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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07.A- City Attorney 7.A DOC ID: 3251 A CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO—REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION Report/Information From: Jolena E. Grider M/CC Meeting Date: 05/19/2014 Prepared by: Jolena E. Grider, (909) 384- 5355 Dept: City Attorney Ward(s): All Subject: Discuss and Take Possible Action on the Recommendations from the Charter Review Committee for Potential Charter Amendments to be Placed on the November,2014 Ballot(#3251) Current Business Registration Certificate: Not Applicable Financial Impact: Account Budgeted Amount: <<Insert Amount>> Account No. <<Insert Account No.>> Account Description: «Inert Account Description Balance as o£ <<Insert Date>> Balance after approval of this item: <<Insert Amount>> Please note this balance does not indicate available funding. It does not include non-encumbered reoccurring expenses or expenses incurred,but not yet processed. Motion: Direct the City Attorney to draft Charter Amendment(s) for the November, 2014 ballot, set Public Hearings on said amendment(s) for June 17, 2014 and July 17, 2014, and set a special Council Meeting on August 7, 2014. Synopsis of Previous Council Action: <<Insert synopsis here>> Background: Pursuant to California Constitution Article 11, §3, the governing body may propose a charter or revision, amendment or repeal. Government Code §34458 provides that prior to approving the submission to the voters of a charter amendment,the governing body shall hold at least two public hearings on the matter of the amendment and the content of the proposed amendment. Notice of said public hearings is required to be given at least 21 calendar days prior to the date of each public hearing. The second public hearing is required to be held at least 30 days after the first public hearing. The governing body cannot conduct a vote on whether to approve the submission to the voters until 21 days after the second public hearing. The proposal would have to be submitted to the County Registrar of voters 88 days prior to the November election. Based on the dates in the proposed motion, the first hearing would be set on June 17,2014 and the notice would have to be sent out by May 27,2014. The second public hearing would have to be set no earlier than July 17,2014 with notice being sent by June 26, 2014. The vote on whether to submit anything to the voters would have to occur no earlier than August 7, 2014 and the deadline to submit it to the County for inclusion on the November ballot is August 8, 2014. Supporting Documents: Updated: 5/15/2014 by Georgeann"Gigi"Hanna A Packet Pg. 536 7.A 3251 Proposed Ballot Item 1 (PDF) f Proposed Ballot Item 2 (PDF) Proposed Ballot Item 3 (PDF) Proposed Ballot Item 4 (PDF) Proposed Ballot Item 5 (PDF) Recommendtion to Council to continue City Charter Committee (PDF) r Proposed Charter Reform Principles and Objectives (PDF) RATIONALE FOR RECOMMENDATIONS TO CITY COUNCIL_Savage (PDF) Minutes_CharterReviewCommittee (PDF) Letter CostEstimate_CityOfSanBernardino FINAL(PDF) Updated: 5/15/2014 by Georgeann"Gigi"Hanna A Packet Pg. 537 f JVWA PROPOSED BALLOT ITEM 1 � [ I I I i Amend Article III, Section 40, by adding subsection (bb): (bb) Construction and Interpretation. The language contained in this Charter is intended to be permissive and enabling rather than restrictive or limiting, and shall be liberally and broadly construed in favor of the exercise by the City of its c power to govern with respect to any matter which is a municipal affair. O E E O m m a� E E O U 3 d m L d U LO N M E d r� O m d N O Q O L a. c a E s U m a Packet Pg.538 PROPOSED BALLOT ITEM 2 Amend Article VII, Section 120, to read as follows: Section 120. Initiative, Referendum and Recall. There are hereby reserved to the electors of the City the powers of the initiative and referendum and of the recall of municipal elective officers. The provisions of the Elections Code of the State of California, as the same now exist or hereafter may be amended, governing the initiative and referendum and the recall of o municipal officers, shall apply to the use thereof in the City so far as such provisions of the Elections Code are not in conflict with the provisions of this Charter. E 0 a Repeal Article VII, Section 121 (Referendum) r Repeal Article VII, Section 122 (Recall) c U � 3 d L L U LO N M N E d r O R m O fA O 0. O a c m E 4 Packet Pg.539' II PROPOSED BALLOT ITEM 3 4. Amend Article X, Section 186, to read as follows: Section 186. Salaries. The safety of the people in the City is a highest priority of its government. Compensation of police, fire and emergency safety personnel shall be set by resolution of the Council after collective bargaining as appropriate under applicable law, as it does for other City employees. 0 E E O U O d d E E O U 3 a m L L ■ U LO N M M E d a� O m Q N O Q O L- a. y c d E s U R Y a PROPOSED BALLOT ITEM 4 Repeal Article XI (School Districts) N C O t4 C N E E O U N O O Y Y E E O U 3 2 m L y(D L U r LO N M E d _Y Y O m m W N O Q O L f Y C U 10 t6 Y Y a PROPOSED BALLOT ITEM 5 Amend Article XIII, Section 254 (Civil Service Discharge or Reduction of Compensation) Section 254. Discharge or Reduction of Compensation. No employee in the classified service shall be suspended, discharged or reduced in classification for disciplinary reasons until the employee has been presented with the reasons for o such action specifically stated in writing. The reason for such discharge or a reduction and any reply thereto by the employee, shall be filed in writing with the Civil Service Board. E E O ti d O O I +' E E O U 3 m d L d U LO N n LO E d a+ O m d N O Q O L IL c d E V a Packet Pg.542 7.A.f PROPOSED COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION 1 N C O R 4- Committee further recommends to Council that this City Charter Committee shall be ongoing, and that ongoing Charter review shall become policy. E E 0 U O N N r-+ E E O U 3 a� d o! L L U P Ln N M N O ar E E O L sue'. f4 t U U m c 0 U 0 c i C L 0 I V O C O C d E E O U d a-� C d E t U rte. a Packet Pg. 543 PROPOSED COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION 2 N Committee further recommends to Council to adopt the San Bernardino 0 Charter Reform Principles & Objectives to be applied for future Charter review. 0 E E 1. Flexibility. To the greatest degree possible, the Mayor, Council, and City 0 Manager should have the flexibility to make decisions and to govern the City under the Charter. Removing excessive limitations on that flexibility should be opportunities to improve governance. V E 2. Principles & Standards. The Charter should set forth guiding principles and 0 standards, not detailed rules and procedures. aD 3. Enabling. The Charter should be designed to enable the City to operate in an W L efficient, business-like manner. 4. Economy. The Charter should be as economical in wording as possible while keeping the meaning and legal parameters clear. N 5i- 5. Future Orientation. The Charter should be worded so as to apply to future City administrations, not just to deal with current issues. a� 6. Contemporary Standards. Language, such as gender neutrality, should be o in conformance with contemporary standards. _ 7. Transparency. The Charter should be clear to the well-informed layperson, Q not excessively legalistic. The Charter shall be written in a way that the public can understand how the City operates, and the powers and limitations of a those who govern it. E 0 w 8. Charter Reform Process. The Charter Review Committee working to advise 0: the City Council should utilize the following principles: 8.1 Input from those working within the City family should be sought out as those who work in city government have a unique perspective on the N Charter. a. 8.2 San Bernardino's Charter should be uniquely adapted for this City and a its needs. :. W 8.3 Charters of other cities should be reviewed and taken into account. Other cities have weighed, considered and analyzed many of the same r issues as those confronting San Bernardino. a Packet Pg.544 7.A.g 8.4 The Committee should seek wide and diverse input and evoke debate and welcome disagreement in its deliberations; however, it should attempt to obtain a wide consensus for its recommendations. Charter changes should be able to draw wider support from the community than is normally required to win an election. ° �a 8.5 Ongoing, frequent, regular reviews of San Bernardino's Charter should be made to the end that it will be, and continue to be, an effective, well- E written, and well-organized document. s a E E O U 3 as m L d t U N M N d V d .Q C fC N O Q .0 _ L a E L O W d L L M U N O Q O L a d E s ° r a 7.A.h RATIONALE FOR RECOMMENDATIONS TO CITY COUNCIL 5/14/14 Add New Subsection (bb)to Section 40,Article III, re Interpreting Charter in Permissive and Enabling Manner. c r The Committee's Principles& Objectives include the importance of"Flexibility"and Enabling"in Charter E language, and this new section provides guidance to the City in conducting its affairs in accordance with our E Charter as effectively and efficiently as possible. d m m Replace Article VII (Sections 120- 122)with New Section 120 Applying the State Election Code to Initiative,Reform& Recalls Proceedings Rather than Pursuant to Charter Language. c U At present some language in the City Charter is inconsistent with language in the California Election Code. That has sometimes caused problems of interpretation resulting in costly lawsuits for the City. Establishing in the Charter that San Bernardino will follow the California Election Code eliminates language inconsistencies and the possibility of litigation(and the costs thereof). ea U Replace of Section 186 with a New Section 186 affirming that safety is a highest priority of City government&leaving the procedure for paying safety employees the same as is used for all other city employees. R Public safety is a major responsibility of San Bernardino City government. The Committee concluded that v)i section 186, as currently stated in the Charter, significantly decreases the amount of flexibility the Mayor, d City Manager&Council have to govern the City and best provide for the safety and welfare of its citizens. Z 0 No other California city has a charter provision which sets by formula, or manner of calculation,the salaries U of its public safety employees. Collective bargaining is the procedure used for determining salaries and benefits 1 b San Bernardino for all of its non-public safe unionized employees and 2 b all other cities U ( ) Y p t1' ( ) Y O in California for all of their unionized employees. The Committee concluded that this collective bargaining procedure should similarly be used in San Bernardino for determining the salaries of its public safety Z 0 employees,rather than the procedure currently required by section 186. a 0 Z w Removal of Article XI, School Districts,from the Charter. 0 U LU This Article should not be part of the City Charter because the San Bernardino City Unified School District is a separate,independent entity." o U_ W J Revise Section 254. Z 0 Under present section 254, if a City employee has been discharged after appropriate civil service hearing, such employee is continued to be paid throughout the time of any appeal by the employee. This is inappropriate inasmuch as of the employee's appeal is successful,pay will be made retroactively for that 0 period of time,while if it is unsuccessful,the City will have had to pay additional funds for no services v rendered for the City. The proposed amendment eliminates this payment during appeal requirement. I° a Packet Pg. 546 7.A.i I i Volunteer Citizen Based Charter Committee I Meeting 1 —Wednesday, April 9, 2014 Approved Minutest N C The meeting came to order at 6:02 p.m. in the EDA board room,with Committee members Casey Dailey,Dennis Baxter, Gary Walbourne, Hillel Cohn, Michael Craft, Hardy Brown,Phil Savage and Gloria Harrison Present. Committee member Tom Pierce was excused for a work conflict. Also in attendance were City Manager Allen Parker, Committee Consultant Dr. Bill E Mathis, City Attorney Gary Saenz and City Clerk Gigi Hanna. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Casey Dailey. a E Dr. Mathis introduced himself as a management psychologist in the public sector and discussed o his experience, then introduced the City Manager and City Attorney. Mathis laid out the process issues the committee would need to consider, including election of a chair and vice chair, dates of future meetings and how the committee would handle communications and outreach during IX the process. He suggested the committee review the City of Anaheim's Charter Review Committee Guiding Principles as a sophisticated set of principles that the San Bernardino Committee might want to consider adopting. U Mathis said the committee will be attempting to come to a consensus of what should go on the N ballot. And it should be the best for San Bernardino, not for individuals. d Committee members provided brief self-introductions. E Hardy Brown nominated Gloria Harrison as chair. She declined, but said she would be willing to be vice-chair. IX a� Michael Craft nominated Hillel Cohn as chair. Cohn declined and nominated Phil Savage. The nomination was seconded by Brown and Savage was unanimously selected as Committee Chair. U Cohn nominated Harrison for vice-chair, seconded by Savage; the motion carried unanimously. City Attorney Gary Saenz went over the legal requirements of the Brown Act and the Political Reform Act and the committee member's obligations and responsibilities under them. a� Saenz then read the following statement about the Charter and bankruptcy: w We are now making progress moving through mediation with the goal of reaching a settlement with our creditors,which settlement terms will ultimately be submitted to the Bankruptcy Court as part of a plan for which we must have confirmation by the Court, and by which plan we will ultimately move through and out of bankruptcy. 'Approved at the 4/22/14 meeting i Packet Pg. 547 I In seeking plan confirmation by the Bankruptcy Court,we must be able to demonstrate (by submitting evidence) that San Bernardino will be able to provide an acceptable level of service to the people of San Bernardino while also being able to pay all creditors in accordance with our respective settlement agreements and pursuant to our plan to exit bankruptcy. At such time,we must demonstrate to the Court that we have made sufficient increases in revenue, or reductions in costs and/or efficiency increases, or a combination of all three, such that we are able to reach and sustain a certain level of solvency as a City. Thus,presently,the City has an extremely urgent need for addressing its fiscal demands and seeking out changes that will enable 0 us to convince the Bankruptcy Court that we have made sufficient adjustments to move us toward solvency. E Therefore, as a pressing requirement to get this City through and out of bankruptcy,I E believe that our capability to demonstrate the sufficiency of our plan to the Bankruptcy Court when seeking confirmation requires this Committee to solicit input from various City departments and officials for recommendation regarding Charter change that will most likely c result in fiscal solvency." E E 0 Saenz then read the following comments interpreting Resolution 2014-59,the u establishing resolution for the committee: a� "The Resolution neither creates an ad hoc committee nor a standing committee. It is silent as to timeline of the existence of the Committee. Therefore,the Committee will continue to exist until further action by the v Council, and you may continue to meet even after the November, 2014, election. M Further,the Resolution provides in Section 1, E,that"The Committee shall report its initial findings to the Mayor and Common Council and provide such recommendations on or before May 19, 2014."The term E "initial findings" implies that the Committee will continue to exist, and 3 continue its charge regarding Charter reform after the November election. (D Section 1, J,provides: "The Committee is directed to review all provisions of the Charter and to consider the ramifications to the City and its residents for deletion and/or modification of any provision." U i I interpret the section providing that: "The Committee is directed to review all provisions of the Charter"to mean that all Committee members read the entire Charter,but it does not mandate that we, together, discuss every section of the Charter. Such an interpretation is also consistent with the d time constraints, due to which I advise that we not go through and discuss s the entire Charter section by section. Instead,I suggest that I can provide a legal interpretation of the sections or provisions as required and requested. Section 1, J, also provides that the Committee: ..."consider the ramifications to the City and its residents for deletion and/or modification of any provision." I interpret to mean that the Committee's Packet Pg. 548 recommendation may be as narrow as the modification of only a portion of. one section of the Charter. Section 1,K,provides: "The Committee is directed to consider any and all possibilities for reform, including elimination of provisions." When looked at together with Section 1,J, I interpret it to mean that this Committee has the ability to recommend any reform of the Charter,no 0 r matter how small or how extensive, and that the Committee may recommend elimination of any one, or more,provisions of the Charter. Generally, I interpret the Resolution as a whole to be a charge by Council 0 that this Committee ultimately makes a recommendation that will receive voter support in November. Certainly,the Council did not create this Committee to recommend a Charter Reform Plan that would be defeated in November. Therefore,I believe that in order to meet such charge,this E Committee should recommend reform that has a very strong likelihood of success if placed on the November ballot. If such is the intention of Council,then such should be the intention and focus of this Committee." Mathis recommended the group use the nine City of Anaheim Charter Review Guiding s Principles for a framework in how to move forward and the chairman asked that they be U agendized for the next meeting. 