Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-17-1997 City Council Minutes MINOTES SAR~TOGA CITY COUNCIL TIME: Wednesday, December 17, 1997 - 6:30 p.m. PLACE: Civic Theater, 13777 Fruitvale Ave. TYPE: Regular Meeting Parks and Recreation Commission Interview - 6230 p.m. in Administration Conference Room, 13777 Frultvale Avenue Closed Session - 6245 p.m. CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL-ANTICIPATED LITIGATION Significant exposure to litigation pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 54956.9:in one case. Mayor's Report 'on Closed Session. - Mayor Wolfe reported that no action had been taken. 7:30 - Pledge of Allegiance 1. ROLL CALL Councilmembers Bogosian, Jacobs, Shaw, Moran, and Mayor Wolfe were present. Also present were City Manager Perlin, Interim Administrative Services Director [arson, Community Development Manager Walgren, City Attorney Riback, and Deputy City Clerk Cory. 2. CEREMONIAL ITEMS A. Resolution commending A1 Fregoso on his Retirement Mayor Wolfe presented the resolution to Mr. Fregoso. 3. REPORT OF CITY CLERK ON POSTING OF AGENDA Pursuant to Government Code 54954.2, the agenda for this meeting was properly posted on December 12. 4. COMMUNICATIONS FROM COMMISSIONS AND THE PUBLIC A. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Mayor Wolfe thanked the Council for electing him Mayor and Jim Shaw as Vice Mayor. He described his vision as Mayor, including Saratoga's remaining unspoiled. Me believed that more services could be provided by the City if the State and federal government did not impose unfunded mandates, and he asked that staff and citizens assist in identifying such mandates so that their impact can be modified. Jenny Crotty, Parks and Recreation CommisSioner, then described a Saratoga Union School District meeting on December 9 at which negative remarks were made concerning Saratoga residents who are not residents of the District. She expressed appreciation to the Council for their professionalism and decorum concerning this matter. 1) Presentation from Green Belt Alliance concerning resolution endorsing permanent acquisition of Alma College Property Robert Montcrief, representing Friends of Bear Creek Redwoods, made a slide presentation and answered Councilmembers~ questions. JACOBS/BOGOSIAN MOVED TO DIRECT STAFF TO PREPARE FOR THE NEXT MEETING A RESOLUTION SUPPORTING PUBLIC ACQUISITION OF THE PROPERTY. Passed 4-1 (Wolfe opposed). B. COMMUNICATIONS FROM COMMISSION8 - None. C. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS 1) Letters from Warren Lampshire requesting City support for Saratoga Parade City Council Minutes 2 December-X7, 1997 Mr. Lampshire reviewed his letter and answered Councilmembers' questions. There was consensus to provide for the parade insurance coverage and free permits, as well as Jennie Loft's staff time, not to exceed five hours. The Recreation Director's time is not to be used for the parade, unless on a voluntary basis. It was noted that no action was needed on the request at the present time. Mr. Lampshire also hoped funds could be budgeted to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Saratoga's Sister City relationship with Muko-Shi in 1999. 2) Letter from Principal Kevin Skelly, Saratoga High School, requesting $200,000 from the Park Development Fund to build · community aquatic facility There was consensus to refer this issue to the Parks and Recreation Commission. They are to find out details, including how the project will serve the entire community. 5. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Previously-Discussed Items 1) Resolution granting Appeal re= one World Montessori School BOGOSIAN/SHAW MOVED TO ADOPT RESOLUTION 97-51. Passed 4-1 (Jacobs abstaining). B. New Items MORAN/SHAW MOVED TO APPROVE CONSENT CALENDAR B. Passed 5-0. 1) Planning Commission Actions, 12/10 - Note and file. 2) Public Safety Commission, 11/10.- Note and file. 3) Memo AuthorizlngPublicity for Upcoming Hearings - No hearings scheduled for January 7. 4) City Financial Reports for November= a) Treasureres Report - Receive and file. b) Investment Report - Receive and file. c) Financial Report '- Receive and file. 5) Approval of Check Register 6) Rejection of Bids for civic Theater Lighting System 7) Approval of Letter of Understanding with Saratoga Employees Association concerning Amendments to Leave Carryover and Payout Policies in the Memorandum of Understanding C. CLAIMS AGAINST THE CITY - None. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. Use'of Citizens Option for Public Safety Funding Program The public hearing was opened at 8:40 p.m. No one appearing to speak, it was closed immediately. BOGOSIAN/SHAW MOVED TO APPROVE THE SHERIFF'S RECOMMENDATION FOR USE OF THE FUNDS. Passed 5-0. 