Politics & Government
Mayor ‘Self Appoints’ to Oversight Board
Mayor John Buchanan and Director of Administrative Services Karen Schneider will serve on an Oversight Board for the City Council's new redevelopment responsibilities.
With unanimous backing by City Council members, Mayor John Buchanan appointed himself and Karen Schneider, Director of Administrative Services for Sierra Madre, to an Oversight Board. The board is responsible for overseeing the City Council’s activities as the successor agency to the former Sierra Madre Redevelopment Agency.
Mayor Pro Tem Josh Moran nominated Mayor Buchanan for the role. The Mayor first insisted that it would be awkward for him to appoint himself, but said that if his colleagues agreed unanimously that he should be on the committee, he would be up for the task.
Mayor Buchanan’s term will end in April, so his appointment will not conflict with City Council duties.
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Supervisor Michael Antonovich requested that the Mayor make his appointments by March 6, so the Council was under a time crunch for this decision.
About the Oversight Board’s Duties
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Since the Sierra Madre Redevelopment Agency and similar agencies across the state were dissolved on February 1, AB X 126 states that an Oversight Board must be established to oversee the dissolution of the redevelopment agency and the successor agency’s activities.
The Oversight Board will contain ten members total: two people from Sierra Madre, one from the largest special district, two appointed by the County, one appointed by the Community Colleges and one appointed by the county Superintendent of Education.
The Board will oversee the allocation of redevelopment funds, implementation and completion of redevelopment projects already approved by the City Council and approve the Recognized Obligation Payment Schedule.
The Council and City Staff stressed the importance of the Sierra Madreans' roles on this board, as they will be advocates for the city. They will likely have to fight to keep redevelopment funds in Sierra Madre and convince other board members that projects are worthwhile.The Oversight Board will approve budgets for redevelopment projects set by the City Council.
By law, one of the board members had to be “an employee associated with the bargaining unit which included the largest number of employees providing services to the former redevelopment agency.”
There is no compensation for serving on the Oversight Board.