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The San Ramon Planning Commission welcomed a fifth member to its ranks this week following a City Council vote to fill the body’s one remaining vacancy at the conclusion of interviews with four candidates last week.
Max Zhang was selected by the City Council during a special meeting Aug. 14 for a term starting immediately. He was sworn in and on-duty for his first meeting at the dais Tuesday.
Although it was his first meeting in the seat, Zhang has frequently attended Planning Commission and City Council meetings, often applauding officials and planners for the establishment of new affordable housing projects, and calling on the city to do more to address the Bay Area’s affordable housing crisis.
“I’ve attended nearly every Planning Commission, City Council, and Architectural Review Board meeting since the start of this year and I come prepared by visiting project sites and reviewing the agenda packet and relevant planning documents ahead of time,” Zhang wrote in his application.
“At meetings I observe how commissioners make their decisions, offer public comment when I feel compelled to speak up, and have conversations with commissioners, staff, applicants, and fellow residents after adjournment,” he continued.
A San Ramon native, Zhang graduated from UC Berkeley with a dual major in statistics and economics before settling into his current job as a data and policy analyst for an affordable housing nonprofit.
“My job is to identify the causes and effects of high housing costs, explore policy reforms that can bring costs down, and explain what I find to a wide audience,” Zhang said in his application.
