MINUTES OF THE
CITY OF SAN RAMON – COUNCIL MEETING
July 27, 2004

A regular meeting of the City Council of the City of San Ramon was held on July 27, 2004 at 7:00 p.m. in the City Council Chamber at City Hall, 2222 Camino Ramon, Mayor Wilson presiding.

PRESENT: Councilmembers Hudson, Livingstone, Perkins, Rowley and Mayor Wilson.

ABSENT: None

STAFF PRESENT: Interim City Manager Byron Athan, Public Works Director Joye Fukuda, Finance Director Greg Rogers, Police Chief Kathy Samuels, Transportation Manager Lisa Bobadilla, Division Manager – Recreation Services Esther Lucas, Housing Programs Manager Brooke Littman and City Clerk Judy Macfarlane

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Mayor Wilson announced the Council had met in closed session pursuant to Government Code §54956.0 to meet with legal counsel concerning pending litigation and Government Code §54957.9 to confer with labor negotiator, Cheryl Mitchell Wade regarding SEIU Local 790. No action was taken on either item. He said the third closed session item; Government Code §54956.8 – to confer with the real property negotiator, Greg Rogers, regarding assessor’s parcel No. 213-130-066 contained an error in the parcel number and had been pulled from the agenda.

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Kellie Taylor led Council, staff and those in the audience in the pledge of allegiance.

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The City Clerk gave the oath of office to Parks and Community Services Commissioners, Carol Lopez, Thomas McNamara and John Hunt.

The oath of office was also given to Planning Commissioners Donna Kerger, Bob Patrino and Dennis Viers by the City Clerk.

San Ramon’s U.S. Conference of Mayors Award for On-Line Car Pool to School Ride Matching Program was presented to Mayor Wilson by Lisa Bobadilla, Transportation Manager.

A proclamation recognizing the Rotary Club of San Ramon Valley on its 10^th Anniversary was presented to Rotary Member Dany Gregory by Mayor Wilson.

A proclamation was presented by Mayor Wilson to Don Kowalski recognizing his service and contributions as chairman and founder of the Student Art for Education Program.

Mayor Wilson introduced Kellie Taylor and said she was a Fifth Grade Grand Award winner in the Student Art for Education competition and noted that it was Kellie’s picture on display at the front of the Council Chamber. The Mayor congratulated Kellie and gave her a City pin.

Mayor Wilson introduced Bev Bridges and said she has been a strong supporter of the Student Art for Education Program for many years. He thanked her and gave her a bouquet of roses in appreciation.

Mr. Kowalski made a presentation of the award-winning picture to the City Council on behalf of Mrs. Bridges and Kellie Taylor.

Mayor Wilson presented a proclamation to Dennis Garrison, recognizing ClubSport of San Ramon, Small Business of the Year for the 15^th Assembly District.

Mr. Garrison noted that the Interim City Manager had recently celebrated his 86^th birthday.

Mayor Wilson recognized and thanked Peter Oswald, Sunset Development, stating he has been the auctioneer each year for the Art for Education since inception.

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The Recreation Services Division Manager said there were three vacancies on the Arts Advisory Committee and the Parks Commission was recommending William Doerlich, Neville Vania and Laura Hansen for appointment.

Cm. Hudson’s motion to appoint Ms. Hansen for a term expiring April 2006 and Mr. Doerlich and Mr. Vania for terms expiring April 2005, was seconded by Cm. Livingstone and passed 5-0.

The Division Manager said two applications for the three vacancies on the Senior Advisory Committee. She said one of the applicants had recently been appointed to the Parks Commission. It was the Parks Commission’s recommendation that William Meine be appointed to the committee for a term expiring April 2006.

Cm. Hudson’s motion to appoint Mr. Meine to the Senior Advisory Committee was seconded by Cm. Rowley and passed 5-0.

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The City Clerk read a letter from Diane Schinnerer expressing support for the appointment of Herb Moniz as City Manager and stated the City was back on track.

A letter from Jean Ohman was read that welcomed Herb Moniz back to the City.

Juanita Whitney Harding thanked the Council and said they had made a very wise decision in bringing Mr. Moniz back as City Manager.

Phil Henry said that he was 100% in favor of the Council offering the City Manager position to Herb Moniz. He congratulated the Council on their appointment of Dennis Viers to the Planning Commission. Mr. Henry encouraged the Council to not let up on Central San in regard to the recent sewage spill at the Larwin Pump station.

