Ontai brings a design and planning perspective to the commission, as he is a principal in his own architectural and urban planning firm. A resident of University Heights, he also serves as adjunct professor at the University of California, San Diego and as a core adjunct professor at National University. In addition to his new position on the planning commission, Ontai also is a committee member of the Centre City Development Corp.'s Chinese/Asian Thematic District, president of the Polynesian Education and Scholastic Foundation, and a member of the Japanese American Citizens League. He is also a past board director and president of the Union of Pan Asian Communities and a founding president of the Asian Business Association. His prior experience includes serving as vice president on the CCDC Board, chair on the Mira Mesa Community Planning Board and president on the Partners for Livable Places Board.

In addition to naming Ontai as a member of the planning commission, Mayor Murphy has also appointed Anthony Lettieri chairman and Barry Schultz vice chairman of the commission. Lettieri, who had been serving as the commission's vice chairman, is a land-use planner with his own firm. A resident of Pacific Beach, he currently teaches planning at UCSD and previously worked at San Diego State University. Schultz, who has been a member of the planning commission since 2001, works as an attorney at Sullivan Wertz McDade & Wallace.