4. a. Oral Communications (continued) and instructions to staff regarding actions on current oral communications - None. City Council Minutes 3 December'17,1997 7. OLD BUSINESS A. Request for Reduction/Waiver of Soundwall Permit Fee (Cefnlu) (continued from 12/3) Annette Peterson spoke as daughter of the Cefalus, who had requested the fee reduction. Councilmembers discussed the issues, including fairness to other applicants, whether a hardship existed, whether the fact that the Cefalus had purchased their house 30 years ago was significant, whether the stoplight at Scotland made this a special case, and whether the amount of the fees was justified. MORAN/JACOBS MOVED TO ACCEPT THE STAFF RECOMMENDATION TO CHARGE THE CURRENT FEES. Passed 3-2 (Shaw, Bogosian opposed). Councilmember Moran asked the staff to keep the Cefalus informed as to how the investigation of the U-turn was proceeding. 8. NEW BUSINESS A. Master Meetings Calendar for 1998 There was consensus to approve the calendar .in general. A COuncil retreat is to be added to the agenda at the end of February. Staff is to check with the council to see if February 21 is satisfactory. Councilmember Moran asked that the 1999 calendar be considered earlier next year. She also asked what had happened to the Town Hall meetings. Mayor Wolfe directed that Town Hall meetings be planned for 1998. There was consensus to schedule them tentatively for May and September. B. False Alarm Ordinance (first rending and introduction) There was consensus to change the recommended fees as follows: two free; third alarm, $75; fourth alarm, $100; fifth alarm, $200; sixth and additional alarms, $250. MORAN/JACOBS MOVED TO INTRODUCE THE ORDINANCE, WITH THE ABOVE AMENDMENTS TO THE FEES, BY TITLE ONLY, WAIVING FURTHER READING. Passed 5-0. C. Ordinance Relating to the Appointment of the City Clerk Position Separate from that of City Manager (first reading and introduction) City Attorney Riback stated that the City Council had agreed tentatively in the past to make the City Clerk's position separate from the City Manager's. He said most cities tended to have separate City Clerks. One reason is that there can be a conflict between the actions of the City Manager and the duties and responsibilities of the City Clerk, one example being when the City Clerk has to attest to the signature of the City Manager. He felt it was better to avoid those situations when possible, and he reviewed the provisions of the ordinance. Councilmember Bogosian noted that under the present system the City Clerk is essentially hired by the City Council; he asked if the Clerk would be serving at the pleasure of the City Manager. City Attorney Riback stated that the City Clerk position would not serve at the pleasure of the City Manager, but would be treated as any other non-management employee. Councilmember Moran said she would feel more comfortable with the proposal if it included a staff analysis of the salary range that would accompany this position. She had understood that there was no significant departure from the current responsibilities, duties and operations for the new position, and therefore she urged the Council to consider if it were appropriate to consider this as a package when City Council Minutes · December 17, 1997 it is a more fully developed concept. Councilmember Jacobs agreed that he would like a better notion of the fiscal impacts. It was his understanding that the Deputy City Clerk does pretty much all of the City Clerk responsibilities now other than ministerial items, so he wondered why there should be any salary change at all. Councilmember Moran pointed out that if there were a change, the Council might want to have identified what kind of diminution of responsibilities there are in the position that now serves both as City Clerk and City Manager, due to the transfer of responsibilities. Councilmember Jacobs also noted that, given the importance of the City Clerk's responsibilities, the City Council should perhaps reserve to itself some say in who is appointed. He believed the City Clerk is a very technically important position, considering what they do and their responsibilities, and although the Council did not have control over the bureaucracy, they did have control over the City Manager, the City Attorney and technically the City Clerk. The proposed ordinance would result in the Council no longer having control over who is the City Clerk. Mayor Wolfe noted that in some cities the City Clerk is elected by the people. Councilmember Jacobs stated that that reflected the importance of the position, which is a very important job. Mayor Wolfe stated that managing a new City Clerk is one more responsibility given to the City Manager for which he is held responsible. He agreed that a report on the fiscal impact was needed. Councilmember Shaw stated that 'he had spoken to the City Clerk of Cupertino, who is appointed by the City Manager. She felt it was an excellent way to handle it rather than get the City Council in the middle because of the possibility of the City Council trying to compromise some of the actions of the City Clerk by being in the loop. The duties of the City Clerk are rather straightforward without much room for improvisation. When he asked about a conflict between the City Clerk and the City Manager, he got the