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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 1992-01-22Mayor John R. Penna Council: Jack Drago Joseph A. Fernekes Gus Nicolopulos ~oberta Cerri Teglia MINUTES City Council Municipal Services Building Community Room January 22, 1992 002'50 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, pursuant to Section 54956 of the Government Code of the State of California, that the City Council of the City of South San Francisco will hold a Special Meeting on Wednesday, the 22th day of January 1992, at 6:45 p.m., in the Municipal Services Building Community Room, 33 Arroyo Drive, South San Francisco, California. Purpose of the meeting: 1. Closed Session for the purpose of the discussion of personnel matters, labor relations, property negotiations and litigation. Barbara A. Battaya, Cityd~lerk City of South San Francisco Dated: January 16, 1992 AGENDA ~ALL TO ORDER: (Cassette No. 1) ROLL CALL: Closed Session for the purpose of the discussion of personnel matters, labor relations, property nego- tiations and litigation. ~5~ RECALL TO ORDER: ACTION TAKEN 7:00 p.m. Mayor Penna presiding. Council present: Council Absent: Drago, Fernekes, Nicolopulos, Teglia, and Penna. None. Mayor Penna announced that the Council was adjourning to a Closed Session at 6:51 p.m. and cited the following to be discussed pursuant to: GC 54956.8, pro- perty negotiations on Oyster Point Marina; GC 54956.9(c) proposed litigation Oyster Point Interchange Right-of-way; GC 54957 modifications of City Manager contract. Mayor Penna recalled the meeting to order at 8:28 p.m., all Council present, no action was taken and said that the sub- committee was to meet with the negotiator to discuss concerns with the right-of-way acquisition. M/S Nicolopulos/Fernekes - To adjourn the meeting. 1/22/92 Page i ACTION TAKEN 00251 AGENDA ADJOURNMENT: RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, ~attay~k City of South San FranciSco Carried by unanimous voice vote. Time of adjournment was 8:28 p.m. The entries of this Council meeting show the action taken by the City Council to dispose of an item. Oral communications, arguments, and comments are recorded on tape. The tape and documents related to the items are on file in the Office of the City Clerk and are available for inspection, review and copying. 1/22/92 Page 2 Mayor John R. Penna Council: Jack Drago Joseph A. Fernekes Gus Nicolopulos "-'~oberta Cerri Teglia AGENDA CALL TO ORDER: (Cassette No. 1) ROLL CALL: PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE AGENDA REVIEW ORAL COMMUNICATIONS CONSENT CALENDAR Motion to approve the Minutes of the Regular Meeting of 1/8/92, and the Adjourned Regular Meeting of 1/10/92. 2. Motion to cOnfirm expense claims~O~ of 1/22/92. MINUTES City Council Municipal Services Building Community Room January 22, 1992 VOL, 252 ACTION TAKEN 7:31 p.m. Mayor Penna presiding. Council present: Council absent: Recited. AGENDA REVIEW Drago, Fernekes, Nicolopulos, Teglia, and Penna. None. City Manager Armas stated that there were no changes to the Agenda. He introduced new Fire Chief Andrew Stark to the Council. Fire Chief Stark expressed his appre- ciation for the warm welcome he had received, and stated he was very proud of this Fire Department and would work very hard to carry on the tradition. Mayor Penna welcomed Mr. Stark to the City on behalf of the Council and wished him well. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS No one chose to speak. COMMUNITY FORUM No one chose to speak. CONSENT CALENDAR Approved. Approved in the amount of $1,796,726.39. 1/22/92 Page I AGENDA ACTION TAKEN ' ~ONSENT CALENDAR 3. Resolution approving an agreement to provide geotechnical services for the design of the new corpor- ation yard. e A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING EXECUTION OF AGREEMENT FOR GEOTECHNICAL SERVICES FOR THE NEW CORPORATION YARD Resolution approving an agreement with the County of San Mateo for cost sharing of the Environmental Documents for Hickey Boulevard Extension. A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING EXECUTION OF AGREEMENT FOR COST SHARING OF ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENTS FOR THE HICKEY BOULEVARD EXTENSION Resolution approving an agreement with Smith, Randlett, Foulk and Stock, Inc. for engineering design and surveying, and calling bids for the Baden Avenue Reconstruction. A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING EXECUTION OF AGREEMENT FOR ENGINEERING DESIGN AND SURVEYING FOR THE BADEN AVENUE RECONSTRUCTION Bo Resolution approving an agreement with Smith, Randlett, Foulk and Stock, Inc. for engineering design and surveying, and calling bids for the Baden Avenue Reconstruction. A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING EXECUTION OF AGREEMENT FOR ENGINEERING DESIGN AND SURVEYING FOR THE BADEN AVENUE RECONSTRUCTION CONSENT CALENDAR ,-53 RESOLUTION NO. 4-92 RESOLUTION NO. 5-92 Removed from the Consent Calendar by Vice Mayor Teglia. M/S Teglia/Fernekes - To approve the Consent Calendar with the exception of Item No. 5. Carried by unanimous voice vote. M/S Fernekes/Drago - To adopt the Resolution. RESOLUTION NO. 6-92 Carried by majority voice vote, Vice Mayor Teglia abstained. 1/22/92 Page 2 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN .~ADMINISTRATIVE BUSINESS 6. Motion to approve submittal of a letter to the Bart Policy Committee objecting to the inclusion of an at grade BART line alternative. 254 ADMINISTRATIVE BUSINESS Director Economic & Community Development Costello spoke of a meeting she attended on the Bart Extension where S.S.F. con- cerns were raised by MTC staff who were to ask the Bart Policy Comm. to add an alternative to the environmental docu- ments for Bart to be located at grade in S.S.F. between Mission Rd. and Chestnut Ave. She stated that all the previous proposal have been either a retained cut or below ground, and this would mean a station, whether it was located at Hickey or Chestnut, would have to be an over- pass. She stated that the reason given for the alternative had been a cost savings with the staff report going to the Bart Policy Comm. saying that it could cost as much as $63,000,000 at grade rather than a subway. She stated that the Bart Policy Comm. had agreed to look at the Hickey location and their report said that to put a Hickey station below grade would cost as much as $11,000,000 more and as much as $23,000,000 more than the subway solution for Chestnut Ave. She stated that she had reiterated to the Committee the City's letter stating their priority is for it to be underground, and that the City would not be willing to accept an at grade in exchange for putting in a Hickey Blvd. station. She stated that the Council was being asked tonight to reiterate that opposi- tion to the at grade line alternative, and spoke in-depth of the impacts of an at grade Bart line on the area. Discussion followed: MTC's at grade con- figuration through S.S.F.; that the line was underground through Colma; that the four cities should unite in an effort to have their voice heard at a Federal level; that a Chestnut station would down