Extra

In a memo sent to Planning Department staff on May 3 and forwarded to the Planet this evening, City of Berkeley Director of Planning Dan Marks announced that he’s retiring effective July 1, 2011. 

He said in the memo that he expects Wendy Cosin will be Acting Director beginning July 5, 2011.  

According to a database maintained online by the Bay Area News Group, Marks’ salary in 2010 was $187,099, but $3,659 was subtracted from it, leaving a net of $183,440, No figures were listed in the database which would reveal his possible pension. Columns representing contributions of this sort contained the initials DNP, translated in the legend for the chart as “ entity refused to provide this data to us despite repeated requests.” 

The City of Berkeley Planning Department is funded primarily from fees paid by developers, and as development has slowed during the current recession department funding has dropped significantly. The special fund for the Permit Service Center faces a $.75 million structural deficit in 2012, for example, according to the City Manager’s May 3 budget message.