Let's not contrive a crony-driven disaster at our Celery Fields

Breaking news -- see WWSB Video at site

Two-alarm fire at metal and recycling 

plant sends large plume 

of smoke over Sarasota

By Kamara Daughtry | November 12, 2018 at 2:06 PM EST - Updated November 12 at 3:19 PM

SARASOTA (WWSB) - If you were driving in Sarasota on Monday, you may have seen a large plume of smoke coming from the University and 301 area.

A two-alarm fire started at Suncoast Metals on 51st Street, a metal and recycling plant. The fire started in a pile of rubble and was caused by friction. Fire officials say as the items in the pile rubbed against one another while being pushed and pulled, it got hot enough to start a blaze.

Deputies are assisting with traffic on the scene of an industrial fire near 51st Street and Middle Avenue in Sarasota. You may see smoke nearby; please avoid the area. (Sarasota County Sheriff's Office)

Nearby buildings were evacuated out of caution as crews fought the fire. After the visible flames were out, machinery was used to separate the pile to ensure there were no smaller fires still burning in the pile.

The fire is now out.

The photo below from Kirsten Ketchum Barat shows the massive plume of smoke rising as firefighters battled the blaze:

Fire at metal and recycling plant from Kirsten Ketchum Barat (Source: Kirsten Ketchum Barat)

Copyright 2018 WWSB. All rights reserved.

Part II: Medred's lubricated "Terms of Art"

This is the second of two parts, the first is here..

Bo Medred brings a silken slipperiness to certain terms of art that are supposed to possess precise, clear meanings in the world of Sarasota planning and zoning.

For example, he regularly extends and distorts the technical meanings of terms such as MEC ("Major Employment Center") and “Industrial.” In presentations he repeatedly claims that “industrial” uses can be found all around the site at Apex and Palmer. Of course this leaves out the birds and people at the Celery Fields. But it also fails to articulate a crucial distinction: The industrial parks near the Apex/Palmer intersection are zoned for clean, light Industry - ILW. The dump is not ILW. There is nothing light about 15-ton concrete blocks being pounded into silica particulates -- and he must ask for a Special Exception to allow it.

MEC involves a coherent ordering of mixed uses -- offices, hi-tech workspace, commercial, perhaps some ILW, and residential (apartments, townhomes and so forth) in a campus-like setting to attract clean large-scale employers.

An industrial waste processing plant employing 8-15 people fails to meet this definition on every count.


Medred cites an MEC land use designation as the slender thread allowing him to ask for his rezoning. But that designation was set in 1981 - another age - to introduce a heavy industrial plant into a pristine area that already has issues with traffic. He is inviting us all to pretend nothing happened in this area since 1981, when in fact today a great deal is there, and none of it comports with heavy industrial use - or with its economic promise:

• We have clean, light industrial parks whose owners do not want the traffic, noise, and filth of a demolition waste facility near them.

• We have the Celery Fields - a park, preserve, recreation and birding area, and highly successful and visible eco-tourism spot. This is now the dominant feature of this doorstep to an evolving East county. Developers hoping to create new environments to the East will rely on this area to present the beautiful gateway to their creations.

• Just a few steps to the West of Mr. Gabbert’s proposed site, under the rare and very narrow passage under I-75, is the Packinghouse District. This retail, and nightlife area is a valuable complement to what’s coming East of the highway.

• To the north at Fruitville and Coburn will be the Fruitville Initiative, a large MEC that plans a linear park all along the north cell of the Celery Fields - imagine the synergy of this neo-traditional mixed use community and the natural beauty at its park-like edge:

"Riverwalk" at the North Edge of the Celery Fields

Clearly this adds up to a tremendous economic opportunity - for business, retail, tourism, and real estate -- if this is done well. In what universe does it make sense to jeopardize all this prospective good for the sake of an industrial project that could easily be done elsewhere?

Come out on Wed. August 23 to let the County know that while it might be silent, our voices will be heard.

Add caption

Bo Medred, due diligence, and the dump at our doorstep

There are two sides to the Celery Fields Stormwater Management Facility:

First, it is an engineering success - an award-winning system to manage floodwaters that in 1992 proved more powerful than 100 homes on Phillippi Creek.

