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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/25/1995 BAKERSFIELD Randy Rowles, Chair Irma Carson Jacquie Sullivan Staff: Trudy Slater AGENDA LEGISLATIVE AND LITIGATION COMMITrEE Monday, September 25, 1995 5:00 p.m. City Manager's Conference Room Second Floor - City Hall, Suite 201 1501 Truxtun Avenue Bakersfield, CA 1. ROLL CALL 2. APPROVAL OF AUGUST 17, 1995 MINUTES 3. PRESENTATIONS 4. PUBLIC STATEMENTS 5. DEFERRED BUSINESS A. LEAGUE RESOLUTIONS REVIEW 6. NEW BUSINESS A. CHARTER AMENDMENT BALLOT MEASURES B. SET NEXT 'MEETING 7. ADJOURNMENT F L[ C P¥ NOTICE OF SPECIAL MEETING OF THE LEGISLATIVE AND LITIGATION COMMITTEE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAKERSFIELD NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Legislative and Litigation Committee of the City Council will hold a Special Meeting for the purpose of a Committee Meeting on Monday, September 25, 1995, at $:00 p,m,, in the City Manager's Conference Room on the second floor of City Hall, Suite 201, 1501 Truxtun Avenue, Bakersfield, California, to consider: 1. ROLL CALL 2. APPROVAL OF AUGUST 17, 1994 MINUTES 3. PRESENTATIONS 4. PUBMC STATEMENTS 5. DEFERRED BUSINESS A. LEAGUE RESOLUTIONS REVIEW 6. NEW BUSINESS A. CHARTER AMENDMENT BALLOT MEASURES B. SET NEXT MEETING 7. ADJOURNMENT Trudy~ministrative Analyst TS:jp FILE COPY BAKERSFIELD Alan T/~W'd~, City~t/anager / Randy Rowles, Chair Staff: 'Tmd'y Slater / Irma Carson Jacquie Sullivan AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT LEGISLATIVE AND UTIGATION COMMrl'rEE Thursday, August 17, 1995 4:00 p.m. City Manager's Conference Room 1. ROLL CALL Call to Order at 5:00 p.m. Present: Councilmember Randy Rowles, Chair; and Councilmember Irma Carson. Absent: Councilmember Jacquie Sullivan. 2. APPROVAL OF JULY 13, 1995 MINUTES Approved as submitted. 3. PRESENTATIONS None 4. PUBLIC STATEMENTS None 5. DEFERRED BUSI.NESS A. 1995-96 LEGISLATIVE PLATFORM This item was deferred to a special committee meeting of October 5, 1995. Agenda Summary Report Legislative and Litigation Committee August 17, 1995 Page -2- 6. NEW BUSINESS A. LEAGUE RESOLUTION REVIEW PROCESS Handouts from the City Attorney's Office and the City Manager's Office regarding the League's Annual Conference Resolutions Procedure and the Annual Conference Voting Procedures were distributed. Discussion ensued on Bakersfield's taking a more proactive role in both submitting resolutions as well as responding to ones submitted to the League. The League's resolutions to be addressed at the Annual Conference will be forwarded as soon as possible to cities (probably within a month prior to the Conference). As soon as they are received at the City, they will be immediately duplicated for Council review as well as forwarded to staff for review. The Legislation and Litigation Committee meeting scheduled for September 21 will be rescheduled for September 25 at 5:00 p.m. to review the League's resolutions and other agenda items. A special committee meeting will also be scheduled for October 5 at 5:00 p.m. in case additional information is needed. The goal is to have Committee recommendations to Council by Council's October 11 meeting so that the City's voting delegate will have the Council's direction for presentation at the League Conference. B. CHARTER AMENDMENT PROPOSALS Three charter amendment proposals were reviewed including the Council residency charter amendment, layoff or demotion and temporary promotion of employees (per labor negotiations agreement), and Civil Service Fire Department proposed amendments. It was brought out that the question submitted on the ballot card need not be exactly the same as the Charter amendment and that the ballot pamphlet will have full detailed language and other pertinent information. The City Clerk will prepare estimates for costs associated with the election. Staff members were asked to bdng back to the Committee clarification on all three proposals with additional narrative on what is meant by each proposal. The Committee felt that all proposed charter amendments, with appropriate resolutions, should be presented to Council at the same time (during September). Approval of the Election Calendar as submitted by City Clerk Carol Williams was approved for forwarding to the City Council. Agenda Summary Report Legislative and Litigation Committee August 17, 1995 Page ~ Chairman Rowles indicated that the proposed Charter changes within the Fire Department should be referred to the Committee by the Council. This would also apply to a proposal for an advisory ballot measure regarding a proposed baseball stadium. 7. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 6:05 p.m. Staff Attendees: Assistant City Managers John Stinson and Gail Waiters; City Attorney Judy Skousen; Deputy City Attorney Virginia Gennaro; City Clerk Carol Williams; Administrative Analyst Trudy Slater. Public Attendees: Marc Benjamin, The Bakersfield Californian. T$:~ BAKERSFIELD MEMORANDUM August 21, 1995 TO: ALAN TANDY, CITY MANAGER FROM' JOHN W. STINSON~ISTANT CITY MANAGER SUBJECT: PROPOSED CHARTER CHANGE RE. LAYOFF PROVISIONS As part of the current Memorandum of Understanding {MOU) with the City's miscellaneous bargaining unit (SEIU Local 700) the City agreed to the following: "The City shall place on the next City-wide ballot language to remove layoff provisions from the City Charter. Layoff procedures shall be contained in the Bakersfield Municipal Code." As a part of the same MOU the City and Union agreed on language to be included .in the Municipal Code pertaining to layoffs. The reason for the proposed Charter change was that the Charter is somewhat unclear regarding certain layoff issues and there were particular concerns expressed about the loss of seniority if an employee changed City departments. The existing Charter language does not allow for the transfer of seniority if an employee changes departments. This has caused some concern from employees who may be asked to transfer or accept a promotion to another