grade properties; that the cities should present a case after completion of the 1/22/92 Page 3 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN --~DMINISTRATIVE BUSINESS 6. Motion - Continued. LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS Motion to adopt an ordinance relating to the power to appoint City Department Heads. AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO AMENDING VARIOUS SECTIONS OF TITLE 2 AND TITLE 3 OF THE SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO THE POWER TO APPOINT CITY DEPARTMENT HEADS 255 ADMINISTRATIVE BUSINESS EIR; that new Federal monies would be coming for Bart; Vice Mayor Teglia was concerned over acting on Item No. 4 before Bart was completed; that Item No. 4 was only for preparation of an EIR, and was only to enable the County to reim- burse the City; Vice Mayor Teglia felt there should be stronger representation than staff, such as a couple of Councilmembers; Councilman Nicolopulos volunteered to go to the Bart meeting as a representative of the Council. M/S Drago/Teglia - To approve submittal of a letter to the Bart Policy Committee objecting to the inclusion of an at-grade Bart line alternative. Carried by unanimous voice vote. LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS Mr. Lou Dell'Angela, 460 Gardenside Ave., stated that he supported the ordinance and felt it was long overdue. He stated that he had worked for the City as a department head from 1979-1984 under Mr. Birkelo when the department heads were appointed by the Council, and he felt it was a very open situation; and the City Manager balanced the personalities and made things happen; so we didn't have, as was described, a disastrous big political situation. He stated that as a consultant coming to City Hall to solve problems his clients had, one went from the rank and file, up through the division heads and department heads, to the City Manager without anything being solved. He stated that department heads were important and should be problem solvers because if they were not the Council would hear about it. He stated that it was extremely critical that the department heads were open with the public, solved problems, and that they were appointed by Council. 1/22/92 Page 4 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN _EGISLATIVE BUSINESS 7. Motion - Continued. 256 LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS He felt the present City Manager was apparently looking for passive persons who were not outspoken and went along with the situation, however, the Council might want someone open, independent, and was a good communications type of person. He felt that when a person was making $100,000 with salary and benefits they should appoint them and have them work with the Council rather than delegate that authority. He stated that the City had a good experience with Mr. Birkelo in hiring the City Manager with a lot of progress made, and now they had a major upheaval with many problems with department heads being quite intimidated by the process and would not talk on a variety of issues facing the City. He felt that the pre- sent structure gave too much power to one man - the City Manager. He felt that by the Council appointing department heads there were checks and balances, more sensitivity to the public, more problem solving, less bureaucratic red tape, and less politics because the department was not under the domination of one person. Mr. Paul Tognetti, 845 Olive Ave., stated that he was a retired Fire Captain and a former Police Officer, was not running for City Council, and his speech was not that he would have added power if elected to the Council. He spoke of the old days philosophy that if you were not born and raised here, you were an outsider, and there was family protection. He stated that he had spoken to many people in the community and most seniors felt that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. He stated that this system had come about from much suffering of people being appointed in restaurants, and other cities thinking this City was run by the Mafia. He thought this system was good, pro- 1/22/92 Page 5 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN ..... SEGISLATIVE BUSINESS 7. Motion - Continued. 257 LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS fessionals were hired to conduct tests, and politics were kept out of it. He stated that now there was talk of firing the City Manager which he thought was a nice guy, even though he didn't always agree with him, but he knew why we had the present City Manager form of govern- ment today. He stated that 40 years ago there were emotions, favoritism, free loaves of bread to get a vote, and so on. He felt that a 4-1 vote was a safeguard so one Councilmember would not get carried away, and the City Manager could always be fired if he wasn't doing a good job. Councilman Nicolopulos stated that he had listened to four hours of testimony in Closed Session and the Council would accomplish what Mr. Tognetti had asked, but asked that Mr. Tognetti trust the Council decision making. He questioned how much evidence Mr. Tognetti had acquired on this case, because as a policeman a judge had told him to not come before him with allegations. Mr. Mark Addiego, 329 Evergreen Dr., stated that as a former Councilmember who had not lived in the City as long as Mr. Tognetti - he remembered a different system of government. He stated that in listening to Mr. Dell'Angela had noted that he was a victim of the system five or six years ago which was not good poli- tics, and there was a level of discomfort and anguish expressed. He stated that at the last meeting in watching the Council conduct itself, it had not been good politics - not good government. He wanted to talk about the philosophy of City Manager form of government, and stated that the City Manager was very basic and was trying to surround himself with the best talent possible. He con- tinued, he looked for that star - that cut above, not unlike what the Council 1/22/92 Page 6 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN ~_EGISLATIVE BUSINESS 7. Motion - Continued. 258 LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS would do, which creates success in having the best subordinates. He stated that when he was part of the system there were five bosses who selected department heads and it was unwieldy, and perhaps one Councilperson had an interest in a particular depart- ment and would exercise an undue amount of influence, and he felt that was not a healthy balance. He remembered being a part of the Council when a head hunter was hired because the City was having difficulty in recruiting because of the City's reputation. He stated that Mr. Haffey had argued hard and long because he knew how important reputation was to professional people. He noted that a lot of new recruits came from Southern California and felt it was because those cities Councils were not as intimately involved with instances such as occurred at the last meeting. He quoted Adlai Stevenson, "Good govern- ment, honest government could not exist side by side with bad politics. The best government is the best politics." He stated that the last Council meeting was bad politics, and urged the Council to reverse the course begun at the last meeting. Councilman Nicolopulos stated that he had known and loved Mark's mother and grand- father, and spoke of how well respected his grandfather had been in the community. He stated that he had always respected Mark and asked the same courtesy to con- sider that he had listened to four hours of testimony, and wanted Mark to believe that he had made his best decision. Mr. Addiego stated that he was not here to challenge the testimony or the background information received by 1/22/92 Page 7 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN '--I_EGISLATIVE BUSINESS 7. Motion - Continued. 