Ishwar Gill has been appointed to serve on the Ceres Planning Commission until Dec. 31, 2026.
A vacancy on the commission was created by the resignation of Planning Commissioner Cerina Otero after she was elected in November to the Ceres City Council.
Gil has lived in Ceres 16 years and has experience in accounting and as the owner and manager of Gill Real Estate has been involved in rental investments and real estate development. Gil also cited his work experience as a truck dispatcher. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Stanislaus State and is in training to become a Certified Public Accountant. Gil also is active in the local Sikh temple.
Besides Gil, the seven residents who applied to be appointed were Michael Barnes, Kelly Cerny, Nick Maynard, former Vice Mayor Bret Silveira, Iqbal Singh Johal and John Warren. All but one were interviewed on Feb. 4 by a council subcommittee of Vice Mayor Daniel Martinez and Councilwoman Cerena Otero. The councilwoman suggested that in the future the entire council should interview the candidates publicly as well as appoint an alternate member.
Otero stated that her top picks for the appointment were Cerny, Gil and Warren while Martinez said his top picks were Silveira and Cerny.
Martinez was adamant in supporting Silveira – who previously had served on the Planning Commission and council – but his motion failed to achieve three votes. Casey and Vierra both abstained and Otero voted no over the affirmative votes of Martinez and Mayor Javier Lopez.
Mayor Lopez then motioned to appoint Gil and his appointment passed with the support of Otero, Vierra and Lopez with Martinez and Casey voting no.
Recent appointments of Ruldip “R.J.” Jammu and Dr. Dorie Perez were made in November to replace retiring members Bob Kachel and Gary Del Nero. However, the commission hasn’t met since they were appointed as the past four meetings have been cancelled for a lack of business. The commission is expected to hold a special meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 18.
The Planning Commission is an advisory committee of citizens. Meetings are held on the first and third Mondays of each month at 6 p.m. to consider land use matters such as zone changes, conditional use permits, variances, subdivisions and general plan amendments.
