Smith, Aksland picked to fill vacancies on planning board
- August 18, 2011
By Dennis Wyatt
Managing Editor
The former engineer of a township that has the highest income among United States communities of at least 10,000 people will serve on the Manteca Planning Commission.
Retiree Leonard Smith along with Manteca native Jeff Aksland were unanimously appointed Tuesday by the Manteca City Council to fill two Planning Commission vacancies. Jose Nuno was selected as an alternate.
Smith served as an assistant city engineer in the Town of Hillsborough on the San Francisco Peninsula.
Hillsborough in 2010 had a median home price of over $3.8 million. The city enforces a 2,500-square-foot minimum house size with minimum lot sizes of at least a half acre. There are no apartments, townhouses or condos within the city.
Money Magazine in 2007 noted Hillsborough’s median household income was $263,456 and that the average resident spends $11,023 per year in vacations.
It ranked as the wealthiest city of 10,000 or more in the United States based on the 2000 census. The city had 10,825 residents in 2000.
Smith authored the hillside ordinance for Hillsborough.
He retired in July 2010 from civil engineering after almost 37 years working in public works of several cities. They included Mountain View, Santa Clara, and Milpitas.
Smith immigrated to the United States in 1967 and has resided in California for the past 44 years. He was born in Indonesia and moved to The Netherlands when he was 10. He immigrated to the United States at age 20.
He was educated in civil engineering in Holland, completed studies at Chabot Community College and obtained a Business Administration Degree from the University of Phoenix. His Master in Public Administration is from California State University, East Bay.
Aksland had been serving as the Planning Commission alternate.
He served four years in the Army as a military policeman. He then worked 12 years in the grocery warehouse industry starting out selecting product and quickly working his way into management. In 2003 he joined his family at Aksland Real Estate.
The Manteca High graduate earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from the University of Phoenix.
He served two terms on the Manteca Unified School District Measure M bond oversight committee.
Nuno is director of the non-profit Visionary Home Builders of California.
He has served eight years in the Army Reserve. He earned a master’s degree in Public Administration and bachelor’s in Psychology from California State University Stanislaus.
He moved to Manteca in 2006.
Nuno has been involved in various community leadership programs and advisory committees including the Great Valley Center & Leadership in Stockton. He also served a term on the Stockton Mayor’s Task Force on Persons with Disabilities.