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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-03-2004-Special City Council MinutesMINUTES SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING CITY OF LAKE ELSINORE 183 NORTH MAIN STREET LAKE ELSINORE, CALIFORNIA WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2004 CALL TO ORDER Mayor Buckley called the Special City Council Meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. ROLL CALL PRESENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: HICKMAN, KELLEY, MAGEE, SCHIFFNER BUCKLEY ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE Also present were: City Manager Watenpaugh, Assistant City Manager Best, City Attorney Leibold, Administrative Services Director Pressey, Community Development Director Brady, Community Services Director Sapp, Lake & Aquatic Resources Director Kilroy, Information/Communications Manager Dennis, Police Chief Fetherolf, City Treasurer Weber and City Clerk/Human Resources Director Kasad. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Harvey Ryan. PUBLIC COMMENTS-AGENDIZED ITEMS Ron Hewison, Lake Elsinore, thanked the Council for approving the H.O.P.E. donation. Page Two -Special City Council Minutes -November 3, 2004 Edith Stafford, 29700 Hursh Street, commented that she did support an elected Mayor and she did support Districts. She indicated that Districts were better because it cut down the monopolizing. She suggested that she did not support an appointed City Treasurer. She stated that no one would vote for an appointed City Treasurer. She stated that the educated ones were not doing their jobs. Chris Hyland, 15191 Wavecrest, commented that she was offended by the policy recommendation of appointing a City Treasurer. She recited the article and indicated that the last 3 Treasurers including the current Treasurer were all financial professionals. She indicated that the problem was they were not treated so and were not given information and documentation of the financial situation in the City of Lake Elsinore, in her opinion. She questioned the reason for appointing a City Treasurer. She indicated that the committee appointed by Council, in her opinion, did not have the expertise themselves to decide who was or was not a financial professional unless they had a degree in that field. She indicated that it should be set up the way our founding fathers wanted it to be, a Treasurer that was elected by the people. BUSINESS ITEMS 1. Approval of Final Map 30496, Pardee Homes, Inc. (F:160.2) Assistant City Manager Best gave an overview of the item. City Treasurer Weber indicated that he had spoken to citizens that lived in the tract homes near the project site. He indicated that the feeling among the citizens in that area was that they did not want it there and they were upset that they were not notified. He indicated that no one in Canyon Hills was notified. Councilman Hickman questioned the ability to make a design change. Mayor Buckley indicated that the Design Review was approved at the last Council Meeting. Page Three -Special City Council Minutes -November 3, 2004 Mayor Pro Tem Kelley indicated that there was a sign posted there for a long time advertising that was an automotive site. She indicated it was zoned in that zoning. She indicated that Council took precautions at the last meeting to ensure it was designed appropriately and shielded from the public view. She indicated that her concern at the last Council Meeting was the staff report indicated automotive repair and Council was told that was not the case; and there would not be broken down cars sitting in the lot and it was more like a tire shop. Mr. Stringer, Pardee Homes, commented that they had their own internal Design Review that looked at architecture and landscaping; and they felt comfortable it would not be an eyesore. He indicated that there would be a coffee shop in the larger commercial site closer to the homes. Mayor Pro Tem Kelley indicated her concerns were similar to those of City Treasurer Weber and that they were speaking for their neighbors, they were all concerned; and they expected it to be shielded and landscaped and designed correctly as approved. Councilman Schiffner indicated that before Council at this time was the approval of a final map. MOVED BY SCHIFFNER AND SECOND BY KELLEY AND CARRIED BY UNANMIOUS VOTE TO APPROVE THE FINAL MAP, SUBJECT TO CITY ENGINEER'S ACCEPTANCE. 2. CEQA Compliance Documents. (F:68.1) Assistant City Manager Best gave an overview of the item. She indicated that it was a retail project (Target Center). Councilman Schiffner indicated it was a simple procedure with no cost to the City. Councilman Hickman expressed his concerns regarding traffic congestion and suggested the street improvements be done before allowing the Target Center to move-in. Page Four -Special City Council Minutes -November 3, 2004 MOVED BY SCHIFFNER AND SECOND BY HICKMAN AND CARRIED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE TO APPROVE AN AGREEMENT WITH HDR ENGINEERING, TO PREPARE THE CEQA COMPLIANCE DOCUMENTS FOR THE TARGET CENTER, IN THE AMOUNT OF $77,795. 