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Home My WebLink AboutRES NO 173-06RESOLUTION NO. 1 7 3~ 0 g RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING A WRITTEN POLICY FOR REIMBURSEMENT OF CERTAIN EXPENDITURES FOR CITY LEGISLATIVE MEMBERS AND THE REQUIREMENT FOR ETHICS TRAINING. WHEREAS, Assembly Bill 1234 (Salinas) imposes new restrictions on compensation and reimbursement of expenses for members of local legislative bodies and creates a new ethics training requirement for local public officials; and WHEREAS, Government Code sections 54950 et sq., also known as the Ralph M. Brown Act, defines "members of a legislative body" to include the members of any Commissions or advisory bodies created by the Council; and WHEREAS, the City of Bakersfield has several standing Commissions, including, the Bakersfield Planning Commission, the Bakersfield Fire Civil Service Commission, the Bakersfield Police Civil Service Commission, the Bakersfield Miscellaneous Civil Service Commission and the Bakersfield Redevelopment Agency; and WHEREAS, Assembly Bill 1234 requires cities and other public agencies to adopt a written policy, in a public meeting, that lists the types of occurrences that qualify members of a legislative body to receive reimbursements for expenses relating to travel, meals, lodging, and other expenses; and WHEREAS, City Council adopted Resolution No. 054-06 to immediately comply with AB 1234; and WHEREAS, City Council now desires to replace said Resolution No. 054-06 in its entirety with this Resolution to further clarify reimbursements for expenses; and WHEREAS, this policy will satisfy the requirements of Government Code sections 53232.2 and 53233.3 in the event such requirements could be constitutionally applied to charter cities; and WHEREAS, the benefits of this policy include: 1. The opportunity to discuss the community's concerns with state and federal officials; 2. Participating in regional, state and national organizations whose activities affect the city; 3. Attending educational seminars designed to improved officials' skill and information levels; and 4. Promoting public service and morale by recognizing such service. ~gAKF9 $'\GOUNQL\Resos\05-O6 Resos\Expenditures FinalO6.htm C ~T. } jn r is JRiGiNAI NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Bakersfield as follows: SECTION 1 FINDINGS AND DETERMINATIONS The City Council hereby finds and determines that the above recitals are true and correct and serve as the basis, in part, for the findings and actions of the City set forth below. SECTION 2 DIRECTION The City Council hereby adopts the following Reimbursement and Ethics Training Policy for members of the City Council and all City Commissions: A. ADVANCE REIMBURSEMENT. Subject to the submission of an expense report as set forth in paragraph "D" below, the Mayor and members of City Council may be reimbursed, in advance, for actual and necessary expenses in connection with events listed in Exhibit "A", attached hereto, and incorporated by reference herein. The reimbursement of expenses is limited in the following manner: 1. LODGING. Lodging costs in conjunction with a conference or other official activity may not exceed the maximum group rate published by the conference or activity sponsor, if lodging at the group rate is available at the time of booking. If not, the member shall be reimbursed for lodging at comparable rates, or rates established by the Internal Revenue Service. 2. MEALS. Meals may be reimbursed at standard rates established by the Internal Revenue Service. 3. TRAVEL. Members shall use government or group rates for travel, when available. If not available, members may be reimbursed according to the standard rates established by the Internal Revenue Service. 4. INCIDENTAL EXPENSES. Incidental expenses, including but not limited to tips and business telephone calls may be reimbursed at the rates established in Internal Revenue Service Publication 463 and as amended from time to time. Any additional expenses that fall outside the scope of this policy may be reimbursed only if approved by the City Council, at a public meeting, before the expenses are incurred. B. SUBSEQUENT REIMBURSEMENT. For events not listed on Exhibit "A", the Mayor and City Councilmembers must seek Council approval before any expenses are reimbursed. S'\COUNCIL\Resos\OS-O6 Resos\ExpendiNres FinalO6.htm > IT5 r r ~~ i~ ! )~1~~~~~~~ C. OTHER LEGISLATIVE MEMBERS. For all City of Bakersfield legislative members, except the Mayor and City Council, Exhibit "A" does not apply and expenses shall be reimbursed at the discretion of the City Manager's Office and approved by the City Council at a public meeting, either in advance or subsequent to the event. In either case, expenses shall be limited as set forth in paragraph "A", subsections 1 - 4 above. D. EXPENSE REPORTS. Members of all City legislative bodies seeking reimbursement of expenses must submit such requests on City approved expense reports. Such reports are public records subject to disclosure. In addition, all City legislative members must provide brief reports on any outside meetings attended at the expense of the City at the next regular meeting of the legislative body, or as soon thereafter is reasonable. E. ETHICS TRAINING. All members of City legislative bodies shall receive at least two hours of ethics training in general ethics principles and ethics laws relevant to his or her public service every two years. New members must receive this training within their first year of service on a legislative body. An individual who serves on multiple legislative bodies need only receive two hours of ethics training every two years to satisfy this requirement for all applicable public service positions. The City Clerk will be required to keep ethics training records for at least five years to document and prove that these continuing education requirements have been satisfied. The City may develop its own ethics training course or use an outside provider. If the City develops its own ethics training, the City must consult with the Fair Political Practices Commission and the State Attorney General. S:\COUNCIL\Resos\OS-06 Resos\Expenditures FinalOS htm ~aKF ~ 9~, o -~ > n ~- r )HIGINAI SECTION 3 EFFECTIVE DATE This Resolution shall take effect immediately upon its adoption. I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing Resolution was passed and adopted by the Council of the City of Bakersfield at a regular meeting thereof held on JUN 2 1 ZQQ6 by the following vote: AYES: NOES: ABSTAIN: ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBER: CARSON, BENHAM, MAGGARD, COUCH, HANSON, SULLIVAN, SCRIVNER COUNCILMEMBER: COUNCILMEMBER: COUNCILMEMBER: ~~~~.: .~ fJSSf, CITY CLERK and Ex~~ lerk of the Council of the City of Bakersfield APPROVED JUN 21 HARVEY L. HALL Mayor APPROVED as to form: VIRGINIA GENyARO City Attorney By~ u ~ ~, V GINIA,GEN ARO C Y ATTORNEY J ~PKF9~ s R S?COUNCIL\Resos\05-06 Resos\ExpentliWres FinalO6.hlm _ "R ~:;iNph. Central California Mayor's Conference Chamber of Commerce KernCog Kern County Association of Cities Kern Transportation Foundation League of Calif. Cities (Annual Conf. & Exec. Forum) League of California Cities, South San Joaquin Valley Division League Event for Newly Elected Councilmembers San Joaquin Valley Rail Committee Sister City So Cal Water Association Vision 2020 Water Association of Kern County Miscellaneous S:\COUNGIL\Resos\06-06 Resos\Expentlitures FlnalO6.htm EXHIBIT "A" Event (Mayor only) State of the City Award Reception (It COB is a recipient) Meetings Forum Event Meetings Event Meetings (Mayor only) Receptions and Trip (Mayor and Vice- Mayor or designee(s) only) Meetings State of the Vision Annual Meeting Basic Cell Phone Charges Computer Supplies Internet Access ~gAKP9 T F. rn ,% il_ tRli.-i~\IA~