City Council Reinstates Planning Commissioner

A Westminster planning commissioner is back on the job a week after being ousted at the request of a councilman who thought he was disloyal.

“I thought it would make things better for everybody,” Councilman Russell Paris said Thursday after persuading his colleagues to reinstate Stephen Nevarez. “It’s like Steve’s never been off the commission,” Paris said. “He can go back to work.”

Paris, who had appointed Nevarez to the commission 19 months ago, asked for his removal Aug. 14 after learning that the commissioner planned to run for City Council in November. “I thought he was being disloyal to me,” the councilman said at the time. “To me, this is personal.”

On Thursday, however, Paris said he had changed his mind, in part because of rumors that the ouster might be challenged legally. “I didn’t want to put the city through any additional cost,” he said. “Steve and I are friends--this way there are no hard feelings.”