A new city-sponsored commission dedicated to Encinitas economic issues now has most of its members.

The City Council unanimously picked eight of the planned nine members during a meeting last week. The final member, who will serve a two-year term and represent the city’s District 3 region, will likely be selected in early April, city employees said.

This position needs re-advertising because none of the 15 people who applied to be on the new commission had businesses in City Council District 3, which covers the Cardiff area, Interim City Clerk Pete Weichers said.

Mayor Bruce Ehlers, who in his role as mayor put forward a list of suggested commission members and then sought council approval for his proposed list, said his selection criteria favored people with a background in running small businesses, not large companies and not franchises.

“My thought for this commission is to really foster those local businesses,” he said.

Also, he stressed, the new city commission is not going to be a replacement for the city’s private, nonprofit business organizations, which include a citywide Chamber of Commerce and three coastal area Main Street organizations.

The council agreed to establish the new commission in November. A staff report from that meeting declared that the new group would provide “guidance on economic policy, strengthen city-business relations, foster a sustainable and vibrant local economy, and serve as a sounding board for business-related city initiatives.”

Key tasks will be identifying “bottlenecks” in the city permitting process, reviewing city ordinances, and looking into the impact zoning has on building occupancy rates, the report continued.

The new commission will initially have three people serving three-year terms, three serving two-year terms and three serving one-year terms, so that all positions don’t end at the same time. The people who currently are receiving three-year positions will be able to seek a second, three-year term under the city’s term limits policy. Those with one- or two-year posts will later be able to seek reappointment two more times to three-year posts, meaning they could be on the commission for up to seven or eight years, the mayor said.

The successful applicants are:

  • Heather Addy Crider, who owns A Children’s Garden preschools in Olivenhain and Leucadia. This will be an at-large position with a three-year term.
  • Tony Dellamano, who owns Culture Brewing. He will represent the city’s District 2 and have a three-year term.
  • Ray “Tony” Hutchinson, a retired optometrist who owned Pacific Eye Care Center for decades. This is an at-large position with a one-year term.
  • Jason Janecek, who owns multiple small businesses including several Corner Pizza locations. He will represent District 1 and have a three-year term.
  • Brandon Jennings, co‑founder of Pastaria Vivi, a handmade pasta and Italian specialty market opening this spring in Encinitas. He will represent District 4 and have a two-year term.
  • Paulette Khoury, owner of two businesses — Archive Bridal and Pleats Dry Cleaning & Fine Tailoring. This is an at-large position with a one-year term.
  • Gerard Pascale, a retiree who founded a brokerage and property management firm. This is an at-large portion, with a one-year term.
  • Jeffrey Schade, owner of Leucadia Cyclery. This will be an at-large position with a two-year term.

The other applicants were Andrew Bachelier, Andrew Bowen, Cindy Courson, Mohammad Ghazizadeh, Brian Grover, Daniel Lilie and Letha Sandison.