A regular meeting of the City Council of the City of San Ramon was called to order on July 10, 2001 at 7:30 p.m. in the Council Chamber at City Hall, 2222 Camino Ramon, Mayor Hudson presiding.
PRESENT: Councilmembers Kinney, Raab, Tatarka, Wilson and Mayor Hudson
ABSENT: None
STAFF PRESENT: City Manager Herb Moniz, City Attorney Bob Saxe, Police Chief Brian Lindblom, Administrative Services Director Jim Randall, Parks and Community Services Director Jeff Eorio, Planning Director Phil Wong, City Engineer Joye Fukuda, Transportation Director John Dillon, Economic Development Manager April Gray, and City Clerk Judy Macfarlane

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Mayor Hudson led Council, staff and those present in the audience in a pledge of allegiance to the flag.

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Cm. Tatarka announced there would be a Town Hall Meeting, 8:00 P. M., July 11, 2001 at the PG & E Learning Center hosted by KNTV Channel 3.

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A proclamation declaring July as Parks and Recreation Month was presented to Mayor Hudson by Ken Mintz, Vice, Chair, Parks & Community Services Commission.

The Administrative Services Director introduced summer intern, Sara-Beth Gniadek, and said she would be working in the City Clerk’s Department.

The Mayor welcomed Ms. Gniadek and gave her a City pin.

Mayor Hudson presented proclamations to Norm and Shirley Albert for their many years of volunteer service to the City of San Ramon.

The Parks & Community Services Director presented a plaque to Stacy Ishigaki for her service as the student member to the Parks and Community Services Commission, 2000/01.

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Cm. Kinney’s motion to appoint Thomas Hughes as the San Ramon Chamber of Commerce representative to the Environmental Affairs Advisory Committee was seconded by Cm. Raab and passed 5-0.

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Joyce Stolzy, said she was concerned that the only animal control service was through the County and expressed her desire for the City to establish its own animal control department.

Lisa Cooke and Pat Boom, announced several upcoming programs at Forest Home Farms and said the public would soon have an opportunity to tour the City’s historical location.

Bob Ingalls said San Ramon Day at Habitat II would be Saturday, August 25^th at the Ellis Street Townhome Project in Concord, and those interested in volunteering should contact him or the City Clerk.

Rosalind Rogoff presented the Council information on the contractors that bid on the Central San sewer line project. She also stressed the need for animal control in San Ramon.

Bob Patrino, suggested to the Council that the source of funding for the proposed City Center project be placed on the ballot.

Jim Hansen, expressed his concern over the County demolishing 30 trees along the Iron Horse Trail. He also thanked Cm. Raab for his years of service and dedication to the City.

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Cm. Kinney’s motion to approve the minutes of the May 1, 2001 special meeting was seconded by Cm. Tatarka and passed 5-0.

Cm. Raab’s motion to approve the minutes of the June 26, 2001 meeting was seconded by Cm. Kinney and passed 5-0.

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Cm. Kinney’s motion to approve the following Consent Calendar was seconded by Cm. Wilson and passed 5-0.

FINANCE      Register of Demands dated June 19 & 20, July 1& 8,2001 in the amount of $1,173,346.41.

Establishing a policy regarding candidate statements for November 6, 2001 election pamphlets

Authorizing the County Clerk’s Office to administer the November 6, 2001 municipal election

Authorizing the Mayor to execute an agreement with Azari Engineering, Inc., for engineering design and construction administration services for the Pavement Management Program (CIP’s 5316, 5317 and 5318) from July 2001 to June 2004 in an amount not to exceed $500,000

ACCEPTANCE OF WORK

Acceptance of work by Sposeto Engineering, Inc. for  FY 2000/01 Curb, Gutter and Sidewalk Repair Project (CIP 8624) as complete and authorization for the City Clerk to file a Notice of Completion with the County Recorder’s Office

CONTRACT QUARTERLY REPORT

City Manager and Designated Directorates Contract Quarterly report – April – June 30, 2001

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FEE RESOLUTION 

The City Clerk introduced a public hearing for the update of the City’s Fee Resolution. She said staff had completed the yearly review and the Finance Committee, at its April 18, May 1^st and 16^th, 2001 meetings, had reviewed and approved the changes and amendments. She said prior to levying a new fee or service charge or approving an increase in an existing fee or service charge, a local agency must hold a least one public hearing. She said the new fee resolution would be effective September 8, 2001. It was staff’s recommendation that the City Council hold the public hearing and adopt the new Fee Resolution.

