Andi Lovano, Project Development Administrat~

Transcription

1 CITY COUNCIL NEW BUSINESS AUGUST 15, 2016 SUBJECT: INITIATED BY: PREPARED BY: POLICIES FOR CITY COMMISSIONS AND ADVISORY BOARDS COUNCILMEMBER LINDSEY HORVATH COUNCILMEMBER JOHN D'AMICO Andi Lovano, Project Development Administrat~ STATEMENT ON THE SUBJECT: The City Council will consider directing staff to update the City's policies relating to Commissions and Advisory Boards, specifically in regards to broadcasting meetings, expanding meeting management and training policies, providing parking benefits, and increasing the current stipends of $50 per meeting to $75 per meeting. RECOMMENDATIONS: 1) Direct the Communications Department to develop a plan to film and broadcast all Commission meetings and report back to the City Council with recommendations for implementation. 2) Direct the Administrative Services Department to develop meeting management and training policies for staff liaisons to the Commissions and Advisory Boards and return to the City Council for review within 90 days. 3) Amend the City's Municipal Code to allow all members of the City Commissions to be eligible for Annual Official Business permits and create an official special events parking permit for all Advisory Board Members. 4) Adopt Resolution No. 16- "A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WEST HOLLYWOOD INCREASING THE STIPEND AMOUNT PAID TO ADVISORY BOARD AND COMMISSION MEMBERS AND RESCINDING RESOLUTION NO " 5) Authorize the Director of Finance and Technology Services to allocate $33,000 from budgeted funds in the Special Council Programs account number to cover the increased stipend amount paid to Advisory Board and Commission Members for the remainder of FY BACKGROUND I ANALYSIS: The Commissions and Advisory Boards are an important part of the City's decisionmaking process. The City of West Hollywood has nine Commissions that were created with specific duties, privileges, and authorities as specified in the City's Municipal Code including reviewing policies, hearing appeals, and making recommendations to City Council. There are also seven Advisory Boards that were created to be representative Pagelof6 AGENDA ITEM 5.8.

2 of and to reach out to specific constituencies in the community, and to make recommendations to Council relative to the adoption of programs, policies or ordinances of benefit to those constituencies. The recommendations in this report are intended to standardize protocols for the City's Commissions and Advisory Boards, provide staff liaisons and appointed officials with the necessary training and resources to perform their duties effectively, increase public engagement and transparency, increase stipends paid to Commissioners and Advisory Board members, and designate Advisory Board Member parking at City events. 1) Filming and Broadcasting Commission Meetings Currently two of the nine Commission meetings - Planning Commission and Rent Stabilization Commission - are regularly televised for the public to view on WeHoTV or recorded to view on the City's website at a later date. For the other seven Commissions, if a member of the public is not able to attend a meeting, the options currently available are to read the meeting minutes or submit a public records request for the audio recording of the meeting. The City Clerk's office is currently working with a technician to make the meeting recordings available via podcast. This will allow sound recordings of the meetings to be available to the public without someone going through the public records request process. It is anticipated that the podcasts will be available in the next six months; Council has authorized funding of approximately $110,000 for the podcast effort. This item directs the Communications Department to develop a plan to film and broadcast all Commission meetings. The process of transitioning to televised meetings will create substantial financial and logistical impacts, but will also bring more transparency to the City's decision making and make it easier for the public to observe the details of Commission proceedings and decisions. Currently, the City broadcasts about 100 City meetings and live and/or taped events per year. This includes approximately 21 City Council meetings, 21 Planning Commission meetings, 21 Rent Stabilization Commission meetings, and 14 annual meetings of other Commission and Advisory Boards. In a preliminary review, the Communications Department estimates that if approved, the recommendation in this report would require an additional 75 broadcasts per year. This expansion would require additional ongoing staffing (approximately 2.5 full-time equivalent positions), one-time equipment purchases, as well as an expansion of the City's current closed captioning, Granicus, and other technical support agreements. Further, not all Commissions meet in facilities that are equipped for broadcasting. Some meetings may require "remote broadcasts" or would be required to move to different locations in order to accommodate the change. Initial estimates of costs related to this policy change are approximately $435,000 per year for staff and ongoing service agreements, plus one-time equipment costs of Page 2 of 6

