12/11/2014 Open Government Commission Regular Meeting Adopted 03/26/20151
Open Government Commission Minutes
12/11/2014
GILROY OPEN GOVERNMENT COMMISSION
Minutes
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2014
I. OPENING
A. Call to Order and Roll Call
Vice Chairperson Espersen called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
ROLL CALL:
Present: Commissioners: Janet Espersen, Jack Foley, Jon Newland Robert sposito
Absent/Excused: Walter Glines
B. Welcome Newly Appointed Commissioner Jon Newland
Newly Appointed Commissioner Jon Newland introduced himself to the Commission.
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
Chairperson Glines joined the meeting at 7:03 p.m.
A. Approval of the Minutes of September 4, 2014
B. Approval of the Minutes of May 29, 2014
Commissioner Foley explained his comment to the Dispatch in the S eptember 4, 2014
minutes, suggesting that it be described more fully.
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Commissioner Espersen announced that she was not in attendance at the September 4,
2014 meeting, and would not be voting on the item .
Comment was made that Commissioner Newland wo uld not be voting on the item as he
had not been in attendance at either meeting.
Motion on Consent Calendar Items A and B
Motion was made by Commissioner Esposito, Seconded by Commissioner Foley to
approve the minutes with the correction as suggested by Commissioner Foley. The
motion carried 3-0-2, Commissioners Espersen and Newland recusing.
IV. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
A. Further Discussion of Costa Mesa Civic Openness in Negotiations “COIN”
Ordinance and Potential Options for Public Transparency During Gilroy’s
Informal and Formal Labor Negotiation Processes
The staff report was introduced by City Administrator Haglund and further presented by
Human Resources Director McPhillips.
Public comment was opened.
Chris Foy of the Dispatch stated that he was happy to see the Commission addressing
the possibility.
Public comment was then closed.
Commissioner Foley asked about the MOU grievance process asking if the process was
open and public.
City Administrator Haglund spoke on the formal grievance process and ability to handle
most operational type grievances in a more informal manner.
Human Resources Director McPhillips spoke on the informal process of a grievance and
then explained that the any advanced grievance would be taken up before the Person nel
Commission in an open public meeting.
Chairperson Glines asked if there was any report of any kind that was sent on to the City
Council.
Human Resources Manager McPhillips explained that it a grievance made its way to the
formal process, the Personnel Commission would hear the item and make their
recommendation to the City Council and all reports would be presented.
Commissioner Foley spoke on the Open Government Commission’s charge of making
processes more open to the public, explaining that whether or not staff considered
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something minutia, he believed it should be transparent to the public.
Chairperson Glines asked how the formal process began, asking if any previous informal
discussions were wiped from the slate entirely.
Human Resources Director McPhillips stated that they were.
City Administrator Haglund stated that a list of items would be presented by both sides
with the formal negotiation processes.
Commissioner Foley explained that was the traditional negotiation approach , and then
spoke on possible posturing to the public with untruths, strikes and other issues that took
place during contentious formal negotiations processes. He then spoke on the Costa
Mesa options of a more efficient process focused on the best interests of the publ ic.
Human Resources Director McPhillips stated that Costa Mesa still had a contentious
formal process with portions which were more public.
Commissioner Foley stated that his opinion was to make negotiations more transparent
as he had seen them go awry.
Human Resources Director McPhillips went on to share possible ideas of providing more
transparency in the existing negotiation processes of the city.
Chairperson Glines asked for more description in the staff provided material asking that a
full description of all portions of the CalPERS benefits be included within future material.
Commissioner Foley explained that he would like to explore the opportunity for more of
the process being held under the public’s review, to eliminate posturing and the was te of
effort and time in the labor negotiations to assist with expediting the process without
games being played. He went on to describe the older more formal negotiations and
need to ensure the process be more transparent to get more information out to th e
public, describing the disability laws that cost cities so much to implement.
Commissioner Espersen explained that the need to balance what was reasonable to
share and what was not reasonable to share with the public.
Commissioner Newland spoke on the minor disputes that needed to be discussed
informally.
Commissioner Esposito stated that he didn’t know where the line could be drawn
between the informal process and transparency needs.
