Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutPresentation - #27 Proposed Amendments to the Sunshine Ordinance Sunshine Ordinance Amendments City Manager’s Office Slide 1 July 20, 2021 About the Sunshine Ordinance Sunshine Ordinance Amendments City Manager’s Office Slide 2 July 20, 2021 Background •The Sunshine Ordinance was adopted in October 2012. •The Sunshine Ordinance consists of provisions to expand transparency. •The Sunshine Ordinance was amended in June 2013. –Changed the timelines contained in the provisions of the ordinance: the date of the submittal and annual review of the City's five-year strategic plan, the annual budget meeting dates, and the date for the monthly posting of the calendars of public officials. Sunshine Ordinance Amendments City Manager’s Office Slide 3 July 20, 2021 Sec. 2-150. -Meetings and agenda postings for city council. •City Council meeting agendas are posted at least 96 hours before any regular City Council meeting. •City Council meeting notices are accessible on the City's website in various languages, including Spanish. •City Council meeting agendas list future agenda items on major projects. Sunshine Ordinance Amendments City Manager’s Office Slide 4 July 20, 2021 Sec. 2-152. -Plan approval. / Sec. 2-153. -Public input through community meetings prior to discretionary approval. •The development project applicant shall hold one community meeting no later than 20 days after submittal of an application for administrative site plan review. •The applicant shall provide noticing of the community meeting to all property owners within a 500-foot radius of the property. –The notice shall include the time, place and date of the community meeting, a map depicting the location of the subject property, a brief description of the project, and the applicant's contact information. –The notice shall be written in English and Spanish and include instructions as to how to request language interpretation services. •The community meeting shall be held either on a weeknight during the early evening hours or on a Saturday. The meeting shall be held in any facility that is accessible to the public and that is no more than one mile from the project site. Sunshine Ordinance Amendments City Manager’s Office Slide 5 July 20, 2021 Sec. 2-152. -Plan approval. / Sec. 2-153. -Public input through community meetings prior to discretionary approval. •Should the applicant receive a written request for language interpretation services no later than 48 hours prior to the meeting, the applicant's shall arrange for such services. •During the community meeting, the applicant shall give a presentation detailing the components of the proposed development project and a description of any impacts or benefits to the community, and provide contact information so that members of the public can contact them for further information. The applicant shall also provide enough time for questions and input, and prepare meeting minutes. •Not less than four days following the community meeting, the developer shall submit an affidavit under penalty of perjury that the required community meeting was held in compliance with the Sunshine Ordinance. •Notice of Planning Commission public hearings shall be provided to all property owners within a 500-foot radius of the property. Sunshine Ordinance Amendments City Manager’s Office Slide 6 July 20, 2021 Sec. 2-154. -Access to contracts, bids and proposals. •All Request for Proposals (RFPs) for public inspectionand available on the City’s website. •The City shall notice on the City’s website the entity who is awarded a contract, along with the second and third ranked companies, for 30 days after RFP award. Sunshine Ordinance Amendments City Manager’s Office Slide 7 July 20, 2021 Sec. 2-155. -Calendars of certain city officials. •Monthly calendars for the Mayor and City Council, City Manager, and members of the City’s Executive Management Team shall be available for public inspection at the Clerk of the Council Office and on the City’s website. •The monthly calendars shall be made available on the tenth business day of each month. •The monthly calendars shall include all scheduled City-related appointments, meetings, including regular and special City Council meetings, meetings with developers, meetings with union representatives, meetings with consultants, meetings with lobbyists, regional meetings, and meetings of subcommittees or task forces. Sunshine Ordinance Amendments City Manager’s Office Slide 8 July 20, 2021 Sec. 2-156. -Access to lobbyist information. •This section requires the City to provide access, and a link on the City's website, to the following forms: –Recipient Committee Campaign Statement (Form 460) –BehestedPayment Report (Form 803) –Statement of Economic Interests (Form 700). Sunshine Ordinance Amendments City Manager’s Office Slide 9 July 20, 2021 Sec. 2-157. -Public meetings related to city five-year strategic plan and annual budget. •This provision requires that each February (but before March 31) and September (but before October 31), staff shall strive to host