The Oceanside City Council has appointed three people chosen from a record 53 applicants for open seats with four-year terms on the city’s Planning Commission.
One of them, Michael Ogden, served previously on the seven-member commission from Oct. 1, 2023, to April 1, 2025, after he was appointed to fill a partial term left open by a commissioner who moved out of state. Ogden is an executive for a large medical supply products company.
Also appointed were first-time commission members Evelyn Mateo, an assistant engineer in the San Diego City Development Services Department, not previously on an Oceanside advisory group; and Jesse Abril, a system technician for AT&T who previously served from August 2023 through June 2025 on the city’s Downtown Advisory Committee.
The first meeting for the new commissioners will be April 27.
The three commission members whose terms will expire April 15 are: Louise Balma, who has served on the commission since 2006; Tom Rosales, since 2018: and Kevin Dodds, since 2022. None of them reapplied for the position.
Because of the large number of applicants, the City Council agreed at its March 25 meeting to have each of its five council members propose four of the applicants for interviews, which narrowed the field to 15 candidates. Three of the 15 did not participate in the council’s April 1 public interviews.
Each of the participating candidates was interviewed individually using the same format. First, each person had two minutes to introduce themselves. Then they answered a single question from each council member, who asked each candidate the same question. Then the candidates each gave a one-minute summary before the City Council voted.
The all-volunteer Planning Commission considers matters related to land-use planning and development, implements the city’s general plan, reviews development applications and serves as an intermediary between the public and the City Council.
Four years ago, when Balma and Rosales were reappointed, the city had 28 initial applicants of whom 16 agreed to take part in the public interviews by the City Council.