Published Opinion Piece Lands Banning Commissioner In Hot Water

BANNING, CA — Banning Planning Commissioner Marco Santana is facing heat over an opinion piece he wrote that is critical of the Inland Empire's booming warehousing sector and what he perceives as the city's interest in jumping on the trend.

Santana may lose his commission seat as a result of his opinions that were published Jan. 19 in the Record Gazette.

During the Feb. 8 Banning City Council meeting, council members will consider a recommendation by City Manager Douglas Schulze to remove Santana from the city's Planning Commission.

"Unfortunately, Mr. Santana has openly and publicly expressed a very clear bias against warehousing, which will require him to be recused from consideration of any future warehouse project application that comes before the Planning Commission," Schulze wrote in a staff report. "There are currently as many as five (5) known warehouse projects that are likely to be considered by the Planning Commission in 2022."

Schulze's report stated that Santana has been advised to recuse himself from upcoming decisions on warehousing projects.

"In addition, Mr. Santana has been informed of the City Council consideration to remove him from the Planning Commission," the city manager wrote.

During the Banning Planning Commission's most recent Feb. 2 meeting, Santana was absent.

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 — nearly all seniors — 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.

In his 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 term on the Planning Commission expires Jan. 31, 2023.

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.