Second, it is a work of environmental genius. Somehow when those wetlands were restored, and the muck rose into our mound, nature took off. The transformation was magical: the birds came. Who knew Mount Celery and 220 species of birds, in open air, with a vista that rivals anything in Florida, would command such mad devotion?

"Mt. Celery"

The County enhanced what nature began - Audubon and Parks created a green cover, with trees and trails, to which people flocked in droves.

One might ask why anyone would wish to compromise all of this. But there were those three pesky parcels of public lands at the intersection of Apex and Palmer, sitting ignored since 1997.

 

A service station with a convenience store at that corner might be intrusive, but at least would serve residents of the 2000 homes now on East Palmer, whose gated communities have no nearby places to run for milk or coffee.

These communities also have no simple access to Fruitville Rd., other than to drive west on Palmer and make a right at Apex.

Someone looking at the developing area should have seen what was coming. When the County put the public parcels out to bid in 2015, someone needed to say, "Putting intense uses on these public lands at Apex will create issues for Palmer Blvd. traffic, and potentially have impacts upon our pristine Celery Fields.” 

But they didn't.

When Bo Medred brought in James Gabbert’s proposal for a 16-acre demolition waste processing plant, the record does not reflect that anyone at any level of Sarasota administration -- from Planning, Zoning, Parks, Land Development, Tourist Development, Visit Sarasota, the EDC -- said a word.

But one man certainly saw this coming -- the same man who is trying to bring us the dump: Bo Medred.

Bo Medred

At the Planning Commission hearing on June 1, 2017, late in the evening, Mr. Medred said this:

I did do a lot of those developments on Palmer Boulevard on the south side. It was very controversial at the time because the south side of Palmer Boulevard is moderate density residential, two to five dwellings units. The north side is semi-rural, one unit per two acres. And so when I did a number of those developments that were -- these folks lived in,that was an issue at the time. The other issue was that we knew Palmer Boulevard was going to be their primary access. 

They -- that MEC, [edit's note: Major Employment Center] those industrial uses existed far in advance and the planning for the MEC existed far in advance of those residential developments, and so that was -- if they use Palmer Boulevard, that is their access that traverse through the middle of the MEC. (6.01.17 Planning Commission Transcript p. 286)

In short, Medred, a professional planner, told Sarasota residents who bought homes in gated communities which he had helped develop that they should have observed due diligence, and then they'd have known that industry -- heavy industry -- even a giant loud concrete-pulverizing dump -- was coming down the road.

This is outrageous. the Gabbert-Medred proposal to locate a giant industrial waste processing facility on public land at Apex and Palmer ought to have been vocally critiqued with strong objective analysis by every relevant land and economic steward, adviser, planner and Sarasota public official paid to practice good stewardship and due diligence for the people of Sarasota County.

Instead, when "Bo and Jim" brought the dump idea to the County, you could have heard a pin drop in Okeechobee. Yet when people who bought into Medred's planned development objected to being trapped into a damaged real estate market on Palmer Boulevard, Medred blamed them for failing, you know, that diligence thing.

Part II: Medred's Lubricated "Terms of Art"

