Marco Santana Removed From Banning Planning Commission

BANNING, CA — Banning Planning Commissioner Marco Santana has been removed from his post by City Council following an opinion piece he wrote that was critical of the Inland Empire's booming warehousing sector and what he suggested was the city's interest in jumping on the trend.

During the Feb. 8 Banning City Council meeting, council members voted 4-1 to follow a recommendation by City Manager Douglas Schulze to remove Santana from the city's Planning Commission. Council Member David Happe cast the lone no vote.

In his Jan. 19 Record Gazette opinion piece titled "Warehousing Mortgages Banning's Future for a Quick and Unhealthy Buck," Santana wrote, "Banning leadership is succumbing to the empty promise of job prosperity from the warehouse industry, attempting to sell precious land and resources for a dollar today and worse health, social, and economic outcomes for us all tomorrow."

The piece continued, "High unemployment rates and low socioeconomic status often go hand-in-hand and are two areas often used to describe disadvantaged communities. While some cities like to cite the narrative that these warehouses are 'job centers,' these warehouse jobs do little to improve the conditions of the community because these jobs historically have high turnover rates, lower wages, and limited capacity for promotions within the company."

While Santana wrote that Banning does need local job growth, he elaborated, "allowing the warehousing industry to exploit our local labor force and add to the vicious cycle of poverty is not the answer."

Santana's published opinion comes ahead of a 5 p.m. Feb. 17 hearing for an appeal lodged against a 47-acre warehouse project known as Banning Point. The proposed development includes a 619,959-square-foot industrial warehouse and six retail buildings totaling 34,000 square feet in the Sun Lakes community.

On Dec. 1, dozens of Banning and Beaumont citizens urged the Banning Planning Commission to reject the Banning Point project. Despite the public opposition, the commission voted 3-2 to move the project forward. Commissioners Santana and David Lopez cast the no votes.

According to Schulze, Santana's public opinion piece could be perceived as prejudicial against the Banning Point project prior to the upcoming Feb. 17 appeal hearing, as well as other warehouse projects that could come before the city.

"There are currently as many as five known warehouse projects that are likely to be considered by the Planning Commission in 2022," according to Schulze.

City Attorney Kevin Ennis said the Record Gazette opinion piece could expose the city to possible legal liabilities regarding warehouse projects if Santana voted down a future proposed development as a city planning commissioner.

While Schulze said City Council could allow Santana to stay on the Planning Commission and recuse himself from decisions on warehousing projects, there would be no legal mechanism to force Santana to step out on those votes.

Santana was present at Tuesday's meeting. He did not promise to recuse himself from warehouse votes, but instead told council members he would have to take each project on a case-by-case basis based on the facts presented to him.

"I would make an unbiased decision based on the facts," Santana elaborated.

Well over a dozen public speakers turned out Tuesday night in support of Santana remaining on the Planning Commission.

"He has a voice of hope for this community," one speaker said of Santana.

According to his bio, Santana holds a master's degree in education and a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Riverside. He serves as a project engineer for a biomanufacturing firm. He graduated from Banning High School in 2011.

Santana's term on the Banning Planning Commission was set to expire Jan. 31, 2023. A decision on how to fill the vacancy left on the five-member commission was not decided Tuesday night.