Chairperson Glines explained that open negotiations could make the process more
difficult, explaining that the current informal process worked for the parties negotiating,
but the public wasn’t involved in the process, explaining that he was in favor of making
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the process more transparent, as it was the charge of the Co mmission. He went on to
suggest that the union groups be invited to provide their input on the as well.
City Attorney Callon explained that the Open Government Commission needed to
recognize that their duty was to make processes more transparent, but al so it also held a
duty to not cause the city harm as representatives of the City of Gilroy.
Chairperson Glines stated that he disagreed explaining that he believed the function of
the commission, and went on to explain the need for an attorney for the Co mmission, as
total openness was the charge of the Commission.
Commissioner Foley explained that the idea that having an equal fiduciary duty to the city
was in conflict with the charge given to the Commission by the City. He went on to
describe that any negotiations between a bargaining unit and the city be open and
televised for public scrutiny, describing past negotiations that had caused the public quite
a bit of money.
Commissioner Newland spoke on the differences between the informal and formal
informal processes being outside of the public review. He then explained that the
negotiations were conducted with business strategy between the two entities.
Chairperson Glines asked where the starting point was for each the informal and formal
process.
City Administrator Haglund spoke on the initiation of informal negotiations which began
between the union representatives and staff, and went on to share the processes of
presenting items to the City Council. He then described the Council’s requirement to
publically consider entering into closed session on each negotiation closed session item,
the public posting of all labor contracts and ability for public comments during prior to the
Council consideration, and the Council approval of all final negotiation agreements in
open public meetings.
Commissioner Foley asked if there was any public input during the initial step in the
negotiation processes and suggested that public transparency might be inserted into the
initiation of informal negotiations.
Commissioner Newland explained that it was business negotiations.
Chairperson Glines spoke on the guidance provided by the Council when going back to
the unions during a negotiation. He then spoke on providing direct outreach to the unions,
members of other Commissions, the chamber and the community to get input on
designing a more public negotiation process.
Commissioner Espersen stated that hearing from the unions could be helpful then spoke
on the lack of public participation at public meetings suggesting creating some outreach
material in the newspaper to see if the public had thoughts on more open transparent
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negotiations.
Commissioner Esposito explained that he was concerned with causing undue risk on the
city in the process, and spoke on the possibility of causing a misperception and
potentially damage the current process with such outreach.
Commissioner Foley spoke on previous years of very contentious negotiations explaining
that current negotiations worked due to the economic situation that the city found itself in,
but there was a potential for contentious negotiations again . He then suggested
addressing the possibility with a more transparent process.
City Administrator Haglund stated that economic times had been a factor in the positive
negotiations and explained that also trust had been built with the unions . He then
explained that the need to rush to add more transparency could inadvertently cause harm
to the overall atmosphere, explaining the state requirement to publish the salary and
benefits of each individual member of city staff was something the city had been doing for
several years, which was increased transparency. He further explained that the contracts
with each union were publically published prior to the approval and a concern was t he
inadvertent harm that could collapse a process, or cause a strain on the labor units and
the city.
Chairperson Glines spoke on hearing from the unions and possible changes to the
processes.
Human Resources Director McPhillips stated that the Commission could invite the
unions, but she had no idea what they would think about potential changes in the
process.
Commissioner Esposito stated that he didn’t see where the breakdown took place in the
process where corruption started and caused the most concern with regards to
transparency, asking if the issue of transparency was as important to the unions as he
wanted more understanding of the concerns before asking unions for their opinions .
Commissioner Foley stated that he too didn’t know all of the step s in the process which
could cause the break down in the past. He then asked if staff could provide more
information as to how the formal and informal processes unfolded step by step.
Human Resources Director McPhillips describe the steps in the union presenting an item
to the City and then the negotiation going forward in an informal process with the Council
to see what direction they wanted to go in.
Commissioner Newland spoke on the need for strategic discussions of each party’s
negotiation and the final negotiation, which ultimately became public.
City Administrator Haglund explained that each side had strategy discussions and then
the draft agreement was presented in a public forum. He went on to describe the union’s
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approach to city staff.