3 $150,000. 2) Meeting Management Policies and Training Currently, new Commissioners and Advisory Board Members may receive training from the staff liaison to their respective Commission or Advisory Board. Ongoing, annual training is also provided by the City Clerk at the Annual Congress. Direction was given during the Ethics Reform Task Force discussion at the April 4, 2016 City Council meeting for the City Clerk to work with the City Attorney's office to create a consistent, thorough training for new Commissioners and Advisory Board Members to receive prior to their first meeting. This enhancement of existing trainings is currently in process and includes the following: Commissioners and Board Members will receive a letter, handbook, and individual training from the City Clerk's office, as well as purview-specific training from their staff liaisons. Chairs of all Commissions and Boards will be meeting with the City Manager to discuss the current operations of each body and to provide feedback. Two additional group training sessions - the Annual Congress of Boards & Commissions as well as an additional meeting - will provide additional training opportunities for all appointed officials. AB1234 training is always available online for all Commissioners and Board Members, and is required training at least every two years for elected and appointed officials. In addition to the role of the appointed officials, staff liaisons are of the utmost importance in ensuring Commission and Advisory Board meetings are productive, effective, and run efficiently. This item directs the Administrative Services Department to develop meeting management policies to formalize the specific role of the staff liaisons. This framework will provide staff liaisons with the tools, resources, and guidelines they need to facilitate discussions and effectively address topics within the Commission or Advisory Board purview and work plan. The goal is to empower staff liaisons and provide them with the protocols and training they need to feel confident and effective in their roles. The policies and training should include, but not be limited to, information on Rules of Order; proper workflow between Commissions/Advisory Boards, City Council, and staff; work plan development; how to add items to the agenda for discussion; how items approved by Commission reach the Council for consideration; and tips on focusing discussions to agendized items. 3. Parking Permits for Appointed Officials The recommendation in this report is to provide all Commissioners with Commissionlevel parking permits as well as to create a new classification of parking permits that is Page 3 of 6

4 specifically available for Advisory Board Members to be used in reserved parking locations during special events. The City's Municipal Code authorizes the Department of Public Works to issue official permits to members of the City Council, the Planning Commission, the Transportation Commission, the Public Safety Commission, and City employees whom the Director of Public Works determines regularly and routinely use their personal vehicles to perform work throughout the City. In practice, Commissioners from all City Commissions are able to apply for official business permits. This recommendation directs staff to amend the Municipal Code to make it consistent with City policy. Additionally, while many Advisory Board Members do not have duties that would require them to "regularly and routinely use their personal vehicles to perform work throughout the City" as described in the Municipal Code, there are often special events held in the City when Advisory Board Members could benefit from a placard for identification purposes. The special events permit would allow Advisory Board Members to park as needed when performing official City business at events such as the Women's Leadership Conference, Senior Health Fair, or other City events with a designated parking location. The special event parking permit would not allow unlimited meter parking or parking in residential zones and could not be used for unofficial or personal reasons. 4. Appointed Official Stipend Increase Recently, the City Council authorized an increase in stipends for Councilmembers and directed staff to look into increasing the stipends of appointed officials. Since 1985 a stipend of $50 per meeting attended has been issued to appointed officials and has never increased. The established Commissions and Advisory Boards total 118 appointed officials (63 Commissioners and 55 Board Members). Each Board and Commission is scheduled to meet on a monthly basis, with the exception the Planning and Rent Stabilization Commissions that are scheduled to meet twice a month. The current annual cost of appointed official stipends is $79,000. This item would authorize an increase in appointed official stipends from $50 to $75, and raise the maximum per month from $100 to $150; equating to an additional, annual cost increase of $40,000 to $119,000. The increase for the remainder of FY equates to $33,000 (prorated for 10 months). CONFORMANCE WITH VISION 2020 AND THE GOALS OF THE WEST HOLLYWOOD GENERAL PLAN: This item is consistent with the Primary Strategic Goal(s) (PSG) and/or Ongoing Strategic Program(s) (OSP) of: OSP-2: Institutional Integrity. Page 4 of 6

