A regular meeting of the City Council of the City of San Ramon was held on August 10, 2004 at 7:05 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, Police Chief Kathy Samuels, Transportation Manager Lisa Bobadilla, Division Manager – Community Services John Skeel, and City Clerk Judy Macfarlane.

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Mayor Wilson announced the Council had met in closed session, 1) pursuant to Government Code §54957.6 for the City Council to review its position and instruct Ms. Mitchell Wade, its representative, regarding Local 790, 2) pursuant to Government Code §54956.9(b)(3)(A) to meet with legal counsel concerning anticipated litigation and 3) pursuant to Government Code §54957.6 for the City Council to instruct Byron D. Athan, its representative, on its position regarding the salary and compensation to be paid Mr. Herbert Moniz as City Manager. - Resolution No. 2004- 109, Authorizing the Mayor to execute a contract with Herbert L. Moniz as City Manager, was unanimously adopted.

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Cub Scout Pack 841 and Lance Corporal Ryan Jones led Council, staff and those in the audience in the pledge of allegiance.

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The City Clerk said the public hearing for the Adoption of Ordinance – Repealing Ordinance No. 184 amending Division 7 of the Municipal Code delegating Limited Contract and Procurement Authority to the City Manager would be continued to a future date. She also said there would be three special presentations added to the agenda.

The City Clerk said the Transportation Advisory Committee meeting listed on the agenda for August 19 had been cancelled and the next meeting would be September 16.

The ClubSport Mayor’s Challenge Fitness Cup, a competition between the City of San Ramon and the Town of Danville was presented to Mayor Wilson by ClubSport representatives.

Mayor Wilson introduced Captain James Morgan and gave him a proclamation recognizing his service in the Persian Gulf and Kosovo.

The Mayor presented a proclamation to Sergeant Kyle Riggs for his service in Bosnia, Kosovo and Iraq.

A proclamation was presented to Specialist Matthew Martin for service in Afghanistan and Iraq by Mayor Wilson.

Mayor Wilson presented a proclamation to Lance Corporal Ryan Jones for service in Iraq.

Representatives from Congressman Pombo’s office and Assemblyman Houston’s office gave them certificates thanking them for their service.

Plaques were presented by representatives from the VFW, American Legion, Vietnam Veterans and Marine Corps League.

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A five-minute break was taken.

All Councilmembers and the Mayor were present when the meeting reconvened.

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The Community Services Division Manager said the applicants had been interviewed and recommended for appointment to the Teen Council by the Parks and Community Services Commission.

Cm. Hudson’s motion to accept the following appointments to the Teen Council was seconded by Cm. Rowley and passed 5-0; Alexander Moussavi, Jennifer Huster, Jamila Clay, Daniel Lin, Sadaf Sareshwala, Kela Driggs, Narisa Silver, Farnoosh Nik-Ahd, Janet Lin, Drew Williams, Brianna Gutierrez, Nusha Zamani, Homan Rajai, Sandy Lin, Sunny Zhang, Kelton Iversen, Bryan Yoo, Pauline Huang, Yi-Ling Yang, Ayla MacEachern, Michelle Lee, Christine Lee and Yifan Li as the non voting member.

Cm. Rowley complimented the Teen Council on their excellent meetings, stating they get a lot accomplished in a short period of time.

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Donna Kerger spoke about the 13^th Annual Valley Cup soccer tournament held the past weekend in San Ramon and thanked staff that helped to make it so successful.

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Cm. Perkins’ motion to approve the minutes of the July 27, 2004 meeting was seconded by Cm. Hudson and passed 5-0.

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Mayor Wilson said speaker cards had been received requesting that item 8.4, Resolution, Requesting the County to print the full text of the proposed Charter Amendment in Voters’ Pamphlet for the November 2, 2004 election, be removed from the consent calendar.

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

Register of Demands as presented by City Treasurer.

Resolution No. 2004-105 – Designating Munras Place as Permit Parking Area K, under the California High School residential parking criteria, restricting parking without a valid permit thereon.

Resolution No. 2004-107 – Authorizing the Finance Department to create and manage a special revenue fund for the San Ramon Valley Street Smarts Program, approving the allocation of funds from the City’s Transit Shelter Revenue Account/General Funds to the Street Smarts Program, and executing the Letter of Understanding regarding the joint contribution of and expenditure of funds for the Street Smarts Program.

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Resolution No. 2004-108 – Regarding the proposed Charter Amendment in Voters’ Pamphlet for the November 2, 2004 election.

Mary Lou Oliver asked that one of the three Councilmembers who had voted for the proposed Charter Amendment regarding the rotation of mayor reconsider and bring it up again. She said her preference was that the position of the Mayor be rotated rather than directly elected but that was not the position of 76% of the voters.

Sam Lemon said the City has had a splendid record of civic leaders who have passed through the Mayor’s chair and when the Mayor is elected that supply line is shut down and the City loses. He said if this issue is taken off the ballot he would urge the Council to immediately begin thinking about steps to take to discontinue the process, stating it was not in the best interests of the City.

Roz Rogoff said the Council has until August 11 to submit a withdrawal and she would advise them to withdraw it or reconsider but not to go ahead with it.

Bill Chestnut thanked the Council for the new attitude. He recommended the Council let this issue be and keep the status quo.

Cm. Hudson’s motion to rescind Resolution No. 2004-103 and request that the City Clerk remove the measure from the ballot was seconded by Cm. Rowley.

The City Attorney said the process would have to be done in two steps. The first step is to make a motion that the issue had come up after the posting of the agenda and immediate action was required. The second step would be to rescind Resolution No. 2004-103.