No one spoke during the public hearing.

Cm. Kinney read the letter received from Parsons and Associates protesting the increase of business license fees.

Cm. Raab’s motion to adopt Resolution No. 2001-60 was seconded by Cm. Tatarka, and by role call vote, the motion passed 4-1 (Cm. Kinney dissenting).

Establishing fees and charges for various municipal services and repealing Resolution No. 2000-81

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COMMUNITY SERVICE GRANT PROGRAM

The Community Services Director said this was the second review of the grant program reflecting the proposed  recommendations made by the City Council at its June 26^th meeting. He reviewed the reallocation of funds and stated the Ad Hoc Committee recommended that an additional $400 be authorized for FY 2001/02 to fund their recommendations for a total of $100,400. He said an additional $15,000 outside of this amount would have to be added to the resolution to fund the San Ramon Historical Foundation.

Cm. Kinney said he would prefer to have the $15,000 be included in the mid-year budget amendments. He asked if the Rainbow Project, one of the funded programs, was a school district project.

The Parks and Community Services Director said the Rainbow Project is not a 501C3, their non-profit status comes from their association with the school district.

Debbie Luke, Rainbow Project psychologist, said even though the program is located in the schools it is funded initially for the first three years by a state grant and after that the program is on its own to continue its funding. She thanked the Council for supporting the program last year and again this year.

Cm. Wilson asked if the Rainbow Program was in the Danville schools and was the project funded by the Town of Danville.

Ms. Luke said the program was at one school in Danville and they had not gone to the Danville Council to request funding.

Cm. Tatarka said she had recently seen a special on KQED talking about early childhood intervention programs, something similar to the Rainbow Project, and it was showing the importance of programs and projects at this time in a young person’s life rather than later on. She thanked the Rainbow Project’s coordinators for all of their efforts on behalf of the community’s young people.

Cm. Raab’s motion to adopt the resolution approving community service grant program recommendations for FY 2001/02 and to address the additional $15,000 at the mid-year budget review was seconded by Cm. Tatarka and passed 5-0.

Authorizing the Community Service Grant Program Recommendations for FY 2001/02

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Mayor Hudson declared a 10 minute recess.

All Councilmembers were present when the meeting reconvened.

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MAYORAL SELECTION PROCESS 

The City Manager said the question of directly elected mayor had been debated for many years. He said it was discussed at length again at the March 13, 2001 City Council meeting and at that time the Council decided to assign the questions of term, timing and compensation to the Internal Operations Committee and the Finance Committee for research, discussion and recommendation. He said the Internal Operations Committee had met twice to discuss these issues and were recommending: 1) that the elected mayor be placed on the ballot in November 2001, 2) that the term of either two-year or four-year also be placed on the November 2001 ballot, 3) refer the issue of compensation to the Finance Committee, 4) 2003 was the preferred option for the mayoral election date with one of three city council seats up for election on that date being selected as the mayoral seat. He said there was some discussion of the mayoral election this November 2001 if the Council so decided. He continued to say as far as term limits the Internal Operations Committee thought that eight years was alright and it would be consecutive for both mayor and the city council. The Finance Committee recommendations to the questions were, 1) should the question of the directly elected mayor be placed on the ballot, the committee members differed on the merits of the directly elected mayor, however the question of directly elected mayor should be put before the voters, 2) if the elected mayor is put on the ballot, the committee is split between a four-year or a two-year term and refer to city council for discussion, 3) when the election of mayor is on the ballot, one committee member thought 2003 and the other member thought the council should discuss the issue, 4) term limits was split between eight-years consecutive for both city council and mayor and not in favor of term limits and refer to city council, 5) compensation, the committee discussed $1,000 a month for the mayor and $750 a month for the city council, however they thought it was a city council decision. He recommended the Council discuss the issues and provide direction to staff.