0 LO N n A motion was made by Brown and seconded by Dennis Baxter to ask the City Manager to direct all city department heads to solicit suggestions for Charter change. The group agreed via r consensus. E E 0 The committee also agreed to: U m ai • Use Robert's Rules of Order; d • Accept written public comments through the City Clerk's office,via email or regular mail, and those communications would be included in the agendas as well as posted on vi the City web site; c • Provide a 30-minute general public comment period at the beginning of each meeting, with a three-minute-limit per person; and c a� E • Hear public comment for each action item, limited to three minutes per speaker, for a total of 15 minutes per item. The committee discussed future meetings and decided that the meetings would be on Tuesdays at 5:30 p.m. from August 9 through May 15, 2014. Packet Pg. 549 Public Speakers i 1. Evelyn Alexander said there are two boards and one co mmission that should be removed c from the Charter: the Parks Commission,which is advisory and is already mentioned in the Municipal Code; and the Library Board and the Water Board because they are administrative boards that set policy,hire and fire department heads that do not report to the City Manager. The Library and Water departments should be treated like the other departments and fall under the general supervision of the city manager, with the boards being advisory. She also 0 suggested that the Police and Fire Chiefs be selected by the City Manager. One board that should remain in the Charter is the Civil Service Board,which serves as an unbiased citizen- controlled appeals board for employees and keeps politics from the hiring practice. And, she E said, she hopes that Section 186 can be removed from the Charter. She said that the argument 0 that 186 is needed in order to ensure the best qualified personnel negatively affects the other employees in the City and said all employees should be treated the same. a 2. Roxanne Williams said the Anaheim guiding principals were best practices and suggested o the committee adopt them and review them at the beginning of every meeting. She asked the U committee to be very familiar with the Charter,when it was written,revised and amended. She also suggested that the committee read the Management Partners study because it is Q groundwork that has already been done on what changes could be made in the Charter. She said by reviewing that report and see what the previous Charter committee did would help 0 save time. U 3. Linda Daniels said she wants the committee to change the Charter,to act quickly and get N something on the ballot in November. Her first preference for change is Charter Section 186 because she feels it will decrease current expenses and future debt. She asked that the committee keep the Charter simple as possible,but allow for flexibility. She asked that the E committee allow nothing in the Charter that restricts future leaders from common sense or E good judgment; and keep San Bernardino independent with no set rules that bind the city to 0 patterns or methods used in other cities. d a� 4. Sandra Owen Olivas said when reading through Charter and making decisions,the committee members should call residents in their respective wards to see what residents' interests are for Charter change,because the public speaking time limits will prevent all who want to speak at a meeting the time to do so. 5. Matt Owen submitted a letter into the record with his recommendations for Charter change. He said he had concerns about the propriety of the committee and may be challenged in the future. His suggestions for Charter change lie in the legislative power in Charter Section 30 and he would like to establish a new legislative body,replacing a city council based on wards with a community council based in the neighborhood associations. Under this system, each r neighborhood would have meetings and send people to the community council. He also Q suggested that the city use a public bank so it does not lose control of its funds. He said such a program has worked in North Dakota. 6. Scott Olson said the term Charter reform is being used;he prefers the term Charter review because the group will be reviewing the Charter,but reform makes it sound like the Packet Pg. 550 f 1 committee will be changing the Charter. He also said that limiting the public comment portion of the meeting limits public input. He said the Management Partners study discussed the relationship between the Council,Mayor and City Manager, a relationship that creates a dichotomy that creates conflict. He said there needs to be a clear chain of command. He also Iwants to see an update on the mobile home parks and a legal update of the Charter that won't ` leave the city vulnerable in bankruptcy court. N C 7. Linda Mohney said the committee's agenda will be about Charter Section 186, although the language in the resolution instructs the committee to review the entire Charter. As this is a big task that cannot be done in a month,the review will be narrowed to Section 186. In its E review,the committee should also investigate all that the firefighters do, and the education E O and training required. a� a! 8. Bill Sandefur said changes with the Charter should be short and kept to a few items so it is a successful in November. E 0 The meeting adjourned at 7:45 p.m. The next meeting is set for Tuesday, April 15, 2014 at 5:30 p.m. in the EDA board room. LO a: L d IE U E r N F d d w E O U 3 d L Q� L U I N d .r C C d E U O a.+ Q Packet Pg. 551 Volunteer Citizen Based Charter Committee Meeting 2—Tuesday, April 15,2014 Approved Minutes' c 0 The meeting came to order at 5:38 p.m. in the EDA board room,with Committee members Casey Dailey, Gary c Walbourne,Michael Craft,Phil Savage,Tom Pierce and Gloria Harrison Present. Committee members Hardy 0 Brown and Hillel Cohn were excused for prior engagements. Dennis Baxter entered the meeting at 5:53 p.m. Al; E in attendance were Senior Assistant City Attorney Jolena Grider and City Clerk Gigi Hanna. Committee chairman Phil Savage called the meeting to order and Clerk Hanna read the roll call. w E Mr. Savage had a few preliminary comments before opening the floor for public comment. He said the committf E has a responsibility to the City to make initial recommendations by May 19,meaning the committee has five 0 meetings to make its initial report and will have to stick to time limits on public and committee comments in ord m to prioritize the use of our time. He assured people that their comments will be considered by the committee. He read the Communication Rules for Effective Committee Dialogue,which was passed out at the first meeting Z t reminded the group of the rules for public comment, adopted at the first meeting. He said all suggestions would v considered and encouraged people to get them to the committee as soon as possible,via one of several means: orally, via written statement,via email at a dedicated email account: CharterCommittee(asbcity org. N M Public Comments were provided by the following people: a r Bill Sandefur, of San Bernardino: One year ago, I though San Bernardino should have outsourced the fire c department,paid the police department and work on the Charter in 2016. Today I'm thinking the City needs to 3 accomplish some goals to meet the Bankruptcy situation. Charter changes other than those that will help the d financial condition of the City should wait until 2016. The Charter Review Committee members should rememb the top priority for the City is the bankruptcy right now. I also think the committee members will be rememberec U by the final results and the cost associated with it. Make sure you move in the direction that's good for the City. cu U Isabell Walbourne, of San Bernardino: I realize the committee was formed to take care of the Charter review ft d1 the City of San Bernardino,but there are several people I have heard that do not know what happens to a City th c goes bankrupt. We don't have the corruption problems like the City of Bell,but our financial issues are still g important. The Charter is to be reviewed and possibly reformed to help in the lowering the overall City budget. `. c what happens to the City if we do not satisfy the bankruptcy court? What possibly may happen to the offices anc E people now working for the City? (Mr. Savage said the committee would not be responding to questions while at the meeting because of time a constraints,however,her question would be passed along to staff to answer). 1 Approved at the 4/22/14 meeting _ Created 4/16/2014 by Gigi Hanna Packet Pg. 552 f. Matt Owen, of San Bernardino: I am the author of two of the proposals under consideration; one on the public banking and the other on a community council rooted in the neighborhood associations. Public banking addresse directly some of your priority-setting factors: The likelihood of improving the City financially is enormous,base on the experience of North Dakota and other entities that have put their money in a public bank; the likelihood o City-wide support is unknown; And considering whether there is adequate time for review and analysis has sidelined too many good proposals. My thinking is that a community council would be the most representative .2 legislative branch possible, and you gain City-wide support to reduce the likelihood of corruption by plugging u; _ into the process. E E Scott Olson, of San Bernardino: Regarding the mobile home issue, it is an ordinance and should not be part of t] Charter discussion; you need to stay focused. He discussed several items on the committee's matrix of topics: I W find it interesting that the repeal of Charter Section 186 is at the top of the list(of options the committee will r consider). Would it improve the City financially? I haven't seen any proof of that. Is there likelihood of-wide support? We all know it is a hot-potato issue; some people support it, some don't. The question of considering tt E now or later? You better put it much later because if you put it front and center,the entire legitimacy of your goy v and agendas are going to be put into question--that is the reality of what was created last year with the recall. m Suspending Charter Section 186 is setting the City up; every time there's an emergency you're going to suspend the rules so you can create new ones? You will be the laughingstock of the entire country if you try that. Before amending 186,the committee should first be able to explain the overall goal and benefit to the City vs. the detriment,because the morale among public safety workers is low. Changing election years would obscure local v C candidates trying to compete for attention against state and national races. The balance of power between the Mayor, Council and Manager is a checks-and-balances system; in changing anything,maintain the checks and N balances and learn from cities that don't have the issues you have witnessed over the last 10 years. Regarding making the City a general law City,this is akin to asking Sacramento to decide the City's future because we are d not capable. He suggested keeping the City Attorney and Clerk elected rather than appointed. E Action Item#1: Discussion and possible adoption of guidelines and/or policies for prioritizing Charter issi 3 as Mr. Savage said the committee would need to decide how to prioritize the topics they would consider in the shoe time they have been given and suggested three criteria to determine those issues to be taken up now, and those d better left for later: What are the changes might most help the City financially concerning its bankruptcy; What': the issue most likely to garner City-wide support; and is there adequate time to review an issue and make a v� recommendation that we believe is right. He said the committee would work by consensus to determine those m topics to be taken now and those to be considered later. Those would not necessarily be the most important issue for the City,but those that the committee can address with in the time it has. g w The committee expressed support for the criteria. E s Mr. Savage introduced the matrix of comments received by him and other committee members. He said he and t w Clerk would keep a master list of all suggestions received and as a committee prioritize them. The document wil a be dynamic, changing as more suggestions come into the committee, and the committee may change its mind during the process about whether something should be considered now or later. Created 4/16/2014 by Gigi Hanna Packet Pg. 553 Tom Pierce said he wanted to entertain specific proposals from department directors because they deal most directly with the Charter and he said the committee needs to hear from the City Manager before prioritizing the topics on the matrix. I think we will need a lot of input from those in decision-making positions so I hope there will be a lot of support available to us at every meeting. Casey Dailey echoed that sentiment, saying that the opinion of the professionals who see the impacts of the Charter on budgets,process, and day-to-day operations would help inform the committee in its decision making, Mr. Savage said he had expected to hear from staff at this meeting on various Charter related topics because the E matter was listed on the agenda. c U Mr. Dailey asked about the 2010 Management Partners study that made several suggestions regarding Charter W change, and Clerk Hanna said it in the committee members' notebooks, and is also posted on the web page for tt Charter Review Committee (direct link: hqp://www.ci.san- E bemardino.ca.us/hall/ clerk/volunteer citizen based Charter committee agendas.asp) E 0 U Mr. Craft asked for clarification that the City Manager had told the committee at its first meeting that the d committee could request reports from Department directors. Clerk Hanna said he had said that,but it would be u to him whether the report would be made by him or those who report to him. There was a request by the committee chair that the City Manager present summaries,rather than have each department head make a presentation,by the next meeting. He also requested that employee groups provide input as well. And that the v committee needs to have the information before it can function effectively. N Clerk Hanna said she had confirmation from no other departments,but that Stacey Aldstadt said she would mak( presentation at the April 22 meeting. w r Gloria Harrision requested historical information about why certain commissions mentioned in the Charter were c formed,what they were charged with doing and what the consequences would be of removing them. d The group voted unanimously to approve the criteria for setting priorities in considering Charter topics. m Action Item#2: Entertain specific proposals from Department Directors and City Manager for Charter Review. v i N d This item was skipped. Action Item#3: Discussion and possible adoption of the Anaheim Guiding Principals c a� The group voted unanimously to adopt the Anaheim Guiding Principles (provided at Meeting 1); g The group voted unanimously to approve the Communication Rules for Effective Committee Dialogue (provided Meeting 1); a Action Item#4: Entertain specific proposals from Committee Members for Charter Review. Created 4/16/2014 by Gigi Hanna Packet Pg. 554 7.A.i Public comment on this ite m was provided by: Scott Olson, of San Bernardino: who said that using the criteria of how a Charter Review topic might help the City financially is a good idea. He said if the committee doesn't have City-wide support,the committee's work in vain. Time for adequate review and analysis is essential because the City will not be well served by a quick-fi job. He said the committee should also consider what helps the City's overall function, and to start at the top because every item they discuss all depends on the role of the Mayor, and the City council. He said once that structure is in place, everything else will fall into place. ° �o -a Committee members were polled about their specific ideas about the topics listed on the matrix,which informed E how the committee determined the items to be considered now and later. E 0 Mr. Dailey said his concerns were the outdated Charter that had items in it that were now superfluous, or not in t W purview of the City Council, such policies on the school district. He also said that holding elections on odd year: r hurts voter turnout. And he said he'd like to review the issues of an elected City Attorney and full-time Mayor. thinks the council/manager form over government is the most appropriate way to operate. E U Dr. Pierce said he wanted to study the issue of Section 186. He also asked for the annual wage change for public safety employees since Section 186 was instituted, compared to the wage changes for other employees; a report what percentage of the City's budget is dedicated to public safety, compared to other departments and how that compares now to 10, 20 and 30 years ago. He also wanted to know the cities used in the Section 186 salary t comparisons and whether they had a similar mechanism as Section 186. v Gary Walbourne said he like to consider moving elections to even-numbered years. He acknowledged that Secti N 186 is a hot topic,but questioned whether there could be adequate review by May 19. d d Dennis Baxter said he'd like to consider the election cycle, Section 186 and adding line items into the City budg, so the council is better informed of what they are voting upon. E U Mrs. Harrison said she was interested in studying the election cycle, Section 186, cleaning up the outdated d language in the Charter and adding line item detail in the City budgets. She said the main issue in prioritizing is determining if there is an urgency to consider an item. d Michael Craft said he was interested in reviewing Section 186, the line item detail in budgets and moving electic to even years. He also said that those areas in the Charter that are procedural do not delineate the consequences c �� not following the Charter, and he would like to see that changed. He also said he'd like to see the Charter contain c City organizational chart. c Mr. Savage suggested that the committee seek authorization from the council to make recommendations by the 4) May 19 deadline,but to undertake an overall review and set up a procedure for regular review of the Charter. �v w Based on several consensus votes,the committee voted unanimously to prioritize the topics on the 4/15/2014 a matrix. The edited document is attached. Created 4/16/2014 by Gigi Hanna Packet Pg. 555 i The chair asked that the City Attorney agendize a report on the antiquated language in the Charter. The meeting adjourned at 7:32 p.m. The next meeting is set for Tuesday, April 22, 2014 at 5:30 p.m. in the EDA board room. 0 _ E E 0 V d d Y .V E E Ln 0 U 3 m a� L i U N d d V E 0 U 3 m d L d L U I N 7 _ �L a+ _ d E s U r r Q Created 4/16/2014 by Gigi Hanna Packet Pg. 556 SAN BERNARDINO CHARTER COMMITTEE POSSIBLE CHANGE TOPICS c 0 c� c as E E O m m F y E E 0 U 3 d d L U N N d d E E O U d d L d U N d d E s U r Q -I Created 4/16/2014 by Gigi Hanna Packet jPg.557 (suoi;epuawwooaa aal}ivau OO nnainaN aa}aey:) : 6SZ£) Gall!WL OOMOinaaaa:Peyo salnuiw :;uauayoejlV LO ti a cn U � R a A O O cn a. U cn O bA cn U En +- N > ° ..4 E U vi r s U ' •-. o �, 0 o � o n = O O Cd CL 0 IA .0 •'" �. •� o U U Ca U i � �' cd U U U C >1 4-i chi, N y C � rn — U A U Q a. O r. O U N sU- ,N ." y j u U " a� Q as UU U a� •o - uU Z; u Q" U OU m bA a�i O O ° � U � .= off; W 04 'Ar-4UUR4 ° O •�W M U � Im vl �p [— 00 O� .- -- - z. 