3. Electoral Reform Committee Recommendations. (F:59.8) Mayor Buckley gave an overview of the item and thanked the Committee for the hard work. He deferred to Committee Chairwoman Atkins. Chairwoman Atkins introduced the Committee. She indicated that Committee Member Maskell was out of town for two weeks; but the committee had been in touch with Committee Member Maskell. She noted that Mr. Maskell concurred with the committee recommendations. She indicated that the Council had not had enough time to review the material given to them; so she was going to take a little longer to explain the six items. I. Shall the position of City Treasurer should be continued in an elected capacity. Chairwoman Atkins recited the findings listed in the staff report. She responded to the comments by members of the community. She commented that the committee was extremely objective about making the recommendations. She advised that the recommendations had nothing to do with the current City Treasurer. She indicated that he was a qualified individual and they had no objections to his performance thus far. She indicated that the committee felt the position should be appointed, because education and experience requirements could not be imposed on an elected official. She recited the recommendations of the committee. Committee Member Hohenadl commented that by eliminating the elected City Treasurer the City would save the annual cost of benefits and $150 a Page Five -Special City Council Minutes -November 3, 2004 month for a total including the benefits in the amount of $13,309. She noted that the Administrative Services Director was paid to do the day by day accounting and accountability for the City of Lake Elsinore; so therefore the citizens was paying extra money for a ceremonial Treasurer. Committee Member Judziewicz commented that there had been a lot of talk about the "watch dog" as the Treasurer, but the five watch dogs were the City Council. He commented they were the individuals that looked out for the best interest of the City. He noted the date the Mayor formed the committee, and he indicated it was well before all the newspaper articles came out about the current Treasurer and policy changes to the Treasurer position, therefore this was not a motivated issue to get rid of any person in the government. He indicated it was just the reality of the City Treasurer position. He noted that Matt Presley handled the day to day finances of the City, and the committee felt strongly that anyone that held that position should be the City Treasurer, because the Administrative Service position handled all the complex financial issues of the City. He noted it was a ceremonial position in Lake Elsinore, although it was not in other cities the same size of Lake Elsinore. Committee Member Flores commented that the committee studied this issue for a long period of time. He indicated that they felt this area would be best seated by an appointed rather than an elective official based on the past history of City Treasurers. He indicated that he felt Mr. Weber has done an outstanding job and felt he would continue to do so. City Treasurer Weber indicated that the Treasurer had to be independent of the Council and staff in order to investigate and review funds being spent by Council and staff; and investigate other financial issues. He indicated Administrative Services Director Presley was already given the ability to write the checks and monitor day to day activities of a Treasurer. He indicated that it was already there and it was really given to Mr. Presley by him; and it was signed over to Mr. Presley through the policy. City Treasurer Weber commented that Mr. Presley seemed overwhelmed at times. He indicated that the Treasurer also reviewed Page Six -Special City Council Minutes -November 3, 2004 different Measures as they came before Council. He indicated that Council had so much on their plates with citizens calling regarding potholes that Council had to answer to right of way, because the citizen might come to a Council Meeting; and whereas the Treasurer did not receive those phone calls. He noted the savings of $50,000 on the tractor bid due to an error on the lease. He indicated that the fact of saving $13,000 due to not having a City Treasurer did not compare to what the Treasurer would save in the long run. He indicated that the City Treasurer could bring policy focus on certain financial matters. He indicated that the City needed a second pair of eyes. He commented that he felt if the past City Treasurer's had been given the power they were