Sam Lemon said the Council had his commendation in their appointment of Mr. Moniz.

Melody Lundgren, Friends of San Ramon member, said that what the Friends of San Ramon meant when Mr. Moniz was terminated was that every City Council has the right to choose someone they feel they can best work with and that best represents their views. The situation remains the same. She said it is a good thing when there were different groups looking at issues from different perspectives. She expressed concern that the City Council had been meeting in closed session to discuss the 11-acre City Center property. She said any change to this parcel should be brought to the residents for their input. She said the Brown Act states that the name of the prospective seller, purchaser and parcel number must be on the agenda and requested this information be made public as soon as possible.

Roz Rogoff asked for support for her candidacy for a seat on the Dublin San Ramon Services District Board.

Michelle Cowles spoke about the City Council closed session meetings regarding the 11-acre City Center site. She said what is on the table is not just the 11-acres but the dream the community has for a downtown community center.

Ed Cheng, San Ramon Library Foundation, asked for an update on the City Civic Center project.

Peter Oswald, Senior Vice President Sunset Development Company, said he had come in contact with hundreds and hundreds of city managers during his 40-year career and Mr. Moniz was in the top three of that group.

Mike DiGeronimo complimented the City Council and said the City was very lucky to have them as a group. He said while he was not interested in managing the City Center process he felt that it was important that some action be taken. He continued to say he felt the Council had made a wise, prudent and well thought out choice in deciding to rehire Mr. Moniz.

Mary Lou Oliver wished Mr. Athan a belated happy birthday. She asked the Council when the issue of Mayoral duties is brought back that they look very carefully at duties with regard to appointments to committees and commissions and have the process remain as it was in the staff report for January 2001. She also thanked the Council for reappointment of Mr. Moniz.

The City Clerk read a speaker card from Scott Miller that said he supported the hiring of Herb Moniz and thanked the Council for setting the City back on track.

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Cm. Livingstone’s motion to approve the minutes of July 13, 2004 was seconded by Cm. Rowley and passed 5-0.

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Mayor Wilson pulled item 8.5, Resolution approving amendment to an agreement with Central Maintenance Company.

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

Resolution No. 2004-97 – Designating portions of Broadmoor Drive and Christopher Way as Permit Parking Area "J" under the California High School residential parking criteria, restricting parking with a valid permit thereon.

Resolution No. 2004-100 – Accepting PA 0001 (East Branch Park, Lot 8 in Subdivision 8620) for maintenance (Windemere BLC Land Development Co., LLC)

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The Public Works Director introduced the item as a staff request for authorization of an amendment to an agreement with Central Maintenance Company to provide routine janitorial maintenance services at City facilities. She said the original agreement approved by the Council last year provides for a renewal of up two additional one-year terms. The proposed resolution would approve the remaining two-years of the contract. She said in response to questions regarding the frequency of carpet cleaning at the Community Center, the carpet was last cleaned on July 8, 2004 and noted cleaning had been adjusted to be less frequent as a result of service level adjustments in FY 2002/03. She said the carpet at the Community Center was nearing the end of its useful life. She also said Public Works was working on a multi-year replacement program for many of the larger cost items that need to be replaced at all City facilities including carpeting.

Mayor Wilson said he had found on a recent trip to the Community Center that it was not clean and not up to San Ramon standards. He asked staff to work with the Community Center personnel so that this issue could be resolved. He also asked that a recommendation be returned to the Council for consideration.

Cm. Hudson’s motion to adopt the resolution approving the amendment to the janitorial services agreement with the follow up recommendations elaborated by the Mayor was seconded by Cm. Rowley and passed 5-0.

Resolution No. 2004-102 – Authorizing the Mayor to execute Amendment No. 1 to an agreement with Central Maintenance Company for routine janitorial maintenance services at current City facilities for fiscal years 2004/05 and 2005/06 in an amount not to exceed $193,020.

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The Housing Programs Manager introduced the third and final hearing for the Revised Housing Element of the General Plan. She said to-date no public concerns have been expressed about the proposed revision therefore, staff recommends that the City Council hold the third public hearing and adopt the resolution approving the proposed modifications to the Housing Element and related General Plan Amendment.

No one spoke during the public hearing.

Cm. Hudson’s motion to adopt the resolution was seconded by Cm. Livingstone and passed 5-0.

