SEQUIM — A retired capital projects manager from Southern California and an Army veteran from Wilmington, N.C., have been appointed by the Sequim City Council to the city Planning Commission.
John Butler, 59, served in the Army for 22 years before retiring; now a six-year resident of Sequim, he’s eager to become involved in the town’s future.
“I’ve been serving the public all my life,” he said. “I just want to contribute to the community.”
Butler succeeds Planning Commission Chairman Mike East, who resigned suddenly last week.
In a letter to Sequim Planning Director Dennis Lefevre, East said he had sold his home and moved outside the city limit, and therefore could no longer keep his seat on the commission.
The seven-member panel already has the allowable two members who live outside the city.
East said Wednesday that he moved for personal reasons, and declined to elaborate.
He added, however, that he enjoyed serving on the Planning Commission, and is interested in an at-large position on the panel should that open up.
The other vacant seat on the commission belonged to Ted Miller, who was elected last November to the Sequim City Council.
Miller’s successor is Bill Sterhan, who managed capital projects for the biopharmaceutical company Amgen in Thousand Oaks, Calif., before retiring to Sequim about a year ago.
“I worked with planners in the city of Thousand Oaks, and I always found that to be an interesting part of my job,” said Sterhan, 62.
“I wanted to find something in Sequim that I could become involved with,” he added.
Butler and Sterhan’s terms will both expire in January, so the City Council will consider reappointing them or seeking other applicants.
The Sequim Planning Commission, a volunteer panel, reviews proposed building projects and other land-use issues — which are often fraught with controversy — and makes recommendations on them to the City Council.
Commission meetings are open to the public, and start at 6 p.m. on the first and third Tuesdays of each month in the Sequim Transit Center, 190 W. Cedar St.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.