IN BRIEF

-- Noaki Schwartz

NEWPORT BEACH -- The City Council is accepting applications to fill a

vacancy on the Planning Commission left by Mark Hoagland, who resigned

after less than a year because it conflicted with his job.

Councilman Gary Adams said the type of people attracted to the position

“want to serve the city and have something to say about the future of the

city.”A committee comprising council members Dennis O’Neil, Tod Ridgeway

and Adams will narrow down the applicants and present them to the council

for final selection.

There is no single type of person who makes a good commissioner, Adams

said.

“I think the candidates can come from real diverse backgrounds. It’s a

function of the existing makeup and what the current body needs,” he

said, adding that in the past, commissioners have been accountants,

architects and businessmen.

Ridgeway, who was once a planning commissioner, said his ideal applicant

would be “an entrepreneur who understands both the business and

governmental side of things.”

Positions are for four-year terms and are unpaid. Applications are

available at the city clerk’s office and are due Nov. 24.