supposed to have and not stripped away by prior Council's the Stadium deal would have never gone the way it did, but now the City was faced with $38 million in debt and that was; burden on the citizens. He indicated that he worked for the people of the City and he would protect the people of the City. He commented that he did not work for staff and would not protect staff; and was not going to protect the Council if they did things wrong and that was the importance of the Treasurer position. He indicated there was a tax burden with the bonds that has been placed on a group of people that seemed extremely high. He indicated that the Administrative Services Director would not look into that, but the Treasurer would; and protect the people; and the Treasurer would look at the citizen's taxes and comment. He indicated that the next Treasurer would do as good of a job as the current Treasurer. Mayor Pro Tem Kelley inquired if the committee members wanted to respond to the City Treasurer's comments; and inquired if the committee checked other cities and common practices. She requested clarification that the Administrative Services Director position would be the appointed City Treasurer. Chairwoman Atkins responded that City Treasurer Weber was commenting on himself as City Treasurer. Chairwoman Atkins indicated that if the Administrative Services Director was given sufficient support staff the individual would be in the position to be able to recommend to Page Seven -Special City Council Minutes -November 3, 2004 the City Manager things that should be watched; so it could be handled by the Administrative Services Director. She indicated that in regard to past City Treasurers, we were no longer in the position of having someone that could add, subtract, multiply, and divide. She indicated that the City Treasurer must know about all of the financial instruments in the business world today; and how they would be beneficial to the citizens of Lake Elsinore as they benefited by the City finances. She indicated that they surveyed 20 or more cities in the State. She noted most of the cities had appointed City Treasurers. She indicated that the cities that had elected City Treasurers, it were ceremonial and did not have any responsibilities. She noted that some did not even attend City Council Meetings. Committee Member Flores added after listening to Mr. Weber's statement that the key was staff would watch staff and that no information would be brought to the City Treasurer Position or himself; and that indicated to him that no one could work within ones own staff including the City Treasurer, because each of them had an area of responsibility to work with each other. He indicated that type of lack of communication gave him the impression there was no communication among all of the finances; and that was why he felt the City could be better served with an administrative staff that could work directly with the Council and handle the financial issues within, and if this entailed a full time staff the City would benefit, because there could not be a spot check here and there. He indicated there needed to be an individual that was capable of reviewing and discussing the financial responsibilities with the Council on a daily basis. He reiterated in his opinion this could be better served by a full time City Treasurer, appointed by the Council. Mayor Pro Tem Kelley deferred to City Attorney Leibold and asked her to elaborate on the safeguards outside of the City that the City fmances were put through. City Attorney Leibold explained that the City was required to perform an annual audit that had to be conducted by an independent financial auditor, currently there was a contract with Teaman, Ramirez and Smith that had performed the City's annual audit Page Eight -Special City Council Minutes -November 3, 2004 for a number of years. Administrative Services Director Presley commented that there was a single audit of all federal grant funds and annually there was a State Controllers Report that was submitted to the State that summarized all the activities and funds of the City; and also for the Redevelopment Agency a Statement of Indebtedness and also their State Controllers Report. City Attorney Leibold commented that audits and reports were in respect to the General Funds, Agencies Funds and in connection with any bond issue there was an individual requirement with respect to reporting, reserve requirements, and an independent trustee that monitored the bond funds. Committee Member Judziewicz commented that he agreed with Committee Member Flores, that it was the compromises that were going to get things done in the City, it was the teamwork with the staff and Council that was going to get things done. He indicated that the bond issues in the past, he had heard that the City should have defaulted on bonds, let