The Ceres City Council appointed Ashlie Hargett to the Tuolumne River Regional Park Citizens Advisory Committee on Monday, months after a snafu.

In her application to be on the committee, eight-year Ceres resident Hargett said: “I feel that our local parks are an integral part of our community. I am passionate about people getting outside and being in nature. I am interested in trying to improve our community parks so that they are accessible and useable for our residents.”

The Tuolumne River Regional Park is governed by a Joint Powers Authority (JPA) formed by the cities of Ceres and Modesto and Stanislaus County. The advisory group serves as an advisory body on the acquisition, development, maintenance and operation of the Tuolumne River Regional Park. Members serve four-year terms.

The appointment leaves another vacancy on the committee which has been vacant since 2017.

In February Alvaro Zuniga Franco applied for an appointment to the committee but the matter wasn’t taken up until June 12. Seeing only one applicant, at that meeting Councilman Daniel Martinez queried how the vacancy had been advertised and said he didn’t see anything on social media or in the Ceres Courier. City Clerk Fallon Martin said that unlike vacancies on the Measure H Citizens Advisory Committee or Planning Commission, the city doesn’t put out word for applicants to apply to the parks panel.

Councilwoman Rosalinda Vierra supported Franco’s appointment but suggested the city place vacancies in public view on social media and in the newspaper. However, Martinez suggested delaying an appointment until the city could place a notice on the city website “and have more citizens in the city have an opportunity to apply for it.” His motion was supported by himself, Mayor Javier Lopez, Vice Mayor Bret Silveira and Councilman James Casey but not Vierra.

Mayor Lopez suggested that Franco would not have to reapply but he withdrew his application and fired off a letter to the editor indicating that the council’s handling of the matter was “embarrassing” and suggested that it was “odd” that Martinez and Lopez were unaware of the vacancy since they were both appointed to the TRRP governing committee on Jan. 7.