Livermore won’t remove commissioner

The Livermore City Council decided not to remove a planning commissioner Monday evening after he had made offensive remarks, suggesting that affordable housing would create a “ghetto” in the city’s downtown.

“Everyone makes mistakes,” said Vice Mayor Trish Munro before the 41 vote. “Those with integrity want a chance to fix those mistakes.”

Commissioner John Stein, who previously served on the City Council, came under fire after the remarks at an April 20 meeting.

“I really don’t want to see the downtown become a ghetto of affordable housing, and I support inclusionary housing both on a macro and micro scale,” he said at the meeting. “I think it should be distributed throughout the city and if we see highdensity housing downtown, it should be market rate with maybe 20% affordable rather than entire affordable.”

The council voted instead to send Stein to a training for planning commissioners and issued a formal written warning explaining the council’s reasoning. The council also decided to require Stein to meet with the city’s Human Ser