the banks take the hit on bond issues that went bad; and he doubted the City would be getting certain development centers if Council and staff had done that and put Lake Elsinore in bad faith with all of the business communities in the area. He indicated that he did not want to spend his life driving to Temecula to go to certain restaurants, he wanted those restaurants in Lake Elsinore and those businesses would come when there was a more transparent system; and he believed it would get there with a professional person reviewing the finances. He compared the City Treasurer position to trying to check the Lake with a fishing pole, row boat and a hook, the individual was never going to find everything. He indicated that the position needed someone that was always in the Lake administering the Lake to be able to check everything on the Lake. Committee Member Hohenadl commented that the elected position was not a CPA or auditor. She indicated that a little knowledge could be dangerous, if the individual did not know what they were reviewing and had a big picture of what they were reviewing it could be side track or misinterpreted or give it misinformation and those were the reasons why Page Nine -Special City Council Minutes -November 3, 2004 she felt the appointed position should be someone who did this on a daily basis and was certified to do this type of work. Councilman Schiffner reminded everyone the reason they were there tonight and suggested that Council did not lose the reason they were there. He indicated that he would not express his opinion at that time. He indicated that he would reserve it for the time, if it goes on the ballot. He indicated that he would like to give the people in the community the opportunity to make that decision. Councilman Magee thanked the committee for their hard work. He commented that Mr. Weber had become a lighting rod for controversy and that was the simple truth. He indicated that he appreciated his independence, but did not always agree with his technique. He indicated that the position of Treasurer was the responsibility of voters and needed to go to a vote of the people. He commented on Item No. 8; and advised that it was inappropriate for the City to sponsor that and to be advising the voters of what that was; and he was concerned with the legalities and the voters needed to make their own decisions. He indicated there would be people on both sides of the issue to write the pro and con arguments. He agreed that the item should be put on the next regularly scheduled election. Councilman Hickman indicated that he had never been a politician; and had the pleasure of watching Dick Knapp at times come to the podium and give his presentation and comment that he never received any information to do his job. He indicated the reason Mr. Weber was able to get into the books was because he had the support of the Council. He indicated that in the last budget review he learned a few new words; and through City Treasurer Weber's digging through the bonds they discovered that the 1980 flood bonds had not been paid off. He indicated that he did not think the City would bring that to the attention of the Council. He indicated that he saw pros and cons; and he agreed with other members of Council to bring it to a vote of the citizens. He noted that he agreed that communication was transparent and he felt there were a lot of bridges to mend between management and the City Council. Page Ten -Special City Council Minutes -November 3, 2004 Mayor Buckley indicated that a vote was brought to the citizens before and it lost; and it was recently brought to the citizens in Indio and it lost; and if it did go to a vote it would lose again. He indicated that the job was really not ceremonial it was what they made of it. He agreed with Mr. Magee's comments regarding educating the public. He advised that the City could not advocate a result. MOVED BY SCHIFFNER, SECONDED BY KELLEY TO DIRECT STAFF TO TAKE THE ACTION NECESSARY TO PLACE A MEASURE ON THE BALLOT FOR THE NEXT REGULARLY SCHEDULED ELECTION TO ELIMINATE THE POSITION OF ELECTED CITY TREASURER. City Attorney Leibold indicated that the City could not campaign, but could educate; and the Committee wanted the City to distinguish the elimination of a "elected" City Treasurer from the elimination of a City Treasurer; their concern was that in the previous measure the elector thought that the measure was to eliminate a position of City Treasurer, so Item H was simply for the City to make clear in an education effort the difference between eliminating an "elected" and eliminating the position. She noted that as an Ad Hoc advisory committee, those task was complete upon the presentation of the recommendations, unless Council directed them to continue or do additional work, the committee could prepare the pro argument; and there