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WOO MOIAON aa:PeyO : 4GZC) aa;;ivaWOOMain0jja9:pe43—sa;nuiw :;uauayoe;;y LO 4 d� ti a a� a "CS N ztt Chi 'TZ •a i i C3 10 x 0 N m U 7.A.i Volunteer Citizen Based Charter Committee Meeting 3—Tuesday, April 22, 2014 I Minutes N c .2 The meeting came to order at 5:30 p.m. in the EDA board room,with Committee members Dennis Baxter, Gary Walbourne,Hillel Cohn,Michael Craft,Hardy Brown, Phil Savage,Tom Pierce and Gloria Harrison Present. E Committee member Casey Dailey arrived at 6 p.m. Also in attendance were City Attorney Gary Saenz, City E Manager Allen Parker,Water Department General Manager Stacey Aldstadt,Fire Chief Avery and Human Resources Manager Helen Tran and City Clerk Gigi Hanna. as d Y Committee chairman Phil Savage called the meeting to order and lead the pledge of allegiance. E E 0 Clerk Hanna read the roll call. v 3 m One person requested to speak at Public Comment: Kathy Mallon, a San Bernardino resident since 2002 and a resident of the fifth ward, said understanding the rol, t of the committee the impact it can have on San Bernardino's recovery has been challenging and watching the = meetings has not done much to answer her questions. The process is important,but the scattered approach and la v of any substantial debate given the limited time frame, makes the challenge we face together daunting. The Char N requires a systematic approach of review not a bucket list. If the goal is to create the best document possible, it must first set forth what type of organizational structure will be used. Our current document is not precise enoug d in this and that has led to a limited check and balance and chaos in the chain of command. The first order of business for this group is to evaluate and determine the best form of government and then have the Charter laid< £ to put in place the best principals and structure to make that possible. Then and only then will all other changes 1 workable.Nothing in the Charter will ensure our success. If not well written it can hamper our success. The m Charter is the foundation;that's all it is. It is in the implementation,policy-making decisions and delivery of service that will ensure our success. That responsibility lay with our elected representatives and us as citizens. T: Charter can and should create the check and balance system that protects the taxpayers and affords our elected tl M means to provide service in an effective manner,with accountability paramount. The agenda document for toda} v meeting makes it difficult to understand if my comments should be directed to a specific item, or general public to comment. It needs to be more specific and related to specific Charter sections so that my concerns,my studies, a information can be specific to the matter being discussed. Until you do that, you cannot expect the public to be -c -- engaged much because we don't know where you are going. *� d Action Item#1: Approval of the minutes for the first two meetings of the Charter Review Committee. The minutes for both meetings were approved unanimously, as submitted. a l Packet Pg. 562 s 7.A.i � I Action Item#2: Input from department heads, city commissioners, employee groups, and City Manager on Charter changes that will most help the City financially. City Manager Parker passed out a comparison of Public Safety Budget vs. Misc. Departments budgets over 20 years, and a Summary of Charter 186 costs from 2006-present. These were at the request of committee members the prior meeting(Attached). Parker said he would be presenting the historical information the committee requested at the 4/15 meeting,but would not offer any opinion on the information. He read through the documer Parker said that the difference between the amount of the budget dedicated to public safety versus other d departments had been consistent through the years,with public safety departments consuming about 2/3 of over, E budget expenditures. Hillel Cohn asked for comparisons with other cities in terms of what their percentages of public safety budgets are. Parker said he did not feel that the percentage San Bernardino spends was unreasonab. W' and as times get tough cities start cutting parks and landscape maintenance budgets and public safety continues t a rise to the top and when times get tougher, cities look at fire and police budgets,but they are absolutely the last t E go in city budgets because they are they are the number one priority. He said it does not surprise him that the E amount is 2/3 of the budget; if you look at it just as a salary component and take out all other expenses, 3/ of all v salaries go toward public safety. He said that is not unusual; public safety is the biggest bite of the budget and it the biggest bite of the budget we are working on for 2014-15. L Tom Pierce asked for at least 10 years of data further breaking down the budgets of particular departments. He s; R there seems to be a lot less money now for libraries and parks and street maintenance than before. Parker said he v could get it to the committee by the next meeting,that the data is available because it was compiled for the bankruptcy and is also online on the city website. N N M Parker said the City had gone from 1,500 full time employees to slightly under 1,000 in three years. w Michael Raft asked how the city determined compensation and if the city used a matrix that ties certain technica E competencies for a job with the compensation level for the general employees. 3 d Parker said held like to see it that way but if the employee is in civil service,the compensation is set and a lot of our positions are classified through civil service. Performance based compensation,wherever the categories are, does not exist in cities like this because they can't afford to pay it,he said. Salaries have been frozen for years t here; they haven't even gotten cost of living increases. d Gary Walbourne asked whether any of the 30 percent of the staff cut was from Public safety. Parker replied that Police is down about 100 people,Fire is down 30-40 people, Community Development and Planning lost many employees,the City Manager's office staff was cut,the City Attorney has been cutting his budget since he came c on and the Parks and Recreation Department is devastated. Cuts have been across the board,he said. d E a Hardy Brown questioned whether public safety salaries should be in the Charter, or negotiated like all other employee salaries. Putting it in the Charter means it is on automatic pilot,he said. a 2 Packet Pg. 563 4 � I Gloria Harrison asked that data for other departments be included in Parker's report. Specifically, she asked for report on the decrease of each department's budget over 10 years, and the decrease in each department's position in the same 10 years. Pierce said he would also like to see the average percentage change in salary for other departments, as it was presented for fire and police. Human Resources Manager Helen Tran clarified that there had been no raises since c 2008 for the non-public-safety employees. Pierce would like to see the numbers going back to at least 2005, if no further, so he could see the trend over time in terms of making a comparison to how public safety employees ha) fared versus other employees. d E E Parker said the City had been negotiating with police and talking about Section 186 and the police, in conjunctic with the City Manager's office, will present some jointly-suggested language changes to Section 186, at the next W d meeting. E Pierce asked if there were similar discussions going on with Fire employees. Parker said that Fire at this point is c preferred not to negotiate. He said the City had spoken with the management group,but the fire union has not v come to the table about this at all. m (The following exchange happened after the discussion of elections at the meeting, but is being grouped with the earlier discussion of Section 186 for greater clarity). t Tom Pierce asked if any of the cities used in the Section 186 comparison use a similar mechanism to determine v salaries or if all of them get comparison salary information and just use it in the negotiation process. Does anybc N else doing this? It should be pretty straightforward. d d Mathis asked Parker what he and his staff is considering so that the committee understands what areas are possit E for the next meeting. c V Parker said that there is language in 186 that ends up mandating overtime for fire that he wants to address, and d other language that ties management's hands in terms of contracting out and some of that is supported by city attorney opinions. He said that he has asked the City Attorney to clarify Charter language so a legal opinion is no necessary to interpret the Charter. We need a full set of tools to manage in today's economy and this Charter doesn't give us that full set of tools,he said. v� Saenz said the language in the Charter is always subject to interpretation. But the goal is having language that ca c when you draft new provision: - matters. You want to be clear and concise p be interpreted reasonably into different Y � He said some Charters have a blanket statement that applies to each of its sections that says that"This Charter should be interpreted in a manner that enables the council rather than restricts the council while using their E discretion." The language is very important and I think it is advantageous to make it clear so it is not subject to various interpretations and if the desire is to make the Charter more enabling than restrictive guide,then that can w be stated in the Charter itself. a 3 Packet Pg. 564 i giving olic akers flexibility to set the best public policy available within the confines of what the Dailey said g g p ym h' have to work with is something to take very seriously. The ability to be flexible is important and he liked the ide of explicit enabling legislation. Parker passed out the language in Charter Section 186 that mandates overtime. He passed out the overtime costs for the fire department for calendar year 2013 and said it was an explanation of how the Section 186 language or c overtime had manifested itself in the fire department,with a$1.68 million cost for basic overtime. (Both of thes( documents are attached, and are also included in the Meeting two back-up files). m Fire Chief George Avery explained the different categories of overtime pay available to firefighters as listed on E 0 Parker's document. Pierce clarified that the total overtime cost for the department in 2013 was $6.2 million and asked what percenta Z of Fire Department wages are accounted for by overtime versus straight time. E E Parker said total payroll for fire in 2013 was $22.6 million,with the annual salary was$14.2 million and overtire US was overtime was $6.2 million,making overtime compared to annual base salary equal to 43 percent, and 27 0 percent of overall payroll cost over time. The remaining$2.2 million in compensation covered leave pay off, > special compensation and fringe benefits,he said. Pierce asked for a list of what those other types of compensati as are, and whether they are negotiated. 0 Pierce asked for the data on that and asked if general employees get overtime. Parker said it is a rarity,but does v occur, especially in field operations, for response to storms, etc. He said as part of the 10-year look at salaries,h4 N could include numbers regarding overtime. a, d Parker said the City's consultant is analyzing fire staffing and stations and other issues, and the report is due at tl end of June, in a public presentation to the council. E v 3 m Regarding Civil Service language, Parker said if he terminates an employee and the employee appeals the 0 decision and he is part of Civil Service, according to the language in the Charter,he continues to collect pay unti he has a hearing before the Civil Service commission, and that can take some time. If the Civil Service M Commission overturns his decision,had he not been paid,he would be entitled to back pay; if they sustain the v� termination decision,three months' salary just walked out the door. Parker said he wants to change the language 0 that once an employee is terminated,he is terminated and if it is overturned by the Civil Service Commission,th n he is entitled to back pay. Cohn asked if there were viable alternatives to having a Civil Service Commission. Parker said some cities do at others don't. He said 15 years ago most cities had Civil Service Commissions; today most management talk aboi merit systems and many can be spelled out in ordinances and such. a Saenz explained that the Civil Service language is an example of the clean-up that the Charter needs for clarity,I said that most of the clean-up would probably be better suited for a later consideration because of the timeframe 4 Packet Pg. 565 7.A.i I I h task. You want to minimize the ambiguity, you want to clarify,yoi before the committee and the enormity of the � Cwant to simplify, you want to make it something that can be read by the citizens and the general public and understood. Savage said he would like to recommend to the council that the Charter review continue after this particular effo is over because many issues will take longer more in-depth study. 0 r (The following exchange happened after the discussion of elections at the meeting, but is being grouped with the c earlier discussion of Civil Service for greater clarity). E E Rebekah Kramer, Chief Examiner for Civil Service introduced herself and explained how the Civil Service boar. works. w a.. The Civil Service board, five appointees by the mayor, is responsible for the independent review of classified personnel issues in the city and if the board were not in place,the city would need another entity to provide that c service. The Civil Service Board is responsible for three primary areas related to classified employees: pre- v employment screening and testing; evidentiary hearings for classified employees in association with disciplinary actions involving dismissal, demotions or suspensions; oversight and implementation of reduction in force lay- as offs. The board is aware of outdated language in section of article 13 of the Charter. Much of it is procedural in nature and could be addressed administratively through the established rules. The board is supportive of clean-ul t language,but it will take some time to provide feedback and will be considering the issue in late May for a long- v 0 LOterm study of the Charter. N Cohn asked about the background and experience of the Civil Service Board appointees. Kramer said there is no set criteria for their background,but most have been involved in some capacity in terms of management/personn d or have worked with the city of San Bernardino. E E Dennis Baxter asked how much overlay and duplication there is between the Civil Service and the Human 3 Resources Department. Kramer says they work hand in hand. Civil Service manages the classified positions,that they are posted and tested for. Human Resources handles the unclassified positions,those working in the city manager office, or for elected officials. HR deals with them once they have become an employee benefits, etc. whereas Civil Service handles the issue when a disciplinary matter is at issue, or in a lay-off situation. Public Safety employees are unc a classified service designation. HR also offers risk management, initial liability for the city as well as benefits for all employees. Cohn asked if the three classes of classified services—competitive, noncompetitive and labor class—as defined E the Charter are still functional. s Kramer said yes they are functional,but may merit some review and consideration. She said the Civil Service a board would review the Charter in May and determine areas were the Civil Service section language could be updated. That meeting would occur after the Charter Committee's deadline to report to the Council on May 19. 5 Packet Pg. 566 7.A.i ill She said much of the changes es would involve administrative efficiencies and cleaning up old language that does i � apply any more,but would not have a significant impact on city finances. If the city did not have a Civil Service commission,there would still need to be an independent body for employees to take disciplinary appeals, separate from city personnel. Parker said non-Civil Service cities use a merit system with personnel rules and regulations similar to those used in Civil Service situations,which allow f an appeals process for those employees not represented by unions. Parker said there is more flexibility in 0 embedding employment procedures in ordinances rather than the Charter. c d Parker said he would address the section of the Charter regarding pay for employees who have been terminated E and are appealing the decision at the next meeting. Kramer said it merited review as a cost-saving change to the m Charter. d a� Y Regarding the issue of elections, Clerk Hanna said she was hoping to have some concrete numbers to provide t E committee regarding elections,but had not yet received them from the County Registrar of voter specific to cost c stand-alone versus consolidated elections. She said the city currently consolidates its odd-year election,with the 0 San Bernardino City Unified School District. Even numbered year elections have far greater number of participants and there are some theories about whether even or odd-year election increase turnout, and whether i .� adversely affects local candidates. She said she would review the literature and be prepared to present that to the committee the following week. But the city has historically had low voter turnout and more people go to the poll to in state and federal elections, a benefit of an even numbered year. Several cities have switched from odd to even s number elections,but only recently so the statistics of whether it increased turnout significantly, and whether thz v turnout manifested in votes for local candidates, was unavailable. She said two clerks she'd spoken with felt that N the switch hurt local candidates,who had to work harder to be noticed against the cacophony of campaign literature, lawn signs and ads presented in a state and federal election cycle. On the other hand, consolidating wi- d a large election spreads the cost for the candidates across a larger group,making it less expensive for candidate statements. E 0 0 She said that the city's elections are costing the city$235,000 to $260,000 depending on candidate or issues on t m ballot. If you have a run-off, it creates a stand-alone election,where San Bernardino pays the entire costs. The c', special election in 2011 for Ward Two was $80,000. The run-off for mayor in 2014 was about$65,000. The cost for getting an issue on the ballot is still under study,but Hanna said she would provide that to the committee wit her cost report from the registrar. vi m Cohn asked if there was a way to find out in an even year election if people vote the entire ballot or just those ral (the state and federal) at the top of the ballot. Hanna said she would include that in her literature search and repo back to the committee. Craft said he had the same concerns as Cohn. d Hanna said that the city's current system—where the primary municipal election is held in November and the ru off held in February, creates some difficulty for candidates in reporting campaign contribution across two calem years. By having an election and run-off in the same year would be a far more efficient process, far easier for a candidates and less tiring for the voters. This would require some changes to the Municipal Code,however. &Oa . 