Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1978-01-091 I1 MINUTES Council Chamber, Civic Center Huntington Beach, California Monday, January 9, 197$ A tape recording of this meeting is on file in the City Clerk's Office. Mayor Pattinson called the adjourned regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Huntington Beach to order at 7:00 P.M. ROLL CALL Present: Bartlett, Coen, Siebert, Shenkman, Pattinson (Gibbs arrived at 7s15 P.M. - Wiedsr arrived at 700 P.M.) Absents None The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Councilman Shenkman. PUBLIC HEARING - PROPOSED CITY CHARTER REVISIONS -_ MINUEs,t124�1477 Mayor Pattinson announced that this was the day and hour set for the continuance of a public hearing held on Decembe; 21, 1977, to consider the revision of the City Charter of the City of Huntington Beach, as proposed by the ChaxtAw Revision Committee. The City Clerk informed Council that all legal requirements for publication and posting had been met and that she had received no communications or written protests to the matter. Mark Porter, Home Council, addressed Council and distributed a survey which was circulated among the aaeapbership of Hoare Council earlier in the year. The survey was intended to provide information not only to the Charter Hevihian C mmittee but also to their delegate, Toms Livengood, who was appointed by the Council to the Charter Revision Committee. Mr. Porter stated that Home Council had some comments and suggestions for revision of the Charter. He elaborated on the suggested revisions, and concluded by thanking Council for giving.Homae Council the opportunity of presenting input .since they were unable to attend the December 21, 1977 public hearing. Mayor yattimm ccassended the Home Council for their efforts =6 U t on the prsad Owter Revisions. Hen 8orooman, City, thanked council for giving hurt the opp ftwity to A"O am suggested . that,_upon looking at the large volume of material 40At#;irad iA tho recommendations there is too much to be as" lasted in ot4w to VOU iraiellifeHtly on the revision. He suggested. that a limit of ,ems faw to six o** the pW=our►t issues be submitted. at the next election and that the OtbW Usues the ftV90t at subsequent elections.. In his opinion, the Charter 9PUM be x*JOOt4d mt of hand because. of the volume and he stated that ho poroonally W Not Vote AW thn entire Charter in toto. He was o morn" that the Wised XOV 5 120 Page # 2 - Council Minutes - 1/9/78 made available to the public before the election in order to give them the opportunity to study it. Mr. Borcoman stated that he was in favor off -a full time Mayor. Councilwoman Wieder believed Mr. Borcoman had a good point i.n.suggesting that Charter Revisions be made available to the public and requested that the City Administrator make copies available at various public places. Mayor Pattinson concurred with the suggestion that the Charter Revisions be made available to the public but believed there was•a great deal of work to be done on it before it be submitted to the public. Max Hall addressed Council and stated that he believed that too many riders get into a 'package deal'. He was not in favor of the City Administrator, the City Attorney or the City Treasurer's positions being elected. However, he was in favor of the City Council being elected and suggested that this be done by districts, giving his reasons for change. Mayor Pattinson commented that the City had never had an elected City Administrator. Gordon Offstein, City, commented on the hard work which had gone into the revision of the Charter but stated that there were some items incorporated therein which he could not accept, and for this reasont-he would be obliged to vote against the entire Charter. Phyllis Sariego, President of the League of Women Voters and member of the Charter Revision Committee, addressed Council and stated that the League had not had the opportunity to go through the Charter since they believed the City Council should first make their recommendations and they would review the revised Charter when it is published in its final form. She stated that the League was concerned that the City Charter be clear and not ambiguous; that the Charter give clear responsibility and define lines of responsibility; they were concerned that the City Council be given mare flexibility. Mrs. Sariego stated that these were matters with which the League of Women Voters had been concerned for a'number.Wof years. Mrs. Sariego stated.that.the League was concerned that the office of City Treasurer be clearly defined and not in conflict with that of the Finance Director. The League also recommended citizens' participation. John O'Connor addressed Council and stated that he had been the Chairman of the Manage- ment Employees Organization Charter Committee but that he was