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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/21/2012 City Council Members: Rhonda Smiley, Assistant to the City Manager Sue Benham, Chair Jacquie Sullivan Rudy Salas AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT Regular Meeting of the LEGISLATIVE AND LITIGATION COMMITTEE Tuesday, February 21, 2012 - 12:00 p.m. City Hall North First Floor – Conference Room A 1600 Truxtun Avenue, Bakersfield, CA 93301 The meeting was called to order at 12:00 PM. 1. ROLL CALL Present: Councilmember Sue Benham, Chair Councilmember Jacquie Sullivan Councilmember Rudy Salas Staff Present: Alan Tandy, City Manager Ginny Gennaro, City Attorney Rhonda Smiley, Asst. to the City Manager Andrew Heglund, Deputy City Attorney Steven Teglia, Asst. to the City Manager Richard Iger, Associate Attorney Chris Huot, Administrative Analyst Jessalee Talley, Associate Attorney Roberta Gafford, City Clerk Marian Shaw, Civil Engineer Eddie Chavez, Interim I.T. Director John Ussery, Engineer Nick Fidler, General Services Superintendent Others Present: Stan Scharry, Independent Living Center Steve Smith, KBAK Patrick Murphy, Independent Living Center Antonie Boessenkool, Bakersfield Californian Carole Peeker, Independent Living Center Shawn Kennemer, New Advances for People with Disabilities Legislative and Litigation Committee Agenda Summary Report February 21, 2012 Page 2 2. ADOPT OCTOBER 24, 2011 AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT Adopted as submitted 3. PUBLIC STATEMENTS None 4. DEFERRED BUSINESS None 5. NEW BUSINESS A. Discussion and Recommendation Regarding the Ordinance Prohibiting Parking at Bus Stops – Gennaro / Underwood City Attorney Ginny Gennaro stated there is a current ordinance prohibiting parking in front of bus stops. The ordinance makes parking in front of bus stops illegal if the curb is stenciled with the words “No Standing” and if there is appropriate signage in place. If the curb is painted red, no parking is allowed. However, buses are exempted when pulling in front of a bus stop. She indicated the current ordinance can be amended, if the Committee decides to recommend it. Civil Engineer Marian Shaw stated that there are currently approximately 650 existing bus stops. GET is currently reorganizing, adding new bus stops and eliminating existing bus stops. It is estimated that 450 bus tops will remain; 200 of those bus stops will be in areas that allow parking on the street. Committee Chair Sue Benham asked which option was most costly, painting the curbs red or placing proper signage. Traffic Engineer John Ussery stated painting the curbs red would be the more expensive option, as the curbs would have to be maintained and repainted every two to three years. Signage would be the least expensive over time. The approximate cost for a sign and installation is $200 and each bus stop would require two signs. GET has indicated a willingness to assist in the installation of the signage, although a specific dollar amount has not been discussed, to date. City Manager Alan Tandy stated in order to minimize the expense, staff would begin placing signage at locations where known problems currently exist and at any location reported as having this type of issue. General Services Superintendent Nick Fidler stated GET that reorganizes their bus stop locations on a recurring basis. It would be necessary for staff to remove signs and place new signs, if needed, from old bus stops to new bus stops. Legislative and Litigation Committee Agenda Summary Report February 21, 2012 Page 3 Stan Scharry, representing the Independent Living Center, stated GET has informed their organization that the routes and bus stops will be reorganized in October 2012. Mr. Scharry also stated a blind individual using public transportation is taught to use landmarks and count steps. A parked vehicle in a bus stop zone causes great confusion for these individuals and is dangerous. Mr. Scharry stated there are various locations in need of signage, including: the Center for the Blind on Baker and Monterey, the Department of Rehabilitation, and the Social Security Offices at Office Park Drive and Truxtun Avenue. Patrick Murphy, a vocational counselor at Independent Living Center, stated the blind, including himself, are taught to count steps and other various techniques in order to be mobile. If a vehicle parked in a bus stop zone causes a bus to stop a distance from the original bus stop, it can disorient someone who has been taught otherwise. Mr. Murphy recommended signage also be placed at medical suites, hospitals, and shopping centers. Committee member Jacquie Sullivan stated that prioritizing the bus stops where there are problems will help minimize the expense. Committee member Salas asked if the Public Works Department would be in charge of the review process, which Mr. Tandy confirmed. Committee Chair Benham requested that Public Works staff stay in contact with GET to acquire a listing of the final routes identified. She also requested that staff work with the members of the Independent Living Center to identify the high priority locations needing curb painting while GET finalizes their reorganization. An update is to be presented at the next committee meeting. Committee member Sullivan made a motion to have the City Attorney’s office amend the language in the City’s ordinance to prohibit parking in front of bus stops if the curb is painted red or marked with the words “Bus Zone” and forwarded to the full Council for consideration. The motion was unanimously approved. B. Discussion and Recommendation Regarding Electronic Communications – Gennaro / Tandy City Attorney Gennaro provided a summary of the City’s current e-mail retention policy. The City’s policy is consistent with a number of policies in other jurisdictions. City Manager Alan Tandy stated that staff conducted a survey of Kern County cities regarding their e-mail retention policies, at the request of Committee member Salas. Most of them have no policies, and one city has a policy similar to the City’s. In addition, staff has contacted both the local Caltrans office and the State of California Records Management Program (CalRIM) regarding their policies. Both distinguish between e-mails that are categorized as official records and transitory records, with the later being deleted after 90 days. Legislative and Litigation Committee Agenda Summary Report February 21, 2012 Page 4 Committee Chair Benham asked if the City has a written policy that defines specifically what kinds of e-mails are public records and should be saved, and if employees receive training on the policy. City Attorney Gennaro stated the current policy could be improved and that the City could do a better job of educating employees on what they should keep. Committee Chair Benham requested staff review the policy and report back on how it can be strengthened and used to educate employees on the retention of e-mails that the public should have access to. City Manager Tandy stated there are various methods that are currently in place for employees to save records, including: making hard copies, storing to their computer drives, and storing to the Laserfiche system. If the policy was modified to a mandatory retention for an indefinite amount of time, the costs would be excessive. The majority of those costs would be for the staff time necessary to recover and review documentation, rather than storage costs of retention. Committee Chair Benham also requested staff contact the City of Fresno and report back on the workability of their system and the related costs, including staff time and taxpayer dollars. She also stated that the important principle in this matter is the public’s access to the information. Committee member Jacquie Sullivan stated she agreed that certain e-mails do not need to be kept indefinitely and doing so reduces efficiency. Committee member Rudy Salas requested staff review the policy and report back on the feasibility of strengthening it in accordance with State Government Code 34090. He also requested staff find out what the costs and issues would be to implement a cap on mailbox size for each employee, whereby the individual can choose how long they would like to retain certain e-mails. Committee member Salas also requested staff provide him an electronic version of the memorandums included in this committee meeting packet. C. Discussion and Recommendation Regarding the 2012 Committee Calendar – Smiley Adopted as submitted 6. COMMITTEE COMMENTS None 7. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 12:54 cc: Honorable Mayor and City Council