6 Packet Pg. 567 i 1 I issue for the committee to consider,beyond cost savings, is efficiencies for the voters and the � I Hanna said an Y candidates; the process will essentially remain the same for the Clerk's Office whatever the committee, and the council decides. Cohn said he would hope that the main concern would be to get a larger voter turnout for a greater representative government. Savage said that would be a great result,but he was unsure how that would be achieved. Dailey sail efficiency and effectiveness and transparency are critical,but the voters need to have their voices heard and r national and state elections generate larger voter turnout. c m Hanna said another issue to consider is voter fatigue with even and odd year elections, an issue that may be E addressed by switching to even year elections. Savage wondered if the city changed to even year election would it want to encourage the San Bernardino City a Unified School District to do the same. Hanna said that would be up to the committee,but it might behoove then E because if the city chose to switch to even year elections,the school district would be left with stand-alone o elections in odd years. U 3 Cohn asked if bond issues do better in odd-year elections because there are fewer people voting. Harrison asked for data about how local candidates do on ballots that include state and federal races. t Regarding the issue of the Water Department, General Manager Stacey Aldstadt read a statement regarding v potential fixes to the Charter issues and the Water Department, Charter Section 160 et seq. Her statement is attached. M V She said the Water Department has 100 percent authority to manage the sewer treatment facility,but no authorit; d or control over the collection system. Giving us the responsibility to make sure that the collection system gets ul E to standard it should be at, I believe should come hand in hand with the authority to set rates. The sewer fund is c managed by the water department and supports the treatment facilities. The city manages the rates received from 3 sewer collection system and allocate those. Harrison asked if those funds came back to the water department. d Aldstadt said the water department receives all the funds related to the sewer treatment function,but none of tho related to the sewer collection function. In the past we became aware of the Sewer Funds had been used for othe purposes. U Baxter asked about the financial condition of the water department, to which Aldstadt answered that they"pay tl m1 bills." He also asked how ones become a water commissioner. Aldstadt answered that it is by appointment of the c Mayor. r Michael Craft asked if San Bernardino processed waste water for other cities and if there was enough capacity it 0) the waste water treatment facility. U tSi w Aldstadt said that the city of highland is trying to determine how best to dispose of wastewater in a proposed Q project called Harmony. The Harmony project will not max out our capacity at the secondary plant. However, it 7 Packet Pg. 568 I 7.A.i I will pose a prob lem for the collections Highland uses a trunk line that is near at-capacity,but that system because � a collection issue,not a treatment issue. Craft asked if the city gets fair market value for the wastewater it processes. Aldstadt said we do. He asked if the city gets fair market value for the water it sells to other cities. Aldstadt said San Bernardino has emergency inner tie connections with virtually every city in the surrounding area and we serve that water at domestic rates,not wholesale rates, in the even a neighboring city needs an emergency water supply. He said he didn't see any Y discussion in the Charter that San Bernardino about San Bernardino water resources being the property of the citizens. Aldstadt said that would not be consistent with California law because the constitution states that water a public resource of the state of California. c The trunk line has a reserve that the water department has managed. Residents of Highland that were residents when the JPA was signed for East Highlands ranch,when that development was build the city and highland cam r together to talk about concerns about capacity for the trunk line. Residents of that development pay a surcharge E that the water department collects, and if the capacity needs to be increased,the water department can draw dow c on those funds. They have used money from that fund to do a capacity analysis of the trunk line. 3 d Craft said he had heard that the equipment used to inspect the sewer lines was not as large as it should have beer. Aldstadt said the water department doesn't manage that system and does not know. Mathis asked Aldstadt if she knew how much money had been transferred from the sewer fund and she said she v didn't know and that the person to ask is the city finance director. Parker said if the funds were placed into the General Fund the independent audits currently taking place would find them. Walbourne asked if the audit woul, N find the Measure Z funds as well and Parker said that although they were sold on the basis of supporting police and fire, the funds go into the general fund. Y r Aldstadt said she did not provide specific language for Charter change,but her general recommendations are in 1 c letter that she would submit to the record. She said she would defer to the City Attorney's office for specific 3 language. m Regarding the issue of the Police Officers Association, Steve Turner,president of the association, said the PO is working with the city in trying to come up with an agreement to address the issues that have arisen from Chan Section 186. They have had two meetings already and have more planned. He spoke about the document handed out by the city manager, a 10-year document shows the budgeted positions for the Police Department. The fall o budgeted positions from 340 to 318 is a something everyone was concerned with. After that, POA agreed to zero c out the 186 provision for two years. However,the budgeted positions continued to drop,to 246. He said the 3 -14 year is related to the two ears with no salary increase. He said that the percent salary increase for 2013 y y rY = percentage changes in the Sala ry kee s San Bernardino Police Officer pay average. He said spirit of Charter d E Section 186 was to help the city retain police officers. He said keeping the pay averaged, as it is in Section 186, could prevent the City from being a training ground. It costs the city about$100,000 to train a police officer,he said. This investment is why it is important when the City hires an officer, it retains the officer. In terms of a percentages of budget, I think that for 60 percent an overall budget for public safety is a healthy city. He said he believed the Police Department budget was within the range of a healthy budget: "As you get to 70 percent of yc '""'�► 8 Packet Pg. 569 budget,then the city has to make some cuts to areas they don't want to and you start cutting back on filling potholes or repairing streetlights as quickly as possible or maintaining the parks. 80 percent of the overall budge on public safety then your city is bankrupt. We are at 68 percent and we moved from 64 to 68 percent." Craft asked about the morale of officers. c Turner said morale is down and probably true for employees throughout the city,but in terms of the police o department,there is a collection of reasons, including the city is bankrupt,they are taking cuts in their pay, and t situation is unstable. He said the POA is working hard to bring stability to its members. He said the Charter Committee also impacts the morale of the officers. o U Craft asked if the city is having difficulty attracting new offices. a� Turner said he believes that may be an issue. He said that the cities which can pay higher than average pay will attract the higher quality candidates. He said that candidates that San Bernardino attracts are the ones that have a c tough time finding jobs other places. 3 Pierce commented that the average pay for police officers seems good compared to other employees and asked how large the applicant pool is when jobs are posted. Turner said he didn't have those numbers,but said that all employees have different functions in the city and that this city has employees at all different levels and skill set and what is expected of a police officer is not the same as what is expected of other employees. Pierce said it wa v difficult for him to why Section 186 is needed when the cities used to determine the median wage negotiate their salaries; their salaries are negotiated and they define the average, so what would be the loss? N M v Turner answered that most cities establish wages much like the method used in Section 186,they do a comparati study and if they don't bring the salary up,they will bring another part of the compensation package up, so over, packages for that employee will be higher than what you find here in San Bernardino. c v Pierce asked why the POA would not want to go to negotiation. If it's all subject to negotiation and these other m cities are coming up with the average wages too,what's the loss? L Turner said the concern for the police officers is that they have had little success in the past convincing the city that its benefits package is poor. When we are negotiating for benefits and comparing them to other cities, ours v suck compared to those and we don't get anywhere all we have left is Section 186 to at least average our base d� salary, Turner said. _ Pierce asked if part of the resistance of the city regarding benefits has to do with the salaries not being negotiate( Turner said he did not know. E Parker said he thinks Section 186 represents a point of stability. The difficulty here is that for several years, crim w has been an issue,there is high turnover, causing morale issues,which, in turn, leads to understaffing. The chief a will tell you that 30 percent of his staff is not there at times. You go through cutbacks, lay off 500 people and people get scared. The prior city council took money from police and fire, a non-negotiated take of their take-ho 9 Packet Pg. 570 i 7.A.i i i salary to pay their retirement. Section 186 amounts to a guarantee that they can get a raise through the Charter;v feel much of this can be put into negotiation. They have asked for 6 year contracts, which is unheard of,because they are looking for stability. This is a multi-year situation to determine how we address their concerns, given th we are in bankruptcy and we don't have the money to address their issues. This is a last-ditch stand. I am empatl about where they are coming from; in terms of negotiations we have asked them to be part of the solution, get ric of the adversarial relationship,there's a lot going on and I think 186 is the tip of what is going on and it has a strong meaning for them. Cohn asked Turner for the pluses of working for San Bernardino Police Department,because there are still 246 0 still here. Is that because there is a guarantee of salary raise with 186? He also pointed out that the level of peopl salaries are often based on where they live,with those living near the beach making more than those living in an E 0 v Turner said people become police officers because it is a profession they wanted to do for a long time and a lot c W police officers are loyal. There are people in the process of leaving;we are constantly losing police officers. But 4. the same time we have young officers in the academy saying I'll work there. If we don't do anything about the p and stabilize it,we will become a training ground and we need to be cautious not to be the city that trains officer E that move one. But the reason they stay varies. Some like the action,the types of crime we have here. Or it coulc U be a multitude of reasons—close to home, etc. The current situation in San Bernardino makes it unique—as the city stabilizes,you won't see the movement you see right now. Unless a decision is made to dramatically impact .� the income of the police officers. People will go to other agencies when they can make more money. And when d officer leaves this city, they have experience. U Craft asked to know the attrition rate of police and fire personnel by the next meeting. Parker agreed to provide that. Ln N M Action Item#3: Discuss and deal with"now"vs. "later" categorization and priority if consideration of Charter change topics amongst the"now" category. E E Hanna said that the current topic matrix has been updated since the previous meeting,with the matrix including 6 specific civil service language, compensation for an employee while under the appeal process and language aboi d the Water Department. L d The now bucket was reviewed, and the item to recommend no changes (#4 on the list)was taken off the list; the item to replace the existing Charter with one essentially identical to another city's (#7 on the list)was placed in t "later"bucket, as was the item to require employee benefits to show as line item in city budgets(0). The m� committee asked that the issue of Chapter 186 be agendized for the next meeting. The now bucket was reviewed 0 and the following items are in the committee's "now"bucket: Charter 186,Elections, Continuous Charter Revie Remove School District language from the Charter; Reorganizing relationship between City Council,Mayor anc c City Manager; Section 254, concerning compensation of employees going through Civil Service appeals; and the E Department to transfer the management and rate setting power for sere = h Water e g recommendations from the p g � collection and treatment to the Water Board of Commissioners. a 10 Packet P . 571 a g I . III Action Item#4: Discussion and consideration of the Charter discussion topics in order of their priorities. The committee agreed that the prioritization of topics it would consider would be as follows: I. Removing obsolete school District language from the Charter(Item#17 on the topics list) 2. Continuous Charter View (Item#3); 3. Updating the Civil Service language in Section 254 (Item#27); 4. Transfer the management of the sewer collection system and the power to set rates for sewer collection a treatment to the Board of Water Commissioners (Item#28) V 5. Consider Consolidating elections with even-year elections, and make the run-off to same year as the primary(Item#2) c 6. Charter Section 186 (Item#1) 7. Reorganizing the relationship between the City Council,Mayor and City Manager as d The meeting adjourned at 9:10 p.m. The next meeting is set for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday,April 29, 2014 in the EDA board room. 0 a� L d CU I U V_ tn N d d w E E III �S CD L L RS it L V) N N Z C V f0 r Q III 11 Packet Pg. 572 7.A.i JO I Volunteer Citizen Based Charter Committee ' I Meeting 4—Tuesday, April 29, 2014 Minutes I � 0 The meeting came to order at 5:30 p.m. in the EDA board room, with Committee members Dennis Baxter, Gary Walbourne, Hillel Cohn,Michael Craft,Hardy Brown,Phil Savage,Tom Pierce and Gloria Harrison Present. Committee member Casey Dailey was absent. Also in E attendance were City Attorney Gary Saenz, City Manager Allen Parker, Facilitator Bill Mathis U and City Clerk Gigi Hanna. 0 d Y Committee chairman Phil Savage called the meeting to order, Clerk Hanna read the roll call and the group recited the pledge of allegiance. 0 U Chair Savage restated the committee's function and obligation to the City Council is to consider any and all possibilities for Charter change and making recommendations to the body by May 19. He said that the committee has made no decisions about what it will recommend to council, L despite some concerns expressed to him and others that the committee would be focusing on Charter Section 186. the fire labor group representative who asked out a LO Additionally, Savage advised Steve Tracy, g p p P N document entitled San Bernardino City Charter Section 186 A Fire Department Perspective, and was prepared to give a presentation,that he would prefer that the presentation be specifically agendized for the May 6 meeting to give Tracy sufficient time for his presentation,the committee time to review his report, and the community clear notice that the presentation would o take place. The Committee asked that the item will be placed on the May 6 agenda and the Chair 3 also invited those who were in attendance to speak on the topic that they could speak during a� Public Comment as well. (Tracy's document is attached). L t+ Three people requested to speak at Public Comment: U James Smith, of San Bernardino, said many of have been here for previous ballot measures and the track record hasn't been all that good. As a city we just went through a recall election where the city moved forward and the perception out there of what is happening in the city is positive. He said it was his strong feeling that what this committee needs to do is a campaign to recall the Charter and start from scratch with a basic three or four page Charter, g iven the timeline. E U Kenneth Konior, a firefighter/paramedic with the SBFD for about eight years, said Committee w member Walbourne had seen the information he'd put out on social media and invited him to Q speak to the committee. He said he was there to introduce the committee to the Fire Department employee perspective on Section 186. He said San Bernardino City doesn't exist in a vacuum; 0 1 Packet Pg. 573 ! I III the city competes with local cities, such as Redlands and Rialto,for qualified public safety employees. He said that was the very issue city policymakers were addressing in 1939 when they added Section 181a, for police, and in 1959,when Section 186 was added,to address attrition of fire personnel. He said that one of the points of Section 186 was to remove the politics from the issue of salary, to base pay on research and facts rather than someone's opinion or political agenda. He asked the committee to keep an open mind when reviewing the information and develop questions for the fire department employee group for next week, so that the group can ° answer all of the issues in the proper context and the city doesn't end up spending a lot of time and money to end up back where we were 60 years ago. E Steve Tracy, executive board member of the San Bernardino Professional Firefighters Association, said they had planned to do their presentation that night and questioned whether it was allowed under Action Item#3. He said he wanted to respond to the City Manager's comment at the April 22 meeting that the fire union had not come to the table or been E cooperating with the city in negotiations. He said his group wants to help the city get through the o fiscal crisis,that members are concerned and care about the citizens of the city and are willing 3 able and ready to work with the city,but the process has to be transparent, fair and equitable. m a� Action Item#1: Approval of the minutes for meeting three. a: ca The committee unanimously approved the minutes of meeting three. v Action Item#2: Follow-up on Committee Requests to City Manager from 4/22 meeting. N One speaker asked to speak on item 2: i/ E Scott Olson: said that if members of the public are going to speak on an agenda item,they o should have the advantage of knowing where the committee members stood on an agenda item 3 before speaking,but with the public comments listed before the items, they cannot do that. He 2 also said that the idea of switching from odd-numbered election year to even to save money may sound great on paper,but that local candidates will get lost at the end of a ballot full of federal, state, and county races. The benefit of odd numbered years is you get to interact with residents of your city about those issues related to San Bernardino—you don't have to worry about who is running for president,taking precedent over what you want the voters to consider,he said. He said there is potential to lose even more interest in local elections by such a move and said that if (the elections of) 2013 showed you anything, it is that you have the ability to get citizens involved. C aD E City Manager Parker passed out a packet of information addressing committee requests for information at the previous meeting:Fire Department Incident Counts; Section 186 Salary .2 Survey Comparison Cities (2006-Current); Summary