MADERA — John Reed has resigned from the Madera County Planning Commission.
Reed submitted his resignation following the commission’s last meeting on Aug. 6.
A commercial realtor and contractor with an office in Oakhurst, Reed also operates a business called Alternative Septic Systems. He has served on the planning commission for five years and will be recognized for his service at the upcoming Sept. 3 Board of Supervisors meeting.
Tom Burdette
District 5 Supervisor Tom Wheeler confirmed today (Aug. 26) that he intends to appoint North Fork resident Tom Burdette to replace Reed as the District 5 representative on the planning commission.
“Tom brings a tremendous amount of experience and knows so much about what is going on all around the county,” Wheeler said. “He’s been involved with so much since he moved up here. He’s just jumped right in. He’s on top of it and does his homework.”
Burdette, a retired seismic engineer, is an active community member with a number of local organizations, including the EMC SPCA and the North Fork Community Development Council.
In Feb. 2018, Burdette was named North Fork’s Citizen of the Year. He is also an active youth sports referee.
Burdette said he’s “excited and ready” to tackle the new challenge — “just as long as it doesn’t interfere too much with my referee schedule.”
While Reed served for much of his tenure as the planning commission chair, Burdette will start off as a regular member on the five-member panel.
The planning commission typically meets at 6 p.m. on the first Tuesday of each month. If there are a sufficient number of items scheduled, a second meeting sometimes is held on the third Tuesday of the month.
Meetings take place at the Resource Management Agency, which is located on the third floor of the Madera County Government and also at the Coarsegold Community Center. The location of each meeting is based on where the majority of agenda items are located.
