Posted on Mon, May. 12, 2008

GULFPORT -- The Warr administration last week honored the City Council's stipulations for filling vacancies on the Planning Commission. But then, the rules seemed to change.

Last month, Mayor Brent Warr appointed Marty Warren to the commission and the council approved the move with a 6-1 vote.

However, Councilman Brian Carriere vowed not to vote for another Planning Commission appointment until City Hall started filling vacancies on the Civil Service Commission and the Zoning Board. Councilwoman Barbara Nalley agreed.

Last week, heeding the council's request, the Warr administration submitted three appointments: One to the Civil Service Commission, one to the Zoning Board and another to the Planning Commission.

The first two appointments were approved, but the mayor's Planning Commission appointment of B.J. Sellers, a self-employed engineer from Ward 4, failed in a 3-3 vote.

Councilman Jackie Smith, the potential tie-breaker, left early because a close friend was in surgery.

Nalley denied ever verbally agreeing with Carriere's stipulation. Instead she told the Sun Herald that she has pledged not to approve new commissioners until the other board vacancies are completely filled.

"We've been trying for a very long time to get the mayor to bring us appointments to the Civil Service Commission and Zoning Board," she said. "It was a matter of principle to me that the other boards be filled first."

In addition, Nalley said the mayor's last two appointments to the Planning Commission were from Ward 4 and there is already a commissioner serving from Ward 4. There is no commissioner from Ward 6 and two from her ward, Ward 7.

"I feel that Orange Grove is not represented equally on all of these boards," she said.

Sellers would have replaced the former commission chairman, who also was from Ward 4.

Ward 6 Councilman Neil Resh agreed with Nalley. Of the 22 members serving on the three boards, only one is from Ward 6.

Resh, Nalley and Councilwoman Ella Holmes-Hines voted against last week's Planning Commission appointment.

By law, the Planning Commission and Zoning Board are not required to have equal members from each ward.

"I'm trying to respect the idea of spreading them throughout the city, but I'm also trying to find the right people for the job," Warr said.

Nalley said she doesn't feel a sense of urgency to fill the Planning Commission the way she does about the other boards.

"The Planning Commission has been able to continue on with business as usual even with the vacancies," she said. "I think that board makes some very good decisions."

Two vacancies remain on the Civil Service Commission and one more on the Zoning Board. So once they are filled, will Nalley honor her end of the bargain and start approving appointments to the Planning Commission?

"I will be more than happy to approve Mr. Sellers," she said, adding that any future appointments will be addressed on a case-by-case basis."