Resolution No. 2004-104 – Recommending Approval of General Plan Amendment 04-001 approving the Housing Element and Related General Plan Amendments for the General Plan for the Future San Ramon 2020.

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The Parks and Community Services Director said the Parks Commission and staff were recommending the City Council adopt a resolution amending the Historic Interpretation and Guidelines for the restoration of the David Glass House.

The Recreation Services - Division Manager gave the background of the restoration of the David Glass House project and introduced Sheila McElroy with Circa Historic Property Development.

Ms. McElroy reviewed the process used by Circa to develop their recommendations and guidelines for the historic interpretation of the restoration of the David Glass House. She described three interpretive approaches that are typically used and analyzed to substantiate the documentation to provide the interpretive program. She said it was their recommendation that the interpretive approach be representative, that the period of significance be 1877 to 1931, that research and interpretation be developed by a trained professional, that the primary theme be the Glass family, to not allow speculative interpretation or arbitrary collection processes, to follow the American Association of Museums’ Standard and Guidelines, to conduct materials testing to develop more specific information to assist with the rehabilitation as well as the interpretation and to utilize the Secretary of the Interior’s standards for rehabilitation of interiors to have the highest standards for such a resource.

The Parks and Community Services Director said the Council has adopted a Capital Improvement Program, which includes funding for capital improvements in the landscaping and interior renovation of the Glass House. He said staff was prepared to release two RFPs to accomplish these projects.

The City Clerk read a letter from Jean Ohman expressing support for Circa’s recommendation that the Glass House be interpreted as a representative site.

Mayor Wilson said a letter had been received from Pat Boom expressing support for the resolution approving the interpretation of the Glass House.

Nathan Greene said let’s get the work done so that tours of the Farm can begin soon.

Carol Lopez said the Parks Commission was in full support of changing the interpretation to representative and felt it was a way to move forward and expand our museum efforts in the community.

Cm. Rowley’s motion to approve the resolution amending the historic interpretation and guidelines for the Glass House was seconded by Cm. Hudson and passed 5-0.

Resolution No. 2004-101 – Amending the Historic Interpretation and Guidelines for the restoration of the David Glass House.

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The Transportation Manager said the item for Council consideration was an appointment to the Central Contra Costa Transit Authority or County Connection. She said at the July 5, 2004 Board of Directors meeting staff was directed to appoint a policy committee to work with San Ramon staff to address the issues raised by the City in the Notice of Termination letter sent on June 22, 2004. She reviewed the makeup of the committee and said it would include two San Ramon Councilmembers.

Mayor Wilson asked for confirmation from the Council for the appointment of Cm. Hudson and Cm. Perkins with Cm. Livingstone as the alternate to the policy committee.

Cm. Hudson’s motion to approve the Council appointments to the Policy Committee was seconded by Cm. Livingstone and passed 5-0.

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The Interim City Manager said the item to submit a proposed Charter Amendment providing for a rotation of the Mayor was referred to Council by the Policy Committee. He said the rotation would be based on the time the Councilperson spent on the Council without being Mayor. He said the Charter was amended in November 2001 to provide the Mayor to be elected by the electorate for a two-year term, with a limit of two four-year terms. It also provides that the duties of the Mayor remain the same as they were on January 1, 2001.

Cm. Perkins asked if there were two members of the Council with the same amount of time on the Council without having served as Mayor, how would it be decided which one would serve.

The Interim City Manager replied if they were both elected at the same election, it would be the one with the most votes. If there were two appointed members it would be decided by lot.

Sam Lemon spoke about the difference between a strong Mayor government and a weak Mayor government with the Mayor in a weak Mayor form of government having the same authority and responsibilities as his peers. He asked if nothing is different between the members why go to the time and expense of an election to elect somebody for two-years to be in a fairly ceremonial position.

Roz Rogoff said she did not want to go backwards, stating she voted for an elected Mayor; 76% of the voters voted for an elected Mayor. She said if the Council wanted to give the Mayor more power, they should throw Article III out of the Charter where it lists all the limitations.

Cm. Hudson said when an elected Mayor was approved originally it stated the duties of the Mayor would be the same as in January 2001 and it was never listed what those duties were. To change that there must be a Charter Amendment. He said a rotation system would provide an experienced City Councilmember who will become more experienced and who will represent their constituents who would like to see them as Mayor. He said the simplest way is to put it on the ballot and find out what the voters want.