Save the Date: Aug. 23, 2017

The Sarasota County Commission has set aside an entire day on August 23rd to hear testimony regarding the siting of a Construction/Demolition Waste Processing Facility at Apex Rd. and Palmer Blvd.  On June 1, the Sarasota Planning Commission unanimously voted No on all three elements of the Gabbert/TST Ventures proposal to amend the Critical Area Plan; No to Rezoning to Industrial Light Warehouse (ILW) and No to a Special Exception that would allow an open air waste processing facility on a 16 acre site adjacent to the Celery Fields. The Planning Commission's No vote to Mr. Gabbert's requests does not mean the battle to prevent the sale and development of lands next to the Celery Fields is over. Mr. Gabbert has spent thousands of dollars and a few years on this matter to ensure he gets his dump developed and located where it suits him. A number of Sarasota County Commissioners' risk much by voting against Mr. Gabbert's proposal due to the campaign donations they have received from him. The Commissioners' risk their careers if they vote in favor of this dump. We need to make it clear, one more time, that the Celery Field belongs to the stakeholders of Sarasota, not to Mr. Gabbert and his proposed dump. In this email we have included: important upcoming dates, we hope you will join us County Commissioners' email addresses and phone number so you may contact them to voice opposition to this proposal Tips on speaking at the August 23 meeting a Donate Now link for expenses that are accruing in order to fight the dump proposal. Any donation is appreciated and will be used wisely to stop the development of this dump via marketing and legal fees. We hope you can join us on August 23 and if you can't, please continue emailing or phoning the County Commissioners' to voice your opposition to the proposed location of this dump.  Your testimony is needed and will go on record and presented in the packet given to the County Commissioners' prior to the August 23 meeting. Respectfully, Friends of Save Our Celery Fields Rally, August 23, 2017 @ 8AM 1660 Ringling Boulevard, Sarasota, FL 34236 A peaceful protest will begin at 8 a.m. in front of the BOCC building on the Ringling Boulevard sidewalk. Please bring signs, we will have some signs on hand but colorful signage is encouraged. PARKING: Public parking may be found behind the County Building, we encourage carpooling. 1660 Ringling Blvd., Sarasota, FL 34236 County Commission Meeting  August 23, 2017 @ 9AM The Board of County Commission Meeting begins at 9 a.m., located in the Commissioners’ Chambers. Mr. Medred will present the TST Recycling Dump project to the BOCC for the following: Proposed Land Use Change for: Critical Area Plan Amendment Rezone Petition No. 17-01 to Rezone approximately 16 acres from ILW (Industrial Light Manufacturing/ and Warehousing) with Stipulations and OUR (Open Use Rural, 1 Unit to 10 Acres) to ILW with Amended Stipulations, and Special Exceptions No. 1765 to Allow a Recycling Facility in ILW Zone District. We will have up to five (5) minutes to speak during public comments to the board.  A technician is available to presenters throughout the public hearing. Speakers may bring printed materials set to landscape to display on the document camera no larger than 12" wide by 8.5" high. If you wish to speak, look for speakers' cards. The cards are available on either side of the chamber as you walk in. Fill out the card fully, then take the card and leave it with the clerk seated to the right of the dais. If you are interested in speaking and are unsure about what you wish to say, please view some topics for consideration below.  QUALITY OF LIFE: traffic congestion with introduction of new truck traffic to dump diminished air quality impact to home values road safety impact to Tatum Ridge Elementary children commuting by bus or by parent impact to local neighborhood traffic commute times ENVIRONMENT: pollution will harm threatened and endangered birds, fauna, insects, fish and wildlife of park will be in harm's way with location of dump integrity of Celery Fields Regional Stormwater Facility will be impacted by additional burden of "filtering" fugitive airborne concrete particulate and leaching of dump materials birds listed as threatened or endangered remain fragile in numbers noise pollution will mask bird calls, birds use their calls to find mates COUNTY GOVERNMENT: County failure to recognize changes to the area using antiquated zoning and land use designations going back one quarter of a century failure to recognize value of Celery Field's eco-tourism as a growing and sustainable revenue tax base for the county failure to protect the investment of county dollars ($30 Million +) invested to build the Celery Fields Regional Stormwater Facility, observation mound, bird walks, park trails and preserve area failure to adhere to Sarasota's Zoning Mission Statement that Zoning's fundamental purpose is to protect a community's health, safety and welfare.   SAVE THE DATES & JOIN US ON FACEBOOK: THIS SATURDAY! AUGUST 19 @ 10AM - 12PM Save the Celery Fields Community Protest  Corner of Apex Road & Palmer Boulevard FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE AUGUST 23 @ 8AM Save the Celery Fields Rally - Pre-Meeting/All Day Table Outside 1660 RINGLING BLVD., SRQ, FL 34236 FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE AUGUST 23 @ 9AM  COUNTY COMMISSION PUBLIC HEARING MEETING 1660 RINGLING BLVD., SRQ, FL 34236 FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE Your Donation is Needed to Save The Celery Fields CLICK HERE TO DONATE The Palmer East Group has been working exhaustively since January, 2017 as a group (and individually, some of us began working much earlier) to stop the threats to the Celery Fields. The Palmer East Group has established a legal defense fund under the management of the Meadow Walk and Enclave homeowners associations. An attorney and a professional land use planner have been retained to defeat the waste site proposal. Donations have ranged from $50 to $1,000, and come from businesses, homeowners associations, and individuals. Your investment of $25, $50, $100, or more is much-needed ammunition in this fight. An urgent threat looms as James Gabbert—via his company, TST Ventures, LLC—has petitioned Sarasota County to allow the construction of a 15-acre construction- & demolition-debris processing facility on Celery Fields lands.  Mr. Gabbert has invested "hundreds of thousands" to ensure his dump will be developed, we appreciate any amount to help with expenses to fight this horrific threat to the Celery Fields and local neighborhoods and businesses.  EMAIL THE SARASOTA COUNTY COMMISSION PRIOR TO AUGUST 23: and let them know you oppose the sale and development of county owned lands next to the Celery Field, especially the proposed dump. Emails to the Sarasota Planning Commission: Michael Moran - mmoran@scgov.net Paul Caragiulo - pcaragiulo@scgov.net  Nancy Detert - ncdetert@scgov.net Al Maio - amaio@scgov.net Charles Hines - chines@scgov.net  CALL THE SARASOTA COUNTY COMMISSION PRIOR TO AUGUST 23 AT  (941) 861-5344. Give your full name and where you live or phone number. Be Polite!  Let the receptionist know you are opposed to the sale of surplus land for Mr. Gabbert's dump.  If you have received this email, it is because: 1) you signed up to receive Celery Field information 2) you are a friend of one of the activists who contributed to this email 3) you signed a Celery Field petition. If you no longer wish to receive email from Save Our Celery Field, simply respond with "Delete Me" in the subject line.  Adrien Lucas|  941-539-9044 | SaveOurCeleryField@gmail.coml |  STAY CONNECTED

