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Home My WebLink About1993-01-19 CRC MINS II,'" . MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION JANUARY 19, 1993 January 19, 1993 Council Conference Room 6:00 p.m. ----------------------------------------------------------------- MEMBERS PRESENT: Bob Campbell, John Dorso, Susan Fuller, Jack Blakely, Sharon Reid, Ted Hillock Vickie Turner (excused) MEMBERS ABSENT: STAFF PRESENT: Assistant City Attorney Rudolf The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Campbell at 6:00 p.m. The roll was called and all members were present except Member Turner who was excused for trial preparation. MSUC (Campbell/Reid) for Turner excuse. MSUC (Reid, Fuller) to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of July 21, 1992. There were no comments from members of the public. . Aqenda Item 4 - Election of Officers. The Chair requested staff to conduct the election. Chairperson Campbell was nominated as Chairperson for the period July 1, 1992 through June 30, 1993 (Reid/Fuller), elected by acclaim. Vice- Chair John Dorso was nominated as Vice-Chair (Campbell/Reid) and elected by acclaim. Chairman Campbell resumed leadership of the meeting. Agenda Item S - Work Plan/Prioritization. By consensus, the Commission established four priorities to approach the items for consideration for the coming year: The first priority is Councilor Councilmember referrals (Items A, D and G); the second priority is Items F and P; the third priority is personnel items (Items H, K, L, M, N, 0 and Q; Item Q being an add- on requested by the City Attorney at the Mayor's request, a potential amendment to Section 70l(a) (2) adding a position in the Unclassified Service in the office of Mayor and Council to replace the current secretarial position in the Classified Service providing assistance to the private secretary to the Office of Mayor and Council); and Category 4 (Items B, C, E, I and J; placed last at the request of the city Attorney's office, for further review prior to Charter Review Commission consideration). . Aqenda Item SA: Section 300 (Preferential Voting) Staff pointed out the San Diego Tribune article of Tuesday, July . Charter Review Commission 1/19/93 Minutes Page 2 . 28, 1992 in the packet describing the operation of the preferential voting method urged by the Mayor. Chairperson Campbell inquired whether preferential voting was used anywhere in the United states. Mr. Rudolf advised that according to the Mayor and/or the article, preferential voting was not used by any governmental entity in the United states, but was used in Australia, and is generally the method used for selection of members of corporate boards of directors in the United states. Member Hillock stated the article makes preferential voting sound doable, but he was not convinced there was anything wrong with the current system. He felt preferential voting might be an even more valuable method of voting if the County went to regional government as recently suggested by County Supervisor Bilbray. Member Blakely said he thought the current system was working and didn't need to be fixed. Member Fuller thought the multilevel voting of preferences was too complicated for both the voters and officials who administer the election. Member Blakely inquired whether the Registrar of Voters for the County of San Diego would be able to accommodate the suggested preferential voting method. He felt if no existing computer system existed for efficiently and cheaply counting the votes under such a system, that it wasn't cost efficient or practical, even if the Commission really liked the method of voting. It was the consensus of the Commission to direct staff to contact the County Registrar of Voters to determine if the Registrar's office could currently service the City and what the cost would be if it went to the preferential voting recommended in the Tribune article; and if not, how much it would cost to switch to a system which could service the City. Staff was directed to inquire based on two assumptions: the first being unlimited designation of preferences as set forth in the Tribune article; the second assuming voters only be allowed to express a preference for their first and second choices. Agenda Item 5D - Section 304(d). . Mr. Rudolf pointed out the referral came from a request by Mr. Moore because of his service as Mayor Pro Temp during former Mayor McCandliss' illness, and that the proposed language was found in the City Attorney's memorandum dated August 5, 1992 in the packet. MSUC (Dorso/Reid) that the Commission recommend to the city Council that Charter Section 304(d) be amended so that the last sentence reads: "The Mayor Pro Tempore shall perform the duties of the Mayor in the event of the Mayor's death, until replaced, or during the Mayor's absence or disability." . . . Charter Review Commission 1/19/93 Minutes Page 3 Aqenda Item 5G - Section 311(c). Staff pointed out Council Referral No. 2643 and the City Attorney's August 5, 1992 memo describing in part the Mayor's request for consideration of Charter amendment to give authority to delegate his duty to sign documents under the Charter. Staff read a memorandum from the City Clerk to the Commission providing background on problems with signatures on documents (a copy will be provided with the minutes) . The Charter provision requires: "All ordinances and resolutions shall be signed by the Mayor and attested by the City Clerk." Chairperson Campbell pointed out that the item was not actually a Council referral from the full Council, but just a request from the Mayor individually. Member Blakely said it didn't seem like a good idea to add more work to the City Manager to place a ministerial signature on documents when the Manager was being paid a high salary and had a great many other things to do. He felt that if staff was having trouble getting the Mayor's signature on documents and/or the Mayor was having a difficult time finding time to sign the documents, the Mayor and/or Council should delegate out non- Charter required duties and make the time to sign them. Although he was not inclined to change the Charter to solve the problem, if he did, he would rather put a time limit on when the Mayor must sign the documents after presentation, rather than allow a delegation. He felt that it was a management-style problem that should be resolved between the Mayor and Council and the City Manager and City Clerk. Member Fuller felt it was just a housekeeping chore that was not being kept up with. She felt there should be management practices adopted in the office of the Mayor and Council and put in place to define and handle the Mayor's "absence" so that the Mayor Pro Temp could sign things in an expeditious manner when the Mayor was not available. MSUC (Blakely/Fuller) to recommend to the Mayor and Council that no amendment to the Charter duty to sign ordinances and resolutions was required, and that the Commission suggestion was that the Mayor and Council and City Manager examine the delegation of other less important signatures that weren't required by the Charter, e.g., setting up contracts for signature by the City Manager or department heads or the City Clerk, rather than the Mayor. It was further recommended by the consensus of the Commission that the Charter already provided for the Mayor Pro Tempore to act in the Mayor's absence, including the Mayor's duty to sign ordinances and resolutions, and that some understanding could be reached between the Mayor, Mayor Pro Temp and the City Clerk which would allow the . . . Charter Review Commission 1/19/93 Minutes Page 4 ministerial signature of either the Mayor or the Mayor Pro Tempore to be placed on the documents in a timely and efficient manner. Aqenda Item SF - Section 311(b) Mr. Rudolf pointed out that the current Charter prohibits the Council from making a resolution or order for the paYment of money at any meeting except a regular or adj ourned regular meeting. Such a provision is not required by the general law and seems unduly restrictive on the Council. Oftentimes, the purpose of a special or emergency meeting is to deal with a problem that requires the expedited expenditure of City funds. Accordingly, he recommended the Commission recommend to the Council deletion of Subdivision (b) of Charter Section 311 and relettering of the remaining subdivisions. MSUC (Reid/Fuller) to delete Subsection (b) of Section 311 of the Charter and renumber the remaining subsections. Agenda Item 6 - Members Comments Member Fuller expressed thanks to the City Attorney's Secretary, Lorraine Kraker, for the new and much more clear presentation of the Charter in the 1993 pink version of the Charter, which was distributed to the Commission members with the agenda package. She requested that the minutes reflect consensus of the Commission that Lorraine be congratulated for her initiative and the results of the subject matter index as well as the matrix relating to the legislative history of the Charter. There being no further business, the Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 7:35 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ~,-C~l'~ D. Richard RUd~~ Secretary C:\crc\1l993.min