The Carmel Redevelopment Commission can no longer include members of the City Council.
Last night the council unanimously voted to prohibit any of its members from serving on the CRC, though only six of the council’s seven members were present. Councilman Ron Carter, who also serves as the president of the CRC, was absent, but his vote would not have been enough to maintain his eligibility to serve on the commission.
Carter is the only council member currently serving on the CRC. His fellow council members – including Rick Sharp and John Accetturo, who have both served on the CRC while also holding seats on the council – have cited conflicting obligations as the primary reason for this limitation. Accetturo, for example, has often said that a council member serving on the CRC is asked to “serve two masters,” adding that this cannot be done without conflicts.
The council also was considering prohibiting property owners from serving on the CRC before receiving negative feedback from the Carmel Chamber of Commerce, which argued that business and property owners need to serve on the commission. The council’s finance committee voted to drop that section of the ordinance last month.