now speaking in an in- dividual capacity as a resident of the City. He commended the Charter Revision Committee on doing a good job which was a well balanced, dedicated, conscientious and a very thorough analysis of the City Charter. However, Mr. O'Connor stated that there were - one or two suggestions which were nbt incorporated in the final version. Mr. O'Connor was in favor of the City Comptrbller's position remaining but suggested that it be made appointive, rather than elective. He believed the elected City Attorney should appear on the-ballot=as a separate item, whether appointive or elec- tive, and stated that in his opiniion= the` City-�Attorney's position was basically a staff position and had a fiduciary obligation to 'the City Cdunoil; the only one of the eleven department heads-%0ho_`haK this responsibilityp and he should serve at the 4, pleasure of the City Council:' insofar as the other positions are concerned, Mr. O'Connor continued, they sl ild 41, igo appear ' on-- the ballot as separate items and allow voters the choice of elected_36r�'Appointed. ILZI Page #3 - Council Minutes - 1/9/78 Mr. O'Connor stated that the very minimal control and responsibility that the City Council now has over the elected officials remains in the 'purse strings' and to remove that would be removing the last vestige of control that they have and to invest it in the Personnel Board would, in his opinion, be ludicrous. Mr. O'Connor gave reasons for his opinion. Don MacAllister, resident, addressed Council and.recommended that several items be put on the•ballot in order that people can vote•on the items they feel strongly about. If this is not done, Mr. MacAllister believes the proposed Charter may be defeated. HEARING CLOSED There being no one further present to speak on the natter, and there being no protests filed, either oral or written, the hearing was closed by the Mayor. Councilwoman Wieder asked the City -Administrator if it would be possible to have staff collate the testimony and give Council a summation of the public comments, with perhaps a tally showing the issues most frequently addressed. RECESS - RECONVENE Mayor Pattinson called a recess of Council at 7:30 P.M. The meeting was reconvened in Room B-8 at 8:05 P.M. Mayor Pattinson reconvened the meeting for the purpose of reviewing the Charter to'decide how the Charter -revisions were going to be put on the ballot. He stated that Council would determine how many parts it would be divided into and urged �r Council to give their individual input on the issues Councilman Shenkman stated that he was opposed to putting the Charter revisions on the ballot mainly because he was opposed to several items in the proposed Charter revisions. He suggested that Council refrain from putting too many items on the ballot since he believes the voters will not pay proper attention to them. Councilman Shenkman suggested that Council determine a few priorities and place them on the ballot so that proper emphasis, positive and negative, can be emphasized. He suggested that in order to decide which items were of the most importance, the system used by Council for appointing members to boards and commissions could be -utilized; each Council member writes down their top four or five priorities and the ones mentioned the most frequently be put on the ballot. Councilman Siebert concurred with the suggestion made by Councilman ShenkmAn but believed that Council should then set that procedure aside and go through the entire Charter before deciding on the priorities= the priorities would conceivably change upon Council action and the entire Charter should be reviewed before studying the Charter Revision Committee's recommendations. Councilwoman Wieder inquired as to what would happen to,the rest of the recoommtended changes which would not be placed on the ballot. Councilman Shenkman stated that the Council would manse the recommendations as to the revisions to be -made and the ones placed on the ballot would be those agreed upon by Council as a unanimous body. It was determined that the other -items not placed on the ballot would be dealt with separately and discussion was held between. Council as to the method. by which Councll's suggestions could be implemented. 