitting like a judge.”
Reflecting on Camotta”s work as a planning commissioner, Robey, who selected her from a field of five candidates, said she has “done an extraordinarily good job.”
He added, “she and her husband want to spend some time traveling. So, she feels it”s time to retire. She sent me an e-mail and told me she wanted me to start recruiting, I guess you”d call it, so that we could pick somebody by October.”
Camotta would then spend the time before January mentoring the new commissioner, said Robey, so that when the that person starts serving in January he or she would be up to speed with the other members of the commission.
Applicants should address their letters to Robey at 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport, CA 95453.
Contact John Lindblom at jlwordsmith@mchsi.com.