of Charter City Provisions Establishing `t Employee Salaries and Benefits; 10 year Attrition Report for Police and Fire Sworn Staff; 10- 2 Packet Pg. 574 7.A.i General Fund Departments vs. Actual); Calendar Year year History of Salaries for Gene p (Budgeted 2013 description of Fire and Police Safety Overtime (Documents attached). Action Item#3: Input from department heads, city commissioners, employee groups, and City Manager on Charter changes that will most help the City financially. c • Regarding Human Resources and Police Officers Association mutually agreeable 0 r language modifications in Charter Section 186: c d Parker said that as late as this afternoon,there had been no agreement as to specific language. o The situation is complicated he said because the City is in mediation in the group, and there is a gag order from mediator. At the same time,the City is in in contract negotiations/collective bargaining procedure,making it difficult for the POA to accede to a language change without understanding what else is on the table in negotiation and mediation. He said he may have mutually agreeable language prepared for the next Charter committee meeting,but there may be E 0 no proposal from police and he said he was reluctant to unilaterally give the committee his 3 opinion on the matter. Ix • Regarding clean-up language concerning the school district: Saenz said the school district is no longer governed by the city although Charter language would CU indicate otherwise. The committee's concern regarding that sections specifically, Article 11, 0 indicates that the school district is governed by the council and the city are outdated and inappropriate. That's the info to that section,but there are a number of sections also outdated, M including section 40 (1)hospitals,pest houses and slaughter and provide for their removal and discontinuance. They are numerous, a section regarding the ex officio assessor and tax collector, a at certain times (sales and property taxes)to be collected by the city clerk,the chief of police will act as property tax collector. A number of sections are outdated and obsolete,but I don't believe o this committee has enough time to study those and place them on the November ballot. He said he'd go through them and provide a report on them,but it is something the committee should 2D consider in the later category. The entire section on the school district could probably be wiped out completely, Saenz said. Savage said that it was previously thought that the section would be easy to get rid of,but Ui wanted to know if the school district had any reason that it should not be removed. A call to school district officials seeking input had not been returned by the time of the meeting. Michael Craft asked if the city had any ability to receive a report from the school district listing the graduation rate, trends, etc.,because he would want that information and wonder why the E city didn't have an input since it owns the building, could we have a report from the school district to the mayor and council? Committee member Brown said you could request the Q information,but cannot demand it. 3 t Packet Pg. 575 i he clean-up language for the school board is in the committee's "now"bucket and Pierce said t p asked if the information from the school district could be provided prior to the May 19 deadline. Savage said that taking the clause in or out of the Charter does not meet the committee's criteria of saving money and questioned whether it should be placed in the"later"bucket for consideration. N _ Saenz agreed to generate a list of all the antiquated language in the Charter to present to the committee. • Regarding Civil Service clean-up language to Section 254: Parker passed out a document with the current language of Section 254, and options for two E proposed changes to the language to the section. (Document attached), as forwarded to him by Civil Service. In the Charter today, the language does not allow an employee to be terminated or reduced in rank without a hearing before the appeals board,which can take as long as six w months,with the employee receiving pay, even if the decision is ultimately upheld, Parker said E 0 Option One removes the language from Section 254; Option two revises the language. v 3 m Pierce asked the difference between the two options and asked which option dealt with the previously stated problem in Section 254. Craft said he preferred Option 1 because it sets forth L that steps the city and the employee must take, and asked what the Civil Service board response was to the proposals. 0 Rebekah Kramer, chief examiner for Civil Service, said the Civil Service board had not had a N chance to go through the Charter to make specific recommendations for change,but that either option presented essentially say the same thing, although Option Two is more abbreviated. c Brown said it was important for employees to understand fully what was happening before being E terminated or disciplined. Kramer said she was in absolute agreement. o c� Walbourne asked Parker how much the change to that Charter section would save,but he said he could not quantify it at this time. ' CD L d • Regarding the issue of elections, Clerk Hanna said it is unclear that a move to even-year elections would save any more money than has already been saved with efficiencies put in Ui place over the past three years at the County Registrar of Voters level. The issue may be more about increasing voter turnout than saving money, she said. _ _ By scheduling local elections that have had traditionally low turnout on the same date as W statewide primaries or general elections with their much higher voter turnout,there is reason to believe that the number of local ballots cast could almost immediately increase to levels nearly on par with these broader elections, although there is likely to be some voter roll-off for voting in Q local elections, according to several studies published on the subject. (Report attached) 01 A 4 Packet Pg. 576 Hanna said the researchers also named some potential consequences of moving to even year elections: • On-cycle local elections might mean that more citizens with only limited knowledge of and interest in local elections would vote in local contests; • Coupling of local elections with national or statewide contests would also lead to longer, more complex ballots that might increase voter confusion. e On-cycle contests could draw attention away from local politics. • Coupling local elections with national contests could lead to partisan politics playing a = larger role in local elections. E E 0 Locally, an issue to consider is whether the County Board of Supervisors would allow the city to consolidate with its even-year elections, she said. The city must ask permission to consolidate with the County on even-year elections, and the County Board of Supervisors could refuse, Q, which is did recently,when a special district asked to do the same. The issue, according to the E County Registrar of Voters, is having a ballot so complex it goes to a three-card ballot, a something the county has been trying to avoid(It takes ballots to be printed from 1.2 million U 3 pieces to 1.8 million pieces). as Additionally, she had found no studies regarding the effect of even-year elections on local candidates' races or bond measures—which was requested by the committee. Based on these factors, Hanna said she could not recommend language changes regarding even or odd year { elections without further study. LO M She said the idea of keeping the primary municipal election in the same year as the general, something she thought might address the issue of voter fatigue, would require moving the a primary election from November to earlier in the year in order to meet the state election code requirements. This could happen,but the matter would take more study and Hanna suggested o that this,too,be considered later. U 3 a� Hanna said she'd asked the City Attorney's office to draft potential Charter language that would have the City of San Bernardino follow the Elections Code for initiatives, referendum and recalls. She said the need for alignment between the city documents and the state election code became painfully clear during the recall campaign last year,when the language in the Charter, the Election Code and the Municipal Code made it impossible to meet the requirements of all. The result was a costly court case wherein the city's outside legal counsel lost, largely based on its interpretation of the unclear Charter language. The city's legal bill for that was more than $200,000. c d The language in the Charter is already based on the California Elections Code, of 1966. While v the Elections Code has been updated many times since then, the City Charter has not. Hanna said it would behoove the city to include the state election Code language used by other Charter d Cities, specifically the City of Anaheim, for the same purpose. 5 Packet Pg. 577 nded language char e for Section 120 which would need to be She passed out the recomme g , amended, and Sections 121 and 121 would need to be repealed: Section 120. Initiative,Referendum and Recall. There are hereby reserved to the electors of the City the powers of the initiative and referendum and of the recall of municipal elective officers. The provisions of the Elections Code of the State of California, as the same now exist or hereafter may be amended, governing the initiative and referendum and the recall of municipal officers, shall apply to the use thereof in the City so far as such provisions of the Elections Code are not in conflict with the provisions of this Charter. E 0 v She said the,under the proposed language,the City would be replacing three sections in the current Charter with ambiguous language about initiatives, referendum and recalls with a a paragraph that essentially says the city will follow the state's election code. E E Chair Savage asked for a motion to broaden the language on the committee's topics list section regarding elections to include consideration of the language change for Section 120. Dennis Baxter made the motion, seconded by Craft and the motion passed unanimously. L Action Item#4: Entertain additional specific proposals from Committee members for Charter review v C11 A memo provided to the committee by member Brown was read into the record by his grandson: N M As a continuation of last meeting where we set our agenda topics for priority setting, I have the following thoughts. But before I give those I want to thank you as a committee, Councilman Rikke Van Johnson and the public for your patience E and understanding of my speech disability as a result of ALS better known as Lou 0 Gehrig Disease. That is why I am taking the time to study our agenda and reducing my thoughts to paper. I also want to thank my son and grandson for assisting me to and during the meetings. L While thinking of people with a disability I have identified some things the city v will need to address so people with disabilities can move about the city with Ml minimum help. Many sidewalks in our city need sloping for wheel or power chair access and the restroom across the hallway needs modification. I mention the disable because our elected policy makers need as much independency and not be locked in by a Charter that ties their hand such as section 186 I want to address d in reverse order than we have them listed on the agenda because of my limited speaking ability. r Q 6 Another reason for repealing Section 186 is it does not give equal opportunity of salary consideration to all city employees, in my opinion. And, if we have a problem with recruiting people in our public safety positions, I would like to hear 6 Packet Pg. 578 r HR sta and the reasons as to why. This is not the unction of any that from our ff Y .f employee association. While they can act in an advisory role to the city it is the responsibility of HR to give the evidence,from my experience as a recruitment manager at Kaiser. Let me ask you a question as a taxpayer; are you willing to give all employees this section]86 provision?I know that Mr. Parker is to give us some language to amend section 186 that has been negotiated between him and the association but is that fair to all of the other employee groups that would like to do the same for their members. It is our responsibility to provide some guidance to the council and citizens in the city. (D E E We just went through an election that the voters said they wanted a change in our direction and 186 was a part of that change at least from the people I have interacted with. Not to amend or change but repeal. In my humble opinion other service such as well-lit streets, trash being removed o from our streets, timely trimmed trees, clean parks for families and children to U play, library's for research, a positive image that keeps and attract other businesses are equally important to reducing and combating crime. This is only possible if our elected officials can act in their decision making capacity without L a� a Charter tying their hands. s U The city of Los Angeles recently was starring a $10 million dollar law suit in its face because of its failure to comply or making an effort to meet its legal M obligation under Disability federal law. This is another example of why our -- Charter must not contain automatic pilot salary guarantees without negotiation. d r E From my personal, education and professional work experience as a Human o Resource Manager for 25 years, a school board trustee for 12 years, a volunteer ) of 4 year on the county civil service commission, nine years on the school district a� classified personnel commission, a city police commissioner,plus a discrimination law certificate from the University of Southern California School of Law and a certificate on California Merit System gives me a broad understanding of these issues. N d 5. In addition I have also managed a few city and statewide elections in this city and am familiar with voter turn-out during odd and even years. That is why I am in favor of even years for election. a� E 4. Based on last week's presentation I see value to transferring the sewer collection and rate setting over to the water board. 1° Q 7 Packet Pg. 579 7.A.i 3. Unless I misunderstood the information of last week presented to us on the civil service board the commissioners through adopting new policies and procedures can correct the problems that were presented. 2. The Charter view committee should be an on-going established committee, since changes to the Charter is regulated by laws established in our state constitution. When I served on the school board I do not recall any impact on its decision came from the city. o U One last thing that I want to bring as a cost saving item to the city, over the past 15 y ears I have had to use 911 for medical emergency care. Each time they would ,(D send afire engine with three or four fire fighters that do nothing as related to performing care to me as a patient. It was so noticeable last time that one of the o Medical Emergency Technician in the ambulance commented to the other, why are they here to get in the way. I even had the Tech tell my wife of his concern. I do not know if this is something that goes with 186 in the Charter or some cost saving item the council should look into with their policy. Again I want to thank you for being patience and understanding with my situation U as a member. N Hardy Brown d w Savage asked if other members had specific proposals for review and Craft submitted a proposal E for Continuous Charter Review,which was included in the Committee Members' packets: o U 3 The Mayor and City Council shall appoint a volunteer based committee in °_' January of odd-numbered years to review and suggest revisions to the Charter for the City of San Bernardino. The purpose of assembling the committee in a; January of an odd numbered year is to allow the committee sufficient time to consider the whole Charter, create recommendations to the Mayor and Common tai Council, and allow the Mayor and Common Council the opportunity to discuss/debate the proposals and vote on them for the even number year November ballot. The committee shall be comprised of one person representing each ward of the E city; while the mayor shall appoint two citizens to the San Bernardino City Charter Committee. w 8 Packet Pg. 580 7.A.i meeting o the committee a chairperson will be elected by the Upon the first g f � p committee. The chairperson will not vote, except in the event of a tie vote. The chair will guide the group's discussions and keep them on topic and on schedule. The committee will comply with all open meeting laws for the State of California. They also will utilize Robert's Rules of Order as they conduct their meetings. O r M Savage said he appreciated the language and it is on the bucket list and will be discussed. Savage said,under Topic One,Priority Six,Discussion of Section 186,there is language saying v we should deal with allowing cross-training of police and fire. That issue goes way beyond 186 and he asked that they segregate that out of the discussion of 186. Savage suggested adding the following items to the topics list for discussion and the committee E concurred: U • Interpretation language that enables the Council rather than restrict it in using its discretion,to be listed as priority Item IA. L d • The two petitions filed with the city regarding citizen-led initiatives for Charter change; cc one using a similar formulas as the one in Section 186 to determine employee benefits; and the other to add anti-corruption language to the Charter, listed as priority items 29 LO and 30. M • A proposal for private economic zones, received from Upland Attorney Brian G. r Hannemann. (Document attached) O • A proposal that pension increases only be allowed after a vote of the people. 3 2 Savage passed out a document entitled San Bernardino Charter Reform Principle & Objectives d 412912014(Document attached) and said it should be on the committee's topics list as part of the w now bucket. He said that previous Charter committees had worked without guidelines for co specific direction and he thought the committee could recommend to the Council that these are the principles the committee wishes to follow,to get the council to approve that and put it in r front of the public, as a sort of plebiscite,to see if the public thinks it makes sense. He said he feels the structure of the city's government is its biggest issue and needs to be revised,with the city moving toward a strong manager/council form of government. He said his document is based on the Anaheim Charter Review Guidelines (passed out at the first meeting), modified for E San Bernardino. r Walbourne said that the Charters they had reviewed, specifically the Anaheim and the Riverside e Charters,had a weak mayor and suggested that changing from the city's strong mayor to a council/manager form of government would save the city the mayor's salary. Craft said that what 0 9 Packet Pg. 581 r he likes in the Anaheim and Riverside Charters are that the responsibilities of the City Manager, Mayor and City Attorney are clearly stated and is something San Bernardino needs to do. He also expressed his concern that the committee hadn't yet made a decision about what to recommend to the council. He doesn't need to pile more onto the now bucket and move forward. Savage said he appreciated the thought,but would suggest that the last item be placed in the now c bucket so that the committee can get something to the public,then we would have a lot more 0 certainty from the public about the way the committee should be going in the future. He suggested that the group get topics on the list and prioritize them later. There was discussion among the committee members about the shortness of time left before they 0 are due to make a presentation and the lack of decisions made yet, although there is expectation from the community that they do so. There was agreement that the committee could take actions on issues besides Section 186,which the committee had already agreed they would not vote on until the employee groups had a chance to make their presentations, on May 6. E 0 U Baxter asked if there was any sense among the group about the need to dump the entire Charter. Mathis said there was a certain way to move forward, and that is to put a motion on the table. Brown suggested not lessening the power of the mayor because in the times of crisis,people will call on the mayor,not the city manager, for answers. 