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09/04/2014 Open Government Commission Regular Meeting Adopted 12/11/20141 Open Government Commission Meeting Agenda 3/13/2014 -1- GILROY OPEN GOVERNMENT COMMISSION MINUTES THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2014 I. OPENING A. Call to Order and Roll Call Chairperson Glines called the meeting to order at 6:19 p.m. ROLL CALL: Present: Commissioners: Janet Espersen, Jack Foley, Walter Glines, Luann Manseau Absent/Excused: Robert Esposito City Clerk Freels announced that Commissioner Esposito had called to let her know that he was ill and would not be attending the meeting. II. PRESENTATIONS TO THE OPEN GOVERNMENT COMMISSION A. PUBLIC COMMENT BY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC ON ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA, BUT WITHIN THE SUBJECT MATTER JURISDICTION OF THE COMMISSION There were no public comments. III. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Approval of the Minutes of May 29, 2014 Chairperson Glines announced that he had provided amendments to the minutes earlier in the day, which had been distributed to the full Commission at the meeting. Commissioner Foley asked for further clarification of the staff response related to his question under Item 4A on page 8 of the minutes. There were no public comments. 2 Open Government Commission Meeting Agenda 3/13/2014 -2- The Commission agreed to continue the item to the next meeting to incorporate the additional information into the minutes. IV. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. Consideration of Adopting Open Government Commission Bylaws The staff report was presented by City Clerk Freels who explained the item had been carried over from the previous meeting, and the bylaws had been modeled after other commissions of the city. Chairperson Glines asked it there should be a timing included in the bylaws for Staff input on an appeal. City Administrator Haglund stated that he would like to suggest a modification to the bylaws related to appeals, explaining that the section was modeled from the planning commission bylaws, which may not fit for appeals of the Open Government Commission as he saw that at times 10 minutes may not provide for enough time for the city to respond during an appeal hearing. Commissioner Espersen explained that the petitioner and appellant were the same person as described in the bylaws, explaining that the city was not referred to in the bylaws in any way. She then asked if the words petitioner and appellant could be consistently named as "Petitioner" in all areas so that it was clear. City Administrator Haglund stated that he was clarifying that the city was not seen in a limited role as the respondent. Chairperson Glines asked for fairness for both the appellant and the city, as king if the bylaws could be amended to allow the Chair to make the determination that both sides were fully stated in their presentation. City Administrator Haglund stated that the Commission could always make the determination to cut off a presentation.. Commissioner Foley stated that there was some discretion in the bylaws, and the Chair had the discretion to allow for additional time. City Clerk Freels explained that section 4.7 allowed for the Chair or the majority of the Commission to expand the speaking time. Commissioner Espersen stated that the speaker limit was intended for larger bodies such as the City Council and Planning Commission as there were large amounts of public input during those meetings, explaining that she didn't see that the Ope n Government Commission should limit speaker timing similar to those types of bodies. 3 Open Government Commission Meeting Agenda 3/13/2014 -3- Commissioner Foley explained that the Commission could always expand the speaker timing as identified under 4.7 Commissioner Espersen explained that she had served on a county commission and there were very few speakers who attended. Chairperson Glines asked if a 20 minute maximum public comment time by item should be provided in the bylaws. Commissioner Manseau suggested that it be adjusted on a case-by-case basis. Chairperson Glines explained that if 40 people were present to speak on one item, the Chair could ask members present to caucus by opinion to allow for less time spent hearing the same opinion. Commissioner Foley stated that he believed that in a democracy all people should be allowed to provide their own input and opinion as speakers may have the same opinions , but have differing information to present in support of their case, and he didn't see that each person's comments should be limited in that way. Commissioner Espersen stated that it could be a logistical problem to decide who would speak within the 20 minutes. City Administrator Haglund stated that many people self -policed when hearing others speak, and the Chair could suggest that if other's had s imilar comments they had been given previously, to ask that public members not reiterate the same comment. Chairperson Glines explained that the bylaws section 4.7would be amended as described earlier to change the description to "Petitioner" throughout t he section. Commissioner Foley spoke to section 4.4 related to special meetings, asking if the language could be modified to identify that the public also be noticed. City Clerk Freels suggested that the section could be re-worded as "Special Meetings may be called by the Commission in accordance with the Brown Act and Gilroy City Code Section 17A", explaining that the particular section numbers of the Brown Act and Open Government Ordinance had not been cited as changes to each piece of law could cause for needed amendments to the Commission bylaws Motion on Item IV.A. Motion was made by Commissioner Foley, seconded by Commissioner Manseau to adopt the bylaws. The motion carried 4-0-1. Commissioner Esposito absent. V. NEW BUSINESS 4 Open Government Commission Meeting Agenda 3/13/2014 -4- A. Quarterly Review of Public Records Requests per Gilroy Code Section 17A.35 (c) The staff report was presented by City Administrator Haglund. Commissioner Foley asked for more identification of the police case number asking if the Commission