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Home My WebLink About01-06-2015 Charter Committee Agenda & Backup City of San Bernardino Volunteer Citizen-Based Charter Committee Agenda Time: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Date: Tuesday, January 6, 2015 Place: EDA Board Room 201 N. E Street, San Bernardino, CA 92418 The City of San Bernardino recognizes its obligation to provide equal access to public services to those individuals with disabilities. Please contact the City Clerk's Office (909) 384-5102) one working day prior to the meeting for any requests for reasonable accommodation, to include interpreters. Anyone who wishes to speak on an agenda item will be required to fill out a speaker slip. Speaker slips should be turned in to the City Clerk, who will relay them to the Committee Chair person. Public comments for agenda items are limited to three minutes per person. ROLL CALL PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE CHAIR'S COMMENTS PUBLIC COMMENT (LIMIT 30 MINUTES TOTAL) ACTION ITEMS 1. Review/Approval of minutes from November 18, 2014 (DRAFT minutes to be provided at the meeting) 2. Discussion and Possible Action on Use of Consultant/Advisor from Institute of Local Government 3. Co-ordination of"bucket list" into Plan of Review of Charter 4. Determination of Future Meeting Frequency, Dates, &Times ADJOURN The next meeting of the Volunteer Citizen-Based Charter Committee will be 6 p.m., Tuesday, February 3, 2015 in the EDA Board Room, 201 N. D. Street. Attendees are encouraged to park on the top floor of the City Hall parking structure and access the EDA building from there. Action Item 1 Minutes of 11-18-14 (to be distributed at the meeting) Volunteer Citizen Based Charter Committee November 18, 2014 DRAFT Minutes The meeting came to order at 6:05 p.m. in the EDA board room, with committee members Casey Dailey, Gary Walbourne, Hillel Cohn, Michael Craft, Phil Savage, Tom Pierce and Gloria Harrison present. Members Hardy Brown and Dennis Baxter were absent. Also in attendance were City Attorney Gary Saenz, Mayor Carey Davis, Council Member Nickel and City Clerk Gigi Hanna. Committee chairman Phil Savage called the meeting to order, Clerk Hanna read the roll call and the group recited the Pledge of Allegiance. Savage said the committee had worked well together and had quite a few accomplishments, including establishing Guidelines and Principles approved by the Council, five specific recommendations for Charter change, with two approved by council and one approved by voters. Public Comment There were no public comments. ACTION ITEMS 1. Approval of Minutes for May 13, 2014 Tom Pierce asked if a public comment made at the previous meeting about his position on contracts would stay in the minutes, although the comment misrepresented his position on the matter. Clerk Hanna said the minutes reflected what the speaker said, and would remain in the minutes, although she would make note of his concern in the minutes of the current meeting. The committee approved the minutes from Meeting Six. (Motion by Harrison, seconded by Craft and approved, with Dailey abstaining because he'd not been at the previous meeting) 2. Determination of Future Meeting Frequency, Dates, & Times Savage said that Dennis Baxter believes the committee should meet monthly and suggested that the next meeting be in January to avoid holidays, both issues that Savage said he agreed with, and suggested the third Tuesday of the month. Cohn said he did not object to meeting, but said he was unclear of the committee's mandate. This comment led the committee to consider the other agendized matters before deciding on a date for the next meeting. 1 4 Discussion of Use of Consultant/Advisor, Developing a Plan of Approach to Charter Review And Co-ordination of"bucket list"into Plan of Review of Charter Saenz read the resolution establishing the committee and Savage said that, beyond the charge to return to the council with recommendations for the November 2014 ballot by May 2014,the committee's charge to do a thorough review of the Charter still remains. Cohn said that the committee had made recommendations and asked what work remained. Savage said he never considered the obligation of the committee to be limited to making recommendations for the November 2014 ballot. Casey Dailey said the timeframe for the November election created a condensed process that forced the committee to look at a few areas; having an elongated schedule would allow a comprehensive review of the Charter. Harrison indicated she would like to have a commitment to continue the work and wanted details about how the two-year period before the next eligible election would play out because it is a long time to go through the work of improving the charter. She said the committee was asked at the beginning to make some kind of financial change because the bankruptcy was a driving force, but that the committee never decided whether it wanted to improve the current charter or dump it and start anew. She said that was a basic issue to consider decide right away. She said she would like to work on the charter, whether it is rewritten or started