LTE: Save surplus land around Celery Fields

A Letter to the Herald Tribune from Christopher Mahon - raises a very important point - thank you, Christopher:

To the Editors:

It is so nice to see that the Sarasota city commissioners have the imagination and foresight to consider buying the Players Theatre property downtown, even without definite plans for its use. Would that such attitudes were contagious. 

The Celery Fields were developed as a strictly utilitarian flood-control project. It was only later that the area came to be an ecotourism destination known nationwide. How often do the unintended consequences of government action turn out to be wonderful? 

Well, we can still blow it. On Aug. 23, the Sarasota County Commission will vote on the proposed concrete and construction-debris recycling plant adjacent to the Celery Fields, already rejected by the Planning Commission. 

Concerned citizens must show up to ensure the right outcome. But we must go further. We must remove the four pieces of our land from the surplus list and save them for our posterity. 

The land parcels in question were deemed surplus when the property was being developed because they had no use as flood-control area. However, just as the Celery Fields has evolved into an irreplaceable recreational site, so, too, can the “surplus” parcels. 

Whether they become an interpretive botanical park, community gardens, or something no one’s yet considered, it doesn’t take a genius to see that having undeveloped land contiguous to the Celery Fields is nearly priceless, and will be even more so in the future. 

If the county government lacks the foresight to protect this land, the people of this county don’t. 

Christopher Mahon, Sarasota

Lyons on the curious case of Sarasota's accommodation - for a dump at the Celery Fields

Please read Tom Lyons' Herald Tribune column on the curious, accommodative stance of Sarasota County toward the proposed, highly unwise idea to put a Waste Demolition plant next to a serene Preserve and Internationally touristed Bird Sanctuary, our all-round beautiful Celery Fields.

Among other things, Lyons notes:

County staff also quietly proposed changing county rules that would have barred the plant because the site was much too small, and did so as if the change was just some non-controversial tweak.

Staff essentially just passed along a designer-proposal created by land use agent Bo Medred. Medred pretended his proposal -- allowing unenclosed waste processing within 500 feet of homes -- would be useful and noninvasive, and the county - both the Planning Commission and the Board - bought it hook, line, and sinker.

See the Citizens' Timeline narrative here

especially this bit:

In October, 2016, Bo Medred asked the County to change its law and standards to accommodate Mr. Gabbert's desire to put a Waste Processing Plant at Apex Rd. and E. Palmer Blvd., next to the Celery Fields.

• Oct 20, 2016 - Bo Medred proposes new standards to reduce the number of acres required for unenclosed Waste Processing from 35 acres to 15 acres. Ordinance No. 2016-082, approving Zoning Ordinance Amendment No. 119. 
• Jack Bispham, chair of the Planning Commission, recused himself from the proceeding. Bispham is the brother-in- law of Mr. Gabbert.
• No information or testimony from an expert on Waste Processing was cited or offered by county staff or a commissioner.