1122 Page #4 - Council Minutes - 1/9/78 Councilman Bartlett stated that he was in favor of some of the items being put on the April ballot and some in June and believed that if too many were put on at the same time, voters would vote negatively. He was in favor of Council polling them- 4 ow selves as to the most important items to be placed on the ballot. Mayor Pattinson stated that he concurred with the various suggestions made by Council on the matter. He was of the opinion that the most controversial item on the Charter revisions was the elected officials vs. the appointed officials and suggested that these be put on the ballot as a separate item; the 'housekeeping' items could then be considered. Councilwoman Wieder stated that she would be opposed to deciding Charter revision recommendations on the ballot at two different elections As one change impacts another. Administrative -Aide, Jeri Chenelle, addressed Council and stated that several types of -categories were followed during the process; first the items suggested for revision were categorized according to how easy they were to deal with. They were then cate- gorized again in the final form, according to the model charter submitted. Items which were believed important to the function of the City were pulled out and some items which were not considered at all, which the Committee thought should be, were inserted. She stated that there were no 'easy' categories, and in her opinion the entire Charter would have to be gone through. Councilwoman Gibbs stated that basically she did not disagree with anything which had been said on the matter but that there is no way she could vote upon it as it now stands; some items would have to be dealt with singularly. Discussion was held be- tween Council as to how the Charter revisions would be broken down. Several sugges- tions were made by Councilwoman Wieder. Councilwoman Gibbs stated that her first priority would be the office of the City Attorney, which she favored being appointive rather than elective. Councilman Coen stated that he concurred with what had been said on the matter. REVIEW.OF CITY CHARTER BY CITY COUNCIL ARTICLE I - Section 100 - Name No comments. ARTICLE I - INCORPORATION AND POWERS.OF THE CITY- Section 101 -Seal Councilman Siebert inquired as to what the official Seal of the City consisted of, to which the City Clerk responded. He stated that he was concerned that private businesses were supported by the City in using the Huntington Beach logo, and suggested that the City have an official seal and logo with restrictive use of the logo under control of the City. Councilwoman Wieder stated that the City of Los Angeles has an ordinance which states that the official City Seal could only be used with discrimina- tion. Mayor Pattinson inquired whether the matter could be handled at another time. Councilman Coen stated that in the past the City had encouraged the use of the logo and would only want to control the illegitimate use of it. ARTICLE I - Section 102 - Boundaries, 103 - Powers of the City# 104 - Construction and 105 - Intergovernmental Relations No discussion. is Page #5 - Council Meeting.- 1/9/78 ARTICLE II - FORM OF GOVERNMENT - Section 200 - Council-Administra r Form of Government Councilman Coen pointed out to Council that's citizens and members of the Council had requested a full-time Mayor. Councilwastan Kieder stated that the Charter Revision Committee had not been favorable to the suggestion. However, she agreed with many of the arguments brought before Council by Ben Borcoman in favor of a full-time Mayor. Councilwoman Wleder elaborated on the advantages of a full-time Mayor. STRAW VOTE - FULL TIME MAYOR - DEFEATED Mayor Pattinson announced that a straw`vote'would be taken in favor of a full time Mayor. AYES: Wieder NOES: Bartlett, Coen, Gibbs, Siebert, Shenkman, Pattinson ABSENT:- None ARTICLE III - ELECTIVE OFFICES - Section 300 - Elective Offices Council agreed to come back to Section 300 in order that the matter might be discussed together with the position of the City Clerk. ARTICLE III - ELECTIVE OFFICES - Section 301 (a) - Composition, Section 301 (b) Eli ibilit No discussion ARTICLE III - ELECTIVE OFFICES - Section 301 (c) - Election and Terms Councilman Siebert stated that he was in favor"of abolishing the proposed two term limit for Council members. He believes that if the public wants someone to serve additional terms, the Charter should not prevent him from doing so. Councilman Shenkman stated that he could not argue with the reasoning given by Councilman Siebert and believed that as many people as possible be given the opportunity of becoming involved and be given the choice to vote on the revisions. However, in his opinion, eight years is a long time to serve on the Council and while it offered some degree of security, there is a degree of apathy and perhaps a lack of initiative and desire to serve. He suggest- ed a limitation of two consecutive terms. Mayor Pattinson stated that in his opinion, it should be left up to the people of.the City to elect who whey want and was against leaving this condition in the proposed Charter. Councilwoman Gibbs stated that she concurred with Councilman Shenkman, and Council should share the honor of being a decision -making position. She believed that two terms is enough to serve, and that is was healthier and better for the City. Councilman Coen believed that Council should weigh how the Charter Revision Committee voted on the matter, since their decision was unanimous. He also believed that the people should have a choice and that it should be placed on the ballot. Councilman Bartlett believed that citizens should be given the opportunity to vote on the Charter revisions. 