The Chehalis City Council on Monday voted to remove a Chehalis Planning Commission member after she missed multiple meetings during her first year in the position.
The vote came at a regular Chehalis City Council meeting on Monday, Jan. 8, following a public hearing.
City code requires a public hearing prior to the council removing a member of one of the city’s commissions or boards, and Chehalis City Manager Jill Anderson told the councilors city staff are drafting an ordinance to amend the code to remove that requirement.
Since she was appointed to the commission in March 2023, Aubrey Anderson has only attended the monthly planning commission meeting in March and has been absent without excuse at every meeting since.
According to the council’s agenda report, Anderson’s absences have hindered the Chehalis Planning Commission’s ability to effectively carry out its responsibilities and made it difficult to maintain a quorum at meetings to vote on commission business.
“Staff attempts to contact Aubrey Anderson by phone and email have been unsuccessful,” the agenda report stated.
The Chronicle attempted to contact Anderson for comment, but did not receive a response before print deadline on Wednesday.
“We’re assuming something happened in her personal life, and she came to one meeting and it just didn’t work out … It’s unfortunate, she was a really nice lady,” Jill Anderson said after the meeting.
Chehalis City Staff are currently looking for candidates interested in filling the planning commission vacancy.
Applications are available online at https://www.ci.chehalis.wa.us/bc-pc/planning-commission-vacancy. Applications can be emailed to recordrequests@ci.chehalis.wa.us or mailed to the Chehalis City Clerk’s Office at 350 N. Market Blvd., Chehalis.
Deadline to apply is Wednesday, Jan. 31.
Chehalis Planning Commission members serve without compensation and generally serve four-year terms.
Commission members are responsible for reviewing all plats, plans for subdivisions of land within city limits, proposed property additions and dedications of streets and alleys on top of making recommendations on certain issues to the Chehalis City Council.
Additionally, the planning commission reviews the city’s comprehensive plan and prepares plan amendments for review and approval by the council.
For more information, call the Chehalis Community Development Director’s Office at 360-345-1042.
