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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/04/1994 13 A K E R S F I E L D Patricia M. Smith, Chair Patricia J. DeMond Lynn Edwards Staff: Trudy Slater AGENDA LEGISLATIVE AND LITIGATION COMMITrEE Thursday, August 4, 1994 12:15 p.m. City Manager's Conference Room Second FIo'0F~ City' Hall. 1501 Truxtun Avenue Bakersfield, CA 1. ROLL CALL 2. APPROVAL OF JULY 7, 1994 MINUTES 3. PRESENTATIONS 4. PUBLIC STATEMENTS 5. DEFERRED BUSINESS A. LEGISLATIVE PLATFORM B. SB 161S/AB 2595 (GRAFFITI) C. - AB 3720 (TELECOMMUNICATIONS) 6. NEW BUSINESS A. NATIONAL LEAGUE OF CITIES 7. ADJOURNMENT TS:jp FILE COPY B A K E R S F I E L D Alan Ta~~ M/tnager. Patricia M. Smith, Chair Staff: Trudy Slater Patricia J. DeMond Lynn Edwards AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT LEGISLATIVE AND LITIGATION COMMITTEE Thursday, July 7, 1994 12:15 p.m. City Manager's Conference Room 1. ROLL CALL Members present: Councilmember Patricia M. Smith, Chair; Councilmember Patricia M. DeMond; Councilmember Lynn Edwards 2. APPROVAL OF JUNE 2, 1994 MINUTES Minutes were approved as submitted. 3. PRESENTATIONS None. 4. PUBLIC STATEMENTS None. 5. DEFERRED BUSINESS None. APPROVED AUGUST 4, 1994 F LE COPY Agenda Summary Report Legislative and Litigation Committee July 7, 1994 Page -2- 6. NEW BUSINESS A. LEGISLATIVE PLATFORM Committee members discussed extending Bakersfield's sphere of political influence beyond its municipal borders through informational networking, including relationships with the League of California Cities and the National League of Cities, and the need for Council members to become more involved whenever possible. Other issues included the committee's ability to generate position papers on statewide issues of City interest. One suggestion for the Legislative Platform was to encourage the full utilization of informational networking organizations available to the City. Staff will forward the current Legislative and Litigation Platform to the Council for suggestions which will be considered at the next Legislative and Litigation Committee meeting on August 4, 1994. Staff was directed to place a review of the City's relationship with the National League of Cities on the next committee agenda. City Manager Alan Tandy and Assistant City Manager Gall Waiters will be asked for their experiences with the National League of Cities. Staffwill contact the National League of Cities regarding its mission and goals. B. SB 1615 (GRAFFITI) Staff presented an overriew of SB 1615 (Wyman) relating to graffiti, the proposed increases in fines and community service time for those committing graffiti. Committing graffiti on street and freeway signs, signals, or other traffic control devices is proposed to be a misdemeanor. The bill has passed the Senate and was currently in the Assembly Public Safety Committee with no hearing scheduled. It failed passage in the Assembly Committee on Public Safety, but has been granted reconsideration. The similarities as well as differences between SB 1615 and AB 2595 were discussed. Staff was directed to contact Senator Wyman's office to find out why the bill has not recently moved forward. C. AB 2595 (GRAFFITI) Staff provided an overview of AB 2595 relating to graffiti and its proposal to enhance community service requirements for juvenile offenders. One parent or guardian would be required to be present at the community service site, and the liability of the parent or legal guardian to pay a fine the minor is unable to pay would be expanded. Agenda Summary Report Legislative and Litigation Committee July 7, 1994 Page -3- Committee members were interested in whether the two bills would merge at some point in the political process and are supportive of efforts to include parental involvement and increased fines as methods to combat graffiti vandalism. Staff was directed to place a committee report on the Council agenda for August 10 to cover both bills which must either be passed by the Legislature or die by August 30. AB 2595 is scheduled for hearing on August 8. D. AB 3720 (TELECOMMUNICATIONS) Staff reported on the status of AB 3720, a bill proposed by Pacific Bell which would require the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to require competitive intrastate interexchange telecommunications service, subject to specified conditions. In addition, the bill will require the PUC-to "lift the federal restrictions on long- distance, manufacturing, and cable programming offerings by California telephone companies at the time the PUC opens the local telephone market to full competitive entry at the end of 1996." The bill specifies that its provisions only take effect if AB 3643 takes effect. AB 3643 requires the PUC to initiate an investigation and open a proceeding to examine the current and future definitions of universal service in telecommunications. If current proposed federal legislation (HR 3636, HR 3626, S1822, and S2111) passes, California's AB 3720 is moot. The Committee felt that more information was needed on the proposed legislation. Staff was directed to contact other cities as well as other proponents and opponents of the bill for additional information and bring that information back to the meeting of August 4, 1994. 7. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 1:35 p.m. Staff In Attendance: Administrative Analyst Trudy Slater; Deputy City Attorney Michael All ford TS:jp i By the end of the 1960s, federal programs for cities had become an often confusing patchwork of regulations and requirements that made it difficult for local officials to solve local problems according to local priorities. NLC's response was to lead a coalition of other organizations in the push for General Revenue Sharing, a new approach to federal urban assistance that would streamline the flow of aid and give local officials more control and clearer local ABOUT THE NATIONAL priorities. During the 70's the League pushed hard for the enactment of other block LEA GUE OF CITIES grant programs for community development, employment and training, and law enforcement. And NLC was active in drafting legislation dealing with the newest problems of an industrial nation--air