Commissioner Foley asked if there was any part of the informal negotiation as described
that was conducted in the public.
City Administrator Haglund stated that the public saw the draft agreement prior to Council
consideration.
Chairperson Glines spoke on the very informal approach in beginning a negotiation.
Commissioner Newland stated that he didn’t see a problem with the existing process as
there was a point where transparency hindered the process and kept people from talking
or accomplishing anything, and was ultimately inefficient.
City Administrator Haglund spoke on the some of the portions of the informal process
that the city was not in the dominate position in the negotiation under fair labor practices.
He explained that both sides would need to agree to negotiate in public.
Commissioner Newland spoke on the negotiation being videotaped.
Commissioner Espersen explained that she hated to put an undue burden on the process
and wasn’t certain every informal negotiation should be public, explaining that if both
parties need to agree to public negotiations it may not be an issue.
Human Resources Director McPhillips suggested that if the tone and tenure of the
existing union negotiations changed in a negative way, the commission could re -consider
addressing the existing process.
There was discussion of providing an invitation to representative members of the various
bargaining unions to attend a commission meeting to address a more transparent
process.
Motion on Item IV.A.:
Motion was made by Commissioner Foley, seconded by Chairperson Glines to invite
representatives from each of the negotiating unions to attend a future meeting to address
the possibility of creating a more open and public negotiation process as the commission
was considering a recommendation to the Council of more transparency in negotiation
processes. The motion failed with a 2-3 vote; Commissioner’s Esposito, Espersen and
Newland voting no.
V. NEW BUSINESS
A. Quarterly Review of Public Records Requests Per Gilroy Code Section 17A.35 (c)
The staff report was presented by City Administrator Haglund.
Chairperson Glines asked for clarification of the election records previously requested.
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City Clerk Freels explained the particular items that had been requested.
Commissioner Foley spoke on the requests made for subpoena duces tecum asking if
employees had to testify for specific cases. There was further discussion of the process
of testimony of Police Officers.
The Commission agreed to bring back to the next meeting the staff suggested changes to
the existing negotiation process, as provided in the COIN ordinance presentation
material.
There were no public comments.
Motion on Item V.A.
Motion was made by Commissioner Espersen, seconded by Commissioner
Esposito and carried with a 5-0 vote to receive the report.
B. Discussion of Annual Presentation to the City Council – January 26, 2015
The Commission discussed the presentation and Commissioner Foley offered to present
to the City Council
There were no public comments.
Commissioner Espersen suggested agendizing a discussion of recommending the City
Council begin their regular meeting time at 7:00 p.m., instead of 6:00 p.m.
The Commission agreed to agendize the item.
VI. CITY ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORTS
There were none.
VII. CITY ATTORNEY'S REPORTS
There were none.
VIII. CITY CLERK’S REPORTS
City Clerk Freels spoke on the request from the previous meeting regarding a public
participation portal on the city website.
City Administrator Haglund presented the possibly of a website public participation portal
as previously suggested by Chairperson Glines, explaining that the city was exploring the
possibility with the new website as it rolled out in February and went on to describe a
recent meeting where online engagement t ools were presented.
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Commissioner Foley asked how much website data was reviewed by the public, asking
staff to provide the analytics on the number of hits on the city website.
There was a discussion of pulling analytics from a website to gauge the publ ic’s needs.
City Administrator Haglund stated that he would ask IT to look into providing hit analytics
information to provide to the Commissioners.
IX. REPORTS OF COMMISSION MEMBERS
There were none
X. FUTURE COMMISSION INITIATED AGENDA ITEMS – SCHEDULE NEXT
QUARTERLY MEETING
Chairperson Glines spoke on the suggestion of creating city email accounts for all board
and commission members of the City.
City Administrator Haglund explained that the city would be budgeting for additional email
accounts which would be included with the upgrade of the city’s exchange server.
City Clerk Freels explained that the Open Government ordinance training video was still
being created in a segment format, explaining that it had not been postponed but was
taking some time to complete.
XI. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 8:55 p.m.
______________________________
Shawna Freels, MMC
City Clerk