5 In addition, this item is compliant with the following goal(s) of the West Hollywood General Plan: G-1: Ensure that the community is active and engaged in the decision-making process. G-2: Maintain transparency and integrity in West Hollywood's decision-making process. EVALUATION PROCESSES: N/A ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AND HEAL TH: N/A COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: N/A OFFICE OF PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY: CITY MANAGER'S DEPARTMENT I CITY MANAGER OFFICE FISCAL IMPACT: For recommendation 1, implementing filming and broadcasting of all the City Commission meetings, recurring fiscal impacts of approximately $435,000 per year plus one-time equipment costs of $150,000 are likely to be incurred. Initial estimates of new costs for televising include the following: Annual Recurring Costs Wages and benefits: 2.5 FTE staff $340,000 Additional closed captioning costs $75,000 Estimated additional Granicus and WaveQuide costs $20,000 NEW Annual Costs $435,000 One-Time Costs Additional one-time video recording equipment (additional $150,000 cameras, servers, software sounds equipment, lighting): More detailed projections will be developed should this item move forward. For recommendation 4, there will be an increase of $40,000 per year (to $119,000) to cover the increased stipend amounts for all Commissioners and Board Members. Page 5 of 6

6 This item approves the allocation of $33,000 from budgeted funds in the Special Council Program account number to cover the increased stipend amounts paid to Advisory Board and Commission Members for the remainder of FY (10 months). SPECIAL COUNCIL PROGRAMS FISCAL YEAR Date Description 6/20/2016 Budget Appropriation for Special Council Programs Total Budgeted Amount Amount $ 100,000 $ 100,000 Approved Allocations 5/16/2016 Live Love Thrive Women's Conference (11/16/2016) 6/20/2016 Parklet Design Competition (FY16-17) 6/20/2016 Frida Fest (FY16-17) 6/20/2016 Cannibus Education Forum (FY16-17) 7/18/2016 Crossing Guard Pilot Program 7/18/2016 Energy Efficiency Program Outreach Total Approved Allocations to Date Proposed Allocations 8/15/2016 Route 66 Commemoration 8/15/2016 Boards & Commission Stipend Increase 8/15/2016 Lemmy Kilmeister Memorial Signage Total Proposed Allocation Budgeted Amount Remaining $ $ 10,000 $ 2,000 $ 5,000 $ 15,000 $ 5,000 $ 38,200 $ 10,000 $ 33,000 $ 300 $ 43,300 $ 18,500 ATTACHMENT: Resolution No. 16- "A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WEST HOLLYWOOD INCREASING THE STIPEND AMOUNT PAID TO ADVISORY BOARD AND COMMISSION MEMBERS AND RESCINDING RESOLUTION NO Page 6 of 6

7 RESOLUTION NO. 16- A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WEST HOLLYWOOD INCREASING THE STIPEND AMOUNT PAID TO ADVISORY BOARD AND COMMISSION MEMBERS AND RESCINDING RESOLUTION NO WHEREAS, The City Council of West Hollywood has established Advisory Boards and Commissions to assist and advise Council on various matters of importance to the community; and WHEREAS, the Council wishes to acknowledge the expenses incurred by Advisory Board and Commission members in the course of carrying out their duties; and WHEREAS, it is the City Council of the City of West Hollywood's desire to increase the stipend amount paid to Advisory Board and Commission members effective THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WEST HOLLYWOOD DOES HEREBY RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Stipends shall be paid to Advisory Board and Commission members as follows: a. Advisory Board members shall receive $75 per meeting attended to a maximum of $75 per month. b. Commission members shall receive $75 per meeting attended to a maximum of $150 per month. SECTION 2. Resolution No., is hereby rescinded. PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED THIS day of, 20_. ATTEST: MAYOR

8 Resolution No. 16- Page 2 City Clerk