department. Under the current rules they would not receive any recognition of time worked in another department for seniority purposes. There is another concern as this charter language only applies to those covered by miscellaneous Civil Service. The Police and Fire civil service sections of the Charter have no similar language. Therefore, miscellaneous employees covered under those civil service rules would not be subject to the same rules. This creates an unequal administration of seniority rules within the bargaining unit. Both the union and management agree that it is preferable to cover layoff provisions within the Municipal Code rather than the Charter. There is also language in the section related to demotion and temporary promotion, however, this language relates to layoffs generally and is not needed absent the layoff provisions. This proposed change also makes sense due to the fact that personnel rules such as these are often subject to revision by the courts and it will be easier and quicker to make our rules conform to current law if they are contained within the Municipal Code rather than the Charter. Therefore, staff is recommending that Section {217b)lOb of the City Charter pertaining to Layoff or Demotion and Temporary Promotion of Employees in Subordinate ~ositions be repealed. BAKERSFIELD MEMORANDUM TO' ALAN TANDY, CITY MANAGER ~ / September 14, 1995 SUBJECT: PROPOSED CHARTER CHANGE RE. APPOINTMENT OF ASSISTANT AND DEPUTY FIRE CHIEF The reason for the proposed Charter change is that there has been some difficulty in the recent recruitments for the positions of Deputy Fire Chief and Assistant Fire Chief for the Bakersfield Fire Department. Currently, the Charter provides that "Promotions shall be made to the next higher grade in the service and no grade shall be skipped." This language limits the promotion to either the Deputy or Assistant Chief positions (they are within the same grade) to those at the' Battalion Chief level. There are currently eight individuals at the Battalion Chief level including the Fire Marshall and Training Officer. The Fire Chief, however, may be selected from "among the membership of the department." In recent recruitments for the Deputy Chief position 'three applicants were certified by the Civil Service Commission, however, two applicants removed their names from consideration and the resulting list of one was terminated. In addition, two recruitments for Assistant Fire Chief resulted in only on~ of the eight eligible employees applying for each recruitment. In both cases it was determined that a choice on one candidate did not provide a reasonable candidate pool for selection. The language proposed for the Charter change provides the same opportunities for selection currently available for the Fire Chief position. It would allow for a competitive recruitment from qualified members within the department and expand the potential pool of applicants. Utilizing the same process for the Deputy and Assistant Chief positions as the Fire Chief process would provide a consistent recruitment process for all Fire Department management positions. Therefore, staff is recommending that Section (185) 3 of the City Charter be modified' to allow that any member of the Fire Department may be appointed Assistant Chief of Deputy Chief, as is currently the case with the Fire Chief. MEMORANDUM SEPTEMBER 18, 1995 TO: LEGISLATIVE AND LITIGATION COMMITTEE FROM: CAROL WILLIAMS, CITY CLERK ~~~ SUBJECT: ADVISORY MEASURE At the Legislative and Litigation Committee Meeting on Thursday, August 17, 1995, Chairperson, Randy Rowles, requested the City Clerk prepare a memorandum reviewing the ramifications of placing an "Advisory Measure" on the ballot. There are two election dates. in 1996, March 26th and November 5th. If the Council chooses to place an advisory measure on the ballot, I recommend it be on the March 26, 1996 Election. A city-wide Mayoral Primary and possible City Charter Amendment Election will be held on March 26, 1996, and is estimated to cost $70,000. The Kern County Registrar of Voters, has estimated an advisory measure will cost an additional $10,000, if no additional ballot is necessary. However, if an additional ballot is necessary, it could cost up to $60,000. This is because the City would pay for printing an additional ballot for 98,306 registered voters in the city. While there is a limit of 75 words per ballot measure, and we should have a pretty good idea, the actual determination whether or not an additional ballot will be necessary won't be known until after the January 3rd deadline. That deadline exists for all entities governed by the California Elections Code. The City of Bakersfield pays a proportionate share of the cost of an election. The County breaks down the costs by entities based on the expenses incurred, such as: purchasing ballots, printing costs, the number of precincts, various equipment, supplies and manpower. To place an advisory measure on the ballot is very similar to placing a charter amendment on the ballot. The Council will have, for consideration, a resolution calling and giving notice of holding an election for the purpose of an advisory measure. The wording of the advisory measure would be at the direction of the City Council. If the City Council feels the potential cost of $60,000 is too much, pursuant to Elections Code 9605, the Council may withdraw the advisory measure from the ballot as late as January 3, 1996 (83rd day prior to election). The City Council could, at their December 13th Meeting, adopt a resolution withdrawing the measure. Legislative and Litigation Committee September 18, 1995 Page Two At this time, I have a very tentative estimate of $50,000 for the November 1996 Election, which includes Council Ward Nos. 2, 5, and 6, and a potential Mayoral Runoff. If there is a runoff election, it would be city-wide and we could add an advisory measure. ead3b cc: Alan Tandy, City Manager Gail Waiters, Assistant City Manager Virginia Gennaro, Deputy City Attorney Trudy Slater, Administrative Analyst