Issue date: April 21, 1999

Woodside: After long delay, Leslie Stepp named to Planning Commission Woodside: After long delay, Leslie Stepp named to Planning Commission (April 21, 1999)

By BARBARA WOOD

Sometimes it can be awfully difficult to get a job - even a volunteer public service job.

Two months after she was nominated for reappointment to her Woodside Planning Commission seat, and four months after a hearing on the ethics of her conduct as a commissioner, Leslie Stepp was finally given a full four-year term by the Town Council at its April 13 meeting.

Ms. Stepp, an artist and a teacher who grew up in Woodside, was first named to the Planning Commission last February, when Larry Israel, the former occupant of the seat, resigned saying he had problems devoting enough time to the job because of business travel requirements.

Ms. Stepp's troubles began in October, when Greg St. Claire and James Guaspari, operators of the Little Store restaurant, sent a letter to Town Manager Susan George complaining about Ms. Stepp. The letter alleged Ms. Stepp told them "some 'free or complimentary meals' for her and her neighbors might change her mind" about her opposition to the business hours planned for the restaurant.

Ms. Stepp rebutted the charges in her own letter to the council. She said she considered all her dealings with the restaurant to be as a private citizen, not a planning commissioner, because she lives within 300 feet of the Little Store and is not allowed to vote on any matters which affect it.

The council held a hearing about the allegations in December, and declined to discipline Ms. Stepp, saying there was not enough evidence of wrongdoing to take action.

The issue resurfaced in February, when Ms. Stepp applied for a full term on the Planning Commission. The council deadlocked 3-3 over her reappointment even though the only other applicant was rejected on a 4-2 vote.

At its next meeting the council voted to reopen Ms. Stepp's district for further nominations. Larry Israel, who had already turned in an application for the seat, was the only applicant.

Mr. Israel and Ms. Stepp were both nominated at the April 13 meeting. Mr. Israel received two yes votes, from Councilmen Joe Putnam and Cliff Greyson, and four no votes from Council members John Blake, Carroll Ann Hodges, Pete Empey and Bill McSherry, with Mayor Pete Sinclair abstaining.

Ms. Stepp was then reappointed on a 4 to 2 vote, with Mayor Sinclair again abstaining. Council members Blake, Hodges, Empey and McSherry voted for Ms. Stepp while Council members Putnam and Greyson voted against her.

The swing vote came from Council member McSherry who had voted against Ms. Stepp when her reappointment first came before the council in February.

After the meeting Ms. Stepp said she doesn't hold any grudges about her travails.

"It's over - the past is the past. I'm not interested in people's past - I'm here in the present, looking to the future," she said.