In the community, Local government

Sunseri steps down from school board, city planning positions

ONTARIO – Antonio Sunseri’s interest in government began in high school and for the past year he’s been a member of the Ontario Planning and Zoning Commission and the Ontario School Board.
Last week, though, the Ontario resident announced he was resigning from both positions.
Sunseri said he was leaving for “personal reasons.”
“I have some changes coming up in my life that I can’t say much about right now. I am making a choice to change some stuff and probably go through some type of career change,” he said.
In an email to Dan Cummings, Ontario city manager, Sunseri also noted personal reasons for leaving the planning committee.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to have served on this committee,” Sunseri wrote.
He said he decided last week to leave the unpaid positions. His resignations are effective at the end of February.
“I have an immense amount of gratitude for the opportunity to serve in an elected office,” he wrote in his resignation letter to the school district.
Sunseri was appointed to serve on the planning committee by the Ontario City Council in March 2023. Sunseri ran unopposed for a position on the school board last spring and began his term in July.
Bret Uptmor, the Ontario School Board chair, said Sunseri’s resignation was a surprise.
“With A.J. our board was very cohesive. I haven’t talked to A.J. so I don’t know the circumstances,” he said.
Uptmor said will discuss the next step in February.
Uptmor said the board could appoint someone to fill Sunseri’s position or leave it open until the next election.
Cummings said the city will seek someone to fill Sunseri’s planning committee position.


News tip? Contact Pat Caldwell at [email protected].

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