0 Parker said if the group decides to throw out the Charter,that there would need to be a replacement Charter in place to avoid anarchy. He said there were some issues to consider if the LO city where to go to a general law city, including the loss of utility users tax. M d 5. Discuss and deal with "now"vs. "later" categorization and priority of consideration of r Charter change topics amongst the"now" category. E 0 Savage suggested adding the following items to the topics list for discussion and the committee U concurred: °' a� o: • Broaden Topic 2 to include simplifying the language regarding recall,referendum and initiative and keep it in the Now bucket. s U • Put Topic 1, Priority 6 (Section 186) over to the May 6 meeting for consideration. The N motion was made by Craft, seconded by Baxter, and passed unanimously. • Add language to deal with combining the fire department and police department training and add to Topic 1,priority 6 (Section 186). _ U • Add the interpretation language from the City Attorney office that enables the Council w rather than restrict it in using its discretion,to be listed as priority Item 1A, and prioritize a it in the Now bucket. 0 10 Packet Pg. 582 initiatives for Charter change; • The two petitions filed with the city regarding citizen-led g , one using a similar formulas as the one in Section 186 to determine employee benefits; and the other to add anti-corruption language to the Charter, listed as priority items 29 and 30. • A proposal for private economic zones,received from Upland Attorney Brian G. Hannemann(Document attached),to be listed as priority item 31. 0 • Pension increases can only take place via vote of the people,to be listed as priority item 32. E 0 U 6. Discussion and consideration of the Charter discussion topics in order of their priorities a� d One person asked to speak during public comment for this item. E Scott Olson: The recall and everything connected with it was political. For the committee to 0 come up with Section 186 as the number one item on its priority list puts the committee in 3 danger of being accused of being political. The committee cannot substantiate or document that the City will save money(in altering Section 186)because you have no idea what the police and fire unions are going to do when it comes to negotiations. The city could very easily find itself negotiated into higher salaries and lose money; At least 186 there is a benchmark. Why in the middle of mediation and bankruptcy would the committee get into such a political mess when it f is not the stated goal of any here? The last Charter changes on the ballot were political in nature. LO All revolved around giving the mayor more power,by giving him the ability to appoint the city attorney, clerk and treasurer. He said the proposed suggested change to the referendum, recall and initiative language in the Charter is preferable because it is basic clean-up and shows the public that Charter change is not political. E E 0 The committee voted to: 3 0 • Endorse removing the language from the Charter regarding the school district. The motion was made by Cohn, seconded by Baxter and passed unanimously. (Topic 17, Priority 1). t>i • Approve the language submitted by the City Attorney to enable rather than restrict the council in its interpretation of the Charter. The motion was made by Cohn, seconded by = Craft and passed unanimously. It was added to the topic list as Item IA. c • Recommend ongoing review by the city Charter committee and make it a city council E policy to have ongoing Charter review. The motion was made by Baxter, seconded by Walbourne and passed unanimously Q 11 Packet Pg. 583 • Accept Option 2 of the proposed revision to Civil Service language in concept(Topic 27, priority 3). The motion was made by Walbourne, seconded by Baxter and passed unanimously. • Defer consideration of Topic 28,priority 4 (Water Department),to a future meeting. The motion was made by Cohn, seconded by Baxter and passed unanimously. 0 • Accept the proposed language change on Charter Section 120, and elimination of sections 121 and 122. The proposed language was added to Topic 2,Priority 5 (Elections). The motion was made by Pierce, seconded by Harrison and passed unanimously. E 0 • Defer discussion of Section 186 until the May 6 meeting. The motion was made by Craft, seconded by Baxter and passed unanimously. a • To recommend the principles passed out by Phil Savage be adopted by the Council as a E policy to be applied for future Charter review. The motion was made by Harrison, 0 U seconded by Baxter. Q L d t There was extensive discussion of this item before the vote: Savage reintroduced the subject of his handout and asked whether the committee agreed that the city should be moving toward a manager/council form of government, Item One on his list of principles. Pierce said he was not LO confortable making a recommendation to the council about the form of government without having studied the issue more extensively. Harrison said she agreed with the principles and suggested the committee adopt Items 2-7, removing Item One. She read items 2-7: E E 0 U d L m to U I N G G N E s U Y Q � 12 Packet Pg. 584 2. Flexibility. To the greatest degree possible,the City Manager&Council should have the flexibility to make decisions and to govern the City under the Charter. Removing excessive limitations on that flexibility should be opportunities to improve governance. 3. Economy. The Charter should be as economical in wording as possible while keeping the meaning and legal parameters clear. 0 ca 4. Future Orientation. The Charter should be worded so as to apply to future City administrations,not just to deal with current issues. E E 0 U 5. Contemporary Standards. Language,such as gender neutrality,should be in conformance with contemporary standards. a w w 6. Transparency. The Charter should be clear to the well-informed layperson,not E excessively legalistic. The Charter is to be a way that the public can understand how the 0 U City operates,and the powers and limitations of those who govern it. 3 0 7. Charter Reform Process. The Charter Review Committee working to advise the City Council should utilize the following principles: a, 7.1 Input from those working within the City family should be sought out as those who work in city government have a unique perspective on the Charter. U 7.2 San Bernardino's Charter should be uniquely adapted for this City and it's needs. 7.3 Charters of other Cities should be reviewed and taken into account. Other cities M have weighed,considered and analyzed many of the same issues as those confronting San Bernardino. a 7.4 The Committee should seek wide and diverse input and evoke debate and welcome disagreement in its deliberations;however,it should attempt to obtain o wide consensus for it's recommendations. Charter changes should be able to draw wider support from the community than is normally required to win an election. d 7.5 Ongoing,frequent,regular reviews of San Bernardino's Charter should be made to the end that it will be,and continue to be an effective,well written,and well organized document. U I N The City Manager suggested that the language under Item 2 (Flexibility),be altered to include "...the Mayor, City Manager and Council should ..." Harrison agreed and amended her original S motion to include the change: To recommend principles 2-7 be adopted by the Council, with the addition of the word"Mayor"be added to Item 2, as a policy to be applied for future Charter review. It was seconded by Baxter and passed unanimously. U r Committee members asked the City Manager to make a recommendation about the city manager/council form of government. 13 Packet;Pg.585 Parker said that Charter Section 40 of the Charter(Powers of Mayor and Common Council), gives ultimate authority to the council,with a weak mayor/weak manager form of government because all the power ultimately is vested in the city council. Ultimately, the question comes down to personalities,rather than the form of government. A city manager form of government does not guarantee a better form of government,he said, adding that he didn't think he should comment on which form is the best form of government. 0 He said taking that issue to the council would likely be a highly political discussion that could divert the conversation of the city's needs over the next few years and be very divisive at this time. E 0 U Savage said the issue will stay in the committee's later bucket until after the initial report to the m council. Parker said the issues the committee sees now are a result of a dysfunctional Charter and a E dysfunctional finance system. He said that the city would be receiving two past-due audits in the coming weeks,which would delineate where funds where spent. The city is behind on audits, which would normally be completed in a matter of a few months. He said the budget hearing process in the past has also been far shorter than is normal. He expects several sessions in the coming month to address the budget with the council and to create a budget based on its priorities,but backed up with line-item budgeting. v ,. The meeting adjourned at 9:00 p.m. The next meeting is set for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 06, N 2014 in the EDA board room. 0 a� E E 0 U 3 2D m U N I r C G E U fC r+ rr - Q 14 Packet Pg. 586 r 7.A.i Volunteer Citizen Based Charter Committee Meeting 5—Tuesday, May 6, 2014 Minutes c 0 The meeting came to order at 5:30 p.m. in the EDA board room,with Committee members Casey Dailey,Dennis Baxter, Gary Walbourne, Hillel Cohn,Michael Craft,Hardy Brown, Phil Savage,Tom Pierce and Gloria Harrison Present. Also in attendance were City Attorney Gary E Saenz, City Manager Allen Parker, Facilitator Bill Mathis (arrived late) and City Clerk Gigi Hanna. a� a� Y Committee chairman Phil Savage called the meeting to order, Clerk Hanna read the roll call and E the group recited the pledge of allegiance. E 0 U Chair Savage said that he had a few more items to add to the Principles and Objectives list the committee had adopted at its April 29 meeting: L PRINCIPLES & STANDARDS. The Charter should set forth guiding principles and CU standards,not detailed rules and procedures • ENABLING. The Charter should be designed to enable the City to operate in an P efficient,businesslike manner. M He asked that the matter be agendized for reconsideration at the May 13 meeting. Y E He discussed the procedures the committee would be following in the remaining two meetings. o He said the May 13 meeting would be where the committee would be finalizing its 3 recommendation for the Council and that the group may need an additional meeting to work on a� the presentation. The committee decided that if it needed an additional meeting, Saturday,May 17 at 1 p.m. would be the preferred day. ; L After questions from committee members,the City Attorney advised the committee that May 19 L� is the deadline for the committee to make a recommendation to the council,that specific a language(for any proposed Charter amendments) does not need to be finalized by that date. There were no requests to speak under Public Comment. a� E ACTION ITEMS v 0 Y Y 1. Approval of Minutes. Q 1 Packet Pg. 587 7.A.i The committee approved the minutes from Meeting Four,with minor changes on page 9 and page 11. 2. Input from the department heads, city commissioners, employee groups and City Manager on Charter changes that will most help the City financially. N C Allen Parker,passed out documents that had been requested at the previous meeting to explain 0 the benefits for fire and police. (Documents attached). He said the documents were self- explanatory and provided no further report on them. E Parker said police and management are still negotiating and have not resolved any language to present to the committee,which he hoped to have something to present to the committee at its a� next meeting. 2 Regarding Presentation by the Firefighter's Association on Charter Section 186. Kenneth o Konior said he was not at the meeting to represent Local 891,the Firefighter's Association,but U rather at the request of Committee Member Gary Walbourne,who wanted him to comment on 3: some of the data Konior has released via social media. Konior said he had analyzed Section 186, using numbers he obtained from publically available documents available on the city web site,to counter what he said described as one-sided media coverage of the topic. He said one reason that t Local 891 was unable to make a presentation was pending litigation and the gag order placed on v parties involved in the bankruptcy. N Konior said his findings were in the document handed out by Steve Tracy, Firefighter Association President, at the committee's April 29 meeting, entitled: "Charter Section 186;A Fire Department Perspective." E Konior then discussed various aspects of the document. He said that since the bankruptcy,no one 3 in public safety has received any kind of a raise. Any fractional percentage of increase or � decrease in salary under the auspices of Section 186,there's also been a significant concession to 0 offset what that was,he said. He said that despite media coverage highlighting the $1 million raise given to public safety,his part of that amount was 17-cents-per-hour and this year it was 6- cents-per-hour, offset by a 14 percent concession. Konior said the same had been true for the past 0i four years. He said it isn't always a raise,that in 2010/11,his position received a pay cut. He said that since 2009,the fire budget, like the City's,has steadily declined while call volume has increased. Dailey asked what he attributed the 25 percent increase in calls over the short c period of time to and Konior said it was unclear. He mentioned the Citygate Associates analysis of the department, and said that he believed the answers would be in that study, due to the Council in June. Q _ 2 Packet Pg. 588 He said that 186 does not tie management's hands, and that the increases received over the last few years, offset by concessions defeats that argument. Dailey pointed out that of the 56 cities used in the Section 186 salary-setting process, eight are in the Inland Empire and asked if it was fair to assume that San Bernardino would need to compete with Bay Area cities to attract employees? _ 0 Konior said he did a local total comp study and that compares San Bernardino with other local cities. That considers not just salary,but fringe benefits,health benefit,post-employment health benefits—benefits that other local cities provide that San Bernardino does not. He said he did a E study based on his position and he came out near the bottom,when compared to similar positions U in local cities. Did it for himself and said he come out near the bottom when compared to local ce a� departments. Craft asked for clarification about the formula for determining the cities used in the salary survey. U 3 LD Helen Tran,Human Resources Division Manager, said the city uses a list of cities with 100,000 to 250,000 populations,with 57 cities meeting that criteria this year. Once the City completes its survey of the 57 cities,the 10 in the middle are chosen to determine the Section 186 salary level. t Konior said he had analyzed and compared the hourly wage for entry level positions for local v cities, and added San Bernardino's EPMC concession into the equation. Harrison questioned N why the numbers did not include the median income for city and county. Pierce said the numbers V do not discuss what the average firefighter earns,just entry level, and no discussion of overtime. Y r In response to a question by Brown regarding whether the hourly wages were based on a 40-hour o or a 56-hour work week, Konior said it was the latter and explained that cities use the total 3 monthly hours to determine hourly wages. 0 a� He discussed back-fill vs. overtime costs and said that overtime involves cost recovery opportunities; that back fill is what the department does to maintain daily operations. L) Pierce asked if backfill is paid at standard rate and Konior said that depends on the work period versus work week. Committee members asked if backfilling was common in the industry and Konior replied that it is. w He said a work period can be anywhere from 7 to 28 days, and the City went to a 24-day work period about five years ago; for any hours worked in excess of 182 hours, fire personnel incur premium pay. The issue is currently in litigation, he said. He explained how firefighters' shifts w work in the city. He said it is more cost effective to back fill rather than hire more people. Q 3 Packet Pg. 589 7.A.i Harrison asked what concessions included. Konior said it included, in the 2009/10 year, a 10 percent negotiated concession, and the next year it was imposed, leading to a$1,432-per-month salary deduction from February through June 2011. Konior explained the reason for specific staffing levels and response times within four minutes. He said he doesn't know how often the City department meets that time factor,but expected that the Citygate report will cover that. He pointed out several (NFPA 17 10)benchmarks for proper 0 fire response times. _ E Baxter asked how many cities local cities pay the full 9 percent employee share of PERS. Konior E said Redlands,Riverside, Corona and Colton. Redlands Fire agreed a few years ago to the pay the employee share,but it was introduced incrementally over several years, in exchange for longevity pay. Baxter asked if that agreement had come via collective bargaining and Konior a said it had. E E 0 Craft discussed an incident in his neighborhood from five years ago, when a young boy was v trapped on the second floor of the home and said he is struggling with a way to get the extra firefighter on the truck to avoid similar situations. Konior said that in a life-safety situation, whether there are three or four people on scene,they will go into the house. Cohn asked what the appropriate number of stations are for the city; Konior said he expected the Citygate study to have that estimate and he anticipates that the consultant will recommend more N stations. There was discussion of the staffing levels of the city's twelve stations. M Craft asked about whether the city could forecast where the need for fire service is, and Konior said there is no way to anticipate that. E He closed his presentation questioning the goal is for repealing Section 186. He questioned the L) consequences of such a move and said he doesn't believe it will cause the city to become solvent, d get potholes filled, street lights working, improve the organizational structure of the city or make employee negotiations simpler. d w L Parker said he wanted to respond to the presentation from a manager's perspective, and said that L) fire suppression is risk management and, risk management always comes down to what one can afford. He has asked the consultant to look at what the minimum number of stations the community can supply. He said the city cannot afford the ideal model in any budgetary circumstances and it is because the city has been dealing with ideal models that it finds itself in its current fiscal situation. E U He said one difficulty with this particular department is the number of EMS/medical service calls .2 received, about 30,000 calls annually and about 85 percent of the department workload. He said offering the option for others to bid on providing EMS service would free up the fire personnel to do fire suppression. 