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Home My WebLink About1995-11-16 CRC MINS MINUTES. OF A REGULAR MEETING OF .THE CITY OF CHULA VISTA CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION _ NOVEMBER 161 1995 November 16, 1995 City Attorney's Conference Room .4: 30 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: Bob Campbell, Jack Blakely, Deric Prescott, John Dorso, Sharon Reid, and Rosie Bystrak MEMBERS ABSENT: Janet Lawry STAFF PRESENT: City Attorney Bruce Boogaard The meeting was cal-led to order by Chairman Campbell at 4 : 30 p.m. . . The roll was called . and all members were present except Member Lawry. MSUC (Blakely/Reid) to accept Janet Lawry's absence due to a business meeting. Chairman Campbell discussed the letter received from the Mayor and Council regar'ding, ethics. Members Dorso and Bystrak attended the Ethics workshop in June. Mr. Campbell suggested since Bruce' Boogaard is the . staff person assigned to.. the Board of Ethics,. -� perhaps he could make a presentation' to the Charter `' Review Commission with respect to ethics as it applies to ,this Commission and Mr. Campbell would invite Susan Herney to attend. The members supported the Chair's idea. The secretary reported that Toni McKean of- Personnel will be having a seminar on. January ' 30, 1996 from 1: 00 ' to , 4: 00 p.m, for City employees and b/c/c members. The City Attorney stated it's difficult to . imagine how this Commission might be improperly influenced because of the limited scope of amending the Charter.. Member .Dorso mentioned the last hour of the Josephson training where the City .Attorney focused on Chula Vista was most helpful.- ` Approval of Minutes MSUC (Reid/Prescott) to approve.,the minutes of September 21, 1995. Council Referral - Vacancy Reform Chairman Campbell reported at the October 17, 1995 meeting, the City Council reviewed the report from Charter Review and the City Attorney relating to vacancy reform. He noted Councilmember Moot recused himself from voting as he felt it would directly affect his election which left a 2-2 vote. He learned: (1) Mayor Horton is against plurality results (2) election free zone of 12 months was � . Charter Review Commission Minutes November 16, 1995 " Page -2 not adopted even though the discussion ranged from 3 months to 12 months and (3) the anticipated vacancy rule was accepted where a vacancy can be filled by election without having to wait until a person vacates the seat. The Council referred Provisions 2 (Appointed Councilperson's Period of Service) .and 3 (Switch Back to Plurality Rules in Special Elections) back to the Charter Review Commission for additional input and options. Chair Campbell indicated Mayor Horton did not wish to rush into this although the City Attorney pointed out there was a critical time element involved with December being the month for changes to be approved. The City Attorney distributed his latest version of the 11/21/96 . Agenda Statement calling , the election. He walked the members through the item pointing out that the resolution (1) calls the general municipal election for seats 3 and 4 (full term from 1996 to 2000) (2) calls a special municipal election for the short term between March of 1996 and December of 1996 (3) requests the consolidation and (4) places the anticipated vacancy reform item on the ballot for amendment and added a mandatory appointment duty. The Attorney inquired if the Commission agreed with his changes. The members questioned why an additional $61,500 was needed. The Attorney responded that said amount was required in addition to the $21, 000 already budgeted because each ballot label is $16, 000. Discussion ensued regarding the $125, 000 cost involved in a special election and the Attorney in his report noted that he was "standing down" from recommending plurality rule in special elections. The consensus was to add an additional Commission recommendation that Council direct staff to identify a source of funding needed for a June election if the majority rule continues to apply to special elections. The Attorney reviewed the Charter changes proposed and the Commission supports the following: Change No. 1 - Anticipated Vacancy Rule Change No. 2 - Duty to Recognize an Anticipated Vacancy Change No. 3 - Appointed Replacee Serve until any subsequent election opportunity. In Change No. 4 - A three month (special) election free zone: the Charter Review Commission recommended Council should consider a six month "election free zone" instead of three months. MS (Blakely/Dorso) to change the item from one year to six months for the election free zone. Motion Amended to support an election free Charter Review Commission Minutes November 16, 199-5 Page 3 zone and urge the Council to adopt one. The Charter Review Commission believes, however, six months is a better time frame, but could accept whatever time frame Council wants. Motion carried 6-0-1. MSUC (Reid/Prescott) to add a seventh action item to, direct the City Manager to begin to identify sources totalling $125, 000 to. cover the cost of the special election likely to be, required in June, 1996 because of the high likelihood . that there will be at least one of the two seats that won't secure a majority of votes cast in March. Change No. 5- - Mandatory Appointments of Council-electees to Interim Vacancies. MSUC (Reid/Prescott) to approve and support Change No. 5. The -Attorney asked the Commission review the ballot label in the resolution for ,any ambiguities. MSUC (Reid/Prescott) to approve the ballot label language including Section 2 on pages 2 and 3 of the resolution. Mail Ballots and Appointee Eligibility for Subsequent Office Sharon Reid wanted to explore the use of mail ballots and mentioned the argument that there is an increased potential for fraud using mail-in ballot should be stayed by the increased experience in the use of the absentee ballots. There was a _vague recollection that Chula Vista may have tried the .mail ballot, previously. City Attorney Boogaard pointed out §902 of the Charter allows, at the discretion of the City Council, the use of mailed ballots except for the election 'of Councilmembers and Mayor. Sharon Reid wanted to discuss the language contained in Proposition B from the City of San Diego, specifically, "Any person appointed by the Council to fill a vacant�Council District seat shall not be eligible to run for that office for the next succeeding term. " The group wanted it to be clear in the Charter with everyone knowing if you apply for an appointment to Council seat or the Mayor's seat, it means you are not .eligible to run for that seat at the next election and removes the appointed, incumbent advantage. Sharon Reid noted, the record shows the power of incumbency, whether it was received from a true vote of the people or the indirect vote by the Council, is such that the person who .is appointed most often becomes the next elected person. Chairman . Campbell noted experience. carries some weight .and the electorate can study the Charter Review Commission Minutes November 16, 1995 .Page 4 accomplishments of the appointed candidate and not have any information at all regarding the other candidates. MSUC (Reid/Prescott) for the City Attorney to craft language on this issue similar to what has been done with the other . ballot propositions for our next meeting or a meeting in the future. MSUC (Reid/Prescott) to cancel the December 21, 1995 meeting, schedule a meeting for November 30, 1995 at 4': 30 p.m. and set January 18, 1996 at 4 : 30 p.m. for their next regular meeting with the understanding that the November 30, 1995 meeting will be cancelled if there is no referral resulting. from the Council meeting of November 21, 1995. MSUC (Dorso/Prescott) to adjourn the meeting at 6 : 15 p.m. C�Oln�� 414-4� Lorraine Kraker, Secretary C:\crc\minute\11-16-95