Bo Medred's proposed amendment to the County's law and standards begins with Donna Thompson of County Real Estate at about 2:08 hrs. (That single segment can also be viewed here.)

Planning Commission Hearing Oct 20, 2016 on Ord. 2016-084, Amend.119

• During the PC hearing (at 2:32), Bo Medred displayed this photo of a dump in Buffalo NY to illustrate his argument as to why this 15-acre model is perfectly suitable for residential areas of Sarasota County. People's homes visible behind the piles of waste: 

Medred displayed this photo of a Waste Processing Facility on 15 acres in Buffalo NY
to the Planning Commission.

If nothing else, see the exchange around 2:33 between Planning Commissioner Laura Benson and Bo Medred:

Benson: (referencing the Buffalo illustration):  Those pictures were big dirty things.

Bo Medred: That's a . . . that's a . . . that's an opinion. 

See also the exchange with Commissioner Jack Hawkins concerning the noise levels of concrete and asphalt crushing operations that begins about 2 hrs. and 39 minutes. No staff or Commissioner put into evidence any documents about the potential problems and issues with siting a waste processing facility. No accredited expert was invited to testify as to siting, pollution, noise, or other impacts upon residences.

Planning Board ACTION:

Oct. 20, 2016 - The Planning Commission APPROVED the amendment by a vote of 6-0 (Bispham recused hmself) as a Special Exception use to be analyzed on a case-by-case basis, as Bo Medred recommended.  VIDEO

With the blessing of the Planning Commission, Bo Medred moved on, taking the proposed amendment to the Sarasota Board of County Commissions in December.

On Dec. 14, the Board approved a text amendment allowing unenclosed waste processing facilities near residences via Consent Agenda -- i.e., it wasn't even discussed.

Bo-Code, Buffalo, and our Planning Commission

At 24:40, Planning Commissioner Laura Benson is questioning why the County would wish to put waste processing facilities within core areas of the that allow light industry and residences.

Mr. Bo Medred shared a photo of a Waste Processing facility in Buffalo which had no walls and was adjacent to a row of houses:

"They're big dirty things" - said Benson.

Bo Medred's petition to amend the Code: It seeks to reduce the requisite acreage for a construction waste processing facility from 35 acres to 15 acres, and it passed the Sarasota Planning Commission unanimously on Oct. 20, 2016.

This decision by the Planning Commission gave Bo Medred and his client James Gabbert the "right" to put a Construction Waste Processing Facility on 15 acres adjacent to the Celery Fields, at Apex Rd. and Palmer Blvd.

Photos of a smaller Waste Processing Facility built by James Gabbert at 8001 Fruitville Rd. may be seen here.

See the related letter below from Adrien Lucas.

Good morning,

I keep watching the video clip from the October 20, 2016 Planning Commission meeting (Video Link).  

I cut and pasted the minutes from the P.C. meeting and added it to this email in the event none of you took the time to read the minutes I referenced from the "Bo-Code" show.  

Bo Medred refers to a recycling dump in Buffalo, NY 

I cannot help but think that perhaps it was Randy Benderson who showed this dump (see pic below) to Mr. Medred.  It reminded me of former County Commissioner, Christine Robinson, who was thrilled to have Mr. Benderson's trucking distribution center next to the Celery Field and had referred to trucking centers she had visited in Buffalo, NY.  Who knew Buffalo was such a mecca for industrial progress such as dumps and trucking centers?  Go figure!?  What a wonderful aspiration for Sarasota, aiming to be the next Buffalo!  

Mr. Medred showed the picture enclosed in this email as an example from Buffalo, NY. He shows the houses in the background behind the piles of dirt and claims that this co-existence of homes and industry works!  He also said that the people who live in the Celery Field area should know that they live in an industrial area.  And I quote Bo, "The MEC's primary implementing zoning district has historically been industrially based and we cannot lost the integrity of that and let it get overtaken.  It's just a balancing act."

​

We cannot let this area be overtaken?  What in the world is Mr. Medred referring to?  The people who live out there have overtaken the area?  The Celery Field birds have overtaken the area? The locals and tourists who visit the Celery Field have overtaken the area? The Celery Field Stormwater Retention Facility has overtaken the area?  

