City Looks to Fill Position After Planning Commission Chair Resigns

Gilroy will be looking for a new member to join the city's after Chair Ben Anderson resigned last week, said City Administrator Tom Haglund.

After spending the last year commuting from Texas to chair the commission, Anderson announced his resignation during their meeting last Thursday.

The four-year commissioner said he no longer has a residence in Gilroy, a requirement to serve on the commission. He announced his resignation at Thursday’s meeting.

“Basically, all I’ve been doing is manipulating my work schedule to be in Gilroy during the first week of the month,” Anderson said from his home in Fort Worth, TX. “It just made sense to move.”

Anderson said his employer for the past year, the U.S. arm of the Japan-based chemical engineering company, Maruyama, hired him with the knowledge that he would have to travel to Gilroy to chair the monthly meetings.

“I was a planning commissioner before I started this job, and they knew that,” said Anderson.

With Anderson’s resignation, Vice Chairman Jim Gailey will take over while the remaining members vote on a member to lead the commission.

Mayor Al Pinheiro presented a certificate of gratitude to Anderson at the meeting, saying he'd received word of the resignation the previous night and knew that the commissioner would not be able to attend the usual presentation of awards at the next meeting of the City Council.

“That’s what I’m here for tonight, to thank you for the work you have done within the commission and our community,” said the mayor.

The former commissioner said he would miss Gilroy, having lived here since 1988 and volunteered at the for more than 10 years. 

“I missed it the minute I walked out,” said Anderson.

That doesn’t mean that Gilroy has seen the last of him, Anderson said.

“I’d like to come back and give City Council a run,” he said, looking past the next four to five years. “Being on the planning commission has really spurred me to run for public office.”

His parting advice to city government: “Remember that we are in a failing economy,” specifying that planners should be cautious when applying fees to development projects.

The seven-member planning commission is appointed by the . It has the final say on some development issues but largely serves as an advisory body to the council.

The city is also looking to fill a vacancy on both the and Library commissions, said the city administrator.