Politics & Government
Mayor Barbieri Supports Planning Commission
Responding to letter, he also affirms Councilman Wieler's right to express his opinion on the commission's Blair Park recommendations.
Piedmont Mayor Dean Barbieri on Thursday afternoon declared his respect for the Planning Commission while underscoring a council member’s right to state his opinion at a council session.
Barbieri’s statement came in response to the release by Planning Commission Chairwoman Melanie Robertson earlier Thursday of a letter from the Planning Commission to the City Council. In it, the commission chides the mayor and other council members for remaining mute after criticism of the relevance of Planning Commission recommendations by Councilman Jeff Wieler at a March 21-22 council meeting about the Blair Park sports field proposal.
The text of the Planning Commission letter is available at .
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“Mr. Wieler’s comments were his alone, and he was not speaking on behalf of the council when he made those statements,” Barbieri wrote in an email. “Council members are entitled to express their own opinions and conclusions, and very often one or more of the other council members do not agree with each and every opinion or conclusion of their fellow council members.
“I respect all of the members of the Planning Commission, both personally and professionally, and I do not agree with the comments made by Mr. Wieler about the Commission members' qualifications. My vote on the item before the City Council was not impacted by those comments.”