In response to Cm. Tatarka’s question, the City Manager confirmed that Dublin was not a charter city.

Jerry Cambra said in November 2000 he had asked the Council to put aside their personal differences and adhere to the traditional rotation system for the selection of Mayor that had served San Ramon since the beginning. He said the Council had refused to do this and took apart the selection system that the City had had for all those years. He said he had again appeared before the Council in December 2000 and asked the Council to allow the voters to choose their own mayor through the election system. He said this request was not accepted and at that time a rotation system proposed by Joe Covello was also refused. He said when a petition was circulated asking residents if they wanted a directly elected mayor the response was amazing and 5300 people had signed the petition. He said it is curious that the Council was considering their own mayoral elected initiative just days after the citizens petition was turned in. He encouraged the Council to support the residents’ measure in November and he would support any opportunity for the residents of this community to vote for their own mayor.

Mayor Hudson said as soon as he had heard the petition was being circulated he had stated that he could not vote for it and had convened the Internal Operations and Finance Committees to look into doing a job description. He said at that time he had told Victor Petersen, one of the petition authors, that they may be on the same page. He said it was not that the Council hadn’t taken any action but that it was a lengthy process.

Rosalind Rogoff said in retrospect she felt the way the Mayor was selected in November was wrong. She said the current system where that can happen is a bad system. She said the system that people believed that they had in place at the time when they voted for the members of the council was that each person on the council would get to be mayor. The people have the right to vote for Mayor whether they are voting for a rotation or they are voting for a person. She said she thought all options should be on the ballot.

Paul Mitchell said he would repeat the question that he had asked at the March 13 Council workshop and that was what problem are we trying to solve. He said in the current City code it calls for a certain system to be followed to develop who will be the Mayor after the election is held. We do not currently vote for the Mayor directly and there are probably good reasons for that that he had not researched. He said in December proposals were brought to the Council and they had not refused to act on them at that time but to take action at the appropriate time. He continued to say the appropriate time for the Council is now and the appropriate time for the voters to take action is in November.

Cm. Raab said the citizens had taken the lead in this action and the Council was following. He said it was a similar situation to the CAPP initiative where the citizens began the signature drive and the Council followed with Measure G. He said the Council had had over 10 years to address this issue. He said it wasn’t until the citizens took it upon themselves to do it that the Council decided seriously to start doing anything. He said he would not support any counter measure put forth by the Council to that of the citizens.

Cm. Kinney said he had no problem if people want to vote for their mayor but he would not support the citizens’ petition. He said the Internal Operations Committee was split on when the mayoral seat should be on the ballot. He said he saw nothing wrong with the current selection process and he did not feel anyone had a guaranteed shot at mayor. He said if the residents were going to elect the mayor, the mayor should have some duties. He said when the Internal Operations Committee met it was the consensus of the Committee that the duties of the mayor would be clearly defined before the question was put on the ballot. He concluded by saying if we really want an elected mayor he would recommend putting it on the November 2001 ballot and use the two-year seat for that process.

The City Attorney said the concept was fine but we are running into some deadlines. He said the Clerk has to post or publish a notice as to any offices that are going to be filled 113 days prior to the election and that would be this Thursday. He said there was not a resolution on the agenda establishing a special election for the election of an individual to fill that post. He continued to say we have plenty of time to put on the ballot the proposal to elect a mayor or not elect a mayor, the terms and so on but he thought we were running short of time in terms of having an election to fill the office.

Cm. Wilson said the Finance Committee had discussed whether or not the election of Mayor would be on the ballot this year. He said he felt having an elected mayor not knowing the responsibilities of mayor would not be fair to the City or the person. He said he was sure that everyone knew that he was opposed to an elected mayor but it was his job to research the issues and to come back to the Council with recommendations.

Mayor Hudson said he was not looking to put a competing measure on the ballot. He said he was looking for an amendment to what he felt was unacceptable about the first initiative and that was the lack of a job description for the mayor.