was sufficient authority for that and did not constitute a violation of The Political Reform Act. Councilman Hickman indicated that if this was going to be on the ballot he would like it to read, "Shall the Office of City Treasurer be eliminated." Not appointed. He indicated that the position would be moved into the City to be managed instead of an elected official. City Attorney Leibold explained that the ballot wording was dictated by the Government Code. Councilman Schiffner suggested that the Committee not prepare a pro or con argument, but essentially prepare an information packet. Page Eleven -Special City Council Minutes -November 3, 2004 City Attorney Leibold indicated that the City Attorney was obligated on a City measure to prepare a neutral analysis. MOVED BY SCHIFFNER, SECONDED BY KELLEY AND CARRIED BY A VOTE OF 3-0-2 WITH BUCKLEY AND HICKMAN ABSTAINING TO AMEND THE MOTION TO DELETE ITEM H AND REPLACE THE VERBIAGE WITH A NEUTRAL STATEMENT WRITTEN BY THE CITY ATTORNEY. II. Devise a new and permanent procedure for Commission/Committee appointments. Chairwoman Atkins gave an overview of the Findings and Recommendations. She indicated that Policy No. 200-SA page 4 no. 8 second and third sentences, spoke of a questionnaire. She indicated that they neglected to catch the error and it should be application. Mayor Buckley referred to page 14 of 32 and suggested changing G(2) to read "may" instead of "shall". Mayor Buckley referred to page 12 of 32, Item C(8), he indicated he would like Council to have input on questionnaires. Mayor Buckley referred to page 16 of 32 and requested to have J(4) and Policy No. 200-SB page 24 of 32, H(4) removed. Councilman Magee indicated that currently there were three individuals that were serving on more than one committee or commission. He requested a response from the committee. Chairwoman Atkins indicated that she was not aware that there were individuals serving in concurrent positions presently, but if that was the case she suggested grandfathering them in, because the policy was being revised after their appointment. Councilman Magee indicated that on page 11, Item No. 2 under nondiscrimination on both the commission and Ad Hoc committee appointments, the term "sexual orientation" should be added. Page Twelve -Special City Council Minutes -November 3, 2004 Councilman Magee referred to page 12, Item No. 9. He clarified that the intent of the committee was that after the interview process the actual nomination by the sub-committee occurs at the public forum as currently done. City Attorney Leibold indicated that needed to be clarified. She indicated that there was some discussion at the committee level on Item No. 9. Councilman Magee referred to page 25, Item L. He indicated that in the removal of an ADHOC process it required a majority of the Council. He questioned if that was the intent of the Committee. Chairwoman Atkins indicated that it was not the intent. She indicated that it was her understanding that each Council member appointed an individual and then the Council removed them; one Council member could not remove an appointed individual. Mayor Buckley commented that the appointing member could remove their own. Councilman Schiffner disagreed. He indicated that each Council member recommended a person and then the Council as a whole makes the appointment. City Attorney Leibold indicated that the first several versions were one policy. She indicated that the Committee thought it was important to distinguish an ongoing Commission with an ongoing role established by ordinance versus an Ad Hoc committee in which they defined as a Committee with a special purpose and of limited duration and put a guideline of 18 months to achieve a mission. She indicated that Councilman Magee had pointed out an inconsistency that the Committee missed. She indicated that Policy Sb read -each Council member made an appointment. She indicated that the Committee recommendation for Commissions - sub- committee made a recommendation and the Council as a whole voted for the appointment to the Commission. She indicated that they needed to clarify if the committee appointment was a recommendation by each Council member with a confirmation by a vote of the City Council then the removal as written made sense, if the appointment of the committee member did not require a confirmation of the Council as a whole, that individual Council member she suspected would have the same authority to remove their appointee. Chairwoman Atkins indicated that difference the Committee was trying to make was that the Commission was more formal and the Ad Hoc Committee would be more informal so that the Page Thirteen -Special City Council Minutes -November 3, 2004 residents would be able to have more participation. She indicated that the Committee wanted to stress that Commissions were different