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By Paul Levikow
January 19, 2026 (Spring Valley) – The Spring Valley Community Planning Group board elected executive officers for the 2026 term Tuesday, but not before some members expressed concerns about how they would fill vacancies. A few cited perceived interferences on behalf of District 1 County Supervisor Paloma Aguirre’s office.
Lora Lowes, board member and former chair, said she got a phone call from a representative of Aguirre before the meeting.
“I’m very concerned about this because somebody called and said the supervisor is bringing a group of people for you to vote on. I don’t want to cast aspersions on anyone. But to me, it feels like this supervisor is putting in, I don’t want to say friends, but people who would be sympathetic to anything they want in the supervisor’s area,” Lowes (right) said. “I’m concerned about it. We’re seeing too much of that happening in government now. I hope I’m wrong.”
District 1 Director of Community Engagement Paola Martinez-Montes and Community Representative Danny Avitia attended the meeting.
“I want to from the supervisor extend my gratitude, first of all, for being patient…for giving the opportunity for other folks to apply. There was a limited pool in Spring Valley. And this is true of a lot of communities,” Martinez-Montes said. “Part of what we wanted to do was to give an opportunity to open up the process and utilize some of the reach the supervisor has. What we’re suggesting is simply opening up for folks to apply, be part of the process. We ask that you have an open mind.”
Board Member Ed Woodruff (left) told the crowded room that he also got a call from Aguirre’s office and was suspicious.
“What bothered me about it was they said they had this list, that they had come up with the list. In 26 years of being on this meeting, I’ve never seen it done that way, ever,” Woodruff said before turning his attention to the Aguirre staff. “What you’re saying is reassuring. I think next time they do that they ought to explain what they’re doing because it sure looked to me like they were getting ready to stack the group with whoever they wanted.”
Andrew Lawson (right), secretary of SVCPG, also chimed in.
“We have vacancies throughout the whole year. We already voted on four members and we sent the recommendations to the County already and we were told that we were going to have to wait until the new supervisor sat on the Board,” Lawson said. “The new supervisor sat on the Board and then, to us, it seems like this process is being slow-walked and now the process is going to change. It feels like we’re being stepped on and like our voices don’t matter.
Board Chair Chris Pierce (left), presiding over the final meeting of his term, explained the process.
“They (candidates) got an email about the openings, clicked on a link and applied. D-1’s office did not say ‘these people want to sit on the planning group,’” Pierce said. All three (open) seats are being reconsidered. That is the decisions of the supervisor’s office. We are only an advisory. We sent nominations. It is the supervisor’s final say. They are the people that have the power to appoint members to groups.
But that pertains only to vacancies, according to Pierce. In an election year, the voters decide.
At the end of the three-hour meeting, Jesse Robles was elected chair, Rod Gibbons was elected to the vice chair position, and Jake Christie was voted is as the new secretary.
The Spring Valley Community Planning Area encompasses approximately 11 square miles of the unincorporated portion of the East County, including the neighborhoods of Bancroft, Brookside, Spring Valley, La Presa, Dictionary Hill, and Sweetwater Village. La Presa and portions of Spring Valley are in District 1, while the remainder of Spring Valley is in Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe’s District 4.
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