We're scratching our heads as well.
On or about May 12th Councilwoman Uranga handed an application to the Parks & Rec commission from Jack Smith directly to the Mayor during a previously scheduled meeting, giving her strong support and asking the Mayor to make the appointment.
The non-charter appointments item the council heard last night was presented to the Clerk’s Office for Council consideration on May 22 in accordance with the 10-day notice procedure. It would be a bit odd to put forward the re-appointment for Mr. Smith if he, with what seemed to be the strong support of his councilperson, wanted to be appointed to a different commission.
Yesterday, Ms. Uranga had another meeting with the Mayor where she discussed a number of issues but did not raise any concern about Mr. Smith's re-appointment not appearing on the agenda.
As part of the normal charter commission appointment procedure, Mayor Foster had a meeting with Mr. Smith on May 27th to discuss his application. They had a wide-ranging conversation that lasted about an hour that included Mr. Smith discussing his professional background, interest in housing, land use and his work at the 14th Street Park.
The Mayor point blank asked Mr. Smith about statements that he allegedly made that were directed towards the Mayor during a recent community meeting -- which Mr. Smith denied making and assured the Mayor anytime he had a disagreement he would call the Mayor or his staff directly. When asked, Mr. Smith also confirmed that he is considering a run for the 7th District Council seat next year.
Mr. Smith confirmed his interest in both Parks & Rec and re-appointment to the Long Beach Housing Development Corporation.
"The Mayor has NOT said he will not re-appoint Mr. Smith. There are other non-charter and charter appointments coming in the weeks ahead."