a community meeting in preparation of the annual budget. Additionally, this provision requires that every five years, the City Manager shall prepare and submit to the City Council a strategic plan setting forth the City’s mission, core values, five year goals, detailed measurable objectives, and key performance measures. To prepare the strategic plan, the City Manager is required to conduct a public meeting for the public to review the draft plan. Finally, the City Manager is required to host annual public meetings to present the strategic plan once it is approved by the City Council. Sunshine Ordinance Amendments City Manager’s Office Slide 10 July 20, 2021 Proposals to Amend the Sunshine Ordinance Sunshine Ordinance Amendments City Manager’s Office Slide 11 July 20, 2021 Add one additional community meeting for certain development projects, which would require a total of two community meetings. •The cost associated with requiring a second community meeting varies, and principally includes the staff time associated with coordinating the meeting. •Funding to support the staffing requirements for these types of meetings are supported by existing personnel budgets for various departments. There is no fiscal impact to the City associated with this proposal. •All other costs for the meeting, including notices, mailers, venue rental/Zoom account, staffing, producing the required post- meeting summary minutes, etc. Are borne by the applicant. Sunshine Ordinance Amendments City Manager’s Office Slide 12 July 20, 2021 Increase noticing requirement for certain development projects from addresses within a 500-foot radius of the subject property to a 2,000-foot radius, as well as informing tenants that rent and not solely the homeowners. •If the City were to amend the Sunshine Ordinance to require a development project applicant to send mailed notices of community meetings to homeowners and renters who live within a 2,000-foot radius of the subject property, the number of notices would increase significantly —and vary significantly depending on the location. –Staff estimates that the number of mail notices could increase tenfold. •The cost to send mailed notices is borne by the applicant. •There is no fiscal impact for the City. Sunshine Ordinance Amendments City Manager’s Office Slide 13 July 20, 2021 Require Nixlenotifications when fulfilling noticing requirements for City-sponsored development projects. •There is no cost for using Nixle. •However, Nixleis a specific digital communications tool and will likely not be in use to send digital communications for general purposes in the future. Sunshine Ordinance Amendments City Manager’s Office Slide 14 July 20, 2021 Require lobbyists to register with the Clerk of the Council. •The City uses NetFile, a digital tool to assist users with filing campaign finance and related forms/reports, including Recipient Committee Campaign Statement (Form 460), Behested Payment Report (Form 803), and Statement of Economic Interests. •NetFileoffers a lobbyist disclosure filing module, a subscription- based software that costs approximately $10,000 annually. •The City Council may amend the Sunshine Ordinance to define lobbyist disclosure requirements or adopt a separate lobbyist ordinance for the Clerk of the Council to administer. Sunshine Ordinance Amendments City Manager’s Office Slide 15 July 20, 2021 Continue to host hybrid virtual/in-person City Council meetings. •The main associated cost with this provision is maintaining and renewing the annual Zoom license fee, which is $360. •Information Technology and Clerk of the Council Office staff would administer the meetings using existing staffing. Sunshine Ordinance Amendments City Manager’s Office Slide 16 July 20, 2021 Publish public meeting agendas seven days in advance. •State law requires that public meeting agendas for regular meetings, such as regular City Council meetings, be published at least 72 hours (or three days) prior to the meeting start time. •The Sunshine Ordinance, in its current form, requires that regular City Council meeting agendas be published 96 hours (or four days) prior to the meeting start time. •If the City Council were to amend the Sunshine Ordinance to require regular City Council meeting agendas to be published seven days in advance, there would be no direct cost associated with the change in publishing time. •Staff across departments would be required to adjust workflow to accommodate seven-day lead time. •If revised agendas and supplemental documents are shared after the seven-day publishing date, it could create confusion for the user to find the City Council meeting agenda items. Sunshine Ordinance Amendments City Manager’s Office Slide 17 July 20, 2021 Next Steps Sunshine Ordinance Amendments City Manager’s Office Slide 18 July 20, 2021 •At this time, staff seeks direction from the City Council on assessing the proposed revisions to the Sunshine Ordinance. Sunshine Ordinance Amendments City Manager’s Office Slide 19 July 20, 2021 Questions? Sunshine Ordinance Amendments City Manager’s Office Slide 20 July 20, 2021