Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Councilmembers Peterson & Posey - Item for the AugustY ® .2 r CITY OF HUNTINGTON BEACH P11 City Council Interoffice Communication To: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members From: Erik Peterson, City Council Member Mike Posey, City Council Member Date: July 27, 2015 Subject: CITY COUNCIL MEMBER ITEM FOR THE AUGUST 3, 2015, CITY COUNCIL MEETING - HUNT►NGTON BEACH TRANSPARENCY ORDINANCE STATEMENT OF ISSUE: Transparency ordinances are tools used by government agencies to encourage government transparency, educate policy makers on labor specific issues and costs, educate the staff being represented of the process, and keep negotiations fluid Unlike private unions, our public employee unions are paid for by the taxpayer via taxes and fees imposed on the citizens and visitors to the city Because of this, it is essential that the community be represented and informed about the process It is also prudent to ensure that policy makers have all the facts and related costs to help them make a decision, and that the information is provided by a non -bias entity The result of the process will supply all parties with the information to do what is best for our community and the people who support it Furthermore, a more public process ensures that the process keeps moving forward and assures all sides are being represented equally RECOMMENDED ACTION: Direct the City Attorney to draft a Transparency Ordinance that incorporates the following five (5) components 1 Independent Negotiator: The city will hire an independent negotiator who is not impacted by any outcome in the negotiation process 2 Cost of Contracts: The city will cost contracts and/or changes to contracts This ensures an equal playing ground for both labor organizations and the city, as both will be given the ability to comment about the analysis 3 Offers and Counteroffers: This ordinance would require that all offers and counteroffers be disclosed to the public within 24 hours after they have been acted on 4 Council Disclosure: Each member of the City Council will be required to disclose any and all verbal, written, or electronic communications they have had with an official representative of a recognized employee organization, city staff, or members of the public 5 Contract Approval: This ordinance will require that, before the final proposed contract is placed on the Council Agenda, the Memorandum of Understanding will be posted to the City website Additionally, the proposed contract will be placed on the City Council's Agenda as an administrative item on two (2) consecutive Council Meetings to insure the City Council, the bargaining units, and the public have ample time and ability to supply comments xc Fred Wilson, City Manager Joan Flynn, City Clerk Ken Domer, Assistant City Manager Michael Gates, City Attorney Funds, and, C) Approve the Amended Citizen Participation Plan, and, D) Authorize the City Manager to sign any and all applications and necessary documents for federal assistance under the CDBG and HOME programs Approve 5-2 (Sullivan, Peterson -No) 14. Conduct a Tax and Equity Fiscal Responsibility Act (TEFRA) Public Hearing, Adopt Resolution No. 2015-42 approving the issuance by the California Statewide Communities Development Authority (CSCDA) a Multifamily Housing Revenue Bond, in an amount not to exceed $13,000,000, for Huntington Villa Yorba located at 16000 Villa Yorba Lane with no City obligations I Recommended Action: 4 - A) Conduct the public hearing under the fequirements of TEFRA and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (Code), and, B) Adopt Resolution No 2015-42, "A R"'6,1,1 ;1olutiom e f the City Council of the City of Huntington Beach Approving the Issuance Wthe California Statewide Communities Development Authority of Multifamily Housing Revenue Bonds for the Huntington Villa Yorba Approve 6-0-1 (O'Connell Out of the Room) COUNCILMEMBER ITEMS 4s 15. Submitted by Coun Attorney to draftr.empenents! Ind - cilmitle'iambers Peterson and Posey - Direet the rite Amended to meet and Recommended Action: - Direct the City Attorney to draft a Transparency Ordinance that incorporates the following five (5) components 1 Independent Negotiator The city will hire an independent negotiator (when desired) who -is not impacted by any outcome in the negotiation process 2 Cost of Contracts The city will cost contracts and/or changes to contracts This ensures an equal playing ground for both labor organizations and the city, as both will be given the ability to comment about the analysis t 3 Offers and Counteroffers This ordinance would require that all offers and counteroffers (after the first submitted offer and counteroffer) be disclosed to the public within 24 hours after they have been acted on -7- City Council/PFA Action Agenda — Monday, August 03, 2015 4 Council Disclosure Each member of the City Council will be required to disclose any and all verbal, written, or electronic communications they have had with an official representative of a recognized employee organization, city staff, or members of the public in regards to labor contract negotiations. 