HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-04-08 SpecialMINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING
OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA
APRIL 8, 2013
CALLED TO ORDER SOUTHWEST SENIOR CENTER
2201 W. MCFADDEN AVENUE
SANTA ANA, CA
5:13 P.M.
ATTENDANCE COUNCILMEMBERS Present:
SAL TINAJERO, Mayor Pro Tern
ANGELICA AMEZCUA
P. DAVID BENAVIDES
MICHELE MARTINEZ
ROMAN A. REYNA
VINCENT F. SARMIENTO
COUNCILMEMBERS Absent:
MIGUEL A. PULIDO, Mayor
STAFF Present:
KEVIN O'ROURKE, Interim City Manager
SONIA R. CARVALHO, City Attorney
MARIA D. HUIZAR, Clerk of the Council
PUBLIC COMMENTS
• Peter Katz, opined that City Council communicates well; focus on social issues
including senior and lunch programs.
WORK STUDY SESSION
WS1 REVIEW AND DISCUSSION OF COUNCIL PRACTICES, POLICIES,
AND PROTOCOLS
Presentation by Interim City Manager O'Rourke, City Attorney Carvalho
and Clerk of the Council Huizar:
Agenda
1. Public Comments
2. Introduction of Purpose of Study Session by City Manager
3. Develop Meeting Ground Rules
4. Long Term Goal and Objectives
5. Review current practices, policies and protocols
CITY COUNCIL MINUTES 1 APRIL 8, 2013
6. Discussion of roles and expectations
7. Wrap up and next steps
Suggested Ground Rules
• Listen to each other
• Focus on issues not on people
• There are no bad ideas or bad questions
• Be completely honest
• Be respectful but do not filter comments
• Keep phones off
• Have fun
• Councilmember Reyna added - One speaker at a time
Long Term Goal
• Develop and Approve City Council Norms and Operating Guidelines
Meeting Objectives:
• Review and discuss current practices, policies, and protocols
• Strengthen Council and staff communication and identify expectations
• Develop Issue Bin items for later discussion
Current Policies
• Council Code of Ethics and Conduct
• Requirement of Measure D approved by Voters in February 2008
• City Council Adopted Resolution in June 2008
• Rules and Procedures for City Council Meetings
?ity Most recent Resolution adopted June 2012
• Council Orientation Manual
Agenda Process - Ceremonial Items
• Invocations
• Pledge of Allegiance
• Councilmember Reyna suggested community groups such as Boy
Scouts, Girl Scouts, etc. lead Pledge of Allegiance at City Council
Meetings.
• Council unanimously concurred with suggestion.
Special Presentations
• City Manager receives all requests and determines appropriateness
of topic
• Councilmember Benavides proposed that Special Presentations
be scheduled the 2nd meeting of the month to receive special
attention and not interfere with City Council recognitions.
Presentations and Recognitions Policy implemented in 2010
• Presentations on first meeting of the month
• Maximum of 2 presentations per councilmember per meeting
• Policy identifies qualifications for groups to be recognized
• Councilmember Reyna proposed that the names of all
Councilmembers be included on all proclamations and
CITY COUNCIL MINUTES 2 APRIL 8, 2013
certificates and allowing community groups to co-present along
with City Councilmember.
City Council unanimously agreed with proposal; also, proposed
setting time limit of 3-5 minutes per presentation and limiting to
one presentation for each councilmember.
Agenda Process - Council Comments
• City Council Travel Report
• Must be reported out under Council Comments as a requirement of
AB 1234
Staff Recommendation:
• Add oral reports of major actions considered by regional boards on
Agenda
• Add oral reports on Council Committee meetings
• City Council unanimously agreed with staff recommendation to
include Oral Report-Out as placeholder on agendas.
Agenda Approval Process
• City Manager approves items to be placed on City Council, and
Council Committee Meetings
• Preliminary Agenda emailed City Council 10 days in advance
• Final Agenda and staff reports emailed 4 days (96 hours) in advance to
City Council, posted and distributed to community
• Mayor Pro Tern Tinajero requested standing meetings between the
Mayor Pro Tern and Mayor with City Manager to review Preliminary
Agenda prior to release.
