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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09 ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING FOUR YEAR TERMS AND TERM LIMITS FOR CITY COMMISSIONERSAgenda Item 9 Reviewed: AGENDA REPORT City Manager Finance Director MEETING DATE: MAY 2, 2017 TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL FROM: JEFFREY C. PARKER, CITY MANAGER SUBJECT: ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING FOUR YEAR TERMS AND TERM LIMITS FOR CITY COMMISSIONERS SUMMARY: At the City Council's Strategic Plan Workshop on March 18, 2017, the Council directed staff to return with a proposed ordinance establishing four-year terms staggered every two years, and establishing term limits of two consecutive terms for each commissioner. The attached Ordinance 1481 would, if adopted, implement the Council's request for four-year terms and term limits and would clarify the City Code regarding Commissioner removal in the event of excessive absences from regular meetings. RECOMMENDATION: Conduct the first reading by title only of Ordinance 1481 and direct staff to schedule the Ordinance for second reading and adoption at the next regular meeting of the Council. FISCAL IMPACT: None. CORRELATION TO STRATEGIC PLAN: Goal E: "Organizational Excellence and Customer Service: Be a high performance organization with effective customer service provided by a professional workforce." Extending the terms of many commissioners from two years to four years will encourage committed professionals to serve on the City commissions, while establishing limits on consecutive terms will ensure a greater opportunity for more individuals to serve the City and to enhance the Commissions with a greater range of ideas and feedback. 1240749.1 ORDINANCE ESTBALISHING COMMISSIONER TERM LIMITS May 2, 2017 Page 2 BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION: Current Code: Under the current City Code, commissioners are appointed by the City Council to terms with the following durations: Audit Commissioners — 4 years Community Services Commissioners — 2 years Planning Commissioners — 2 years The current City Code does not establish a limit on the number of terms to which an individual commissioner may be appointed. And currently the City Code provides that a commissioner is deemed automatically removed from office if he or she has "three (3) successive unexcused absences from [the] Commission meetings or upon more than five (5) absences from [the] Commission meetings within any six (6) consecutive month period. [Emphasis added.] In practice, the reference to "unexcused" absences can create confusion because it is not clear who has authority to excuse an absence. The Strategic Plan Workshop. During the Strategic Plan Workshop on March 18th, the Council discussed the manner in which commissioners are interviewed and appointed and requested that staff return with a proposed ordinance that would establish term limits for commissioners. Council members requested that commissioners should be limited to two consecutive terms and that the limitation should take effect with the appointments occurring this year. (The Council made the most recent commission appointments at the Council meeting on April 18, 2017.) Subsequent discussion among City staff also identified a need to clarify when a commissioner is deemed automatically removed from a commission in order to remove confusion about who has authority to excuse an absence. 1240749.1 ORDINANCE ESTBALISHING COMMISSIONER TERM LIMITS May 2, 2017 Page 3 The Proposed Ordinance 1481 The attached Ordinance, if adopted, would result in the following changes in the City Code: Terms of Office: Audit Commission — 4 years (no change) Community Services Commissioners — 4 years (increased from 2 years) Planning Commission — 4 years (increased from 2 years) Current Appointees In order to accommodate the transition from two-year to four-year terms, several of the commissioners would have their terms automatically extended. The commissioners appointed in April would have their terms automatically extended to March 1, 2021. Future Appointments Future appointments would continue the practice of appointing commissioners to each commission in staggered terms, but instead of appointments occurring every year, the appointment process will occur every other year. For instance, two of the Planning Commission appointments would next occur in 2019, and then the remaining three appointments would next occur in 2021, etc. Limitations on Consecutive Terms: All individuals would be limited to two consecutive four-year terms. The limit would apply starting with each commissioner's first term that begins in 2017 or later. Automatic Removal. A commissioner who misses four meetings in any 12 -month period would be automatically removed from the commission. The City Council would have the authority to excuse any absence in its discretion, so if a commissioner missed meetings to attend to other City business, for instance, or due to a significant illness, the Council would retain the ability to excuse the absence. Attachment A. Proposed Ordinance 1481 1240749.1 ORDINANCE NO. 1481 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF TUSTIN, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING AND RESTATING SECTION 1513 OF PART 1 OF CHAPTER 5 OF ARTICLE 1 OF THE TUSTIN CITY CODE RELATING TO CITY COMMISSION TERMS OF OFFICE. The City Council of the City of Tustin does hereby ordain as follows: SECTION I. Section 1513 (Appointment and Terms) of Part 1 (Planning Commission) of Chapter 5 (Boards and Commissions) of Article 1 (Administration) of the Tustin City Code is hereby repealed and replaced in its entirety to read as follows: 1513 — APPOINTMENT AND TERMS A. Appointment. Members of the Planning Commission shall be appointed by the City Council. All members of the Commission shall serve until their respective successors are appointed and qualified. B. Removal. All members of the Commission shall serve at the pleasure of the City Council and may be removed upon motion of the City Council adopted by at least three (3) affirmative votes. A member of the Planning Commission shall automatically be deemed removed from office upon certification of election of that member to the City Council as provided in Section 1305b of this Code, or upon the occurrence of four (4) absences from Commission meetings within any twelve (12) consecutive month period, excluding any such absences as may be excused by action of the City Council. C. Terms of Office. The terms of office of the three (3) current Planning Commission members who were appointed in 2017 are hereby extended to March 1, 2021. The terms of office of the two (2) current Planning Commission members who were appointed in 2016 are hereby extended to March 1, 2019. The term of each said office shall thereafter be for four (4) years commencing on the expiration date of each office as prescribed hereinabove. D. Limitation on Consecutive Terms of Office. For all terms that commence after January 1, 2017, no person shall be eligible to serve more than two (2) consecutive four-year terms on the Planning Commission. A term of office that commenced prior to January 1, 2017 shall not be counted when determining the number of consecutive terms a Commissioner has served. 