Cm. Tatarka said the committees had received a lot of information and when the Finance Committee made their decision it was based on information comparable with what is happening in other cities. She said her biggest concern was the compensation and salary. She said she had a difficult time asking the San Ramon residents to give the Council a pay raise when they don’t know what the Council does.

Mayor Hudson said Council duties were always understood and he felt it was important to list the duties on paper. He recommended coming to a consensus regarding mayoral duties and putting it on the ballot. He said it doesn’t have to be a competing measure it can be an amendment to what has already been submitted.

Cm. Raab said it was his understanding that Mayor Hudson was suggesting an amendment to the current proposal listing the duties of mayor and not a separate initiative.

The City Attorney said he felt it would be confusing to speak of it in terms of an amendment because the proposal that is going to go on the ballot cannot be changed pursuant to the signatures. He continued to say just because there are two measures on the ballot on the same subject does not mean they are competing.

Cm. Tatarka asked for clarification on the list of mayoral duties submitted by Mayor Hudson and asked how they differed from what is currently in place.

Cm. Raab said he supported the citizens’ initiative whole-heartedly and he did not object to having a list of mayoral duties on the ballot. He said he saw the duties of the mayor as being similar to what the Council was currently doing.

Council discussed Mayor Hudson’s list of recommended mayoral duties.

Cm. Tatarka asked for Council comments regarding compensation.

Cm. Kinney said the salary was set in the initiative at $500 for the Mayor.

The City Attorney said the Redevelopment Agency is a separate legal entity and for the City Charter and the City Council to attempt to tell the Redevelopment Agency who is to be the chair could be a problem. He said in regard to the compensation issue the current citizens’ petition says $100 more than the City Council. He said if the Council proposed a different figure it would bring it into the competing category. He said because we are a charter city he felt the City Council would be able to set the salary.

Cm. Raab made a motion that the Council do nothing at this time and that the citizens initiative go forth as such and see where it plays out on November 6.

Cm. Tatarka seconded the motion.

The motion did not pass on a 2-3 vote (Cms. Kinney and Wilson and Mayor Hudson dissenting).

Cm. Tatarka said the residents have taken the lead and have done what the Council should have done. She said the only thing being discussed was compensation and she would like to hear a discussion of the points reviewed by the two committees where they differed in their recommendations.

Cm. Wilson said the Finance Committee had split between a two-year term and a four-year term for Mayor. He said he recommended a four-year term because he felt it would

take a year for an elected mayor to understand the process of being mayor and as soon as that person understood the process with a two-year term that person would be running for re-election. He said he felt a two-year term would be a disservice to the candidate as well as the community.

Mayor Hudson said the Finance Committee was split between a two-year term and a four-year term and asked for a straw ballot.

The Council voted 3-2 in favor of a two-year term. (Cms. Kinney and Wilson dissenting).

Cm. Raab’s motion asking if the Council wanted to put a Council sponsored initiative in regard to elected mayor on the November 6, 2001 ballot was seconded by Cm. Tatarka.

The vote on the motion was 3-2 (Cms. Raab and Tatarka dissenting).

Cm. Kinney made a motion to put a measure on the ballot that states the mayor’s duties as defined, salary will be determined by the City Council and two-year terms.

The City Attorney said a resolution with the exact ballot language would come back on the next agenda. He said at that time the Council could change the resolution if they did not agree with the proposed ballot language.

Cm. Kinney said the ballot language would state a directly elected mayor, two-year term, duties as shown on Exhibit C of the staff report and Council would determine the salary.

Cm. Wilson said he had been charged by the Council as a member of the Finance Committee to discuss and make recommendations on the directly elected mayor issue. He said it was not that he was in favor of a directly elected mayor.

The City Manager said this was a related item however it had come up after the agenda was posted but he could ask the question. He said the City Council should have a special meeting on July 31 to deal with the placement of the General Plan – Measure G on the ballot. He said the last meeting of the General Plan Review Commission would be on July 26. He said the mayoral resolution could appear on the July 31 agenda.

Mayor Hudson said there was a motion on the floor as to whether or not the Council wants to put a measure on the ballot regarding the directly elected mayor.

The motion passed 3-2 (Cms. Raab and Tatarka dissenting).