had any purview over the denied public records requests. City Administrator Haglund explained the code citation provided for the denied request for records. Commissioner Foley stated that the identification was very general and didn't specify what was being requested. City Administrator Haglund suggested that the type of police report requested may be able to be identified within the Commission's log. City Clerk Freels explained that staff could provide more identifying information as in of itself the request for public records was a public record. She then stated that it could be that the case number was exactly what was requested with no additional information. Commissioner Foley spoke on a previous request the Commission had reviewed, which had been denied as the record had b een purged, asking if there was a way the Commission could find out how long a record was maintained. City Clerk Freels explained that the city had a records retention policy, which had just recently been updated, explaining that all departments followed the policy with regards to retention and purging of records. Commissioner Foley asked if the Police Department had any other polciy hey followed for retention of records. City Administrator Haglund stated that they did not, and were required to follow th e most recent adopted policy. Chairperson Glines stated that he found that a synopsis of where the record was coming from was helpful, as identified in the log from the Police Department. City Administrator Halgund explained that the report was presente d in the bulk types of records reqeusted. Chairperson Glines then asked what a subpoena duces tecum was. City Clerk Freels explained that it was a subpoena for a member of staff to appear in court. Commissioner Foley asked if the appeal to the Commissio n was identified in the log. He 5 Open Government Commission Meeting Agenda 3/13/2014 -5- then asked if there had been any additional appeal filed to the City. City Administrator Haglund stated that it was under the city hall log of records requested. City Clerk Freels stated that no further appeal had been fil ed. There were no public comments. Motion on Item V.A. Motion was made by Commissioner Foley and Seconded by Commissioner Espersen to Receive Report. The motion carried 4-0-1. Commissioner Esposito absent. B. Selection of Open Government Commission Ice Chairperson to Serve a (1) One Year Term City Clerk Freels explained that there was no staff report, explaining that the item was a follow-up to the previously adopted bylaws. The Commission spoke on the need for the member to be able to Chair in the absence of the Chairperson. Commissioner Espersen volunteered to serve as the Vice Chair. There were no public comments. Motion on Item V.B. Motion was made by Commissioner Foley, seconded by Commissioner Manseau to appoint Commissioner Espersen as Vice Chair. The motion carried 4-0-1. Commissioner Esposito absent. VII. CITY ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORTS There was no report. VIII. CITY ATTORNEY'S REPORTS There was no report. Chairperson Glines asked if the City Attorney appointment had taken place. City Administrator Haglund stated that it had not. IX. CITY CLERK’S REPORTS City Clerk Freels stated that she had included the Commissioner's new terms in the back 6 Open Government Commission Meeting Agenda 3/13/2014 -6- of their packets. Chairperson Glines asked how Commissioner Manseau's resignation would take place and there was further discussion on the process of the appointment by the City Council . X. REPORTS OF COMMISSION MEMBERS Commissioner Foley spoke on the COIN discussion during the meeting of May 29th, asking if there was any follow-up being provided to the commission on providing more public awareness to the closed session bargaining unit negotiations . City Clerk Freels explained that page 10 of the Commission's May 29th minutes reflected the information Commissioner Foley was seeking, but no formal motion was made by the full Commission to direct staff to move further with the item. City Administrator Haglund asked Commissioner Foley what he would like staff to bring back for further consideration. He went on to share the comparison of the c ity processes and that in the City of the Costa Mesa ordinance sharing the formal and informal types of Gilroy negotiations with employee bargaining units. He further explained that when agreement was made in both processes, the agreed to terms were made public on the city website prior to Council final approval. Commissioner Foley explained that COIN provided something to the public prior to the agreement between the two groups. City Clerk Freels suggested that a further discussion take place as an agend ized item at the next meeting. City Administrator Haglund explained that Costa Mesa's negotiations were formal, and no informal processes took place. He then spoke on the costs associated with the formal process and the City Council's discretion to condu ct either type of negotiation. Commissioner Foley explained that many times the public had no way of knowing what was happening in the negotiation process when they were not made publicly available, which caused the public to be given varying interpretations of what was being actually being negotiated. He explained that the transparency should take place in the informal sessions as the public should have the right to give their input on both types of negotiations. There was further discussion of the types of negotiations, and the creation of the Costa Mesa ordinance and the Commission’s goals in transparency within labor negotiations. The Commission agreed to agendize the discussion of the Costa Mesa COIN ordinance and the ability for additional transparency within the formal and informal labor negotiations processes, asking staff for supplemental material for the next meeting. 7 Open Government Commission Meeting Agenda 3/13/2014 -7- XI. FUTURE COMMISSION INITIATED AGENDA ITEMS – SCHEDULE NEXT QUARTERLY MEETING The Commission set the next meeting date for November 11, 2014 at 7:00 p.m. XII. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 7:45 p.m. ______________________________ Shawna Freels, MMC City Clerk