Dear Editor:

The Planning Commission's Facebook at minimum needs to be an open page for anyone of the public to view.

Commissioners deliberate in open public forum and are not permitted to give an opinion in advance of any item to be discussed as such commissioner/person will compromise the process and conflict themselves. Ex parte communication is not allowed.

There was an instance when Mayor Fernando Vasquez stated his position prior to a hearing item and in a sense compromised the city's position, prompting a warning to Mayor Vasquez and alerting the other council members that such ex-parte communication is not allowed. 
A closed Facebook page is due to lack of knowledge on the commissioner's part but none the less is an easy fix and can be and should be corrected as soon as possible. 

Where is the city in all of this? Why are they not paying more attention to things like this? With social media being the way it is, perception is everything and the perception these new commissioners are giving is a bad one for our city.

Jessica Alarcon
Downey