259 LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS Council, but to share a philosophy. Councilman Nicolopulos stated that he had served for 10 years on the ABAG Board as a representative for Air Quality, and spoke of the collective talent that was going to make transportation gridlock and ferry boats happen. Councilman Drago stated that he was starting to feel like a whistle blower. He stated that people were talking about a 4-1, but that had only come into the picture in the last 11 months. He stated that this call for action tonight would have never taken place if the process had been followed - that was the issue tonight, not the individuals. He quoted Senator Kopp when he was speaking about the Bart cars, "This thing has been twisted and perverted both in process and results." He stated that he would go over some of the points because there had been so much personalities and issues raised that we have gotten away from the original problem: the City Manager's contract called for an executive session to be held with department head appointments; he failed to do this and the rest followed; State law prohibits certain actions to protect the public; these pro- hibited actions did occur during polling of the Council and the actions taken on their results; specifications for Fire Chief called for a degree of a BA and a minimum of an AA; attempts were made to change this a month ago before the test, but it failed because of the Personnel Board; he had attended a Personnel Board meeting last night and had listened to their comments about what occurred, yet applications were received from candidates that do not possess the minimum qualifi- cation and these turned out to be the top finishers; the City Manager's own policy of interviewing three candidates for every position was not followed - he only 1/22/92 Page 8 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN ZEGISLATIVE BUSINESS 7. Motion - Continued. 260 LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS interviewed two, the third person was an in-house candidate; the process was the issue - not the innuendos. He stated that he had no other opportunity to bring this issue forward because there was no executive session to voice these concerns. He stated that he was elected to govern this City, yet he could not get involved with the 10 most critical posi- tions in the City - he was on the outside looking in and could not get anyone's attention. He stated that he didn't break the rules, he was trying to bring out that this system does not work. He stated that when you put the power in the hands of one man it is known that that is subject to abuse, and he would rather put his faith in people that are making policy decisions - the hands of five people. He stated that he had received many let- ters from members of the community in support of the Council running the City - not the City Manager. He stated that it was a fact that the Council appointed the City Manager, so why let him run them. He stated that one letter was from a former judge who was concerned over a deviation from an agreed upon procedure in a personnel matter. He stated that he too had faith in five people, no matter how much they disagree, rather than one person who has lived here less than three years. He proceeded to state concerns voiced in the various letters. He stated that this ordinance was not changing the City Manager form of govern- ment, but was only giving back the power to hire and fire department heads to the Council. Vice Mayor Teglia stated that her con- tacts in the City were very concerned that because of a particular incident - the Council tended to throw out the entire system and go backwards in time. 1/22/92 Page 9 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN 261 --.EGISLATIVE BUSINESS 7. Motion - Continued. LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS She stated that we do have a system, a City Manager form of government, that was intended to have checks and balances; was intended to have a proper professional administration of the City, and to keep the political element from meddling into the internal affairs of the day to day running of the City. She stated that they had heard from a gentleman who had problems getting through the staff, but perhaps what he and his clients were asking for is something from time to time that is perhaps contrary to the direction of Council; and professional staff is not going to wheel and deal. She stated that if there is going to be a change it had to come back to Council and would be in the open so people would know. She stated that this system had worked very well to pick out a City Engineer, a City Librarian, Recreation Director, and Economic & Community Development Director. She stated that on reflection she could not agree that the City Manager failed to call an Executive Session, and thought that the Council got in the way there. She stated that at one of their meetings there was enough blame to go around for every single one of them because every single one of them could have been more responsible than they were. She stated that the Closed Session could have been called by any one of them, and cited numerous reasons for not calling one, but related that the Manager did attempt to call it, and from there flowed many things. She stated that she and Joe, as a subcom- mittee, had met with the City Manager to try and see if they could sort out all of the concerns, all the things that went wrong in this particular process that Joe would outline. She proceeded to read from sections of the ordinance dealing with the powers and duties of the City 1/22/92 Page 10 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN .EGISLATIVE BUSINESS 7. Motion - Continued. LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS Manager that she felt took the politics out of that process, and elaborated on the i. mbalance between the political and the professionals. She cited concerns her concerns over the ordinance being changed: that pro- fessionals currently employed would move on rather than deal with five Councilmembers; that the City would move back to a very politically charged cli- mate that the public would not see it but one day it would raise its ugly head. She felt that the Council should deal with every appointment individually without changing the ordinance, and urged them to seriously take a step back. She related an incident some years back when the City