from committees. Councilman Schiffner indicated that the Public Safety Commission Chairperson was appointed by the Mayor which was normally the informal process for Ad Hoc Committees and requested clarification if it was a Commission or Committee. Mayor Buckley indicated it was a Commission. City Attorney Leibold indicated that the Public Safety Advisory Commission was established by ordinance and incorporated in the LEMC as an ongoing Commission, but the procedure that was followed was an issue that the Electoral Reform Committee pointed out. She further indicated that under the Government Code and the Committee's own recommendations, anongoing Commission needed to follow a more formal appointment process, which was a Notice of Vacancy, an application process, an interview process, a recommendation by asub-committee and a vote of the Council as a whole to fill those positions unlike the informal Ad Hoc Advisory Committee. She noted that they recognized that was not the practice followed with respect to the Public Safety Advisory Commission, but acknowledged the Commission as a Commission. Mayor Buckley indicated that it was done that way because it was a new Commission. Mayor Pro Tem Kelley deferred to page 16, Item No. 4. She indicated that she would have a problem eliminating that paragraph, because it would be breaking the Council Policy. Mayor Buckley indicated that the third sentence could be left in. He indicated that if a reporter called a Commissioner, the Commissioner should not be made to automatically defer to the Chairperson for a blessing to speak. He indicated it might violate the right to free speech. Mayor Pro Tem Kelley indicated that it violated Council Policy. City Attorney Leibold indicated that there was a policy that indicated that all media inquiries should be directed to the Information/Communications Manager. City Attorney Leibold suggested confirming that it was consistent with existing policy. Mayor Pro Tem Kelley agreed. Councilman Hickman referred to page 14. He inquired if all the Committees and Commissions were affected by the Brown Act. City Page Fourteen -Special City Council Minutes -November 3, 2004 Attorney Leibold confirmed. Councilman Hickman commented that he did not think the RDA Committee would be able to complete their scope of work in 18 months. Chairwoman Atkins referred to page 19 Item I. She indicated that a reasonable extension approval was left to Council discretion. Councilman Hickman indicated that since he sat on the Ad Hoc for the RDA, those individuals had a lot of work left to do. He indicated that he was going to request that the RDA Committee become a Commission because of the work and the length of time needed and the issues involved with this Committee. Councilman Schiffner noted that Councilman Hickman commented that he sat on the RDA Ad Hoc Committee and he was not aware of the Council appointing him to that Committee. He was not aware of any policy indicating that the Chairman of the RDA was automatically a member of the Committee. He expressed that personally he felt that members of the City Council did not have a place on any of the committees. He indicated that the individuals were appointed because the Council felt they were capable of making decisions. He indicated that he had never attended any of the committee's meeting that were appointed, because he felt the members should be free to make their own decisions; and he did not think it was right for anyone from the Council to participate at all. Mayor Buckley indicated that you could not ban people from going to a public meeting. Councilman Schiffner expressed that he did not think it was a good idea. Mayor Buckley agreed that it was not a good idea. Councilman Hickman indicated that he had attended a couple of meetings just for the education, not to give guidance or input. MOVED BY A MAGEE AND SECONDED BY BUCKLEY AND APPROVED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE TO REVISE THE POLICIES PRESENTED TO COUNCIL AND HAVE THEM BROUGHT BACK FOR FINAL APPROVAL AT A DATE TO BE DETERMINED, THE REVISIONS TO INCLUDE PAGE 10 AND 20, ITEM B (i) (ii), TO ADD THE TERM "GRANDFATHERED" TO COMMITTEE MEMBERS THAT ARE ALREADY SERVING CONCURRENTLY. PAGE 11 AND 20, ITEM B (2), Page Fifteen -Special City Council Minutes -November 3, 2004 TO ADD THE TERM SEXUAL ORIENTATION UNDER THE NONDISCRIMINATION POLICY. PAGE 12, ITEM C (8), TO ADD THE TERM WITH COUNCIL INPUT UNDER THE APPLICATION PROCESS. PAGE 14, ITEM G (2), TO INSERT THE TERM "MAY" INSTEAD OF "SHALL". PAGE 16, ITEM I (1) (iii), TO ADD THE TERM "OR APPROPRIATE CITY STAFF MEMBER". PAGE 16, ITEM J(4), DELETE THE SECOND SENTENCE AND DELETE THE QUESTIONNAIRE. III. Create an appointment system of succession to City CounciUOther Elected Officials. Commissions and Committees when unscheduled vacancies occur. Chairwoman Atkins gave