124 Page #6 - Council Minutes- 1/9/78 STRAW VOTE - TWO TERM LIMITATION - TO BE PLACED SEPARATELY ON THE BALLOT _-ATPTMVED --"- Mayor Pattinson announced that a straw vote would be taken in favor of putting Section 301 (c) - Two Term Limitation on the ballot as a separate issue. AYES: Bartlett, Wieder, Coen, Gibbs, Siebert, Shenkman, Pattinson NOVS : Bone ABSENT: None ARTICLE III - ELECTIVE OFFICES -Section 302 - Powers Vested in City Council I No discussion ARTICLE III - ELECTIVE OFFICES - Section 303 - Compensation and Expenses Disucssion was held on the matter between Councilmen Shenkman and Coen, together with Harold Bauman, Charter Revision Committee Chairman. Councilman Shenkman referred to Item (b) - Population - Over 200,000 to and including 250,000 - $500 monthly Council salary. He stated that he would like to see Item (c) - over 250,000 - $600 taken out of the revised Charter. Councilman Siebert referred to a City Council reimbursement clause under the same Section, which he found to be loose.. Discussion was held on the matter. STRAW VOTE - COMPENSATION AND EXPENSES - TO BE PLACED SEPARATELY ON THE BALLOT - APPROVED Mayor Pattinson announced that a straw vote would be taken on the matter in favor of having Item 303 as a separate item on the ballot. AYES: Bartlett, Wieder, Coen, Gibbs, Siebert, Shenkman, Pattinson NOES: None ABSENT: None Councilwoman Wieder was of the opinion that if Council members are to receive more compensation it would impose the responsibility of Council members giving more time to the City. Councilman Siebert stated that Council was always willing to give more time when the need exists but would not like to see it locked into the Charter. Section 304 - Meetings and Locations - Part (b) Discussion was held between Mayor. Pattinson and Councilman Coen regarding the last sentence in Part (b) which stated '.'In the event of.an emergency affecting the public peace, health or safety, a special meeting may be called as provided in this section with less than twenty-four hours written notice, provided that the nature of the emergency is set forth in the minutes of the meeting". --- - ------ It was agreed that "the Mayor or Mayor Tempore" should he specfied:therein: — - Section 304 - Meetings and Locations - Parts (c) and (d) No discussion 125 Page #7 - Council Minutes:- 1/9/78 ARTICLE III - ELECTIVE OFFICES - Section 305 - Quorums, Proceedings and Rules of Order- Section (a) ^T Discussion was held regarding the last sentence of Section (a) which reads - "The City Clerk shall cause written notice of a meeting adjourned by less than a quorum or by the City Clerk to be delivered personally or by mail to each Council member at least twenty-four hours before the time to which the meeting is adjourned, or such notice may be dispensed with in the same manner as specified in this Charter for dispensing with notice of special meetings of the City Council". Discussion was held regarding special meetings and the qualification of a special meeting. Section 305 - Meetings and Locations - Part_.(b) - Proceedings No discussion Section 305 - Meetings and Locations - Part (c) - Rules of Order Discussion was held regarding the wording of the Rules of Order and Councilman Coen suggested that the word "shall" be substitute in lieu of "may", which would thereby read as follows: "The City Council shall establish rules for the conduct of its proceedings and evict or prosecute any member or other person for disorderly conduct at any of its meetings". STRAW VOTE - IN FAVOR OF WORD CHANGE Mayor Pattinson announced that a straw vote would be taken on the matter in favor of the change from "may" to "shall" in the wording. AYES: Bartlett, Coen, Siebert, Shenkman NOES. Wieder, Gibbs, Pattinson ABSENT: None Section 306 - Presiding Officer and Section 307 - Mayor Pro-Tempore No discussion. Section 308 - Mon -Interference with Administration Councilman Siebert stated that the same wording was in this section as in the old Charter and he believed the City Council should have a greater authority over what goes on in the City.. He stated that the words "non-interference with Administration" came up at a previousdiscussion with Council and inquired what exactly it means. Councilman Siebert believed that this section precluded any member of Council from interfering in the duties the City Administrator is involved with. The wording "no member" of the City Council shall interfere, he stated, gives him the impression that it infers no member of the City Council also as a "collective