was run by the City Council when we had a leachate problem in the marina and being hit by Water Quality and other people because of the garbage being dumped in the bay. She continued, people had wondered why the professional staff had allowed this to happen and we did have engineers who told the Council that it was improper fill, and they were basi- cally told to mind their own business, and years later the City was libel for lots of money, lots of problems which hopefully today were corrected. She stated that it was a choice of politi- cizing the administration of this City or having it done professionally. She urged the Council to not adopt the ordi- nance and work in another direction. Councilman Nicolopulos felt that one of the greatest causes of troubles in orga- nizations was misunderstanding, and felt that we should not attack anyone per- sonally, only argue about the issues; we should not stress to defeat and humiliate the opponent; strive to win his friendship, because you should remember that your opponent on one issue may be your strongest ally on another. 1/22/92 Page 11 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN 263 ~LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS 7. Motion - Continued. LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS Councilman Fernekes stated that in reference to the subcommittee that was established two weeks ago, they had sat down with the City Manager to see if they could come to some type of mutual agreement, somewhere in the middle, to see if we can continue on and have a fair process and get the best candidates available as department heads. He pro- ceeded to give the outline of the subcom- mittee report: they had looked at the meeting of January 15th, where there were some major concerns addressed, and some concerns were not acceptable because of the form of the agreement; in the revised agreement the City Manager should continue to interview Councilmembers to identify desirable qualities and skills in the affected department head position; from this a composite of the Council com- ments will be prepared and shared with the Council along with the periodic staff report so the Council will have some input in the beginning phase of the pro- cess; once a finalized list has been selected, the Council will have the opportunity to meet this individual and will be able to ask questions of the can- didate; the Council will meet in closed session and discuss the qualifications and the procedures that were followed, and at that time the Council would render their veto if it was not acceptable; to avoid any future misunderstanding and make the closed session mandatory - and a job offer can not be made until such a session has occurred; so there is no room for modification, no waiving of a closed session; the most substantive modifica- tion is to permit an appointment to be rejected based on a simple majority vote rather than a 4/5 standard that is now in effect; while confirmation of the appointment is not required, the Council by a simple majority vote may express objections to this appointment - in which case the appointment shall not be ini- tiated by the City Manager; the basis of the objection shall be limited to job performance and indications that the finalist lacks skills and abilities 1/22/92 Page 12 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN .... _EGISLATIVE BUSINESS 7. Motion - Continued. 264 LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS necessary to'perform the duties of the position. Vice Mayor Teglia stated that it was hoped by the Subcommittee that this could be a sufficient step to avoid having to vote on the actual adoption of the ordi- nance. She continued, if the Council felt this was acceptable and we would not vote on the ordinance, and agendize this for adoption at a later meeting. She stated that in meeting with City Manager it was important to note that this was a unilateral, not a bilateral - the Manager agreed to this. She stated that if the Council was not going to seriously entertain this amendment to his employ- ment agreement, and is fixed on moving forward to strip the Manager of his authority to hire and fire department heads and place that in the hands of the City Council -- because all the implica- tions of that - she would hope that the Council will consider that there is no emergency - no department to fill, no resignation or retirement in the next few months. She hoped that the Council would consider getting some sort of direction from the community at large before it moves on this. She stated that she would hope to put it on the ballot and letting the community express their opinion on having the Council involved in the hiring and firing of the employees and maybe the City has turned its back on that. Mayor Penna stated that this was a dif- ficult issue - you can see both sides of the issue clearly, but its politics that it comes down to, and we look for a system that may be perfect, but it is not a perfect system at all. He stated that it was called a science, but science has a lot of experimentation that takes place before you get a final result, before things change - that's politics. 1/22/92 Page 13 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN 265 ~'--~.EGISLATIVE BUSINESS 7. Motion - Continued. LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS He commented on the statement, "If it's not broke, don't fix it", but he stated that it was broke and needed to be fixed, that was why the ordinance was on the agenda tonight. He stated that he had heard the comments: that we are going to be playing the old political games of deciding in the local coffee shops or pubs on a department head; or who is going to come to work or how the City is going to be run; or are we going through a professional approach which is an assessment center approach - they are both the same. He stated that the assessment center approach used this time was simply an orchestrated approach to try to appoint someone in a professional way. He stated that the assessment center was put together by the City Manager, there were four people: one was a local employee of the City, a City Manager out of one of the cities on the peninsula that the City Manager knows well, and also two Fire Chiefs. He stated that the assessment center did not consist of any examina- tion, but was an interview process where individuals were able to talk about their experiences, and a grading system was made by the individual assessors. He reiterated that it was not a test, that it was on how someone was able to com- municate to those four people how they felt about this particular job. He stated that the Council was able to see the results of that assessment center, the final vote, but did not see the indi- vidual tally of each assessor even though they were asked for - the City Manager refused to give us those results. He felt that was important because when you have assessors known to the Manager, then he is able to orchestrate this. He questioned what the difference was in the system between having someone you meet at the local coffee shop and decide they are going to be in that position, or you do it through a profession - or what is called a professional way because it has the same markings on it. 1/22/92 Page 14 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN "'_EGISLATIVE BUSINESS 7. Motion - Continued. 