and water pollution--and in ad- HISTORY vocating municipal interests before the Supreme Court in the landmark NLC v. The National League of Cities is the country's largest and most powerful Usery case. In 1977, NLC opened direct membership to communities of all sizes. . organization representing municipal government. Its members include 49 state In recent years new issues like municipal liability and international trade municipal organizations and more than 1,300 communities of all sizes in every have come to the surface and others--pollution, employment, transportation, state. economic development--have remained as important as they always have Behind that brief description, however, are more than 60 years of history been. But while the issues change over time, one thing has not: the National and achievement for our nation's municipalities. League of Cities remains the country's leading organization for municipal The League has been looking out for the interests of America's cities and government. towns since 1924, when it was founded as the American Municipal Associa- tion by ten state municipal leagues; it became ~he National League of Cities How NLC is organized 40 years later in 1964. N:.C's members, originally ten state municipal leagues, have grown to The organization began as an organization dedicated to making cities ef- include all 49 state leagues and more than 1,300 individual communities, rang- ficient and improving the delivery of municipal services, but in the years since, the organization--under either name--has been in the forefront of urban issues. ~n 1947, while it was still known as the American Municipal Association, the organization began allowing individual cities to become direct members along with state municipal leagues, and in 1948 it moved strongly into the area of public policy and began work on its first national municipal policy. That effort gave the organization a direction and purpose that has guided it ever since. Since that time, NLC has played an important role in shaping federal legislation and policies affecting local governments. In the 1950s, the association was deeply involved in the interstate highway program and in helping solve the intergovernmental expansion brought by the New Deal; in 1959 the association initiated and supported legislation that created the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Rela- tions, and the association was instrumental in the passage of legislation that dealt with the 1958-1959 recession. During the 1960s the association's committees anticipated a number of issues that would confront municipal government in a period of urban and social unrest, and in 1964 the American Municipal Association became the National League of Cities--a move that more clearly stated the organiza- tion's interests and its membership. Mayor George Latimer of St. Paul, Minnesota briets the press on city economic development concerns. 5 7 .ing in size from the nation's largest cities to municipalities with populations measured in hundreds. Although 90 percent of the nation's municipalities with populations greater than 100,000 are members of the National League of Cities, the League is not just an organization for larger cities. More than 75 percent of the League's direct members have populations smaller than 50,000, and small cities, towns and villages play an important part in the activities of the National League of Cities. The interests of that broad membership guide the League as it pursues its primary purposes of developing national municipal policy and advocating it and providing information, training, and technical assistance to cities and local officials. The League's diverse membership is one of its greatest strengths, and NLC's organizational structure takes full advantage of the broad base the membership provides. The League's Officers--President, First Vice President, Second Vice President, Immediate Past President--are elected annually by the voting delegates at the annual business meeting. The Board of Directors includes those officers, all Past Presidents still in municipal office, as well as 30 other officials. Seven places on the Board are traditionally reserved for state Mayors Jessie Rattley (Newport News, Virginia) and William H. Hudnut, III (Indianapolis, league directors, and the remaining positions are filled by mayors, council Indiana) participate in an NLC Board of Directors meeting. members, and commissioners from cities of all sizes and regions. Guiding the Board and the Officers, and guiding the League's policy manages NLC's policy development process, provides staff support for the development process as well, are five standing policy committees: policy committees, and prepares special policy studies for the Board and the Finance, Administration and Intergovernmental Relations policy committees. The Office also includes NLC's research program, which provides on-going monitoring of conditions in cities and towns, conducts ma- Energy, Environment and Natural Resources jor surveys and other studies, and publishes NLC's Policy Working Papers and Community and Economic Development Research Reports series. Transportation and Communications The Office of Membership Services provides information services for NLC Human Development members and manages training and technical assistance programs. It con- ducts a wide variety of workshops and training seminars throughout the year. These committees analyze federal legislation and policies dealing with The Office of Communications edits and publishes Nation's Cities Week- all aspects of municipal government. Each year these committees develop and ly, the League's weekly newspaper, and coordinates NLC's press and public publish the National Municipal Policy, the League's annual statement of ur- relations program. ban policy, and help the Board of Directors develop its yearly statement on The Office of Conference Management and Planning is responsible for legislative priorities, publicizing and executing the annual Congressional-City Conference and the Supporting the Officers, the Board and the policy committees is NLC's headquarters staff, headed by an Executive Director appointed by the Board Congress of Cities