RANCHO BERNARDO -- Residents in Rancho Bernardo supported the idea of consolidating two community boards and shifting the oversight of the local maintenance assessment district in voting last weekend.

"The surprising part was that it was so overwhelming," Rancho Bernardo Planning Board Chairwoman Ellen Willis said about the results that showed 2-to-1 support of both ideas.

But Rancho Bernardo Community Council member Dick Katz was not so overwhelmed by the turnout, which saw 177 residents in support of merging the Planning Board and Community Council and 84 opposing the idea. In a vote of 175 to 83, residents also supported the idea of shifting the oversight of the Rancho Bernardo maintenance assessment district from the Community Council to the Planning Board.

"It was less than 1 percent" of the community's population, Katz said about the results. "How could it mean anything?"

The population of Rancho Bernardo is more than 40,000.

Planning Board member Teri Denlinger said that although the voter turnout was relatively low, it was typical for what Rancho Bernardo usually gets for board elections. She said there is no alternative for gauging public opinion.

"We take it seriously," she said about the election count.

Denlinger said the advisory vote concerning the Planning Board and Community Council was proposed because both groups have a hard time attracting members, and consolidating them would give the community a unified voice. Consolidation also would lighten the load for San Diego city staff members who sometimes must make the same presentation to both boards.

Denlinger said people also have asked about whether it would be better if the Rancho Bernardo maintenance assessment were be overseen by the Planning Board, which is officially recognized by the city of San Diego, instead of the Community Council, which is not recognized.

But Katz said things are working well now, and there seems to be no reason to make a change.

"The Community Council has been working and taking care of the maintenance assessment district, and they've done a fine job of it," he said. "Why are you going to change that?"

Katz is a member of both the Planning Board and the Community Council, and he sees both groups serving different functions. The Community Council focuses on quality-of-life issues in Rancho Bernardo while the Planning Board deals with land-use issues and gives recommendations to the city of San Diego.

"If it's not broken, don't fix it," he said about the way things operate now.

It's unclear whether the advisory votes will lead to any actual changes. Denlinger and Willis said the Planning Board likely will discuss them at its next meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. March 19 at the Oaks North Community Center, but consolidation will take the cooperation of both groups.

"Once we decide if we want to proceed, then we have to decide how we want to proceed," Denlinger said.

Besides the two advisory questions, voters in Rancho Bernardo also elected members of the Community Council and Planning Board on the same ballot.

Elected to the Community Council were Jay Gedanken, Dick Katz, Kelly Batten, Frank Auwarter, John Amodeo, Deborah Goodrich, Joe Dirks and Carol McCotter.

Elected to the Planning Board were Dick Katz, Kim Shafer, Scott Hall, Tom Brugh, Richard House, Ellen Willis, Bill Renstrom, Lou Dell'Angela, George Leitner and Myran Reese.

Voters also elected to the Rancho Bernardo Recreation Council: Nick Anastasopoulos, Patrick Horgan, Ron Wilson, Tom Giles and Bryan Brigham.

Contact staff writer Gary Warth at (760) 740-5410 or gwarth@nctimes.com.