SCPG to Elect New Board Member for Vacant Seat

Sweetwater Community Planning Group will meet this Tuesday, June 3rd, at 7pm. The SCPG meets at the Bonita-Sunnyside Fire Station, located at 4900 Bonita Road in Bonita, CA. Here is the agenda:

If you have something to say—and it doesn't appear as an agenda item—you can share your thoughts during Item #4, Public Comment. No response will be made but as least you've had your say.

There are four action items for this meeting.

Item #5 is the Approval of Order of the Agenda. Usually this is done when a Board Member or Presenter has a time restraint due to other plans. Felix Felix was elected SCPG Chair in January 2025 and this has been added as the first action item on every agenda after that. I have never seen it as an action item in all the 20 years I've been attending City Council Meetings and the like. It's usually not a hard and fast rule but more like . . ."Everybody OK with switching around the scheduling?" and inserted after the previous meeting's minutes have been approved.

Item #6 is a fascinating twist in the turn of events.

6. Steve Stonehouse for SCPG Seat 8 Vacancy Consideration- Per I-1, Article IIMembership Section IV, If there are no applicable Standing Rules, vacancies are to be filled from the list of candidates in the election, in order of the number of votes they received. As a result, Steve Stonehouse’s Application for Candidacy shall be presented for consideration of filling the SCPG Seat 8 Vacancy- Chair presenting.

Let me offer up some history here.

In the November 2024 Presidential Election, there were nine candidates running for eight positions. I wrote about it in San Diego County Election Results Official. Following is an excerpt from that article:

At his final meeting as SCPG Co-Chair, Steve Stonehouse added a horrifying agenda item in which he was the presenter. Item four of the December 3, 2024 read:

4. "Under Policy I-1, Article VI, Section 3 unexcused absences: Member Shane Parmley has missed four unexcused meetings. Discussion and vote to forfeit her membership. Steve Stonehouse presenting."

I can only reason that Mr. Stonehouse believed that if a Board seat were to become vacant, he would be back on the Board, not as Co-Chair but sitting in Board seat #8. As a member in the audience watching this scenario first-hand, it was something I never want to see again.

Ms. Parmley explained (with tears in her eyes) that she had dealt with some serious health issues in the past year. That did not stop the brutal attack by Mr. Stonehouse and his wife, Secretary Liz Stonehouse. Thank goodness, the remaining twelve Board members figuratively threw their bodies in front of Ms. Parmley to protect her from the storm.

It was determined that Ms. Parmley HAD called in her absences, but to Co-Chair Harriet Taylor and not to Secretary Liz Stonehouse. Ms. Stonehouse felt that it was not acceptable and should not be excused. A bit more brouhaha transpired before it all died down.

This makes no sense to me whatsoever. You call the roll and a member doesn't respond. Then another member speaks up and says "Yes, he called me. He is out of town on business." The absence is excused.

So now we jump ahead a few months. Shane Parmley has resigned her Board position due to health reasons. I will miss her strong will and determination . . . but also her humor and the way she jumped in to solve discrepancies during the meetings.

The I-1 Policy states that those that ran in the last election and were not voted in get the first stab at the vacant seat. That would be Steve Stonehouse. As I understand it, Mr. Stonehouse must receive the majority of the vote to secure the position. If he fails to do so, it goes to a second vote where community members may run for the seat. This next meeting should be interesting!

Item #7 on the Action List deals with the Nectar Restaurant Tenant Improvement and Request for Exemption (APN 590-140-20-00)- Abhay Sweitzer presenting.

In case that restaurant name is unfamiliar to you, you may remember it as the La Finca D'Adobe restaurant located at 5202 Bonita Rd Bonita, CA 91902 (the corner of Bonita Road and Frisbie Street). I don't know what will be discussed but this sales flyer should refresh your memory of the building in better days!

Item #8 is the "Appointment of Ad Hoc Chair for Rural Residential Zoning Ordinances for CPGS." Until the last meeting, I've never heard of a Board appointing a Chair for an ad-hoc committee. Usually the committee meets for the first time and selects the member they think is the most qualified for Chair. I was nominated as a community member to serve with Board Members John Taylor, Harriett Taylor and Liz Stonehouse on this Rural Residential Zoning Ordinances Ad-Hoc Committee.

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