By Jonathan Friedman
Associate Editor

March 20, 2015 -- The City’s Planning Commission will continue to be one member short for at least another week after the Santa Monica City Council voted on Tuesday to delay a vote on making an appointment. 

Appointing a person to fill the vacancy has been on the agenda since late January.

The reason for the delays is council members want all seven members to vote on the appointment, since the Planning Commission is arguably the second most important voting body in the Santa Monica government.

Council member Ted Winterer said the council should make the appointment next Tuesday even if there is not a full council at the meeting.

"We’re getting to the point where we can’t put it off much longer," he said.

Mayor Kevin McKeown said some of the commissioners had asked him to help move along the process of making the appointment.

The commission, which is supposed to have seven members, has functioned with six people since December, when Sue Himmelrich was elevated to the City Council following her November election victory.

Council member Gleam Davis said this has not been the longest period the commission has functioned without a full panel. She said the commission had six members for eight months a few years ago.

"It's not the end of the world to have a Planning Commission that only has six people on it," Davis said. "I want to get them a seventh, but I think it’s important with this particular commission to respect our process and our collegiality of having all seven members, if at all possible, vote on it."

The Planning Commission is a powerful body with the authority to approve permits and make recommendations to the council on development agreements and documents that regulate or guide zoning and planning.

Despite technically not being a "political body," the commission is frequently a stepping stone for future council members. Five of the seven current council members previously served on the Planning Commission.

Ten candidates are listed on the City’s website as “current applicants” for the vacant seat.