Blue Ribbon Budget Task Force Members Announced

The Walnut Creek City Council has selected 15 to serve on the Community Blue Ribbon Task Force on Fiscal Health.

The council members made their selections Saturday after interviewing 30 finalists. The city received a total of 110 applications after Mayor Cindy Silva announced the formation of the task force in December. 

Selected to serve are: Jason Cooke; Leslie Dawson; Ethan Friedman; Michael Garmon; Loella Haskew; Bill Hunt; Jerrold Kaplan; John Kopchik; Karen Majors; Jim Pezzaglia; Bob Pickett; Lloyd Silver; Laura Simpson; Tom Terrill and Dan Walden.

The council considered applicants using the following criteria: financial aptitude; length of time living in the city; involvement in the community; ability to work in groups and with others; open-mindedness; interested in finding solutions; good listening skills.

The task force members will be introduced and sworn in at the City Council meeting of Tuesday, February 15 at 7 p.m., said Gayle Vassar, the city's communications and outreach manager. 

The purpose of the task force is to recommend financial strategies that could be implemented to meet future operational and capital budget needs.

The task force's first meeting will be Monday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m.Thereafter, the task force will meet the second and fourth Tuesday of the month beginning March 8. Task force meetings are open to the public.