Alvaro Franco was the lone applicant seeking appointment to the Tuolumne River Regional Park Citizens Advisory Committee last week. But the council chose not to make an appointment, causing Franco to fire off a letter to the editor questioning if the council knows what it is doing.

The panel serves as a citizen’s advisory regarding the development of the Tuolumne River Regional Park, which is governed by a joint powers authority with the cities of Ceres and Modesto and Stanislaus County.

Councilman Daniel Martinez asked 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. She said the second seat has been vacant since 2017.

Councilwoman Rosalinda Vierra said she could support Franco but suggested the city place vacancies in public view on social media and in the newspaper.

Martinez then suggested holding off on the appointment until the city can 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 his letter to the editor indicated that he would not. His letter stated that the council’s handling of the matter was “embarrassing” and further suggested that it was “odd” that Martinez and Lopez were unaware of the vacancy since they were both appointed to the TRRP committee on Jan. 7.