1234904.3 SECTION II. Section 1539 (Appointment and Terms) of Part 4 (Audit Commission) of Chapter 5 (Boards and Commissions) of Article 1 (Administration) of.the Tustin City Code is hereby repealed and replaced in its entirety to read as follows: 1539 — APPOINTMENT AND TERMS A. Appointment. Members of the Audit Commission shall be appointed by the City Council. All members of the Commission shall serve until their respective successors are appointed and qualified. B. Removal. All members of the Commission shall serve at the pleasure of the City Council and may be removed upon motion of the City Council adopted by at least three (3) affirmative votes. A member of the Audit Commission shall automatically be deemed removed from office upon certification of election of that member to the City Council as provided in Section 1305b of this Code, or upon the occurrence of four (4) absences from Commission meetings within any twelve (12) consecutive month period, excluding any such absences as may be excused by action of the City Council. C. Terms of Office. The terms of office of the three (3) current Audit Commission members who were appointed in 2015 shall expire on March 1, 2019. The terms of office of the two (2) other Audit Commission members are hereby extended to March 1, 2021. The term of each said office shall thereafter be for four (4) years commencing on the expiration date of each office as prescribed hereinabove. D. Limitation on Consecutive Terms of Office. For all terms that commence after January 1, 2017, no person shall be eligible to serve more than two (2) consecutive four-year terms on the Audit Commission. A term of office that commenced prior to January 1, 2017 shall not be counted when determining the number of consecutive terms a Commissioner has served. SECTION III. Section 1553 (Appointment and Terms) of Part 4 (Community Services Commission) of Chapter 5 (Boards and Commissions) of Article 1 (Administration) of the Tustin City Code is hereby repealed and replaced in its entirety to read as follows: 1553 — APPOINTMENT AND TERMS A. Appointment. Members of the Community Services Commission shall be appointed by the City Council. All members of the Commission shall serve until their respective successors are appointed and qualified. B. Removal. All members of the Commission shall serve at the pleasure of the City Council and may be removed upon motion of the City Council adopted by at least three (3) affirmative votes. A member of the Community Services Commission shall automatically be deemed removed from office upon certification of election of that member to the City Council as provided in Section 1305b of this Code, or upon the occurrence of four (4) absences from Commission meetings within any 1234904.3 twelve (12) consecutive month period, excluding any such absences as may be excused by action of the City Council. C. Terms of Office. The terms of office of the three (3) current Community Services Commission members who were appointed in 2017 are hereby extended to March 1, 2021. The terms of office of the two (2) current Community Services Commission members who were appointed in 2016 are hereby extended to March 1, 2019. The term of each said office shall thereafter be for four (4) years commencing on the expiration date of each office as prescribed hereinabove. D. Limitation on Consecutive Terms of Office. For all terms that commence after January 1, 2018, no person shall be eligible to serve more than two (2) consecutive four-year terms on the Community Services Commission. A term of office that commenced prior to January 1, 2018 shall not be counted when determining the number of consecutive terms a Commissioner has served. SECTION IV. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall take effect on the 31St day after its adoption. The City Clerk or his or her duly appointed deputy shall certify to the adoption of the Ordinance and cause this Ordinance to be published as required by law. SECTION V. CEQA Exemption. The City Council finds that the proposed Ordinance is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA"; Cal. Pub. Resources Code Section 21000 et seq.) pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the State CEQA Guidelines (Cal. Code of Regs., title 14, Section 15000 et seq.) because it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment. SECTION VI. Severability. If any section, sub -section, clause or phrase in this Ordinance or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is for any reason held invalid, the validity of the remainder of this Ordinance or the application of such provisions to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected. PASSED AND ADOPTED, at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Tustin on this day of May, 2017. DR. ALLAN BERSTEIN, Mayor ERICA N. RABE, City Clerk 1234904.3 STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) COUNTY OF ORANGE ) ss CITY OF TUSTIN ) CERTIFICATION FOR ORDINANCE NO, 1100-27 ERICA N. RABE, City Clerk and ex -officio Clerk of the City Council of the City of Tustin, California, do hereby certify that the whole number of the members of the City Council of the City of Tustin is five; that the above and foregoing Ordinance No. 1481 was duly passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the Tustin City Council held on the day of May, 2017, by the following vote: COUNCILMEMBER AYES: COUNCILMEMBER NOES: COUNCILMEMBER ABSTAINED: COUNCILMEMBER ABSENT: 1234904.3