By Robert Haugh
Last night, the Council interviewed 15 applicants for the Planning Commission. Wow. There were a lot of good candidates. They applied to fill the seat vacated by Councilman Raj Chahal when he got elected.
Each Councilmember voted for four then it was whittled down to one candidate. Here’s the “bracket” results. It was an all-female “Final Four.”
The Final Four
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Nancy Biagini
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Jayapriya Cherukuru
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Megan Swartzwelder
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Vandana Upadhyay
The Final Two
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Biagini
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Cherukuru
The Winner
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Biagini
Biagini got the support of Mayor Lisa Gillmor, Councilwoman Debi Davis, Councilwoman Teresa O’Neill and Vice Mayor Kathy Watanabe.
Santa Clarans may remember that Biagini lost a Council race to Chahal last November. She now takes his empty seat on the Planning Commission. Chahal did not vote for Biagini in any round.
Eligibility List
The remaining top three candidates will be put on an “eligibility list.” That’s a new thing. The vote to create it was 5-1. Chahal voted against it.
If there are any new openings for the Planning Commission during the next year, the council will interview only the candidates from the eligibility list. The Council won’t open a new application process. Here’s the eligibility list:
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Cherukuru
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Upadhyay
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Swartzwelder
Councilwoman Patty Mahan was absent.
[…] to the Planning Commission to fill a vacancy. She was one of the top candidates in April when Nancy Biagini got appointed to the […]
[…] Nancy Biagini was appointed to the Planning Commission. Kudos to Nancy. The “Final Four” candidates were all women. The other three candidates will be on an “eligibility list.” So it’s likely the next appointee will be a woman, too. St. Clare would be proud. […]
So great to see Nancy appointed. She will be a great contributor.
A big congrats to Nancy Biagini, on her appointment to the Planning Commission, I welcome her and excited for her ideas and great energy she brings. She is a seasoned public servant who is dedicated and last night she was ready to hit the ground running. Hope to see her on the April 10th meeting.
There were so many great applicants and the top 4 truly deserved their high ranking. Each truly impressive in their own right. I was blown away by Megan Swartzwelder, she brought her millennial approach which sooner or later will take more seats on the commission or council one day (we already have a millennial City Clerk). Jayapriya Cherukuru was truly knowledgable and had a strong planning background and also a HLC member like Nancy, while Vandana Upadhyay gave us great insight into her ideas for the future of planning generally around transportation. All three of these wonderful ladies deserve a place on this commission and I can see all of them serving on Planning Commission or any other Santa Clara bodies soon. Glad to see the strong field of women that applied and the large number of diverse candidates. Ultimately, glad to see another woman on the Planning Commission, currently Commissioner Ikezi is the lone female.
Lots of work ahead to give recommendations to council.
Congratulations!! Best of luck!!!