Cm. Hudson made a motion that the consideration of Resolution No. 2004-103 had come up after the agenda was published and action needed to be taken that night.

The motion was seconded by Cm. Rowley and passed 5-0.

Cm. Perkins’ motion to rescind Resolution No. 2004-103 was seconded by Cm. Hudson and passed 5-0.

Cm. Rowley made a recommendation that a committee be established right away to begin discussing the role of the Mayor.

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The Community Services Division Manager introduced Jeff Tomasich, student member of the Parks Commission, and said he would present the Teen Council Annual Report.

Mr. Tomasich reviewed the Teen Council’s 2003/2004 accomplishments and talked about his suggestions for next year’s Teen Council.

Mayor Wilson said he would like the Teen Council to work with the Character Counts program and include that in their work plan.

Cm. Perkins thanked the Teen Council for the candidates’ forum they hosted and said it was very professionally done.

Cm. Rowley thanked Mr. Tomasich for always being open to suggestions.

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The Interim City Manager said the item had been continued from the July 27 meeting. He said the Municipal Code requires changes to make it consistent with the Charter Amendment adopted by the electorate on November 6, 2000. The Charter Amendment provides for the election of the Mayor, term limits, and the salary of the Mayor.

Mary Lou Oliver said there was some confusion regarding Paragraph E which states "The Mayor, with the approval of the City Council, shall make all appointments to boards, commissions, and committees unless otherwise specifically provided by statutes." She said it was her interpretation of the paragraph that it would be the prerogative of the Mayor to remove anyone from the Planning Commission and replace that person at will and the only members of the community that would presented to the City Council would be those presented to the Council by the Mayor. She said representation from the community and not representation of the Mayor is the way to go and she asked the Council to reconsider this paragraph.

Melody Lundgren reviewed a chart comparing salaries of Councilmembers and Mayors in Contra Costa County cities with salaries in San Ramon. After discussing the various options in her report she said the figures support a change to bring the Council compensation to between $500 and $535 a month. She asked the Council to remember that due to reduced revenue in the City various groups and organizations had recently given money to keep some City services open and up to previously set standards. She also asked the Councilmembers to consider not just what is good for them but for the community they represent.

Roz Rogoff said she felt the Council was grossly underpaid and to increase the pay to $700 or $800 a month was peanuts. She said she interpreted the paragraph regarding appointments the way that Mary Lou Oliver did and she would like it reworded. She asked if it were really necessary to make the change in the ordinance now before the duties of the Mayor are determined.

The Interim City Manager said it was not necessary to make the change now but even if a committee meets and changes the duties of the Mayor, it will be necessary to have a Charter Amendment to make those changes.

The Mayor said since this issue is not time sensitive it could be addressed when the committee is established to evaluate the duties of the Mayor. He also said the format of the committee would come back before Council as soon as possible.

Cm. Livingstone said he did not support the ordinance the way it is written and supported the statements of Ms. Oliver regarding committee appointments.

Cm. Hudson said the duties of the Mayor as of January 2001 is one issue and compensation is another issue. He said not only does the amount of compensation need to be addressed but also how future compensation will be determined. He said he supported $750 a month and a committee looking at the rewording of the paragraph regarding the appointment of committees.

Cm. Rowley asked the City Attorney what the process would be for the committee.

The City Attorney said the Charter specifically says what the Mayor’s duties are and, until the Charter is changed, the wording in Paragraph E is the law.

Cm. Perkins’ motion to delete Paragraph E from the proposed ordinance was seconded by Cm. Hudson.

Cm. Perkins’ said he would also like to add a sentence at the end of Paragraph J in Section A4-3 to read "The City Council salary shall be increased by 5% every other year on December 1 following the municipal election." He confirmed that the General Law section of the Government Code provides for a similar opportunity to raise the City Council salary by 5% every year. He gave the history of Council raises and noted the buying power of the Council had been cut in half over the years since the last raise. He continued to say he further moved the introduction of the ordinance with the amendments removing Paragraph E, adding the additional sentence in Paragraph J and a salary of $700 in Paragraph J.

Cm. Hudson seconded the additions to the motion.

Cm. Rowley said she felt any action at this time was premature and recommended putting it off until after the next budget.

Cm. Perkins said action at this time regarding an increase in salaries would allow the Finance Department to include the increase in future budget projections.

Mayor Wilson encouraged residents to submit their comments regarding the issue.

The motion passed 4-1 (Cm. Rowley dissenting).

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Mayor Wilson thanked the Interim City Manager for filling in as City Manager over the last four months.

Cm. Hudson said he had recently participated in a fund-raiser attended by Deena Burnett for a foundation benefiting the 9/11 victims. He asked that businesses be contacted to help out and bring the Burnett golf tournament to San Ramon.

Cm. Hudson asked staff to check with the School District for an update on the construction at Cal High.

Cm. Perkins said at the recent South West Area Transportation meeting the main topic of discussion was Measure C reauthorization. He said all 19 cities in the county and the County Board of Supervisors had voted to support the Measure C reauthorization.

The Transportation Manager said Measure C would become Measure J on the November ballot.

Cm. Rowley said she was very pleased that the Street Smarts program was getting such a good start and noted there would be a program kick-off on September 8, 2004.

The Interim City Manager said he appreciated the support he had received from the City Council, Mayor and staff during his time as City Manager.

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There being no further business to come before the City, at 9:15 p.m. the meeting was adjourned.

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

Approved: August 24, 2004