What P&Z does, and who controls it
FACT: The Planning & Zoning Commission reviews every rezoning request in Westworth Village before it reaches the council. Under the city’s own code, members are nominated and approved by a simple majority of the council, serve two-year terms ending in May — and the council may remove or replace any member at any time, by simple majority.
FACT: So let’s be clear about something up front: the council had the legal power to do what it did. This page isn’t about whether it was legal. It’s about why it happened and how it was communicated.
One month, two meetings, six seats
FACT: On June 18, at a special session, the council made its board appointments: Michael Bachand, Brad Turner, and Anita Gray came off the commission, replaced by Aaron Feldman, Russell Laughlin, and Gary Fitzjarrell (terms to May 2028), 4–0 with Fitzgerald abstaining, per the official minutes. Turner had just won a council seat — a natural reason to leave. Bachand had just lost his council race by 2 votes and filed the lawsuit contesting it — the same lawsuit the council voted, minutes earlier that night, to fund the other side of. Our notes on June 18.
FACT: Then on July 14 — with the appointments already settled — three more sitting commissioners were removed mid-term, each with a term running to May 2027: Riley Swanston, Darla Thornton, and Jordon Collis. Thornton was the commission’s chair, and had just lost the Place 2 council race by 15 votes. They were replaced by Sharon Schmitz, Keith Martin, and Justin Harnick; Russell Laughlin, appointed only on June 18, was replaced by Carl Greer. Source: the roster comparison provided by the city administrator. Our notes on July 14.
FACT: Add it up: between mid-June and mid-July, six of the commission’s seven seats changed hands. One member — Dani Briones — kept a seat through both meetings. We are aware of no cause stated for the mid-term removals.
The question nobody answered
FACT: A rezoning connected to the Trinity Terrace project was previously rejected, and the project is still alive.
SPECULATION: Rebuilding nearly an entire commission in a month — including removing its chair mid-term, weeks after she ran against an incumbent — changes who takes the first vote the next time that rezoning comes back. Whether that was the point is our speculation. But “why these members, why now, and why did no agenda say removals in plain words” are questions the council could answer in two minutes at any open meeting. So far it hasn’t.
OPINION: Having the power to do something quietly is not the same as being right to do it quietly.
UNVERIFIED: The July 14 minutes haven’t posted yet; when they do, the vote counts and anything said from the dais go here. We’re also still assembling what the commission took up at its May meetings. If you have those records or were in the room, help us complete it.