266 LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS He stated that someone had said it was a smoke screen tonight, and replied that it was and did not think it was fair. He stated that the other question that came up was should the Council's philosophy prevail or should the City Manager's phi- losophy prevail. He felt that the Council's philosophy should prevail because they are the people that are elected by the community to represent them and run the City through the consen- sus of Council. He stated that the problem is not with the Council fighting amongst itself, but that Council is faced with how this City Manager is running this City, and how he is not taking, at least the feeling of some Councilmembers, is not taking direction from this Council. He stated that someone had said that the Council did not look good at the last meeting, and he agreed - and felt that was probably true tonight because we are going through a very difficult period here; and because it was a public forum and was televised for everyone to view; and felt this was a process the Council needed to follow in order for the public to understand what the Council was going through because up to now it had been one sided and this brought it all out. He stated that someone had said that five bosses were four too many - and he agreed the City Manager should have the authority to hire and fire, but direction should be taken from the Council. He stated that the contract given to this City Manager specifically says that the City Manager agrees to interview each Councilmember to ascertain his or her views on desirable qualifications for a vacant position. He stated that the City Manager did meet with the Council and ask each one for their opinions - just once. He stated that he was disturbed to find out at the last meeting when the Fireman got up and gave his speech that the City Manager was down at the fire house for 1/22/92 Page 15 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN _EGISLATIVE BUSINESS Motion - Continued. 267 LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS the past year having coffee with the boys to ascertain what their needs and wants were - shere was he with us, and felt betrayed on that. He stated that the Manager's contract read that prior to tendering an offer of employment to an individual the City Manager plans to appoint to the position the City Manager agrees to share with the Council in executive session information relative to that individual's qualifica- tions for the position. He continued, while confirmation of the appointment is not required the Council by a 4/5 vote may express its objections, disappoint- ments - in which case the appointment shall not be initiated by the City Manager. He stated that the executive session never took place. He stated that it was said, and correctly so, that the Manager said he was planning to make an appointment prior to Christmas or thereabouts at the 12/11/91 meeting, and asked if Council wanted him to have another executive session on his appoint- ment or have him pass the resume amongst the Council and have them get back to the Manager if there were any objections. He stated that there was opposition and con- cerns were voiced, but it was mistreated and in his opinion if the executive session had taken place, because the Manager knew there was a problem, those concerns could have been voiced - maybe the results would have ended up the same way. He stated that the process was not followed, which is part of the Manager's agreement, and he also felt that the Manager did not have the right under the contract to waive the executive session. He stated that the new contract that was referred to tries to correct that, and he did not think it did and make the situation worse. He stated that the new contract as outlined by the Subcommittee says the Council will be provided with a copy of the individual's resume or job 1/22/92 Page 16 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS 7. Motion - Continued. 268 LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS application - yet the Council was pro- vided with a copy of this individual's resume which was a summary type of resume that did not speak to how they performed in their job - only about the kind of jobs they did. He stated that it said that the City Manager will schedule a mutually convenient time for the Council to meet with the finalist - which he felt would be a good thing because the Council could communicate with these individuals. He continued, but the problem with the process again is how do those individuals get to be finalists when in this case there were eight finalists, but this did not indicate which finalists. He stated that it says, a mandatory execu- tive session shall be convened imme- diately following this meeting to enable the Council to discuss with the City Manager questions or concerns about the finalists. He felt that the word man- datory was redundant when already says that an executive session would be held. He stated that the next paragraph that follows says, an offer of employment shall not be tendered by the City Manager until an executive session has been held, and they are contradictory statements because there is no time period. He questioned if that meant a second, a minute, an hour, a day, a month, a year - and felt that was the problem all the way through the contract, there were no time periods. He questioned the clause dealing with the basis of the objection being limited to job performance or indi- cations that the finalist lacks skills and abilities necessary to perform the duties of the position. He stated that now we are getting into a situation where we have to have some very solid specifics in order to object to the individual which the prior contract did not provide, it just said you have to voice a concern. He stated that the most important reason was absent, and that was the educational requirements that the Personnel Board had already placed on the requirement list. 1/22/92 Page 17 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN 263 _EGISLATIVE BUSINESS 7. Motion - Continued. LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS He stated that comments were made about good government vs. bad government, and he felt that government was as good as we want it to be or as bad as we want to make it to be. He continued, you have to have faith and confidence in your public officers because when these types of screw ups occur there is no place for us to go as public officials, no one we can appeal to and we have to make our deci- sions and abide by them. He stated that there was a problem and the Council was looking at a process to set up that can be followed, so we don't have these foul ups, so we do try to get the best people we can possibly get. He stated that it was mentioned here that we may be meddling with the day-to-day operations which he did not believe was so, and felt that the Manager