Bob Gobble, an active member and former president of the Ceres Lions Club, has been named to the Ceres Planning Commission.
The Ceres City Council appointed Gobble to the panel at its meeting on Monday. He will fill the unexpired term of Ishwar Gil who suddenly resigned in November. The term will end on Dec. 31, 2026.
Gobble’s was the second Planning Commission appointment in less than three months. Francisco Mireles was appointed in November to fill Dave Johnson who decided to step down.
Other members of the commission are Gary M. Condit, Dr. Dorie Perez and R.J. Jammu.
Another applicant, Manmeet Singh, had applied for the seat but wasn’t considered since an email given to the city clerk 15 minutes before the meeting’s start that he would be unable to attend the meeting for a council interview due to a “family emergency.” Singh requested a rescheduling “once thing stabilized on his end” but the council’s consensus was to dismiss consideration and proceeded with interviewing and appointing Gobble.
Kelly Cerny, who had been turned down at least twice for a commission appointment, decided not to apply for the Gil vacancy.
The council took turns answering the council’s questions. Councilman James Casey asked Gobble his opinion of his most important qualifications for the committee. Gobble said he has been running construction companies for over 20 years and is familiar with all phases of building. The 32-year resident of Ceres spent two years as a San Leandro Police Department reserve officer and president of the Ceres Lions Club for a total of 13 years.
“I’m retired and it’s time for me to give back what the city has given me,” Gobble said.
When Casey said he had a question that wasn’t on the planned list of questions he was stopped by Mayor Javier Lopez who said “unfortunately we have to stick to the questions.” Later in the meeting Casey said the question he wanted to ask but was denied was if Gobble understood the duties of a commissioner as outlined in our municipal code.
Councilwoman Rosalinda Vierra was asked if Gobble would be able to go against the majority of the audience in casting a vote on a project, to which he replied: “I have a lot of experience with that dealing with unions. I’ve been on both sides, business side of it and employee side of it and I was never one of the more popular people on the board and doing contracts for employees and for the businesses. So I have absolutely no problem doing recommendations if it’s not popular.”
Councilwoman Cerina Otero asked Gobble if all commercial building should look the same or should they have distinct and recognizable characteristics. Gobble answered that uniformity is desirable but at the same time be somewhat distinct and recognizable features.
Vice Mayor Daniel Martinez asked what Gobble hoped to accomplish while serving on the commission.
“I’m hoping to have my decisions empower the city and its citizens. I think I have a good head on my shoulders to vote what’s right for the city as well as the people of the city of Ceres.”
Mayor Javier Lopez asked if Gobble preferred single-family homes built with regular lot sizes or at higher densities to eat up less farmland.
“I think when the economy improves, cities should continue to build new single family homes. The reason is, if you look at the new homes nowadays and they’re doing the, densities to preserve land and so forth you have no room anymore... They’re building them with no backyards, no front yards; you’re almost touching the next house next to you. And it looks more apartment-ish than an actual home. And I think it would be easier to sell newer homes with more land than having them back to back.”
The council voted 5-0 to appoint Gobble.
The commission is a permanent advisory committee of five citizens appointed by the mayor and subject to confirmation by the City Council. The commission considers land use matters such as zone changes, conditional use permits, variances, subdivisions and general plan amendments.