body", with which he does not concur. Councilman Siebert believes that for good management, the City Council has the right to step into the affairs of the administration of, the City if the matter is of significant importance. He suggested that a sentence be added at the ,end of the section saying "does not preclude action of the City Council". Mayor Pattinson suggested that following the wording "Except as otherwise provided in this Charter", the wording be changed to "no 'individual member of the City Council" shall order,.......... Discussion was held between Council on the implementation of the wording'in this section. Page #8 - Council Minutes - 1/9/76 A motion was wady W Siebert, seconded by Wieder, that following the wording "Except as otherwise provided in this Charter, no member of the City Council", the words "but not precluding the majority action of the City Council" be added. Further dis- cussion was held on the matter and Councilwoman Wieder gave reasons for supporting the implementation of the wording, following which a straw vote was taken in support of the motionz AYES: Bartlett, Wieder, Coen, Gibbs, Siebert, Shenkman, Pattinson NOES: None ABSENT: None Section 309 - Official Bonds No discussion was held on the matter. Section 310 - Citz Attorney - Com sition Eligibility,Election and Terms Councilman Shenkman stated that he concurred with the suggestions made by Mark Porter to Council at the public hearing on the matter; that he was in favor of an appointive City Attorney. STRAW VOTE - CITY ATTORNEY - SECTION 310 (A)- COMPOSITION - TO BE PLACED SEPARATELY ON THE BALLOT w APPROVED Mayor Pattinson announced that a straw vote would be taken on the matter in favor of having Section 310 City Attorney - Election and Terms placed on the ballot as a separate item: AYES: Bartlett, Wieder, Coen, Gibbs, Siebert, Shenkman, Pattinson NOES: None ABSENT: None Considerable discussion was held between Council on the matter. Section 311 - City_ Attorney - Powers and Duties Councilman Coen suggested that the word "power".be replaced with that of "responsibility" in Section 311 which would read "The City Attorney shall have the "responsibility" and may be required to ...." STRAW VOTE - CHANGE OF•WORDING FROM "POWER TO "RESPONSIBILITY" - APPROVED Mayor Pattinson announced that a straw vote would be taken in order to change the word "power', -to "responsibility": AYES: Bartlett, Wieder, Coen, Gibbs, Siebert, Shenkman, Pattinson NOES: None ABSENT: None .. A2 7 Page #9 - Council Minutes - 1/9/78 Councilman Coen suggested that the paragraph following Section (i) on Page C-18 of the current Charter which reads "The City Council shall have con o _ -- .of all legal business and proceedings and all property of the legal department, and may employ other attorneys to take charge of or may contract for any prose- cutions, litigation or other legal matters or business." be added as Item (j) to Page C-9 of the proposed Charter. However, the matter was clarified when it was determined that said section appears in the proposed Charter as.the last sentence of Section 305 (b) on Page C-7 of the proposed new Charter. Section 312- �CityAttorney - Compensation Mayor Pattinson stated that he does not believe the City Personnel Board should have the authority to set compensation for any of the elected officials. He pointed out that it is clearly defined in the old Charter and believed it should be left that way. Harold Bauman, Chairman of the Charter Revision Commission, gave reasons for the recommendation of the Charter Revision Committee, following which discussion was held between Council. Council agreed to omit Section 312. Jeri Chenelle, Administrative Aide, suggested that Council address the matter of compensation at this time, if only to say "Set by Council". Mayor Pattinson directed the City Administrator to come back with more language on the matter if staff determines that -it is needed. STRAW VOTE - REMOVAL OF SECTIONS 313 314 and 315 PERTAINING TO THE CITY COMPTROLLER FROM THE REVISED CHARTER - APPROVED Mayor Pattinson announced that a straw vote would be taken to remove Sections 313, 314 and 315 regarding the City Comptroller from the proposed revised Charter: AYES: Bartlett, Wieder, Coen, Gibbs, Siebert, Shenkman, Pattinson NOES: None ABSENT: None Mayor Pattinson requested direction from staff with regard to the City Treasurer; as an elected official vs. an appointed official, his duties, salary, etc. 128 Page #10 - Council Minutes - 1/9/78 ADJOURNMENT On motion by Pattinson, second Wieder, the adjourned regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Huntington Beach adjourned at 9:35 P.M. to Monday, January 16, 1978 at 6:30 P.M. ..r ATTEST: LM City Clerk City Clerk and ex-officio Clerk of the City Council of the City of Yuntington Beach, California Ronald R. Pattinson Mayor 1 19