Chamber insider gets Encinitas Planning Commission seat
ENCINITAS — A split City Council on Wednesday appointed an Encinitas Chamber of Commerce insider and

self-described “policy wonk” to the city’s Planning Commission.

ENCINITAS — A split City Council on Wednesday appointed an Encinitas Chamber of Commerce insider and self-described “policy wonk” to the city’s Planning Commission.

Business-friendly Councilmen Dan Dalager and Jerome Stocks joined Mayor James Bond in appointing Caroline Thompson to a two-year term on the five-member panel.

Thompson, an independently employed government affairs consultant, serves on the Encinitas Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors and is chairwoman of the chamber’s committee on government affairs, although she disclosed neither affiliation on her application form or during her speech to the City Council last week.

In 2005, Thompson applied unsuccessfully to fill a vacancy on the Commission for the Arts.

Thompson was one of six residents who applied to represent the Old Encinitas community on the Planning Commission, a panel that meets twice monthly and often has the final say on land-use matters.

Councilwomen Maggie Houlihan and Teresa Barth voted to appoint Lisa Shaffer, a resident who holds a doctorate in public policy and teaches courses on sustainable development at UC San Diego.

Shaffer had told the council that she favored environmentally friendly projects.

“I think what we did was express our preferences,” Houlihan said after the meeting. “I think that a green perspective is something that residents have told us they wanted.”

In the Cardiff community, council members voted unanimously to appoint Planning Commissioner Tom McCabe to a third term.

Wednesday’s appointments to five advisory panels revealed undercurrents of political alliances and rivalries and a minority council bloc of Houlihan and Barth.

Bond, Stocks and Dalager voted Patricia Klaus off the traffic commission seat she had held for six years. Klaus has publicly supported Houlihan.

Parks and Recreation Commissioner Doug Long received votes from Bond, Dalager and Stocks but none from Barth or Houlihan. Long lost to Barth in last November’s City Council election.

The council installed 13 residents on five commissions, including: