Hollister
– City Councilman Brad Pike has announced his decision to
appoint a fresh face to the Hollister Planning Commission, Frank
Paura, who will be taking over for 12-year planning veteran Ray
Friend.
Hollister – City Councilman Brad Pike has announced his decision to appoint a fresh face to the Hollister Planning Commission, Frank Paura, who will be taking over for 12-year planning veteran Ray Friend.
“(Paura is) a lifelong resident of the county, he’s got a college degree and he’s spent years in the real estate business,” said Pike. “I think he’s got a real good grasp of what’s going on and a good perspective on land use and planning.”
Pike says his decision to appoint a new commissioner for District 5 was influenced more by a desire to bring fresh leadership to the planning commission than any beef with Friend’s past performance.
“It was a tough call, because Ray has been there 12 years, and he’s the chair,” he said. “But when it comes down to it there’s only so many positions, and everyone can’t be on the commission.”
Many of Friend’s contemporaries are distressed at the thought of seeing him go.
“I likened Ray to the captain of a ship, who’s kept the ship upright even through choppy waters,” fellow planning commissioner David Huboi said. “Even when we’re dealing with controversial issues, he’s kept everything on an even keel. I hold him in extremely high regard.”
Friend could not be reached for comment Thursday.
The city planning commission is responsible for a wealth of decisions involving Hollister developments, including interpreting and enforcing planning, zoning and subdivision regulations, and reviewing and processing use development proposals.
Paura, who will take his oath of office at the July 27 planning commissioner’s meeting, says he hopes to make the planning process run more smoothly for citizens who work with the commission.
“I think there’s some red tape we can streamline, that right now is taking longer than it should,” he said. “If there’s any way I can help my community, that’s what I want to do.”
Bringing Paura on board with the planning commission has long interested Pike.
“I was impressed with the work he did for his community on the ‘Stay Alive on 25’ campaign,” he said. “He was very dedicated to what we were doing, and we had talked about this in the past.”
Though Paura is aware that the planning commission is sometimes forced to make difficult decisions, he is confident that he is up to the challenge.
“You just have to approach one issue at a time and work together to do the best you can do,” he said.
Danielle Smith covers education for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or
ds****@fr***********.com
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