4 Packet Pg. 590 There is a lot of spectrum to look at this through,not just a Section 186 issue, except that 186 constrains us from contracting for services. It is beyond what people get paid,the overtime being paid,he said. It needs to be put in the context of what you can afford; it is a much broader picture than what level of raise they got over the years. Dailey asked if the Charter forces the emergency service to be under the auspices of the FD. Parker said legal opinions from the previous City Attorney maintain that the Charter language precludes the city's ability to contract out, or even ask for an RFP to do so. It also restricts the E length of the shift. He said he has encouraged city fire to go to a 72-hour shift, such as that E 0 implemented by CalFire, which would reduce staffing from 133 to 106,just on the basis of the shift. He said that is a management decision, and something to be negotiated,but that the legal W opinions about Section 186 preclude him from even bringing the subject up. Dailey said that collective bargaining in other cities offers the same kind of negotiation based on E 0 salary surveys and asked whether modification or removal of Section 186 would do anything to not make San Bernardino average anymore. Konior said he is assuming that there is negotiation going on. He said his understanding of how it has worked in the past 7 years is that one side hires lawyers to push a piece of paper at the other r- CU side, and say this is what we're taking from you this year. There is a fear that if we lose that Charter protection,we'll be the lowest paid fire department anywhere. LO Walbourne asked if 14 more firefighters and got rid of all the overtime,but Konior said there are several considerations and it is not an easy answer. Parker said there are ways to end up at the same place and that salary levels can be handled in E 0 negotiation it does not need to be cemented in the Charter. Baxter said he was struck by how miniscule the raise Konior had mentioned receiving and noted that Section 186 had not benefited him. Konior countered that it had benefited him in the sense that it kept salaries average and stable,whether times are good or bad. Cohn asked if surrounding agencies worked with city fire and if it is figured into response times. Konior said there are Mutual Aid Agreements and referred more questions to the fire chief. There was a question about the acceptable level of risk and Parker said it is a matter of the community deciding what it wants and what it can afford. He said is comes out in a political (D E process, and a community process,with risk management informing management decisions. He said in his personal opinion fire is best presented on a regional basis. He said there are several deployment models that can be considered. 5 Packet Pg. 591 i 7.a.i Craft asked Parker if in the Citygate study would consider paramedics-only response for medical emergencies. Parker said there was already a recommendation that if the city decided to stay in the EMS business, the city needs to go back to two-man trucks with smaller vehicles for those kind of calls because 30,000 annual EMS calls are wearing out fire trucks. Pierce said what the average total income of a firefighter was in 2013. Parker said he would c provide that,with the names removed. He later passed out a document with that information. 0 (Document attached) 3. Entertain additional specific proposals from Committee members for Charter review E 0 U Nothing was proposed by Committee members. d 4. Discuss and deal with"now"vs. "later"categorization and priority of consideration of Charter change topics amongst the "now"category. E E 0 Nothing was changed regarding prioritization of Charter change topics. a� 5. Discussion and consideration of the Charter discussion topics in order of their priorities Charter Section 186 d Savage suggested no one put a motion on the floor regarding 186 until everyone had had a U chance to present their comments. He passed out a list(entitled List of Some Section 186 Issues, attached) of what he considered were benefits and drawbacks of Section 186. M Brown's grandson read a prepared statement regarding repealing or suspending Section 186 for four year: E E 0 Ever since this committee was put into place the BIG ELEPHANT in the room has been v 3 Section 186 To use the elephant as a metaphor for 186, when we brought it into the house many years ago it was small and seen as a remedy to our public safety problems in the city for recruitment, retention, and fair compensation for our neighbors who were putting their life on the line everyday they left home for us the citizenry of San s Bernardino. As the years went by we have seen this elephant/186 grow to eat up 68%to vi 72%of the budget. This has reduced our ability to fairly allocate resources to other services that we expect our city government to provide. It has forced us to cut down on c other employee services and compensation just to feed the elephant. It has not made us safer nor improved moral to the staff as evident of many past votes by the association members against former chiefs and the city elected officials. E s v As a matter of fact the elephant/186 has caused our other employees to be treated in a Q disparate manner. I do not want to place policies into law that has the effect of discriminating against an employee population that is comprised of mostly women, Blacks, and Latinos. 6 Packet Pg. 592 7.A.i None of these other employees in our city get their compensation placed on automatic pilot with the highest income cities in the state.Are our other employees less valuable than them? This elephant/186 has outgrown our ability to be managed by the elected leaders we elect to run our city. I saw this firsthand when the council was wrestling with reductions in the budget for the city and had to by the Charter allocate $1 million dollars to public safety. $ It made no sense to me then and not now. They wanted to do the right thing for the city E but we the voters had brought this elephant/186 into the Charter and they could do E nothing. We tied their hands. d We even recalled some people from office because of their inability to manage this city so m in my mind, we have an obligation to remove or suspend this elephant/186 from the Charter before it destroys the city. Let us return employee associations rights to negotiate o for these 186 provisions with our paid management staff with council oversight and v approval. (D I am not advocating and never will call for reductions in employee pay, if we can pay, but that is something our elected officials must consider based on the economic conditions of cc the city's ability to pay and the economic conditions of the current times. v I must say the police association, if my information is correct, is to be applauded for their N understanding of the financial situation of the city and state and making concessions when they had no legal obligation to do so. Their position could have been,your bankruptcy is your problem,just give me what is legally mine under the Charter passed by the citizens. As a former member of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers o and United Steel Workers of America I know that is the position I would have advocated. ) r It is my position to let the voters in on this conversation on whether to repeal or suspend this section of the Charter. If they repeal then our elected officials will sit down at the negotiation table with the association for these same issues found in Section 186 s U If it were suspended for four years it will allow our elected officials to sit at the negotiation table with the association to discuss the same issues in 186 and we would then see how much the public associations understand the city's financial crises. The current situation has produced villains on both sides of this issue. I think this will provide us with a win-win opportunity for the taxpayers and those we elect. There is mistrust on both sides and we must give our newly elected leaders an opportunity to lead and build trustworthy relationships with our support Q 0 7 Packet Pg.593 t° Baxter said he agrees that the elephant in the room has been fed until we are no longer able to feed it,but he thinks something needs to be done on a permanent basis. He said it sounds t him like Section 186 doesn't do much for fire and said he thinks collective bargaining is the tool to be utilized in order to keep employees. Pierce said he is uncomfortable with determining salaries differently for different groups of city employees. He called San Bernardino the outlier, which of the 22 charter cities reviewed, none o have a 186-like automatic adjustment system for salaries. They all use collective bargaining, and they are average,he said. It is hard to envision a circumstance where police and fire wouldn't effectively negotiate. People have said they like being a charter city because they like control E over the decisions,but essentially we cede control to others through Section 186. Pierce said that having reviewed earlier budgets,he does not believe that Section 186 was the a major factor in the city's financial problems,but rather generally weak budgetary practices. He E said the Council needs to manage the budget more effectively and needs more flexibility to do 0 SO. U 3 Harrison said the Council and Mayor needs as much flexibility as possible because they are the ones we elect and are supposed to keep accountable. As a city,we have to determine what our priorities are and I don't think we've had that conversation, at least not lately. I am encouraged by the activity in the city right now, of neighborhood organizations talking about what is needed in the community and they are basically saying what they want is services; I see Section 186 as a C deterrent to that. She said the language of the Charter and legal opinions that have constrained N the city need to be studied. aD d Craft said San Bernardino can create revenue by being a safer city. He said they do what they E can to increase public safety and get the procedure out of the Charter. He said he wanted to think o about the opportunities on the table and said he was not inclined to repeal 186 in its entirety. He 0 said he believes it can be modified and made more acceptable to everyone. a: CD Cohn said the committee needed some kind of framework for their decision making and read his L Statement in Principle of Charter Review: U We affirm that our city must provide the full array of service that make it a place where all residents can experience and enjoy physical and emotional safety, cultural and educational enrichment, recreational and entertainment opportunities. We also affirm that our city must provide a climate for economic well-being and growth which w includes attracting new business and new residents. U To that end we affirm that our city must treat all of its residents and institutions with fairness and equality. We place high value on the loyalty and service of all city Q employees and believe that they must be treated fairly and equitably. {° 8 Packet Pg. 594 NNW We firmly believe that fo r city employees to enjoy a sense ofsecurity in the immediate and long-term future our city must emerge from bankruptcy as soon as possible and restructure its fiscal position. Thus, no individual or employee association or labor group should be accorded preferential treatment in the Charter or in practice. Cohn said he is not sure whether Section 186 is a service to public safety employees or not,but he is concerned that all city employees have equal opportunity and be treated equally in the collective bargaining process. He said some would fare better than others in that process,but that that is the nature of collective bargaining. Tying the hands of elected officials on something that has such tremendous financial implications,by not allowing for an open negotiating process, E does the employees and citizens a disservice,he said. U o: Walboume questioned whether taking out Section 186 would save the city money. He said he'd a like to see the Citygate report first because it may have insights into what they need to know to E make an informed decision. E 0 v Dailey said he agreed the council should have full responsibility for the budget and that is what they were put there to do. Public safety plays an important role in attracting business,but so do Ce school districts,parks, streets, and libraries in improving the quality of life. He said there is too much procedure in the Charter. He said he has not yet heard how removal of Section 186 would have a tremendously detrimental effect on public safety. This is focused around salaries,but v when looks at the it from a management standpoint,there are other tentacles that extend Section 186 into other areas that were never anticipated when it was first adopted. He said the only way N to get to a level playing ground is for there to be a clean removal of Section 186 and replacing it with collective bargaining. w Savage said he is convinced that Section 186 has very little to do with the current financial woes o of the city and may or may not have financial consequences. He said the city should be run effectively as a business with management control, a problem under Section 186. Section 186 d does not just fix the salaries,but it has extensive detail on staffing hours and that kind of detail does not belong in the charter he said. He said that the committee had adopted the principle that the Charter should be flexible, and Section 186 does not offer that. He passed out some alternatives the committee could consider, in a document entitled Alternatives Concerning Ui Section 186(attached). N w Those alternatives ranged from taking no action, deferring action until later, or recommending the council retain 186 with no change, to recommending adding a new section(187)to the Charter;to repealing it. CD U Brown made a motion that the city council place the repeal of Section 186 before the voters on the November 2014 ballot. The motion was seconded by Baxter. Q 9 Packet Pg. 595 7.A.i Walboume said he didn't see why the committee couldn't wait until the Citygate report is complete. Craft said the first paragraph of Section 186 could be modified to meet the needs of the majority, rewording it to get the procedures out of the process and give the council and city manager the flexibility needed. He said he still was not leaning toward repeal. ° V Craft suggested new wording: "There hereby established for the City of San Bernardino a basic 4) standard for fixing salaries, classifications and working conditions of the employees of the city E of San Bernardino. The Mayor, the City Manager and the Common Council will have the responsibility over these department heads."He said he would work on the language and provide 0: it to Hanna to distribute to the committee in time for the next meeting. a� Dailey asked the city attorney how much the legal opinions bound to 186 are affected by tweaks in the language. Saenz said to the extent that a section is in the charter, it is subject to interpretation and reinterpretation and that the way to change that is to eliminate it or to try to d redraft it in the clearest terms that are not subject to so many various interpretations. 0 Walbourne asked if repealing Section 186 would save the city money. Parker said the constraining part of Section 186 is whether the city has an ability to contract for similar services v and, as previously interpreted, the city does not. He said that, as example, if the city contracted with AMR for emergency medical services, it might not save money but there would be a freeing LO up of fire personnel to fight fires,which addresses the issue of risk management. He also said that he is constrained from asking for a proposal for fire suppression service from county fire or CalFire,based on interpretation of Section 183. E E Savage asked if the flexibility Parker said he needed would require repeal of both Section 186 3 and Section 183. Saenz said there may be other sections in Article 10 other than 186 that may as need to be dealt with as well. a� Parker said that it was the staff's desire that all ambiguity be removed from the Charter so that no one has to refer to anyone's legal opinions. To that end,he suggested that the committee look at U� Charter Section 180 et. seq. to give management the greatest flexibility. Dailey asked if the city had been sued over collective bargaining and Parker said yes—most recently by fire fighters in connection with the unilateral take of benefits and requiring fire to pay a greater degree of their retirement costs. Fire personnel sued, claiming it was a violation of the Charter and won. The issue is currently tied up in the bankruptcy case. w Cohn said that the charters of Anaheim and Riverside make no mention at all of police and fire a services. He suggested that Article 10 could simply state that the provision of police, fire and emergency medical services should be determined by Mayor and Common Council. 