impression that the ultimate control would be the Council because the Council controls the City Manager. In the case of a conflict, the Council would be able to analyze the position of the City Clerk and City Manager and make an appropriate decision. He felt the appointment bythe City Manager was not a bad idea, but perhaps with the approval and consent of the City Council. The feedback was that didn't seem to be the way to go, but rather to rely on the Council's ability to deal with the City Manager in case of problems. Mayor Wolfe quoted the City Attorney as saying that few cities have the City Manager acting as City Clerk. City Attorney Riback said that fewer cities all the time do so. Mayor Wolfe asked whether in those cases the City Clerk is responsible to the City Manager without the overview of the Council. City Attorney Riback replied that was correct. Councilmember Jacobs asked how the City Clerk is appointed in the cities Mr. Riback was involved with. He replied that he had experienced elected city clerks, city manager-appointed city clerks, city manager/city clerks, city clerks who were in management positions and non-management positions. Without advocating either situation, he said, he had seen situations where with both elected clerks and clerks appointed by city councils (and those cities moved away from that), there had been conflicts between the City Manager and the City Clerk, with the City Clerk knowing that the City Council is really the employer of that person, and that person doesn't necessarily have to work well or cooperatively with the City Manager. Mayor Wolfe stated that as councils change attitudes can change City Council Minutes 5 Deoember 17, 1997 internally, and that might not be the best thing. Councilmember Moran noted that she served on a regional group which that morning had made the decision to move from a board-appointed clerk to a clerk under the supervision of the chief executive officer. One thought that went into the mix was that it was more in the olden days, when there was a clearer conflict of interest, when it was the clerks who kept the minutes and would write out in longhand and if he said that the City Manager or the CEO said one thing, then that was pretty · much the way it is, but now that we have recording devices and we are on television, and there is much less conflict of interest. She felt the Revolutionary War approach to this is not necessarily the way we should be going. More importantly, the board itself found they were responsible for appointing, evaluating and supervising a position and a person in that position and an entire office of people, although it wasn't clear to them that they really wanted to take the time and effort to get to know that kind of position, the criteria for evaluating it, and to fairly manage that office. Councilmember Moran clarified that what was needed was a description of how the duties and responsibilities would change and addressing the fiscal issues. City Manager Perlin stated that the difference in duties may not be great, but the difference in responsibilities could be significant. Mayor Wolfe pointed out that given the budgetary situation of the City, the Council would then have to decide if they wanted to make this change or not. There was consensus to direct staff to prepare a report on the fiscal impacts of the proposed ordinance and the greater responsibilities that would be required of the person who filled the City Clerk position. City Manager Perlin stated the he would be able to prepare a report and recommendations for the agenda in 'late January or early February. 9. ROUTINE MATTERS A. Approval of Minutes - 12/3~ 12/9 Concerning the first paragraph under the appeal on page 3 of the · December 3 minutes, Councilmember Jacobs corrected "client" to "spouse of a client." MORAN/JACOBS MOVED TO APPROVE THE 12/3 MINUTES AS AMENDED. Passed 5- 0. JAC0BS/BOGOSIANMOVED TO APPROVE THE 12/9 MINUTES AS SUBMITTED. Passed 5-0. 10. CITY COONCIL ITEMS A. Agenda items for next adjourned regular meeting - No meeting December 23. B. Other Councilmember Bogosian brought up a memo written by Councilmember Shaw concerning cable television. City Manager Perlin stated a number of issues needed to be investigated and discussed. He stated that TCI had warned the City that in mid-1998 KSARmay have to move from Channel 6. There was consensus to discuss various cable television issues when the City Manager has further information on January 13. Councilmember Shaw reported that George Korbay of the Freeway Noise Abatement Committee said that the Route 85 final report on noise is complete. There was consensus to schedule a presentation by the consultant for a regular meeting, perhaps January 21. The City Manager was directed to contact Mr. Korbay to see if the report is suitable for a regular meeting or an adjourned meeting. City Council Minutes 6 December 17, 1997 11. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 10:12 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Grace E. Cory Deputy City Clerk