anew. Michael suggested looking at the "bucket list"the committee had adopted in April 2014 and that he had received great feedback about what the committee needs to look at. He added that meeting once a month was not enough time to analyze the amount of material required of the committee. He said he wanted to be sure there was a new Charter in place before getting rid of the old one. Pierce said he believed that the work done in April and May 2014 was just the beginning, that the process identified about 30 items to consider, and that there would be plenty to come back to after the initial push to recommend for the November 2014 ballot. Cohn said he raised the question of what the committee's charge is so that people would understand what they were getting into. He asked if the committee ought to seek an an expression of support from the council for continuing its work to avoid spending a lot of time dreaming what the Charter ought to be, with nothing to show for it. Clerk Hanna suggested that a good time to seek an answer was when the matter of funding a facilitator/consultant went to the council. Savage agreed that it was important to get a reaffirmation of what the council feels, and said that would inform the type of facilitator/consultant to seek. Cohn asked Council Member Nickel and Mayor Davis what their sense of the situation was. 2 Nickel said he was only speaking for himself, but that he fully supports the work of the committee and a comprehensive assessment of the charter. Regarding a facilitator, he said he deferred to the committee and said he would prefer that Council get periodic updates as the committee is doing its work, rather than all at once. Davis said one of the decisions the committee may want to consider is whether they prefer a paid or volunteer consultant, and whether the committee wants to be part of the selection process. He said he didn't think the council expected the committee would end and said that once a month meetings might not be enough time to go through the amount of analysis required and meet deadlines for placing an item on the 2016 ballot. He also suggested the committee might want to do some polling, a luxury it didn't have last year. He said he fully supported the efforts of the committee so far. He said they may want to consider creating a new document rather than reworking up to 30 items on the bucket list. He suggested putting the question to the council about the direction it would prefer the committee take. Walbourne said Council Member John Valdivia told him that he was interested in the committee continuing its work, that there is a bucket list of issues to consider and that a couple hours of work a month is not a big deal for him. Saenz said there may be a change in council membership in November 2015, and that may be a more appropriate time for the committee to ask Council for input but that there is no reason that the committee couldn't come up with recommendations and submit then after new council is seated. Savage suggested that the committee set out objectives, and ask council to approve taking a specific approach. He suggested discussing basic principles first, pass them to council for support and then, based on the support, come up with recommendations for the ballot. Savage introduced San Bernardino resident Jim Smith, who had requested to make a public comment. Smith said it is important to involve the public in the process early on and find out what the public wants. He suggested coordinated forums to get public out to be educated on some of the form of governments. Education is important if you are going to get a positive result at the polling place, he said. Savage said that Baxter told him via email that he believes that San Bernardino is poised to devise an entirely new charter that is non procedural and short, and that picking apart the current charter will simply result in more confusion. Also Baxter said he believes the consultant- taxpayer-citizen education process should be begun early and not focused on any one item. Savage said the committee did a good job of getting council to adopt what the principals of a good charter should be and that the committee should discuss what kind of a structure is desired by consensus of the city residents and then pass that along to the council. That's the direction we 3 should be moving in, he said, adding then we can start putting down(ideas for change) that work under that government structure. Dailey said that it is important to step back from the 28 areas of the Charter that the committee previously identified as.problematic and look at the structure first. The Charter, if there is one, should create clear lines of authority, be concise, and provide a structural framework for how the governmental entity can operate. That is the starting point, he said. Then the committee can look at options where that can be the goal, that adhere to a set of foundation principals. Savage asked if anyone had a specific recommendation for a government structure. Harrison said the committee needs to consider what is possible,the strengths, weaknesses and potential consequences of the different structures. I think we have