• Councilmember Martinez proposed changing City Council Meeting
date to 1 st and 3rd Tuesday of the Month.
Requests by Councilmembers to Add Agenda Items
Charter Section 411:
"Any member of the City Council may place items on the City Council
agenda to be considered by the City Council."
• Any Councilmember may request an item be placed on the agenda
under Item 85
• Contact City Clerk with title at least 4 days (96 hours) in advance
• No agenda report provided
Proposed Change
• Councilmembers identify issues for future Item 85 agenda items at a
meeting
• Staff proposed a new section can be added to the agenda for this
purpose
Request an estimate from the City Manager of amount of staff time
required and time frame to prepare an agenda report
General requests for information that require more than one hour of
staff time will require the member to bring it before the Council for
direction as an Item 85
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• Councilmember Sarmiento noted importance of quantifying staff
time/resources expended on each request; Councilmembers should
limit requests, however, flexibility on time sensitive/critical items
• Councilmember Martinez commented that agendized matters
usually require some analysis.
• Mayor Pro Tern Tinajero suggested items be monitored through
Robert's Rules of Order.
• Council concurred that staff should draft language for City Council
consideration on how to handle items that require staff analysis -
policy should include options for council consideration such as
council majority vote required to direct staff to prepare information.
• Interim City Manager O'Rourke proposed adding language that
allowed City Manager some discretion and also proposed that
recommendations be included in Council Norms Policy.
Agenda Process - Requests from Public to Add Agenda Items
• A member of the public may address the Council on any subject matter
jurisdiction of the City under public comments
o Council may not take action on any matter not agendized
• Members of the public do not place items on the Agenda
• Councilmember Martinez suggested that language on who is able to
call for Special Meetings be included in Council Norms.
Agenda Process - Study Sessions
• Open to the Public
• Purpose is informal discussions by City Council with staff on topics of
interest
• Council may provide direction
• No formal action may be taken; however direction may be given to
agendize action item for future meeting
• Items Scheduled for future Study Sessions:
• AB1234 Ethics Training
• Fiscal Year 2013-14 Budget Workshop
• Medical Cannabis Supreme Court Decision / Ballot Measure
• Strategic Plan
• Councilmember Reyna suggested Work Study session on proposed
alcohol and entertainment ordinance.
• Councilmember Martinez proposed that once Strategic Plan is adopted
by the City Council that all Request for Council Action include section
on Impacts to Strategic Plan.
Communication Methods to the City Council
• Legislative Matters
• League of California Cities Legislative Update (email)
• Councilmember Martinez noted that League membership also
benefits staff and staff involvement in League committees.
• Annual Updates by State and Federal Lobbyists
CITY COUNCIL MINUTES 4 APRIL 8, 2013
• Councilmember Sarmiento suggested special presentation by
lobbyist and include analysis and impact to City of Santa Ana.
• Councilmember Martinez inquired as to who was providing
direction to lobbyist to seek/monitor grants? Important to set
Council goals and objectives as well as adopt strategic plan that
would guide lobbyist; allow for efficient use of limited resources.
• Interim City Manager O'Rourke proposed adding Council
Committee to review Legislative matters.
Council/Staff Communication
• Council Requests for Information
Request for information through the City Manager or Department
Heads with cc to City Manager
Councilmembers will have full access to any information requested,
unless personnel related
• Councilmember Sarmiento asked that City Manager/City
Council staff be apprised of any policy changes.
• Information Distribution from Staff
City Manager will provide copies of the material requested to all
Councilmembers
Councilmembers will be informed by appropriate staff when
unusual events i.e. Saddleback fire, police shooting, explosions,
etc.
• Council asked to be notified by phone and include in weekly
newsletter when commercials, movies etc. are filmed in City;
staff directed to review current permit policy - streamline
process and promote City.
Communication between Councilmembers
• What is expectation of staff and role in facilitating communication
between members?
• Share weekly Council calendars?
• How to handle reporting on Council Committee or Regional Committee
items?
Councilmember Martinez suggested that community events in
addition to scheduled meetings be included on calendar.