10 Packet Pg. 596 Savage said Article 10 could be agendized for discussion at the next meeting. I f After further discussion about getting suggested verbiage from the City Attorney for replacement sections, Harrison called for the question. The committee voted 7-2, with Craft and Walboume voting no, to recommend that the City Council place the repeal of Section 186 before the voters c on the November 2014 ballot. ° i The meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m. The next meeting is set for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 06, 2014 in the EDA board room. c as a� as r E E ° U m L �d L co U LO N d d r r E E ° U 3 m m L m L U i N d C r C d E U w Q 11 Packet;Pg. 597 7.A.i Volunteer Citizen Based Charter Committee Meeting 6—Tuesday,May 13, 2014 DRAFT Minutes N C O r The meeting came to order at 5:35 p.m. in the EDA board room,with Committee members Dennis Baxter, Gary Walbourne,Hillel Cohn, Michael Craft,Hardy Brown,Phil Savage, Tom Pierce and Gloria Harrison Present. Member Dailey was absent. Also in attendance were City E Attorney Gary Saenz, City Manager Allen Parker, Facilitator Bill Mathis and City Clerk Gigi Hanna. v Committee chairman Phil Savage called the meeting to order, Clerk Hanna read the roll call and E the group recited the Pledge of Allegiance. o U Savage thanked the committee for its diligent effort during the short period of time they have to work and asked the rest of the committee if it had any general comments. as Walbourne read a letter into the record: U To Chairman Phil Savage, Committee Members, Guests and Viewers: This is my opinion that I want the Committee and public to hear. Having been in N business for over 40 years, the business environment in San Bernardino is the worst that it has been in the 24 years that I have lived here. (Please see the "Rose c Report"attached.) The three items I wish to address are as follows: First:I have looked at the decision that this committee has made to repeal o Section 186 It has been stated that the public service employees get about 70%of 3 the City's budget. That may be true. But the City's budget has been going down a� over the past 6 years. The wages of our public service employees have been staying about the same. The City has had a decrease of about 25%of income revenue over the last 5 years. This is what has increased the percentage of public service employees'part of the budget(See attached illustrations labeled D-6 and E-6,"extracted from the City's web site) The income revenues of the City have � decreased drastically. The police and fire employees have kicked back most of the increases over the last 4 years. They have worked with the city. This is like a household that has two people bringing in income and one gets laid off. The income decreases but the bills stay the same. The house payment, utilities, and food costs stay the same for two people, so they have to adjust their budget. If the house payment is 40%of the old income and now it is .2 75%of the income with Unemployment Benefits,you don't blame the bank for Q how high the payment is,you try to get more income. You don't stop payments to the bank. You try to work with the bank to maybe change your loan payment. To 1 Packet Pg. 598 7.A.i blame the safety employees for the City's problems is like blaming yur partner for losing his or her job. Second:I agree with Phil that we recommend to the City Council that they make the changes separate issues on the ballot. Or four issues can be lumped together, but keep the 186 issue by itself. Third:I feel that we need to change Section 24 (Bucket List Item #13).All the charters that I have looked at and are successful have a part-time or "weak" ° r Mayor and a full-time or "strong" City Manager. It was on our "now"bucket list. Our past full-time Mayor and full-time City Manager seemed to butt heads on a) many issues and ultimately nothing was really accomplished. The economy and E the past Mayor have driven off jobs and businesses. Just drive down E Street and U look at all he empty business buildings. To make up for the difference in the budget and the actual income, we need to make the City "safer"for businesses a and people to move here. Not cheaper houses. That stand empty but a better business climate. Although this is not a Charter issue, the Mayor being part-time o or a "weak"Mayor is a charter issue and will save the City money. We need to U work on this one. d I submit this statement to Gigi Hanna, City Clerk, to enter into the minutes of the meeting. Brown submitted a letter to be read to the committee: -� U Two weeks ago we took a stab at wanting to make the city a general law city N while putting the mayor in a weaker position of authority and a city manger as the one with much control over the city. While we all agree that the city needs a professional person to manage the day-to-day operations of the city there was concern that to reduce the authority or responsibility of the mayor might not be o the way to go. m This forced me to re-read and re-read those sections;Article 3 section 40 thru 52; Article 5 Section 100 that spoke to power and authority of the mayor, city council and city manager. It is clear that the council makes laws by resolution and CU ordinance that makes the city operate, which is put into the responsibility of the Ui city manager and mayor. The council members power resides in their collective council meeting body to legislate and approve every service we provide in the city. Individual council members have no authority per-se unless they can influence at least 3 or 4 other council members to see issues their way. Any actions by a lone operating council member only create chaos and confusion. Where there are clear reporting lines by department heads there is less confusion than others such as police,fire, library, water, civil service and maybe another Q one or two. It is clear that the mayor as the CEO and chief spokesperson for the city with general supervision responsibilities, is voted on by all citizens in the city 0 2 Packet Pg. 599 who gives it that authority to veto some actions of the council, unless 213 of the council says no. The mayor has to represent the city on several government agency boards and commissions in the region, which gives her/him a regional perspective, and leadership in the region of where the city should be headed. I think to reduce any authority would weaken its status in the region. This is not to minimize the councilmembers role or leadership from their ward, which is one seventh of the city. 0 ca That is where the strong City Manager, under general supervision of the mayor, comes into play with the council having consenting and approval on hiring, E discipline, compensation, suspension or termination in accordance with all employment laws. aD 0 Article III Section 40(s) is very confusing in regards to who has the authority to E hire and remove employees from positions. All of these employees should be E reporting to the city manager, which would help reduce misunderstandings and v give clear areas of responsibility. The council should retain consenting approval 3: over all hires and terminations. The appeal process would still reside with the civil service rules and regulations and other employment laws. d Section 50 the mayor is the CEO with general supervision over the City Manager v who would have responsibility and authority over all departments except the mayor, council, city attorney, city clerk and treasurer but does coordinate with N them for the efficient operation of the city with budgetary issues in their department. The mayor should be able to suspend and discharge with just cause the City Manager with the consent of the council in accordance with all applicable and prevalent employment laws. E 0 U Article S Section 100 should be that the City Manager shall supervise all department heads with the exception of the City Attorney, City Clerk, and Treasurer. L d w L My aim with this concern is to keep the current general authority of the mayor v while changing the reporting relationships of all department heads to be under the City Manager, who will have the authority and responsibility to manage the day to day operations of the city without interference of the mayor or individual council members but with consenting authority of the council on important public issues which is currently in the charter. CD U Now I don't know how that can be worded and placed on the ballot but that is one w way I see us solving this complicated management problem that currently plagues Q the city. 3 Packet Pg. 600 � Cohn said the level of discourse on the committee has been consistently respectful and thoughtful and wished the outside community would do the same things with their discussions on social media. He said he would hope that future work of a Charter Review committee would face the challenge and work towards not a change of the current Charter,but a replacement, with one that includes best practices of other cities and makes for better governed city. c Craft said he wanted the committee set up early enough in odd-numbered years so that the c r committee has enough time to consider charter amendments to go to an even-year ballot. a c m Savage said everyone realizes there are big issues still to be considered but the committee hasn't E had adequate time before their report deadline to consider them. He also said that he thinks everyone on the committee is of like mind that public safety is a highest priority of the city. W d a� Harrison said she has spoken with people in the community and she said they are hopeful and expect the committee to make some decisions, even if there isn't enough time for the committee o to make huge change. She said she is dissatisfied with the time limit given the committee, and disappointed that some the committee isfor or against any group. We are in this together and need to work together to make improvement in our city, she said. Baxter said he respects the opinions of his fellow committee members,that the civility had been outstanding and that they are on the right track. Public Comment N One person spoke during the Public Comment period: a� Deanna Adams, of San Bernardino: said she had listened intently and believed that most of the committee members had made their decision about Section 186 before hearing the Fire E presentation. She said the group was organized to repeal Sections 186 and 183, and Article 10. 3 This is about transferring power, giving unconditional reign to the professionals, and giving them a, the power to outsource jobs. She said Section 186 is an indispensable protection for public safety and repealing it has no impact on salaries because of negotiation and collective bargaining. The v City of Highland receives about 3,700 calls for service and each station costs about$1.7 million; San Bernardino Fire Department gets nearly 39,000 calls for service and the cost is two-million v dollars per station—the San Bernardino Fire Department works far more for less compensation, she said. 3 E 2 The citizens of San Bernardino should pay attention to the motive. The repeal is about transferring power. She said she disagreed with Committee members Cohn and Pierce,who had E previously expressed support for contracting. She invited those interested to visit her FaceBook page: "Discourse on San Bernardino Charter Reform," on which she questions the city y government structure, the motive and timeframe behind charter review,term limits for Q committee members,the cost of the committee consultant,the need for Civil Service protection and the value of expanding the power of the Water Board. I 4 Packet Pg. 601 7.A.i She said that the Charter committee served diverted attention from the real problems at City Hall and asked rhetorically that once the bankruptcy judge makes a decision who the winners and losers are. r ACTION ITEMS N C 2 1. Approval of Minutes. 16 c as The committee approved the minutes from Meeting Five. (Motion by Baxter, seconded by Pierce £ E and approved 8-0) ° d 2. Reconsider Charter Reform Principles and Objectives. The committee approved adding the following language to its adopted Charter Reform Principles c and Objectives, as items 2 and 3,respectively(motion by Cohn, seconded by Pierce and v approved 8-0): 3 d m Principles & Standards. The Charter should set forth guiding principles and standards, not detailed rules and procedures. R Enabling. The Charter should be designed to enable the City to operate in an efficient, business- v like manner. r N M 3. Consider further recommendations to City Council. Q d r Craft read for the committee's consideration his proposal Modified Section 180 and 186 E (Document attached). c0 3 Savage proposed a rewording of section 186: The safety of the people in the city is a highest priority of its government. Police,fire and emergency d i safety personnel shall be paid fair and reasonable compensation commensurate with compensation for similar personnel at other cities of similar size and economies. This compensation shall be fixed by the v� Council by resolution after collective bargaining as appropriate under California Labor law. N m c After discussion about word choice and the Charter's wording regarding non-public safety g employees, collective bargaining,morale of employees and residents, and council responsibility in setting salaries, Harrison made a motion, seconded by Baxter to present the recommend to the E council to put the following amended language for Section 186 on the November ballot: Y The safety of the people in the city is a highest priority of its government.Compensation of police, a fire and emergency safety personnel shall be set by resolution of the council after collective bargaining as appropriate under applicable law,as it does for other city employees. 5 Packet Pg. 602 motion was made b Harrison seconded b Baxter and passed 8-0. The y y p The committee agreed that further discussion of amending or repealing Article 10 would be deferred for later committee consideration. It also deferred further discussion of transfer of responsibilities to the Water Department for further review and because the issue may be able to be handled via an MOU rather than a charter change,according to the City Manager. H C Walbourne said that the other charters the committee reviewed had a city manager-council form of 0 government and suggested that the committee should consider the role of the Mayor,City Council,City c Manager. City Manager Parker explained how the council-manager form of government works and said m E that San Bernardino had probably received benefits for being the only city in the region with a full-time E mayor,which allowed him greater opportunity to participate regionally. There was general agreement that the committee would consider the city's form of government after May 19. d (D City Attorney Saenz presented his proposed language for the recommendation that the committee plans to present to Council, in a document titled Proposed Charter Recommendations for 5119114 E 0 Craft asked Clerk Hanna if there were estimates of the cost for each ballot measure. Hanna said m she had them and would provide them to the Council on May 19. .> The committee voted to present five Charter recommendations to the council. The motion was made by Walbourne, seconded by Craft and approved 8-0. v The Charter recommendations are: N M 1. Amend Article III, Section 40, by adding m subsection (bb): (bb) Construction and Interpretation. The language E contained in this Charter is intended to be permissive and enabling rather than restrictive or limiting, and shall be liberally and broadly construed in favor of the exercise by the City of its power to govern with respect to any matter which is cc a municipal affair. i 2. Amend Article VII, Section 120, to read as follows: _ Section 120. Initiative,Referendum and Recall. There are hereby reserved to the electors of the City E the powers of the initiative and referendum and of the recall of municipal elective officers. The w provisions of the Elections Code of the State of Q California, as the same now exist or hereafter may be amended, governing the initiative and referendum and the recall of municipal officers, 6 Packet Pg. 603 shall apply to the use thereof in the City so far as such provisions of the Elections Code are not in conflict with the provisions of this Charter. Repeal Article VI, Section 121 (Referendum) Repeal Article VI, Section 122 (Recall) N C 3. Amend Article X, Section 186, to read as follows: .° Section 186. Salaries. The safety of the people in the City is a highest priority of its government. E Compensation of police, fire and emergency safety E personnel shall be set by resolution of the Council after collective bargaining as appropriate under applicable law, as it does for other City employees. r E 4. Repeal Article XI (School Districts) c U 5. Amend Article XIII, Section 254 (Civil Service m Discharge or Reduction of Compensation) L Section 254. Discharge or Reduction of Compensation. No employee in the classified tsi service shall be suspended, discharged or reduced in 0 classification for disciplinary reasons until the N employee has been presented with the reasons for L such action specifically stated in writing. The reason for such discharge or reduction and any reply thereto by the employee, shall be filed in writing c with the Civil Service Board. U 3 D The Committee voted at an earlier meeting to recommend that the Council adopt the San Bernardino Charter Reform Principles & Objectives to be applied for future Charter review, and that ongoing Charter review shall become policy. Both recommendations will be presented to the Council on May 19. U i N 4. Determine Manner of Presentation of Initial Recommendations to City Council. Chair Savage said and vice-chair Harrison would be prepared to present the recommendations to c the Council on Monday, May 19. Savage said he had tried to capture what people had said E during deliberations in drafting his rationale for the recommendations. Clerk Hanna said she would include the minutes for the committee's meetings in the Council agenda back-up so they would have them when they considered the committee's recommendations. a 7 Packet Pg. 604 The committee voted to use Savage's rationale document in his presentation to the Council. The motion was made by Cohn, seconded by Harrison, and approved 8-0. Saenz said his office would prepare the items for presentation to the Council. S. Determine Recommendations to Concerning Ongoing Charter Review Process w c 0 The Committee voted at an earlier meeting to recommend that the Council adopt the San Bernardino Charter Reform Principles & Objectives, with the updated Item 2 and 3, to be applied for future, on-going Charter review. E 0 m 6. Agree on Time and Date of Next Meeting. Y After discussion about the committee's desire to continue working on reform, a motion was E made by Craft, seconded by Walbourne and approved 8-0, to set a tentative date within two E months for ongoing Charter discussion. 3 m The meeting adjourned at 8:29 p.m. The next meeting has not yet been set. L w j U N M d r E E 0 U 3 m L d L U y N N 3 C C E U fC a+ Q t i p 8 Packet Pg. 605 County of San Bernardino 777 East Rialto Aven 1 Ue 7.A j Community Services Group San Bernardino,CA 92415 Elections Office of the Phone(9091387-8300 Fax(909)387-2022 Registrar of Voters www.sbcountyelections.com Michael J.5carpello Registrar of Voters rn _ May 1, 2014 d E E 0 Georgeann"Gigi" Hanna City of San Bernardino P.O. Box 1318 r San Bernardino, CA 92402 E 0 U 3 Dear Ms. Hanna: m m This letter is in response to your request for an election cost estimate from the San Bernardino County Elections Office. M s L) The estimated cost to have one charter measure on the ballot for the November election is $68,000. LO N ' M The estimated cost to have three charter measures on the ballot for the November election is z $122,000. 0 i The estimated cost to have five charter measures on the ballot for the November election is L $175,000. c° c L Q M Please understand that the amount provided above is an estimate of election costs based on historical costs for comparable elections. The actual cost may be higher or lower than the o estimate provided. Once the election is complete, the Elections Office will reconcile the Y difference between the actual cost and the estimated cost and will provide a final invoice at that vi time. E If you have any questions, please contact the Elections Office at(909) 387-8300. w N O 4 VI Sincerely, 0 ! C d Michael J. Scarpello E Registrar of Voters a r Q BOARD OF SUPERVISORS - ROBERT A.LOVINGOOD First District•JANICE RUTHERFORD-Second District•JAMES RAMOS-Third District•GARY C.OVITT-Fourth District•JOSIE GONZALES-Fifth District GREGORY C.DEVEREAUX-Chief Executive Officer Packet Pg.606