When I mention to someone that I’m a Planning Commissioner, it’s usually followed by “What is a Planning Commissioner?”. Before I joined in October of 2018, I didn’t know what the role entailed either.
2 years later and I’ve realized that it’s not only important but also relevant to share some knowledge about it. Let me explain a little more:
The Planning Commission is a recommending body consisting of residents from a particular City or Town. They advise the City Council on many types of issues but the most prevalent are community development/design projects that are being proposed.
Being on the Planning Commission is just one of the many ways to volunteer for your respective community. Residents have many options which include Committees, Commissions and potentially City Council. The value for all are the same but each level has increased responsibilities.
The question now becomes, “Why does this matter?”. It matters because many times, residents will join Committees, then become Commissioners, then get elected to City Councils and eventually become Mayors. Sometimes, it’s that exact path.
So along the way, the same residents end up making impactful decisions for a community for multiple years at a time. For many Counties, that may not be an issue but when you examine the demographics of Santa Clara County, some facts start to arise.
The demographics for Santa Clara County, based on the 2019 Census, show that the most common ethnicities are Asian, White and Hispanic or Latino (in that order). It also shows that the average age is 37.2 and the Male/Female ratio is almost 50/50.
But when you look across all 14 Cities that make up Santa Clara County, you see that the ratio for just Planning Commissions is 63% Men and 37% Women (as of June 2020).
There is no source that can definitively verify each commissioner’s race and age but it is fair to assume that the majority is White or Caucasian. It is also fair to assume that only a small percentage of millennials serve on Planning Commissions across the county.
Fair representation is something that is being discussed currently but it has always been important for all types of government. Oftentimes, there’s no checks and balances for local government so these patterns are able to continue and the systems become harder to change.
If one entity (Planning Commission) in one County is not reflecting the demographics of the area it represents, then what about other Committees/Commissions/City Councils? When representation is fair, then it can better represent the community. Make sure you’re being represented.