Barstow councilman Tim Silva this week declined an appointment to the oversight board for Barstow’s successor to its redevelopment agency. The seven member board is to consist of two appointments by the mayor, two by the county board of supervisors, one by the Barstow Fire Protection District, one by the county superintendent of schools, and one by the chancellor of California community colleges.
Silva was formerly the chairman of the city’s redevelopment agency board, which was composed of the members of the city council. Mayor Joe Gomez was set to appoint Silva to the oversight board, which is being formed to look after the utilization, disbursement and return of the redevelopment agency’s assets to the state in the aftermath of the state legislature’s elimination of municipal redevelopment agencies throughout California. But Silva said he believed there could be a conflict between his role on the panel and his employment in the mortgage industry, since the oversight board might have an impact on home mortgage-related issues.
Gomez instead appointed councilwoman Julie Hackbarth-McIntyre. Gomez also designated Margaret Carter, the city’s housing coordinator, as his second appointee on the board.