Council Committees
• Development and Transportation Committee
• Benavides, Sarmiento, Martinez
• Public Safety and Neighborhood Improvement Committee
• Benavides, Martinez, Reyna
• Parks, Recreation, Education & Youth Committee; and Joint Santa Ana
Unified School District /City Council Committee
• Amezcua, Reyna, Tinajero
• Code of Ethics and Conduct Committee
• Tinajero and Amezcua
• Finance, Economic Development and Technology Committee
CITY COUNCIL MINUTES 5 APRIL 8, 2013
• Sarmiento, Martinez, Benavides
Councilmembers Martinez and Sarmiento commented on need for
bylaws; effective and efficient use for committees.
City Manager O'Rourke noted that best practice for implementing both
a strategic plan and council committees begins with a balance budget.
Councilmember Martinez indicated that both Southern California
Association of Governments (SCAG) and Transportation Corridor
Agency (TCA) follow this process, but thus far the budget has not
incorporated Council and community input, which are important. Also,
Council priorities need to be aligned; Council committees have broad
policy issues pending. Councilmember Tinajero echoed sentiment that
budget, including Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) has
not included council or community input.
Email Policy and Brown Act Provisions
• City email may be subject to:
• public disclosure
• Brown Act
• California Brown Act
• Closed Session Confidentiality
• What are the Councilmembers' expectations in handling unauthorized
disclosure of information?
• Council requested that Code of Conduct and Ethics Council Committee
review best practices and develop policy for Council approval - include
sanctions/censure for violations and reporting methods.
Review Issue Bin items:
Action Items
City Council Meeting Changes:
• Provide mechanism to change Council Meeting
days to the first and third Tuesdays of the
month
• Provide information on how to call a special
meeting of the Council
• Put a placeholder on the agenda for oral reports
on council committees and regional board
meetings
• Reprint proclamations and certificates to include
the names of all Councilmembers.
Council Committees:
• Create a Legislative Council Committee
• Legislative program needs to tie to strategic
plan.
• Request reports from lobbyist regarding impact
Next Steps
Approve resolution
incorporating all these
changes.
Revise Presentation
Policy
Amend Resolution and
add new Committee.
City Manager will work
with consultants
CITY COUNCIL MINUTES 6 APRIL 8, 2013
on City, State and Federal.
Prepare language of best practices for
enforcement options for code of ethics for
review by Ethics Committee
Council Meetings - Recognitions & Presentations:
• Structure and agendize recognitions with the
following parameters:
o Number - 1 per meeting per Councilmember
o Timing - 5 minutes. Try to group large
recognitions. For example, give to coach.
o Exceptions only if time sensitive
o Allow community members to help facilitate
presentation
• Reprint proclamations and certificates to include
the names of all Councilmembers
• Schedule presentations from outside groups on
the 2" d meeting of month
Council/Manager Coordination:
• City Manager reviews with Mayor/Mayor Pro
Tern agenda Wednesday or Thursday of
Council Meeting week
• Institute mechanism to share council calendars
- helps with special events attendance
Completed Items:
• Include Entertainment Ordinance on list of study
session potential items
• Ensure information on filming in town shared
with City Council
• Affirmed maintaining current process for placing
85A items on agenda
City Attorney and City
Clerk will schedule
meeting with Ethics
Committee and
present options
Revise administrative
policy
To be implemented
Options currently being
explored
Staff to follow up
Potential Next Steps
• Schedule follow-up session
• Develop Council Norms and Operating Guidelines
• Incorporate information received at Work Study Session
• Schedule annual team-building session
• Opportunity to review operations, strategic plan, communication
improvements, etc.
Agree on goals and objectives; have clear vision
Build strong relationships between the City Manager and staff based
on trust, communication and accountability
Conduct Strategic Plan Meetings
CITY COUNCIL MINUTES 7 APRIL 8, 2013
COMMENTS
90A CITY MANAGER'S COMMENTS - None
90B CITY COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS - None
ADJOURNED- 7:26 p.m. Maria D. Huizar, =
Clerk of the Council
CITY COUNCIL MINUTES 8 APRIL 8, 2013