Cm. Perkins said he wasn’t in favor of the elected Mayor last time when it was on the ballot because he did not think the system was broken. He said he did not feel the current system was broken either and suggested a blue ribbon committee be established to determine the duties of the Mayor. He said we voted on this issue a little over two-years ago and he felt to vote on it again would not serve the City well.

Cm. Livingstone said he agreed with Cm. Hudson’s viewpoint. He did not support the elected Mayor two years ago and thought it was a bad idea particularly when the duties were the same as before.

Cm. Rowley said other cities that have Mayors have a Mayoral type of government and San Ramon has a City Manager type of government. She said she felt the issue should go back to the voters because having a mayoral election every two years is disruptive.

Mayor Wilson said it was imperative the Council work as a team. He said he disagreed that the Mayor’s position was just ceremonial. He said the residents have spoken when they approved a directly elected Mayor by a 76% majority. He said he felt it was a disservice to the community to even attempt to put the issue on the ballot.

Cm. Hudson said a committee should be established regardless of how the people vote.

After the Council and Mayor discussed the issue further, Cm. Hudson made a motion to approve the resolution providing for the rotation of Mayor,

Cm. Livingstone seconded the motion and it passed 3-2 (Cm. Perkins and Mayor Wilson dissenting).

Resolution No. 2004-103 – Submitting to the electorate a proposed Charter Amendment providing for the rotation of the position of Mayor among the members of the City Council.

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The Finance Director said the item was forwarded to the Council on the

recommendations of the Policy Committee and the Finance Committee. He said the proposed ordinance would amend some of the City policies and procedures to bring the Municipal Code up to date regarding the Contract and Procurement Authority of the City Manager. He reviewed the major changes the proposed ordinance would make in the current ordinance. He said he agreed with Cm. Perkins’ request to amend the wording in the policy from "shall" to "may" regarding disposal options of surplus property.

No one spoke during the public hearing.

Cm. Hudson’s motion to introduce the proposed ordinance and waive the reading was seconded by Cm. Perkins and passed 5-0.

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The City Manager said in reference to the recent newspaper article regarding the availability for review of City conflict of interest statements, he was not aware of any time over the past 20 years that anyone had been denied access to these documents. He also said the Public Records Act provides that public records will be made available for inspection at such time that it reasonable and convenient and when the record is made available there should be someone from the City supervising so there cannot be any deletions or changes. He assured the City Council that staff complies with the Public Records law.

The City Manager said, as instructed, he had cast the votes on the 20 parcels in favor of the Open Space Measure in East Bay Regional Park election.

The City Manager said on the July 13^th agenda the proposed ordinance which set forth the compensation and duties of various members of the legislative body was continued. That ordinance will appear on the August 10^th agenda.

The City Manager said a letter to the Regional Water Quality Control Board had been written, for the Mayor’s signature, requesting that if a fine is levied in response to the sewage spill at the Larwin Pump station that a portion of the fine come to the City of San Ramon. The funds would be used for a creek project that would improve water quality in the South San Ramon Creek.

Cm. Hudson asked why we were only asking for a portion of the fine and not all of it.

The Public Works Director said typically the Regional Board collects all such fines and uses them as a revenue source to fund some of their regulatory inspection and monitoring duties. She said it was not clear whether or not the City would receive any part of the fine if the letter was not sent to the Board.

Cm. Hudson said he would like to see the City ask to receive the total amount of the fine monies and then we may actually get a portion.

In response to Mayor Wilson’s question regarding follow-up on the issue, the Public Works Director said the Board would be advised that the letter has been sent and a follow-up with staff would be made.

Cm. Livingstone complimented the Transportation Manager on the work she was doing to raise funds for the "Street Smarts" program.

Mayor Wilson said there had been a request to have a representative from the City to sit on the committee to work with the urban limit line and Measure C. He said the composition of the committee appeared to be Mayors and he would like to represent San Ramon.

Mayor Wilson said the Summer in the Park series was being well received and he urged all residents to attend the next event.

Cm. Rowley thanked Erica Reed, Crime Prevention Specialist, and the police and fire departments for their Safety Awareness presentation before the Summer in the Park event, stating it was very well attended.

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There being no further business to come before the Council, at 10:00 p.m. the meeting was adjourned.

Signed:
H. Abram Wilson, Mayor
Judy Macfarlane, City Clerk

Approved: August 10, 2004