an overview of the findings and committee recommendations. She indicated that there was no current policy in regard to filling vacancies on the City Council and there was no ordinance addressing such matters under Government Code section 36512. Mayor Buckley suggested changing "on July 1St of an election year that the vacant seat that would be up for election is left vacant until the election." Chairwoman Atkins indicated that it was the recommendation of the Committee that the vacancy be filled immediately even though the period of time was no earlier than 127 days and no later than 113 days, which equated to approximately four months and the committee felt it should be filled. She indicated it benefited the Council because it maintained five members and prevented votes of 2 to 2. Mayor Buckley indicated that he foresaw the potential of a Council member resigning, so that someone running for Council could become an incumbent, which would be a significant political advantage. City Attorney Leibold indicated that State law allowed the Council to either hold a special election in 30 days or fill the vacancy in 30 days. Page Sixteen -Special City Council Minutes -November 3, 2004 MOVED BY BUCKLEY, SECONDED BY MAGEE AND APPROVED BY A VOTE OF 4-I WITH KELLEY OPPOSING TO ACCEPT THE RECOMMENDATION WITH THE FOLLOWING MODIFICATION, AFTER JULY 1sT A SEAT THAT IS VACANT CANNOT BE FILLED AFTER JULY 1sT OF THE YEAR THE TERM IS UP. MOVED BY KELLEY, SECONDED BY SCHIFFNER TO ACCEPT THE COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION; DENIED WITH A VOTE OF 2-3 WITH BUCKLEY, HICKMAN, AND MAGEE OPPOSING. MOVED BY BUCKLEY, SECONDED BY MAGEE AND APPROVED WITH A VOTE OF 4-I WITH KELLEY OPPOSING TO ACCEPT THE RECOMMENDATION WITH THE FOLLOWING MODIFICATION, JULY 1sT A SEAT THAT IS VACANT CANNOT BE FILLED AFTER JULY 1sT OF THE YEAR IT IS UP ENDS. IV. Establish new campaign finance standards. Chairwoman Atkins gave an overview of the findings and recommendation of the item. Mayor Buckley suggested that page 30 of 32, Section 060, second paragraph, included that the campaign finance reports shall be posted on the City website. He indicated that they should be relatively simple to just scan and put on the website. Mayor Pro Tem Kelley suggested not making any changes. She indicated that it was fine the way it was written. City Attorney Leibold advised that Council could not adopt an Ordinance at a Special Meeting. MOTION MADE BY KELLEY AND APPROVED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE OF THOSE PRESENT TO BRING THE ITEM BEFORE COUNCIL AT THE NOVEMBER 23, 2004 COUNCIL MEETING. V. Review the possibility of electing Councilmember by Districts. Page Seventeen -Special City Council Minutes -November 3, 2004 Chairwoman Atkins gave an overview of the findings and recommendation of the item. Mayor Buckley indicated that he thought districts were a better representative system. He indicated that he agreed that after the next Census, with the modification of changing the number to 60,000 population. He suggested deleting the wording "built-out". He indicated that the wording "by vs. from" the usage of "by district" was a far more common way of electing candidates. He indicated that in regards to Item 4 on page 6 of 32, there was a City CIP. Councilman Magee suggested eliminating the population requirement altogether and reevaluating after the 2010 Census. He indicated that he agreed with Mayor Buckley in regards to the "by districts". Committee Member Hohenadl indicated that the Committee chose "from districts" because it allowed a voter to vote for a person from any district that they felt was the most qualified and would benefit the City as a whole. Councilman Magee indicated that he understood her point about the vote, but it did not eliminate a person's ability to campaign, donate money, etc for that candidate. Mayor Buckley suggested if an individual was not happy with the candidates running for office in their district, then they might want to run for office and be a part of the system. Councilman Schiffner indicated that he was not in favor of districts. He indicated that it was not relevant at this time to what would be happening in 2010. He indicated that the current Council might not be serving on the Council in 2010 and was not the current Council concern to establish the rule, which the 2010 Council could change at that time. He suggested eliminating the portion relating to the population and the "by vs. from" and just keep it the way it was until the 2010 Census. Mayor Pro Tem Kelley indicated that it was obvious that the Committee had done a lot of research. MOVED BY KELLEY, SECONDED BY SCHIFFNER AND CARRIED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE TO ELIMINATE THE POPULATION REQUIREMENT ALTOGETHER AND REEVALUATE AFTER THE 2010 CENSUS AND ELIMINATE RECOMMENDATION N0.2. Page