Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/19/2012 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 Monday, March 19, 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 Richard Iger, Associate Attorney Steven Teglia, Asst. to the City Manager Raul Rojas, Public Works Director Chris Huot, Administrative Analyst Brad Underwood, Asst. Public Works Director Eddie Chavez, Interim I.T. Director Ryan Starbuck, Traffic Engineer Greg Williamson, Police Chief John Ussery, Engineer Nick Fidler, General Services Superintendent Others Present: Brandy Midkaff, Independent Living Center Antonie Boessenkool, Bakersfield Californian Legislative and Litigation Committee Agenda Summary Report March 19, 2012 Page 2 2. ADOPT FEBRUARY 21, 2012 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 Public Works Director Raul Rojas stated that staff worked with the members of the Independent Living Center to identify the high priority locations needing curb painting while GET finalizes their reorganization. Eight locations were identified, and staff determined the appropriate course of action, as follows: 1. Baker, 64’ south of Monterey (Northbound) - continue with the existing timed parking, as to not place undue hardship on the adjacent bank as their customers use the spaces for parking 2. Baker, 64’ south of Monterey (Southbound) – Install “No Parking” Signs 3. Monterey east of Baker (Eastbound) – install “No Parking” Signs” The following locations are currently designated as “No Parking” zones and require no changes: 4. Niles east of Baker (Westbound) 5. H Street 200’ north of Fairview (Southbound) 6. H Street 200’ north of Fairview (Northbound) 7. Office Park 90’ south of Truxtun Avenue (Southbound) 8. Ridgeview High School (Southbound) Brandy Midkaff, representing Independent Living Center stated she was not part of the team who identified the high priority locations and that a citywide approach to have “No Parking” zones at all bus stops would increase the safety for visually impaired. Ms. Midkaff also stated that once GET finalizes their reorganization of routes and bus stops, several bus stops currently in front of business will be relocated. Committee member Rudy Salas asked how the clearance distance requirement was determined for each bus stop. Committee member Salas also asked if the clearance distance could be reduced at the Baker and Monterey northbound bus stop. Legislative and Litigation Committee Agenda Summary Report March 19, 2012 Page 3 Traffic Engineer Ryan Starbuck stated GET would like 140’ clearance; it can be reduced if a drive up approach can be utilized by the bus. Traffic Engineer Starbuck stated it may be possible to decrease the clearance distance if the stop were moved closer to the intersection. Committee Chair Benham expressed concern for the safety of the bus and the passengers embarking and disembarking. Committee member Salas made a motion to install the “No Parking” signs at the two locations discussed above and review the location of the Baker and Monterey northbound bus stop to safely reduce the clearance. The motion was unanimously approved. B. Discussion and Recommendation Regarding Electronic Communications – Gennaro / Tandy Assistant to the City Manager Rhonda Smiley provided a report addressing questions posed by the committee members at the February 21, 2012 Legislative and Litigation Committee meeting. 1. How the City’s current e-mail retention policies can be strengthened and clarified. Staff is currently in the process of formulating an e-mail retention policy training course for all City employees who utilize a computer as part of their job responsibilities, and proposes to implement such a program in the near future. Such a program would be most effectively done through electronic presentation, via the City’s intranet system. It would also provide staff the capability to accurately monitor and confirm that the required training has been properly completed. 2. How does the City of Fresno view their e-mail retention policy and related issues, from a time and taxpayer perspective. The City of Fresno has invested approximately $192,000 in costs for their Symantec Enterprise Vault System. In addition, they expect to incur approximately $28,000 per year in annual maintenance costs. They are currently re-examining their policy due to concerns that indefinite retention may become problematic in terms of retrieval, from a technical, time, and expense perspective. They also have concerns related to the significant staff time necessary to respond to public records requests. As a result of these issues, Fresno is considering revising their practice of keeping all e- mails indefinitely by instituting the “reasonable guidelines” included in their current policy, which their staff indicates will likely result in a five year retention period. Legislative and Litigation Committee Agenda Summary Report March 19, 2012 Page 4 3. Examine the policy utilized by some State agencies that limits the size of the user’s e-mail box to determine the practicality of applying such policy for the City’s e-mail system. There are major drawbacks to applying a policy that limits a user’s mailbox, including, but not limited to, determining the actual capacity limits and the size of e-mails received by each user. Exceptions would be required for users who receive e-mails with large attachments, as their inboxes would fill to capacity far sooner than others who do not receive these kinds of e- mails. This creates administrative and efficiency issues as requests to change mailbox quota sizes would become a repeated occurrence, negating the intent of the policy. An additional concern would be an unexpected leave or vacation of an employee whose mailbox has reached capacity. This could potentially result in a loss of important and, in some circumstances, critical information which could be detrimental to City business and operations. City Manager Alan Tandy stated the training program will provide an overview of the legal parameters and the City’s policy with practical questions regarding implementation. Committee Chair Benham asked when the employee training program would be ready for implementation and if the Committee could be presented with an overview of the contents at the next meeting. Assistant to the City Manager Smiley stated it was possible to have the preliminary program contents completed in the next few weeks and could be presented to the Committee at the next scheduled meeting. 6. COMMITTEE COMMENTS None 7. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 12:37 cc: Honorable Mayor and City Council