HomeMy WebLinkAbout1991-05-21 CRC MINS
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MINUTES OF THE CHARTER REVIEW COMMITTEE
May 21, 1991
Council Conference Room
6:00 p.m.
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MEMBERS PRESENT:
Vice-Chairman John Dorso, Jack Blakely, Sharon
Reid and Ted Hillock
MEMBERS ABSENT:
Chairper son Bob Campbell (excused) , Car los
Batara (unexcused), Susan Fuller (unexcused)
STAFF PRESENT:
Assistant City Attorney Rich Rudolf, Assistant
City Manager Gene Asmus, Planning Director Bob
Leiter, Acting principal planner Bud Gray,
Cliff Swanson, Deputy Public Works Director
and City Engineer
The meeting was called to order by Vice-Chairperson Dorso at 6:11
p.m. Following the roll call, MSUC (Blakely/Reid) to approve the
minutes for the March 19, 1991 meeting.
There being no members of the public present to make public
commen ts, the Commi t tee fir st addr essed Agenda I tern 4 (d) . Ci ty
Engineer Cliff Swanson made a presentation regarding the
potential impact of repealing Charter ~1009 and allowing the
general law found in the Government Code or the Public Contracts
Code to control the letting of City public works contracts. The
Commi t tee was pr esen ted wi th Mr. Swanson's May 10, 1991 memo to
the Charter Review Committee Secretary, and the Secretary's
request to the Di rector of Publ ic Wor ks da ted Apr i 1 16, 1991
requesting an analys is of the poten tial impact of the proposed
repeal. The Commi ttee also discussed the possibili ty of placing
the heart of the provisions in the Municipal Code leaving the
exercise of Charter authority in the Charter; as well as leaving
all of the provisions currently in the Charter, but increasing
the threshold amounts. MSUC (Reid/Blakely) to leave the public
works contracting authority in the Charter, but increase the
threshold amounts from $10,000 and $25,000 respectively to
$25,000 and $50,000. That is contracts for public works projects
with an estimated cost of $50,000 or more must be entered into by
the Council upon the recommendation of the City Manager with the
lowest responsive responsible bidder after sealed bids are
received and in response to newspaper notification of an
invitation for bids; and public works contracts for over $25,000
but less than $50,000 may be let by the Council following a
competitive negotiation process without advertising.
Additionally, pursuant to the existing Charter language, but with
the recommended new dollar thr eshold, for pub I ic works con tr acts
involving the expenditure of $25,000 or less, the City Manager
could let such contracts following a competitive negotiation
process without advertising for bids.
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Charter Review Minutes
May 21, 1991
page 2
The Committee next considered Agenda Item 4(c), a potential
amendment to Charter ~303 regarding the appointment by Council to
fill a Council vacancy pending an election. Assistant City
Manager Gene Asmus made a presentation following up on his
earlier written suggestion to the Committee, requesting the
Committee to consider the possibility of amending the Charter to
allow the Council the flexibility of appointing someone to fill a
Councilor Mayoral vacancy until a special election could be held
in the event that they were unable to fill a vacancy by
appointment until a general election could be held. Following
some ini t ial di scuss ion, the Commi t tee reques ted that the topic
be placed on a future agenda for further discussion with more
members of the Committee present.
The Committee next considered Agenda Item 4(a), the proposal for
Charter-level Community Planning Groups, potentially amending
sections in Article VI of the Charter. Planning Director Leiter
and Acting Principal Planner Bud Gray made presentations regarding
the planning process in general and the specific applicability of
community planning groups. Mr. Gray pointed out that the City of
San Diego had 49 community planning groups requiring 25 city
staff persons just to work with those committees. He pointed out
that the proposal for additional community planning groups
involved potential signi f icant cos ts. Ther e were cos ts r ela ted
to the preparation of a community plan for any potential area
with a community planning group which must meet the legal test of
not being in conflict with the City's General Plan; the cost of
2-3 labor years to prepare such a community plan; and the ongoing
cost of updating the community plan periodically to keep it up to
da te. Following discuss ion amongs t the Commi t tee wi th regard to
differences between the City and County of San Diego and City of
Chula Vista and the lengthy existence in the Municipal Code of
authority for community planning groups to organize in the City,
MSUC (Blakely/Hillock) to delete the issue from the list of
matters being considered by the Committee. By a companion
motion, MSUC (Blakely/Reid) to add the concept of district
elections and increased numbers of Council seats to the list of
items to be considered by the Committee.
The Committee next considered Agenda Item 4(b), relating to
potential amendment of Charter ~308 to allow regular meetings or
actions on special meetings outside the Civic Center. Following
general discussion, the Committee seemed to reach consensus that
the current Charter provisions allow the Council to hold meetings
away from City Hall and obtain significant citizen participation
in the governmental process, wi thout the necessi ty for changing
the Charter. MSUC (Blakely/Hillock) to recommend to the Council
that it was not necessary to make a structural Charter change to
allow the City Council to hold public meetings in the community.
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Charter Review Minutes
May 21, 1991
page 3
All i terns on the agenda having been deal t wi th, the Commi ttee
requested that the City Attorney's secretarial staff call at
least non-present member s of the Commi t tee, approxima tely three
days prior to the next regularly scheduled meeting to remind them
of the meeting, and the meeting adjourned at 7:39 p.m. The next
regularly scheduled meeting for the Charter Review Commi ttee is
June 18, 1991 in the Council Conference Room.
Respectfully submitted,
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D. Richard Rudol[)
Assistant City Attorney
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