some basic education to do among ourselves, and then make a decision afterward, she said. She agreed that is would be wise to get Council affirmation that they still want the Charter Review committee to continue working, and to indicate what they would like the committee to do so that the committee members did not spend two years working on the issue and not have it supported by the Mayor and Council. Pierce said that the discussion of the best structure for San Bernardino is where the committee could use the help of an expert to guide them. Cohn said a post mortem of what worked and did not in the previous process was called for and added that the committee need to be the advocates for whatever we propose. He said the committee was not called upon to defend what we approved and worked on and that the committee may want to decide if it is to advocate more aggressively or to sinply make recommendations to the council. He said the charter is obviously not working as it should and said perhaps review of the charter would bring about a fix. Harrison said she worked personally with the League of Women Voters and spoke to Kiwanis and Rotary groups on her own and that committee members needed to be in the community discussing their recommendations, but that that's not what they were asked to do. "I kept expecting the mayor and council to step up and say this is our campaign, this is what we need for our city. There may have been some of it, but perhaps not enough," she said. Craft suggested improving the current Charter. He said he's read several city charters and they are longer than some people have indicated, He agreed that there needs to be a reaffirmation of support from the current Council and Mayor, but wondered if there would be a need to go before new council after November 2015 election and see if they still agree. He said that he had been contacted in the summer to provide advocacy, but declined because it was going to be part of an advertisement, He said he expected people to get informed, make the decision on facts. He agreed for the need for a post-mortem. He said he would like to see San Bernardino be a citizen- centric city and that changing the charter, making updates, can help accomplish that. 4 Walbourne asked what seats would be up for election in November and Clerk Hanna said Wards 3, 5, 6, and 7 as well as Attorney, Treasurer and Clerk. Cohn said the council basically rejected the committee's well-thought out recommendations when they dropped three of them in choosing what would move to the ballot. What we come up with next time will have to have more buy-in, he said. Savage said if the net effect of the committee's work is one or two changes to the existing charter every few years, he is not interested in participating. It needs to be done in bigger pieces, he said, with input of the public and expert advice. He suggested the committee ask the council for funding for a consultant who knows how to get meaningful charter change accomplished, for at least a few meetings, to give them some input and help them decide the best way to proceed. Dailey suggested putting the request to Council immediately. The committee needs expert advice and someone who know charters and the structure of city government, he said.The council could reaffirm commitment to committee by an appropriation of funds for a facilitator//consultant, then if the committee agreed on a framework, they could use that as a filter to amend the existing charter, create a new one, or become a General Law city. Having a public component is important, he said. Cohn said that given the current financial state of the city, that asking for funding might lead some to suggest disbanding the committee. The very people that opposed the recommendations on Measure Q would question spending the money, he said. He said it would be better to have a top-notch professional advise the committee, rather than community volunteers (as had been suggested), but it would be a hard sell at this point. Dailey said without the help of a city government expert, the committee would be circling the issues without direction provided through a facilitator. Savage agreed that the committee should ask for some guidance, but not for the entire 18 month process. Walbourne asked if Cal State would have people who could volunteer. Pierce said there is a department of Public Administration that may have someone who could be helpful. He suggested the mayor make a request to the university, and it would be a way that the university could make a contribution and would take the request seriously. Harrison and Dailey discussed possible grant sources for a consultant and Clerk Hanna said she could do some research and provide a list of available grants. There was some discussion of the benefits of an RFP versus an RFQ process. The mayor suggested and RFP process so that the committee would know what kind of budget would be 5 required. Daily asked if an RFP could go out before the end of the year. Mayor said it could and Clerk Hanna said it could be on the agenda for the second Council meeting in December. Nickel said he had a concern for coming forward with a request for an RFP or