Eighteen -Special City Council Minutes -November 3, 2004 VL Review the possibility of directly elective the Mayor. Chairwoman Atkins gave an overview of the findings and recommendations on the item. Mayor Buckley suggested adding a recommendation to include, revisit directly electing a Mayor when the Council revisited districts. Mayor Pro Tem Kelley indicated that directly electing a Mayor inherently gave the individual more authority and more power and currently everyone on Council were equal. She indicated that she agreed with the Committee's recommendation. MOVED BY KELLEY, SECONDED BY SCHIFFNER TO ACCEPT THE COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS AS PRESENTED. Motion died for lack of votes. Councilman Hickman questioned the reason for not wanting the RDA Chair to serve consecutive terms. Chairwoman Atkins indicated that consecutive would not allow others members of the RDA Board to gain the experience of serving with the RDA. Councilman Magee indicated that he understood the opportunity to rotate the positions, but it should be the decision of the Board Members. He suggested changing the wording to "may be able to serve two consecutive years". He suggested deleting the second to last sentence of the policy. Mayor Pro Tem Kelley indicated that the Committee had done studying, research, and discussion. She indicated that it should not be consecutive terms for Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, RDA Chair and Vice Chair. Councilman Magee proposed a substitute motion. MOVED BY MAGEE, SECONDED BY HICKMAN AND CARRIED BY A VOTE OF 4-1 WITH KELLEY OPPOSING TO ADOPT THE COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS WITH THE ELIMINATION OF THE RESTRICTIONS ON CONSECUTIVE TERMS AS MAYOR OR RDA CHAIR. Page Nineteen -Special City Couucil Minutes -November 3, 2004 VII. Review the possibility of moving City elections to even-numbered ears• Chairwoman Atkins gave an overview of the findings and recommendations on the item. Mayor Buckley indicated that the voter turnout was normally greater during Presidential elections. He indicated that the faster the City converted to even years the better. He suggested going to 2006 and 2008 existing terms. He indicated the idea of a three year term would give the City three Council elections in four years and it delayed taking advantage of the increase turnout. Councilman Hickman agreed it would be better to extend the current Council terms by one year. Councilman Schiffner suggested going with the Committee recommendation. Committee Member Judziewicz commented that the Committee's biggest concern was not extending or shorting any of the current Council term in office. He indicated that the voters, voted for the current Council to complete a four term not three years, not five years. He indicated that the recommendation was fair to both the current Council and future candidates. City Attorney Leibold indicated that the law allowed a shift in the election cycle so long as it did not increase or decrease a Council member's term twelve months or more. Councilman Magee indicated that he agreed with moving to even numbered years. He indicated that he would be in favor of extending the current Council term. He indicated that there would be two elections instead of three, so the City would save money. Mayor Pro Tem Kelley agreed with the Committee and the voters voted for a four year term. MOVED BY KELLEY, SECONDED BY SCHIFFNER TO ACCEPT THE COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS AS PRESENTED. Councilman Magee made a substitute motion. MOVED BY MAGEE, SECONDED BY HICKMAN TO ADOPT THE EVEN YEAR ELECTION CYCLE STARTING IN 2006 AND 2008. Page Twenty -Special City Council Minutes -November 3, 2004 Mayor Buckley questioned if the City Treasurer was affected. City Attorney Leibold indicated that it could be shortened or lengthened by twelve months. Councilman Magee modified the substitute motion to include extending the City Treasurer position to 2008. MOVED BY MAGEE, SECONDED BY HICKMAN AND CARRIED WITH A VOTE OF 3-2 WITH KELLEY AND SCHIFFNER OPPOSING TO EXTEND THE. CURRENT COUNCIL AND CITY TREASURER TERMS FOR ONE YEAR TO ADOPT EVEN YEAR ELECTION STARTING IN 2006 AND 2008. Mayor Buckley requested that the Committee give a presentation at the November 9, Council Meeting. Chairwoman Atkins commended the City staff on their assistance to the Committee. CITY MANAGER COMMENTS None. CITY ATTORNEY COMMENTS None. CITY COUNCIL COMMENTS None. ADJOURNMENT THE SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING WAS ADJOURNED AT 7:30 P.M. THOMAS BUC Y, MAYOR CITY OF ELSINORE Page Twenty-one -Special City Council Minutes -November 3, 2004 Respectfully submitted, //1'G~~ rederick R y, eputy City Clerk ATTEST: ~~ `'ICKI KASAD MC CITY CLERK/ HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR CITY OF LAKE ELSINORE