should not have superior power over anyone. He stated that he felt that the only way to really correct the situation tonight was to pass this ordinance and then deal with the technicalities that may be involved to correct the process. He stated that it was a way for the Council to say they did not like what had hap- pened here, they had been misguided, misjudged, there were misunderstandings, but we are going to take back the power to hire department heads until we come to a position where we can work out our differences and effect a policy. He stated that it was better to take back the power now rather than try to do it at a later date when there is an appoint- ment, and there is a lot of politics that can get involved with the appointment. Councilman Drago stated that there appeared to be general concerns over the way the ordinance is going to be applied - there appeared to be fears there, however, if the ordinance is passed it would not take effect for 30 days. He stated that during that time, with Council permission, he would like to take part with Councilman Fernekes to put together 1/22/92 Page 18 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS 7. Motion - Continued. 270 LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS a process that was fair and equitable to everyone to alleviate some of those fears about meddling and see what happens. He stated that he had expressed his reasons on why he opposed the proposal to change the agreement because he did not feel it was a significant change to the existing one, and did have a problem with being limited to only concerns on job performance which you could not tell until they started performing. Councilman Nicolopulos commented on Mark's Mother being an asset to this com- munity, and also noted the Penna family's contributions to the community in addi- tion to those given to his father in his laundry business. Vice Mayor Teglia stated that her Father had worked for and loved the City, and had heard the not so wonderful side - the politics, and there were fears from the employees at that time about the hiring that took place and about a lot of unfairness existing. She continued, and how political the town was, and suspected it was part of what made her want to make some changes in that there were things not beautiful, not wonderful, and not right, and we have come a long way and she did not want to see us go back and be counter productive. City Manager Armas stated that he took considerable pride in having taken time over many years to develop the technical competence, the professional skills and sensitivity to deal with different situations. He stated that he had taken pride in that because he had chosen to work in the public section and had a lot of faith in local government, and it is most responsive to the public's needs. He stated that that was probably amph- lified in S.S.F. in the community of TV where the public can stay home and keep in touch with government. 1/22/92 Page 19 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN r _EGISLATIVE BUSINESS 7. Motion - Continued. 271 LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS He stated that it was clear to him that we could have done some things better, and it was also clear to him that we all have taken great comfort in the 20/20 hindsight that time presents us with. He stated that there were a couple of things stated, most particularly by the Mayor, that he needed to speak to mostly because he had a lot of pride in his pro- fessional commitment, and obligations not only to the Council but to local government and the others that will succeed him. He stated that he took considerable exception to the notion that this was an orchestrated process - what that really means is that there is an accusation that he rigged the outcome. He stated that that was far from the truth - there were two Fire Chiefs that served on that panel that he had never met before that came from larger cities. He stated that he had heard of them from others relative to their professional competence and that they ran well departments and were respected by fire officials. He stated that the testing process that was used was not typical of so many others that are used in government where they consist of one hour interviews, instead it was an all day evaluation where we took various areas and covered as best we could the candidates ability to handle a situation - that was intentional, one can be snowed very easily in an hour setting, and it was much more difficult when one has to respond throughout a day when the guard slips - stress comes into play. He con- tinued, the personnel supervision and labor relations, and holding people accountable for performance, and a fire incident and how the individual would respond. He stated that it was far from a very lighthearted exercise and there was a critique of that process - a critique of that candidate. He stated that they learned the strengths of some 1/22/92 Page 20 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN ---LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS 7. Motion - Continued. 272 LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS and the weakness of others. He stated that he was not involved in the ranking of the candidates, but had observed their performance for his own information. He stated that he had commented about pride of the profession and one aspect of that is to respond to Council concerns, and the majority of them have worked with me, and he had worked for them for over three years. He did not believe that the Council could point to instances where he had disregarded Council direction, and had made his case to the Council some- times in a public session and privately on appropriate topics in closed session, and his implementation of that was not different than Council direction. He stated that some criticism was made of the agreement and he thought the reference to the votes and the earlier version was to talk about safeguards and the checks and balances with the Council making the ultimate decision. He stated that the Council had also recruited for the Manager under a set of circumstances much as when you purchase a home, and there would be a mortgage with a fixed term, and in times of inflation the banks do not have the right to unila- terally change that rate - there are such things as obligations and there are such things as principles. He stated that he tried to conduct himself with principles in mind, there may be differences of opinion and he may not be the best person for this City, but he would stress as often as he could that his obligation was to fulfill his professional duties what- ever the Council decision, it will be his responsibility to carry that out con- sistent with the responsibilities that Council has entered into. He stated that he felt that this organi- zation has suffered enough and he was going to do his best to present as posi- 1/22/92 Page 21 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN 273 'ZEGISLATIVE BUSINESS 7. Motion - Continued. LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS tive and provide as broad and construc- tive a face as he could, and