RFQ, and that before that is considered, the committee should use the resources already available to the city via the League of California Cities and the Institute for Local Government to provide expert advice. Dailey agreed that they were excellent resources with or without moving forward with an RFP. Approved Motion: If the Council shares commitment to a continuation of the charter review process, the Charter Review Committee request staff brings forward an RFP to the City Council at the second meeting in December for a government structure expert to advise the Charter Review Committee for a defined period of time. (Motion was made by Dailey, seconded by Craft, and passed unanimously). Savage said that based on discussion of the evening, it would be better to only set up the next meeting. Dailey suggested that they meet on December 16, after the council meetings in December and know the outcome of the resolution that went to council. Savage said he wasn't sure if he could make that date, but would attempt to and Cohn said it was likely he would not be able to attend on December 16. Craft said he thinks that the bi-weekly meeting is a good idea. Savage said perhaps after the holidays that would be considered. Davis asked if the committee would like to be the selection committee for a government expert. Pierce said he'd like to have input from the council and staff in the selection and Dailey added that, generally, a variety of people are included on a selection committee and he's never seen one that included council members. Clerk Hanna suggested that the committee members were appointed by Council and that Council members would likely make their wishes known to their respective appointees. The motion to set the next meeting for December 16, 2014 was approved unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 7:42 p.m. 6 a Action Item 2 Discussion and Possible Action on Use of Consultant/Advisor From: Martin Gonzalez To: Giai Hanna Subject: Insitute for Local Government Date: Tuesday,December 09,2014 5:20:40 PM Attachments: martello-bio Undated General.doc Hi Gigi, Attached you'll find the bio for Mike Martello. He will be the volunteer we would ask to come speak to your charter review committee. Also, this link from the League of Cities (https://www.cacwties.ora/Resources/Charter-Cities) might be of interest and value to the committee members. --Martin Martin Gonzalez I Director INSTITUTE FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT 1400 K Street, Suite 205 Sacramento, CA 95814 tel 916-658-8259 fax 916-444-7535 email mgonzalez @ca-ilg.org web www.ca-ilg.org LinkedIn I Facebook I I Michael Martello Michael Martello recently retired after serving as Interim Town Attorney for Los Gatos in 2010. Prior to that assignment, Michael served as City Attorney of Mountain View for 16 years. He has also served as the City Attorney of Concord and as Deputy and Assistant City Attorney of Thousand Oaks. It was in Thousand Oaks were Michael worked for City Attorney James Longtin and on Longtin's California Land Use,the leading published authority on the subject. From 1987 through 1990, Michael was with the law firm of Cohen Alexander and Clayton in Thousand Oaks, specializing in land use. Highlights of Michael's career include having filed the original complaint in the lawsuit which gave rise to California's SLAPP legislation; being appointed as one of the 7- member creditor's committee in the Orange County bankruptcy; and, on behalf of the City of Mountain View, litigating against several Fortune 500 companies, two of which resulted in settlements in the City's favor valued at more than$30 million dollars, each. Michael has spoken at dozens of League Conferences and at other local government educational forums. He served as Chair of California Cities City Attorneys' FPPC Committee for more than a decade. Michael has an undergraduate degree in political science from Arizona State and received his law degree from Pepperdine School of Law. I RESOLUTION NO. 2 RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS 3 FOR A CHARTER EXPERT TO ADVISE THE CHARTER REVIEW COMMITTEE 4 WHEREAS, the Mayor and Common Council are committed to a thoughtful and 5 deliberative Charter review process; and 6 WHEREAS, in order to facilitate a thoughtful and deliberative Charter review process it 7 is necessary to engage the services of a Charter expert to advise the Charter Review Committee; 8 NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO AS FOLLOWS: 10 11 SECTION 1. The City Manager is hereby authorized to issue a Request for Proposals for 12 a Charter expert to advise the Charter Review Committee. 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 /// 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 2 7 /// 28 1 1 RESOLUTION OF THE MAYOR AND COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS 2 FOR A CHARTER EXPERT TO ADVISE THE CHARTER REVIEW COMMITTEE 3 I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing Resolution was duly adopted by the Mayor and 4 5 Common Council of the City of San Bernardino at a meeting thereof, held on the 6 day of , 2015, by the following vote,to wit: 7 Council Members: AYES NAYS ABSTAIN ABSENT 8 MARQUEZ 9 BARRIOS 10 11 VALDIVIA 12 SHORETT 13 NICKEL 14 JOHNSON is MULVIHILL 16 17 Georgeann Hanna, City Clerk 18 19 The foregoing Resolution is hereby approved this day of , 2015. 