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Home My WebLink About04/18/2006 B A K E R S F I E L D ~ '~ Zack Scrivner, Chair Staff: Alan Christensen Sue Benham For: Alan Tandy, City Manager David Couch AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT LEGISLATIVE AND LITIGATION COMMITTEE MEETING Tuesday, April 18, 2006 1:00 p.m. City Manager's Conference Room, Suite 201 Second Floor - City Hall, 1501 Truxtun Avenue, Bakersfield, CA 1. ROLL CALL Called to Order at 1:02 p.m. Present: Councilmembers Zack Scrivner, Chair; and David Couch Councilmember Sue Benham arrived at 1:25 p.m. 2. ADOPT MARCH 14, 2006 AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT Adopted as submitted. 3. PUBLIC STATEMENTS 4. DEFERRED BUSINESS A. Discussion and Committee recommendation regarding amendments to Council Reimbursement Resolution/Policy City Attorney Ginny Gennaro gave an update on AB 1234, which went into effect on January 1, 2006. This law requires local legislative bodies to adopt reimbursement policies if the members are reimbursed for expenses. It also requires at least two hours of ethics training every two years, except for those members whose terms expire in the current year. The Council adopted a resolution on February 22, 2006, in order to comply with the new law. The Committee had recommended adoption by the Council and referral back to Committee for further refinement. LEGISLATIVE AND LITIGATION COMMITTEE Page 2 AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT Tuesday, April 18, 2006 Committee Member Sue Benham suggested the City Attorney be designated to monitor Councilmember compliance with the required ethics training and suggested perhaps a workshop could be held for training. The City Attorney explained she would be glad to coordinate a two-hour training course or a Council workshop; however, she suggested the City Clerk should be the one to maintain the training records, which are a public record that must be kept for five years. The parameters of the training must be approved by the FPPC (Fair Political Practices Commission) and the Attorney Generals Office. It would be possible to hire someone to come to the City and put on a training class, until the City Attorney's Office could be certified to do the training in the future. Members of the Planning Commission, Redevelopment Agency, and other City Boards and Commissions would be notified of the workshop/course as they are also required by law to complete the ethics training. This two-hour ethics course will also be offered to Councilmembers at the League of California Cities annual meetings. The Committee unanimously approved for the City Attorney to coordinate the training and work with the City Clerk who will be in charge of keeping the required records. In regard to the requirement of Council approval of all reimbursable expenses for Councilmembers, City Attorney Ginny Gennaro explained there could be a list of the usual events attended by Councilmembers. The benefit of a list is that Councilmembers would not be required to obtain prior approval to attend the event in order to be reimbursed; pre-approval would only be required for events not on the list. As an alternative, a flat stipend could be set aside for each Councilmember for events that fall under an approved policy. Councilmembers would still be required to report to the Council at the next meeting and expense vouchers would become part of the public record. Having a set stipend would eliminate requiring pre-approval by Council for events not on a set list. The City Attorney explained a combination of the two alternatives could also be used. Council could have a list of pre-approved events and then a stipend to cover events not on the list. City Manager Alan Tandy suggested an item be added to cover unexpected trips, for instance, when a legislator requests a Councilmember to attend a meeting in Sacramento or Washington D.C., and there is not a calendared Council meeting prior to the event. The Committee reviewed a list of regularly attended events, which the Council could approve, so those events would not require pre-approval by the Council. LEGISLATIVE AND LITIGATION COMMITTEE Page 3 AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT Tuesday, April 18, 2006 The Committee requested the City Attorney to prepare and bring back to the Committee the list of events, as discussed by the Committee for pre- approval, and a policy for a flat stipend of $1,000 per Councilmember to cover emergencies when there is a need to travel in order to communicate with representatives of regional, state or national governments on City adopted policy positions for Committee recommendation to the City Council. 5. NEW BUSINESS A. Discussion and Committee recommendation on amending the ordinance regarding parking of vehicles in alleys (This item heard second) City Attorney Ginny Gennaro provided a brief overview on the City's current ordinance and the City of Tulare's ordinance regarding alley parking. The City of Tulare does not allow parking in alleys. Bakersfield's ordinance is not that restrictive. Basically, it allows parking in residential alleys, but does not allow alley parking in the central district or any business district between the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. In this section of the Municipal Code, the Chief of Police is authorized to make studies and surveys to determine whether or not parking may be permitted in certain alleys within the City. Public Works Director Raul Rojas expressed if an alley is only 20 feet wide it is actually a fire lane and parking should not be allowed. Some alleys are posted "No Parking" where neighborhoods have gotten together and requested the signs be put up. Signage is expensive. Mr. Brian Holle, a resident on Cypress Street, spoke regarding parking problems in the alley behind his home. When the alley gets full of parked vehicles, residents cannot get out of their driveways/garages. There are no front driveways on his street. He requested the City change its current ordinance and prohibit parking in alleys. Committee Member Sue Benham explained she has heard from a couple of residents on Cypress Street who want to be able to park in the alley, She further expressed she did not want to support an ordinance change to prohibit alley parking Citywide as there are neighborhoods in her ward where the residents want to keep their alley parking, which works well for them. Committee Chair Zack Scrivner requested Public Works and Police staffs to get together to review available options and to survey the residents on Cypress Street. Committee Member Sue Benham made a motion to table this issue until staff completes the research. The Committee unanimously approved the motion and requested staff to invite Mr. Holle to the meeting when this item is back on the agenda. LEGISLATIVE AND LITIGATION COMMITTEE Page 4 AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT Tuesday, April 18, 2006 B. Discussion and Committee recommendation regarding giving away or selling animals in front of businesses (This item heard first) City Attorney Ginny Gennaro explained this item was referred to Committee at the Joint City/County meeting in February 2006. Supervisor Don Maben requested the City amend its ordinance to restrict giving away animals in public places. The section of the County's animal ordinance pertaining to giving away animals in a public place and restricting any person from selling any live animals to a minor without parental consent was reviewed. City Manager Alan Tandy expressed concerns about enforceability and whether response to these types of calls would be timely enough to satisfy the complainant. Police Captain Tim Taylor and Lt. Gary Moore agreed this type of call most likely would be dispatched to animal control but would be considered Iow- priority. High-priority calls are dog bites, loose dogs, or animals in the roadways. The County has a larger animal control staff than the City. In recent memory, the City has not received any complaints regarding puppies or kittens being sold or given away in front of stores. However, store owners already have the right to call the police and request individuals be stopped from selling or giving away pets in front of their stores. Committee Member Sue Benham made a motion to table this item until staff has contacted the County to find out how many of these types of calls are received, how their ordinance is working, and then bring the information back to the Committee. The Committee unanimously approved the motion. 6. COMMITTEE COMMENTS 7. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 3:13 p.m. Staff: City Manager Alan Tandy; Assistant City Manager Alan Christensen; City Attorney Ginny Gennaro; Finance Director Nelson Smith; Police Captain Tim Taylor; Police Lieutenant Gary Moore; Police Lieutenant Jay Borton; City Treasurer Cheryl Perkins; and Andrew Whang, City Attorney's Office Others present: Brian Holle; Barbara Fowler; and Barbara J. Fields cc: Honorable Mayor and City Council S:V~C\06 Legislative&Litigation\LL 06 APR 18 summary,doc