Please look at the picture Mr. Medred has provided.  Any reasonable person can see that debris from a facility like this is going to JAM UP the Celery Field Stormwater Facility.  A facility that the county has spent at least $30 million on.  Why would the county throw an investment that is earning its keep, more so than Benderson's slush fund water park, more so than baseball parks, more so than Tube Dube or Sandborn, shall I go on?  This is crazy.

Mr. Medred also states that by building Mr. Gabbert's dump in the Celery Field area that "it will reduce trips" for people who want to drop off construction debris.  

This dump will reduce trips?

This dump will reduce trips by people who live off or near Palmer Boulevard because they won't want to get stuck in the truck traffic produced by this dump.

This dump will reduce trips by people like me who go to the Celery Field to work out or to go birding because I do not want to get stuck in the truck traffic produced by this dump.

This dump will reduce trips by people like me who shop at Detwiler's Market because I do not want to get stuck in the truck traffic produced by this dump.

This dump will reduce trips by eco-tourists who do not want to get stuck in the truck traffic produced by this dump.

I visited the National Glacier Park in November. I remember feeling so excited just by the old time park sign and the beauty of the area, and that was before I got into the park.  What a visual splendor Gabbert's dump with equipment or piles of crap peeking over his concrete fence will be for all to see as they try to navigate their way home or to the Celery Field.

Minutes below:

October 20, 2016 MINUTES Page 4 SARASOTA COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION 

4. ZONING ORDINANCE AMENDMENT (ZOA) Public hearing to consider proposed ZOA No. 119, a publicly-initiated Amendment, amending Ordinance No. 2003-052, as amended and codified in Appendix A of the County Code, to amend Section 5.3.5 to allow recycling facilities for Types B, C, and D fill in the IR (Industrial and Research) and the ILW (Industrial, Light Manufacturing, and Warehousing) zone districts. Mr. Bispham noted a conflict of interest and filed the appropriate documentation. Staff Presenters: Planning and Development Services Zoning Administrator Donna Thompson and Deputy County Attorney Alan Roddy Public Presenters: Robert Medred, James Gabbert, and Brian Lichterman Item submitted: Form 8B - Memorandum of Voting Conflict for County, Municipal, and Other Local Public Officers filed by Mr. Bispham Discussions were held on the following topics/issues: - 1,000 foot setback/residentially zoned properties versus residences in the ILW zoning/setbacks - recycling facilities/zoning classification/zoning language revisions/stipulations - previous two recycling facilities - Open Use, Estate (OUE) and Open Use, Agricultural (OUA) zone districts/Major Employment Centers (MEC)/Urban Service Boundary - the previously approved Recycling Facility on Palmer Boulevard.

 4. ZOA - (Continued) Discussions continued on the following topics/issues: 

- operational/machinery noise concerns at the proposed property - size/space/setbacks from residential areas - setbacks/possible elimination from residential properties - possibly adding language regarding the setbacks in the Urban Service Boundary. 9:21 p.m. Commission Action: Closed the public hearing. Closed by Ask, without objection. 9:23 p.m. Commission Action: Recommended approval to modify language in proposed ZOA No. 119 under Section 2, subsection 5.3.5.b. 2. iii, as follows (additions shown as underlined text): "Recycling of Type B, C and Recyclable D fill is not allowed, unless the parcel is (1) larger than 15 acres, excluding wetlands, watercourses, and waterbodies, (2) zoned IR or ILW, (3) within a designated Major Employment center (MEC), within the Urban Service Boundary and (4) at least 1,000 feet from any residentially zoned properties." Moved by Stultz, seconded by Cutsinger, carried by a 6-0 vote; Bispham abstained. 9:23 p.m. Commission Action: Authorized transmittal of proposed ZOA No. 119, as amended, to the Board of County Commissioners with a recommendation for approval. Moved by Stultz, seconded by Cutsinger, carried by a 6-0 vote; Bispham abstained. Note: Oath/Signature Cards Filed for Record. Note: Chair Ask passed the gavel to Vice Chair Bispham and left the dais at 9:24 p.m

Yep, it's "Bo-Code" all the way.  Please do not do this, please do not grant Gabbert his dump.  Please.

Respectfully,

Adrien Lucas

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Planning Commission Board is appointed by the Commission. Email addresses are here.