Mayor Hudson asked if the Council wished to have the mayoral resolution on the July 31 agenda as well as the General Plan update.

It was Council consensus that the mayoral resolution would appear on the July 31 agenda.

Cm. Wilson asked what was the procedure that he could use as far as putting Mr. Covello’s option for the rotation of mayor on the ballot as well as having the process remain as it is presently.

The City Attorney said the Council can put as many things on the ballot as they wished. He said it would be the same and on July 31 there would be additional measures that would incorporate Mr. Covello’s process for approval. He said as far as leaving the process the way that it is, if all of the measures fail the process would remain as is.

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CITY COUNCIL PROCEDURES AND PROTOCOL

The City Manager said Cm. Tatarka had requested the Council review the information generated at the February 28, 2001 facilitated City Council workshop in regard to City Council norms expectations and protocol.

Cm. Tatarka said she would like to bring to the attention of the Council what they had tried to accomplish at the City Council workshop. She said the section discussing expectations on how the Council was going to work together listed, 1) to meet obstacles and objectives and to respect each other, 2) to communicate without confrontation, to debate constructively, opposition is important and everything is not black and white, 3) have an open dialogue, share ideas and work in a more cohesive manner. She said since that time we have had many council meetings and we have not really stayed to our commitment. She said she wanted the Council to get beyond the divisiveness and contention. She asked the Council to remember their commitments to each other, to put the past behind them and to move forward in a positive manner.

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ELECTION FOR VACANCY ON COUNCIL

Cm. Raab said since this item would involve his last act on  Council he would like to have the opportunity to present something to the City Clerk and to address his fellow residents in San Ramon.

Cm. Raab said his term on Council had been personally rewarding, stimulating, and challenging and he was proud to have been a representative of the residents. He said he would like to thank all of the residents who had worked along side him to make San Ramon a better city. He concluded by saying he had accepted a teaching position at James Madison University and he and his family would be moving to Virginia.

Cm. Raab handed his resignation to the City Clerk and wished Cm. Tatarka the best of luck.

Donna Dickey said she had been a San Ramon resident for 31 years. She said about a month ago Cm. Raab had asked the Council to pass an emergency resolution and his suggestion was met with personal indignation from Councilmembers who stated they were offended by the lack of trust. She said she did not feel personal feeling was what this was all about. She said whether there had been a precedent or not she saw this resolution as good government because it gave the Councilmembers clarity on how to handle future situations. She continued to say Councilmember is an elected position and she suggested that instead of the Council appointing a person of their choice that they take the next person who had the most votes in the November 1999 election and give the choice back to the people of San Ramon and eliminate personal agendas. She concluded by thanking Cm. Raab for his service to the City and said she agreed with most of his policies.

Cm. Kinney’s motion to adopt the resolution calling for a special election for the purpose of filling a vacancy on the City Council was seconded by Cm. Wilson.

Cm. Tatarka said we currently have an ordinance that addresses filling a vacancy on the City Council and therefore we are doing what was stated in the ordinance.

The motion passed 4-0.

CALLING A SPECIAL ELECTION ON NOVEMBER 6, 2001 FOR THE PURPOSE OF FILLING A VACANCY ON THE CITY COUNCIL

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MAYORS’ CONFERENCE 

Mayor Hudson said the July 5^th Mayors’ Conference hosted by San Ramon was excellent.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Cm. Wilson reviewed the Committee’s plans for the coming year. He said this was a very active and enthusiastic committee.

SENIOR CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE 

Cm. Kinney said the committee had their first meeting with the architects who are going to design the new building, a 5000 square foot addition to the current center. He reviewed the many programs scheduled at the Senior Center. He also said the student tutor program was in dire need of tutors.

JOINT DUBLIN/SAN RAMON CITY COUNCIL MEETING 

It was the consensus of Council that either July 17 before the  Dublin City Council meeting or July 24 before the San Ramon City Council meeting would be a good time for the two Councils to meet and discuss Dougherty Regional Fire Authority issues.

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There being no further business to come before the City, the meeting was adjourned at 10:55 p.m.

David E. Hudson, Mayor
Judy Macfarlane, City Clerk

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