the Council would not see anything different from him. Ms. Shirley Hoch, Wexford Ave., stated that Councilman Nicolopulos did not know her grandparents as they were in Europe saving money to come over, but she too loved S.S.F. and was willing to serve in any way to make this City better. She felt that the last two weeks had been terrible for this City, and had divided the citizens at a time when S.S.F. needs to move forward. She stated that there was one side siding with Councilman Drago, and one side saying we have to move forward or they side with Vice Mayor Teglia. She felt that was not fair because it was not a Jack or Roberta issue, but an issue dealing with a contract with the City Manager when it came up which she felt should not be taken up right now when there are so many more important issues to be dealt with. She stated that Councilman Nicolopulos and the Council may have heard four hours of testimony, but the citizens feel there could be legal or financial ramifications if the Council passes this ordinance. She questioned what would happen if the Council violated this contract with the City Manager. City Attorney O'Toole stated that the ramifications of the Council's actions have been discussed in great length in executive session, and he thought each of the Councilmembers were aware of the potential that exists as a result of the action they are about to take. He stated that it was a matter that he had advised the Council is appropriate for executive session, and he did not feel it was something the Council should discuss at this point in time. Ms. Hoch commented, so there is a possi- bility that there could be a financial 1/22/92 Page 22 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN '-~LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS burden on this community. Mayor Penna stated that that was Ms. Hoch's conclusion, not anyone else's. Ms. Hoch stated that someone had men- tioned that they were upset because Mr. Armas had been out to the fire station having coffee with the employees, and she saluted him for finding the time to meet with the employees and taking their opi- nions. She felt that was admirable and he should not be chastised for there is a joke going around the community that they want to offer a cartoon to the newspapers rather than the typical ad for employ- ment that you put "only friends, rela- tives, and political contributors need apply." She felt that by passing the ordinance the Council was putting politics back into all your appointments - something she did not want to see the City do as a relatively newcomer who had only been here 18 years. She stated that it took a lot of extra hard work to be accepted in a community when it goes back so far, and there were certain things in life we can not change: we can not change catastro- phies; we can't do anything on the way the State or County funds us, but we can not do anything if we are not working together. She spoke of compromise, and congratulated Councilman Fernekes on the newspaper article that spoke of his working on a compromise and hoped that the Council would take a look at that, maybe not vote on this tonight, and look at a compromise. Councilman Nicolopulos stated that Ms. Hoch was new member here and had a dif- ficult role with the School Board, but a wonderful role. He stated that he had met someone for the first time in the Kiwanis who was doing a wonderful job in the School District and the man had been in the community since 1959, and he was 1/22/92 Page 23 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN --_EGISLATIVE BUSINESS 7. Motion - Continued. 275 LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS sorry he had not met him before. Fire Fighter Ray Green stated that the Council had talked about being responsible to the citizens, and you wanted to have more say in the hiring of department heads, because when a depart- ment head messes up - the Council was responsible to the citizens. He stated that the other side to that is that the Council wanted someone who is a profess- ional - you hire someone, say in charge of Finance, you want that person to be a professional and do the job. He stated that if Molari and Curly become members of the Council, this person then has to align himself to them to survive - he is no longer a professional, and becomes a survivalist if he wants to keep his job and has to go along with the majority of the people. He stated that the Council had a compro- mise before it, there were two members of a subcommittee that has come up with some suggestions. He stated that the Mayor had said that he did not have the time to interview some of the people, and suggested that the Manager make the recommendations after going through the procedure as he does now, and present the candidates to the Council. He stated that Council could then in the final interviews ask questions of the can- didates if they have a concern; they can present that to the candidate; the City Manager would then make his recommen- dation, and three members - a majority of the Council could then override the City Manager's selection. He stated that gives the Council the power they seem to want. He felt that compromise would work out both ways, and the Council should listen to the Subcommittee. He stated that the Manager does the back- ground check, presents the candidates to Council, and they would be involved in the final selection; and if there was a concern you could ask questions 1/22/92 Page 24 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN ~LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS 7. Motion - Continued. 276 LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS of the candidates; and then a simple majority can override the City Manager's recommendation. He stated that speaking as a Fire Fighter, whatever action the Council took tonight he just prayed that it was not retroactive. He stated that they have the best candidate now for the position of Fire Chief - please let him do his job, and together go forward for the citizens of S.S.F. He stated that they had two great guys in house, Ron Sciandri and Russ Lee, they are well respected by the Fire Department, but at this time, and he was speaking for the majority of fire fighters, that the Chief we have now - let him do his job and let us get behind him and go forward and keep providing the best service to the citizens. Mayor Penna stated that the Council was voting on the ordinance, if the ordinance passes the conversation about a subcom- mittee would be appropriate and is established if the ordinance passes. He stated that if the ordinance passes, no one should be thinking that it means that anyone's job in this City is jeopar- dized - no job shall be jeopardized by this ordinance. Councilman Drago stated that that should be made clear, but as Mr. Green said "it does not say that." He stated that it said, we will be given the finalist the City Manager selected, and can only object on certain ground. Mr. Jake Jones urged the Council to adopt the ordinance because the people voted for you to run the City. He stated that he had sat on some of these assessment boards since Mr. Armas has been Manager, and on one we had a local person that was top on the list, but we had to talk like heck to get him appointed to the Director's job. He 1/22/92 Page 25 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN '-".EGISLATIVE BUSINESS 7. Motion - Continued. 