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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 1996-12-03 Mayor Joseph A. Fernekes Council: Eugene R. Mullin John R. Penna '--Robert Yee MINUTES City Council Municipal Services Building Community Room December 3, 1996 VOl-. I17-121 SPECIAL MEETING CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO DECEMBER 3, 1996 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 Tuesday, the 3rd day of December 1996, at 7:30 p.m. in the City Council Conference Room, City Hall, 400 Grand Avenue, South San Francisco, California. Purpose of the meeting: Consideration of appointment vs. election for the vacant City Council seat and a Motion to direct staff in that regard. Dated: CALL TO ORDER: ROLL CALL: November 25, 1996 A~ENDA (Cassette No. l) 14. Consideration of appointment vs. election for the vacant City Council seat and a Motion to direct staff in that regard. City Clerk City of South San Francisco ACTION TAKEN 7:30 p.m. Mayor Fernekes presiding. Council Present: Mullin, Perma, Yee and Fernekes. Council Absent: None. City Manager Wilson related: decisions needed to be made due to the vacancy created by Jack Drago's departure; whether or not the Council wants to appoint or go for an election; City Attorney had prepared a memo regarding the requirements and will walk the Council through the process and an- swer questions; the City Clerk did some research on some of the historical actions in the past; they would explain the confines of what it takes between now and if you chose to go to the election and tried to also put together a schedule if the Council wanted to 12/3/96 Page 1 AGENDA ACI!ON TAKEN Consideration- Continued. 12/3/96 Page 2 do an appointment in that 30 day window; after the City Attorney's explanation of the law they will talk about the practicality of schedules for either option. City Attorney Mattas related: actions taken by the City Council are governed by GC 36512 with two primary options - make an appointment in 30 days or call for a special election that will occur not less than 114 days from the call of the special election; his memo assumes a decision would not be made until 12/14/96, one way or the other; it calculates the available election date as 6/3/97; the City can have special elections on one of four dates - March, April, June or November; if the Council calls the special election immediately, it could meet the 114 day requirement for the 4/8/96 election assuming the County has that election for the Supervisor's seat; if there is a special election it is for a very short term as indicated by the City Clerk for the regular elec- tion is in November. He responded to questions on an appointment: the language of the Government Code Section requires that the appointment is made in 30 days; does the Council have to make the appointment or just make the decision to appoint within the 30 day time peri- od; the most conservative reading is the Council must make the appointment within 30 days - that is what the language says and is clearly the most de- fensive decision from a legal standpoint; some City Attorneys have offered the opinion that language is what is referred to as directory, rather than manda- tory which means that you should make that deci- sion, but you are not legally obligated to do so; what is the outside risk if the appointment is made outside of the 30 days; someone could bring an action challenging the validity of the appointment and could also challenge some of the actions that have been taken by the Council with that person as a member of the Council on a 3-2 vote, then there is the argument the vote is not valid and challenge that a person is not a qualified member of the Coun- cil; sometimes the Court has found that the person appointed is a de facto member and have upheld the actions of that Councilmember; etc. He stated a third option is to adopt an urgency ordinance that allows the Council to make an ap- pointment until such time as the special election is held. AGENDA ACTION TAKEN Consideration- Continued. 12/3/96 Page 3 City Clerk Battaya stated the Council, in 1992, did adopt an urgency ordinance and she questioned if that did sustain into where we are now. City Attorney Mattas stated that it could, but that ordinance was not reflected in the Code, unless it was an uncodified ordinance. He stated, if the ordinance exists then the Council would just have the opportunity to appoint now pursuant to the ordi- nance or call a special election. The Council has great latitude in the appointments as to when you will interview people and how you will interview people. The only requirements that apply are that it be in an open session, the appointment be made in an open session and the obvious require- ments of non-descrimination. Vice Mayor Mullin questioned, what if the Council chooses to go with the special election, for whatever reason, like you can't come to a decision on an appointment, nobody files, nobody wants to run for a short term - what happens then. City Attorney Mattas stated the Council will have satisfied all requirements and can continue with four members until the next general election. Vice Mayor Mullin stated he could see the expense of going through a special election, assuming that it might be contested, at that point we are talking about a five month term and then turn around and do it again. So, there appears to be some urgency with respect to being able to come to some decision without going through that process. M/S Mullin/Penna - To attempt to appoint someone within the 30 day period. Carried by unanimous voice vote. City Manager Wilson related: Cable TV will air the ad; a publication in the Enterprise Journal this Sat- urday; publications in the San Mateo Times this Saturday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and publish in the Independent on Saturday and Tuesday; applicant to submit resume and application to City Hall and interviews will be on Monday or Tuesday; Council shall determine how long to spend on each candidate; make the decision on those two dates or wait and do it at the 12/18/96 meeting; there is a AGENDA ACTION TAKEN 1. Consideration - Continued. 12/3/96 Page 4 question on whether the Council wants to make the effective date on the 18th because there are a num- ber of public hearings that night and presumably the individuals have not heard all the data; cut-off on Monday the 13th; conduct interviews on Wednesday an hour or two before the Council meeting and then make an appointment at the end of the meeting because Council has not received any kind of input from the public at all on this appointment. He stated, if anything, they could change their mind at the end of the meeting or not, but they will have flexibility, etc. Councilman Perma agreed and will keep his calendar open for the 18th and have the appointment as the last item on the agenda. Vice Mayor Mullin has an absolutely irrevocable meeting on the 18th from 3:30 - 4:45 p.m., but can do a 5:00 p.m. meeting. Discussion followed: on the questions asked of applicants in 1992; a one page resume should be submitted with the application. Consensus of Council - Applicants must submit a standard application and a resume; Council will develop questions; 10-15 minutes @ person or more depending on the number of applicants; cut-off date is 12/16/96 at 5:00 p.m.; interviews between 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. on 12/18/96; agendize appointment under Items from Council at the end of the special 12/18/96 meeting. Discussion followed: If Council can't come to a conclusion on the 18th the meeting can be contin- ued; the decision must be made by 12/31/96; if all candidates are unqualified does the Council have the ability to reopen the applications; they can always be reopened within the 30 days - the problem is in renoticing; the Council could pick someone not on the list, but the City Attorney would not advise that because it would not be seen as being open, in public political, but legally it can be done; could continue the meeting to the 19th and say Council is unhappy, staff do something and immediately readvertise; no faxes and no postmarks accepted - hand delivery; Councilman Penna wants copies of applications on a daily basis; hold the interviews at City Hall; the Mayor will create a set of questions and submit them to Council; ask if the candidate has AGENDA ACTION TAKEN 1. Consideration - Continued. any interest in running for another term; what goals would the applicant want to see during his tenure; give the questions to the applicants before the meet- ing; use the lottery system to call up candidates for interview; have the City Clerk pull the names out of a hat; the City Clerk requested input on the adver- tisement and was given direction; Mayor Fernekes wants the City Manager to call the San Mateo Times to have a story written about the Council's decision to appoint, so it will hit the front page for coverage. ADJOURNMENT: M/S Mullin/Yee - To adjourn the meeting. Carried by unanimous voice vote. Time of adjournment was 8:15 p.m. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, ' arbara A. Battaya, City Clerk ~ ity of South San Francisco APPROVED. :~ oBfr sago;~h~aanY ° ~r an~s co The entries of this Council meeting show the action taken by the City Council to dispose of an item. Oral communica- tions, 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. 12/3/96 Page 5