20 21 R. Carey Davis, Mayor 22 City of San Bernardino Approved as to form: 23 Gary D. Saenz, City Attorney 24 By: 25 26 27 28 2 Action Item 3 Coordinate "bucket list" into Charter Plan of Review SAN BERNARDINO CHARTER COMMITTEE POSSIBLE CHANGE TOPICS Topic Now or Comments Discussion Priority Later 1 Charter Section Now Discussion could include: repealing #6 186 Section 186, suspending the provision until City financially sound- 20% of budget in reserves; or amending it re "specific work shifts", comparable cities definition, allowing cross-training & services between police&fire, etc.; Study Article 10 Section 180 General supervision of police and fire department and immediate supervision. Review the 10 year study of Section 186 vs COLA. Do a'call by call' comparison. How many fire calls,how many medical emergencies, how many medical-non emergency, etc. vs. the com arable cities. IA Enabling Now Approve the language submitted by the Language City Attorney to enable rather than restrict the council in its interpretation of the Charter. (Motion by Cohn, seconded by Craft; Unanimous) 2 Elections Now Consolidate elections in even numbered #5 years; Change run-off elections to same year as primary elections to simplify the process for voters, candidates. 3 Continue Now In addition to specific recommendations #2 Continuous for November ballot, recommend(1) Charter Review ongoing review by a City Charter Committee for consideration by Council in the future and(2)a City Policy of regular periodic ongoing reviews. Present Savage's Guiding Principles#2- #7 to the council as a plebecite, to see if the ublic thinks it makes sense. 4 Reeommend New changes AT,..,embe.-ballot,1+„+more extensive &Wdy4rst 1 Based on three factors: (1) likelihood of improving City financially; (2) likelihood of city-wide support; and(3)time for adequate review& analysis.) Updated May 5, 2014 SAN BERNARDINO CHARTER COMMITTEE POSSIBLE CHANGE TOPICS 5 Repeal Charter- Later Become General Law City 6 Eliminate Civil Later Service Department (Remove from Charter) 7 Replace existing NOW Charter with one Later essentially identical to another City's charter, such as Riverside's 8 Require employee New benefits to show Later as line item in city budgets 9 Convert Water Later Dept to regular dept of City (Remove from Charter) 10 Convert Library Later Dept to regular dept of City (Remove from Charter) 11 Reorganizing Now Analyze Article 5 Section 100 City #7 relationship manager duties between City Article 4 Section 50 (Chief Executive Council, Mayor Officer), Section 51 (appointments and and City Manager vacancies); Section 52 (Supervision by Mayor); Section 55 (City Attorney position, duties and salary); Section 60 (City Clerk Appointment and duties); Section 70 (Treasurer appointment and duties) Savage Guiding Principal#1 12 Tie Council Later Council compensation needs to be compensation and increased; Section 24A benefits to be same as general law cities after fiscally sound Updated May 5, 2014 0 SAN BERNARDINO CHARTER COMMITTEE POSSIBLE CHANGE TOPICS (20%reserves) 13 8 year Term limits Later for all elected officials 14 Change legislative Later power to Community Councils 15 Establish City Later Public Bank 16 Remove Park Later Commission from Charter 17 Remove School Now #1 District language from Charter 18 Have Police & Later Fire Chiefs selected by City Manager 19 Make City Later Article 13 Section 235 Attorney, Treasurer&/or Clerk appointed rather than elected 20 Eliminate Ward Later System- Possible alternatives: hybrid(residence by wards, city wide vote); Cumulative Voting 21 Change Section Later 241 so a 2nd legal opinion to Mayor, Council and City Clerk need not be approved by City Attorney 22 Ward boundary Not Article 1 Section 3: Time and changes discussed Boundaries change done at least every yet ten years when the new census is released 23 Salary of mayor Not Article II Section 24 should not be tied discussed Updated May 5, 2014 4 SAN BERNARDINO CHARTER COMMITTEE POSSIBLE CHANGE TOPICS to any other group yet 24 Recalls Not Article 7 discussed yet 25 Special funds to Not Article 8 Section 130 Revenue and be considered discussed finances; Section 143-149 (Special yet funds, water, library, and sewer) 26 Water board Not Article 9 Section 160 compensation discussed yet 27 Civil Service Now Continued compensation while under #3 language Civil Service appeal 28 Water Department Now Transfer management of sewer #4 collection system to water department and power to set rates for sewer collection and treatment to the Board of Water Commissioners 29 Citizen initiative Later Applying 186-like formular to #1 determining employee benefits 30 Citizen initiative Later Adding anti-corruption language to the #2 Charter 31 Private Economic Later . A proposal for private economic zone, Zone received from Upland Attorney Brian Hannemann 32 Pension Increase Later Pension increases can only take place by vote only via vote of the people Updated May 5, 2014