2__77 LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS questioned how many people had been hired that were qualified for the job and live in S,S.F. He questioned why the Manager did not want to hire local people, and only wanted to hire people from out of town. Councilman Fernekes stated that the Subcommittee report was not on the agenda, and could not be acted upon tonight. He stated that the only way we can find out concurrence is if we ask that the ordinance be put on hold so this can be agendized, so at this time he would make the motion to put it on hold. City Attorney O'Toole stated that he believed the appropriate motion would be to continue the vote on the ordinance to a date in the future so that this item could be put on the agenda for a date certain. M/S Fernekes/Teglia - To continue the vote on the ordinance to the next meeting so this item can be put on the agenda. Motion and Second failed by majority roll call vote, Councilmembers Fernekes and Teglia voted yes. M/S Drago/Nicolopulos - To adopt the Ordinance. ORDINANCE NO. 1110-92 Councilman Fernekes stated the purpose of the Subcommittee was to try to find a middle ground at ~east until the end of the contract. He agreed that there needed to be modifications to the way we select our department heads. He found some faults, and had done his best on the modifications to meet the concerns expressed at the last Council meeting, and there were others to be addressed. He felt the Council needed a clean pro- cess and a fair process to get the best for the City. He stated that he did not 1/22/92 Page 26 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN 27'8 P ~EGISLATIVE BUSINESS 7. Motion - Continued. LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS want politics involved in any selection process because he had been in a process where it was both, where they were in on the selection process, and there were no politics involved and the School Board did the confirmation after seeing the top candidates. He stated that he did want more involvement in the process, and modifications had been made to that end with a simple majority vote. He felt it was important to have a simple consensus, and the report allows the Council to view at least the top can- didates and sit and discuss that with the City Manager. He stated that he was not pleased with the last process and the misunder- standings, and he would work hard with the ordinance to make sure it is success- ful, was clean, was best for the City, and kept the politics out. Carried by majority roll call vote, Vice Mayor Teglia voted no. Vice Mayor Teglia stated that for all of those people in this community that are seriously disturbed by what has taken place on where we are going, and if they care to make that expression she would like to know it. She stated that there were a number of people that have antici- pated that, and would like to conduct a referendum drive - we will be starting that in the morning and have 30 days to get the signatures. She stated that those people in the community that would like to be part of this - she would like to know and was available through City Hall and her number was in the book. Mayor Penna stated that he would also like to hear from people in the community on the other side of it, because it would help him in decisions to be made. Councilman Drago reiterated wanting to 1/22/92 Page 27 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN ..... LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS 7. Motion - Continued. 0 Motion to waive read and introduce ~/0~ an ordinance establishing the for- mation of a Conference Center Authority. AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO ADDING CHAPTER 2.78 TO THE MUNICIPAL CODE ESTABLISHING THE SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE CENTER AUTHORITY AND GRANTING AUTHORITY FOR THE PROMOTION, OPERATION, MAINTENANCE AND MANAGEMENT OF THE SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE CENTER LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS work with Councilman Fernekes on setting up the procedure and process. He thought the public would be pleased with the pro- cess - contrary to the snow job being handed out. City Clerk Battaya read the title of the ordinance in its entirety. Director of Conference Center Carl stated that the ordinance was designed as an effective mechanism to manage and operate the Conference Center, and that the following revisions directed by Council were incorporated into the ordinance: membership; language regarding membership appointments and confirmation by the Mayor and City Council; and transfer of funds limits between major budget cate- gories. She stated that the Board had requested that the three existing Boardmembers be appointed to the Authority other than the two members that have contractual obliga- tions. She stated that they were con- cerned with the change in the transfer of funds to $5,000 but will operate under those guidelines for six months, and would report back on its effects. Councilman Drago questioned what control the Council was giving up in adopting this ordinance. M/S Teglia/Fernekes - To waive reading of the ordinance. Carried by unanimous voice vote. M/S Teglia/Fernekes - To introduce the ordinance. Carried by majority roll call vote, Councilman Nicolopulos voted no, and Councilman Drago abstained. 1/22/92 Page 28 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN "-ITEMS FROM COUNCIL 9. Oral Committee reports. GOOD AND WELFARE CLOSED SESSION 10. Closed session for the purpose of discussion of personnel matters, labor relations, property nego- tiations and litigation. __RECALL TO ORDER: ADJOURNMENT ITEMS FROM COUNCIL Vice Mayor Teglia reported: that a detox drop off center would be set up in Northern County; that a Subcommittee would be set up for local awareness of the Visitors & Convention Bureau; that Art Rise was asked to vacate E1 Rancho School after January, and they were looking to a fund raiser, a permanent home, and using Orange Park for a theatre in the park. GOOD AND WELFARE No one chose to speak. CLOSED SESSION Council adjourned to a Closed Session at 11:06 p.m. to discuss potential litiga- tion and the items noticed. Mayor Penna recalled the meeting to order at 11:17 p.m., all Council present, no action was taken. M/S Teglia/Fernekes - To adjourn the meeting. Carried by unanimous voice vote. Time of adjournment was 11:17 p.m. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, ~ttaya, City~C k City of South San Francisco hn.APPROv[D' ~ --_ Pl~Qna, M~r- ~ City of ~nUth San Francisco The entries of this Council meeting show the action taken by the City Council to dispose of an item. Oral communications, arguments, and comments are recorded on tape. The tape and documents related to the items are on file in the Office of the City Clerk and are available for inspection, review and copying. 1/22/92 Page 29