5 Contract Approval This ordinance will require that, before the final proposed contract is placed on the Council Agenda, the Memorandum of Understanding will be posted to the City website by Agenda Monday Additionally, the proposed contract will be placed on the City Councll's Agenda as an administrative item on two (2) consecutive Council Meetings to insure the City Council, the bargaining units, and the public have ample time and ability to supply commen Approve 6-1 (O'Connell -No), as amended to suspend negotiations with all associations; meet and confer regarding this concept and report back with a report to Council in 30 days. COUNCILMEMBER COMMENTS (Not Agendized) �= Posey, O'Connell, Katapodis, Hardy, Sullivan, Delgleize, Peterson reported ADJOURNMENT — 10:12 PM The next regularly scheduled meeting 01'the Huntington Beach City Council/Public Financing Authority is Monday, August '17, 20'15;„li'I'at 4 QQh!,,PM in Room B-8, Civic Center, 2000 Main Street, Huntington Beach, California INTERNET ACCESS TO CITY COUNCIL/PUBL'lC FINAIVG/NG AUTHORITY AGENDA AND STAFF REPORT MATERIAL IS AVAILABLE PRIOR TO CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS AT httA;//www.huntingtonbeachca._gov �ih�llillp i jjiye III ` v�V,il°m —$— City Council/PFA Action Agenda — Monday, August 03, 2015 Esparza, Patty From: Sent: To: Subject: This is a SC Joan Flynn, City Clerk Huntington Beach Begin forwarded message Flynn, Joan Monday, August 03, 2015 6 14 AM Esparza, Patty Fwd 8/3 City Council Agenda Item 15 From: Rob Pool <rob pool oc@email com> Date: August 3, 2015 at 12.26 03 AM PDT To: <city council@surfcity-hb org> Cc: <cfikes@surfaty-hb org>, <Lflynn@surfcity-hb org> Subject: 8/3 City Council Agenda Item 15 Dear Mayor Hardy and Council Members, Meeting Date: 8 " 3 —/ . - Agenda item No. /Y� I am writing today to address Item 15 of the August 3, 2015 City Council Agenda I fully support the passage of this item Several months ago, when I spoke before you at a council meeting, I presented a slide showing the organizational chart of our city At the top of this chart are the citizens of Huntington Beach It is important to remember why this is important It is not simply because the citizens are the final determinants of who represents us It is also because, with the taxes that we pay, we truly are the employers of every elected official and every staff person You and every other person at city hall is not simply an employee of Huntington Beach, but in actuality, an employee of the citizens of Huntington Beach That said, we pay the salaries, benefits and pensions of every one of our employees As such, we are stakeholders in every aspect of their employment including the negotiating of those salaries, benefits and pensions Or at least, we should be It is amazing to me that we are in a fight to have the negotiating process be done in a transparent manner It is our taxes Do we not have the right- even the obligation- to ensure that our tax dollars are being spent wisely? Generally, I realize we need to accept the decisions of staff as to day to day expenditures But the employee costs at our city represent 72% of the total budget And our unfunded liabilities are rather large as well If either of these two numbers were substantially less I might think this less an issue But they are not And the citizens deserve to understand why they are not And, even more so, we deserve to provide input to our elected officials as to the money that is spent on employee expenditures Additionally, there appears to be major resistance from the public employee unions with respect to the citizens having the right to transparency in the negotiation process At the study session, one of the union representatives spoke in front of you and said they were willing to work with you to bring that about. Actually the public employee unions have been fighting similar measures throughout our state to the extent that a California Senator has now put forth SB331 to effectively clog the day to day process of local governments that enact COIN ordinances As you know, I have written you separately.on that item Well, if this is how the unions propose to work with you, I would shudder to think what they would do were they in opposition No, they want business as usual, behind closed doors, away from the view of the citizens But why? Why are they so against the citizens seeing the process? Is this situation much worse even than we think? One has to wonder We need to expose this process to the light of day I urge you to vote in favor of Item 15 Thank you for your consideration and your continued service to our city Thank you, Rob Pool z