and Exposition, and works with other NLC offices to plan conference and meeting activities. of Directors. NLC's staff operations are divided by function into several offices: The Office of Administration provides financial and administrative services The Executive Office directs the day-to-day activities of the League, works for the entire organizatlon, oversees the management of NLC's office space, with other public interest groups to advocate municipal government interests, and coordinates office-wide computer services. and maintains close working relationships with the 49 state municipal leagues. NLC's members and staff work together throughout the year, and a large The Office of Federal Relations is NLC's lobbying department. Its staff part of that work is reflected in the two annual meetings that NLC holds. The of legislative experts works with members of Congress and their staffs to press Congressional-City Conference, the League's annual legislative meeting, is for passage of legislation favorable to cities and represents cities before federal agencies, held in March and brings some 3,000 people from all over the country to Washington to hear from, and talk to, members of Congress, agency execu- The Office of Policy Analysis and Development is responsible for identi- tives and their key staff people who write and administer the laws and regula- fying trends and issues that will affect cities and for evaluating existing and tions that affect cities. In the fall, just after Thanksgiving, NLC holds its annual proposed federal policies. The Office of Policy Analysis and Development 9 8 The opening general session at the Congress of Cities always draws a large crowd. meeting, the Congress of Cities. At this meeting the delegates elect the next year's Officers and Board members and adopt the National Municipal Policy. Along with the annual business meeting, the Congress of Cities includes a full schedule of workshops and seminars and an exposition of new products and services for municipal governments. 10 What does your city top officials of direct member cities receive without These days are not easy ones for municipal officials. buy with NLC dues? charge this important publication to keep them Membership in NLC ensures that yourcity's interests abreast of issues and events that affect cities. Nation's are guarded in Washington. Because the federal · . Leadership-Only direct member cities can Cities Weekly offers a unique combination of news government has such a pervasive impact on local vote for NLC's officers and board of directors, who and analysis of the latest developments in urban af- governments, NLC has expanded its activities to represent the nation's cities in Washington. The fairs in Washington and around the country, balanced include monitoring Congress, the executive agencies League reaches deep into the ranks of its members by in-depth supplements on special subjects, such and the federal courts. At a time when cities must for leaders, and the nominating committees give as environmental regulations, city financial manage- unite in the face of common challenges, NLC is preference to direct member cities, ment, parks and recreation programs, there as a focus of national leadership for all municipalities. · Advocacy--Only direct member cities can And NLC will always be there, receive special legislative reports that describe Why should your city representing the nation's cities. Like its what your congressional representatives are doing and how to influence them on local government join NLC? new home on Pennsylvania Avenue, mid- issues. NLC's legislative staff helps member cit- way between the White House and the les over the phone, by letter and in person get Ifyourcityjoins NLC, you'll be adding yourvoice Capitol, NLC is a permanent institution in information on legislative and regulatory issues to more than a thousand others. Cities don't join Washington. And only member cities can and sets up the right appointments when local NLC because they want a plaque on the wall at City determine how NLC's influence is wielded officials are in Washington. Hall. They join because they know NLC is the action in Washington. arm of cities in Washington. NLC is the oldest and [] Policymaking- Only direct members can vote largest national organization representing munici- on changes and adoption of the League's National pal governments in Washington. IS your city Municipal Policy at NLC's annual meeting. What's more, the steering committees that guide policy- That's why NLC and its members are eligible for membership? making are composed solely of representatives from called on so often to testify before direct member cities. Congress and to meet with top White Yes. Ail cities, regardless of size, are eligible to · Conferences- Only direct member cities can House and agency officials, become direct members if they are also members of their NLC-affiliated state municipal leagues. NLC cast votes and participate in the business meeting That's why NLC can bring the resources involves your entire city, not just one ortwo top of- at the annual Congress of Cities. They also receive of its national membership to bear on ficials. Joining NLC means involvement and sup- substantial discounts on registration fees for Con- influencing the outcome of critical urban port for the mayor, council members, city manager gress of Cities and NLC's major legislative strategy decisions, or other chief administrator, key aides and appointed meeting, the Congressional-City Conference. That's why NLC National Municipal officials from policy chief to community develop- · Services-Only direct member cities can re- Policy is a widely respected statement of ment director. ceive many of NLC's services, such as assistance urban goals and policies. from the Municipal Reference Service. They also Fill out the application form today receive discounts on ~many NLC publications and to enroll your city as a member of the training workshops that can help them and other of- National League of Cities. ficials in their cities. · Information-Only direct member cities re- ceive free copies of Nation's Cities Weekly. Every- one else pays $80 for a yearly subscription. But all