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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - City Council - Meeting Date: 8/17/2010 *PLEASE NOTE: Since the Glendale City Council does not take formal action at the Workshops,Workshop minutes are not approved by the City Council. "I'll GLEND,I .E MINUTES OF THE GLENDALE CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP SESSION Council Chambers-Workshop Room 5850 West Glendale Avenue August 17,2010 1:30 p.m. PRESENT: Mayor Elaine M. Scruggs, Vice Mayor Steven E. Frate, and Councilmembers Manuel D. Martinez, Joyce V. Clark, David M. Goulet, and Yvonne J. Knaack ABSENT: Councilmember H. Phillip Lieberman ALSO PRESENT: Ed Beasley, City Manager; Horatio Skeete, Interim Assistant City Manager; Craig Tindall, City Attorney; and Pamela Hanna, City Clerk 1. 2011 LEAGUE OF ARIZONA CITIES AND TOWNS RESOLUTIONS—60 MINUTES CITY STAFF PRESENTING THIS ITEM: Brent Stoddard, Intergovernmental Programs Director This is a request for City Council to review and provide guidance on the proposed resolutions which will be voted on at the August 24, 2010 League of Arizona Cities and Towns (LACT) Resolutions Committee meeting. The proposed resolutions provide the basis for the annual LACT Municipal Policy Statement which will guide the League's legislative efforts next session. Each year, the LACT solicits resolutions from municipalities to be considered by the League Resolutions Committee. At the Committee meeting each of the 91 cities and towns have an opportunity to state their position and vote as appropriate on each resolution. The Mayor of each city represents their municipality on the Committee. The resolutions were initially reviewed by a League Resolutions Subcommittee on July 7, 2010, which is made up of various Mayors on the Executive Committee. The Subcommittee made 1 initial recommendations about which resolutions should be adopted by the full Resolutions Committee, which should be amended or combined, and which should not move forward in the process. The final adopted resolutions will become part of the LACT's Municipal Policy Statement, and incorporated into the League's 2011 Legislative Agenda. Staff is requesting Council provide policy guidance on the proposed League Resolutions. Mr. Ed Beasley, City Manager, introduced Mr. Horatio Skeete, as Interim Assistant City Manager for the next few months. Mr. Brent Stoddard, Intergovernmental Programs Director, referenced the Arizona League Cities and Towns Resolution Sub-committee process for resolutions. In addition, he indicated that Glendale staff has reviewed each of the resolutions and has made recommendations for the City Council to consider at this workshop meeting. Mayor Scruggs will represent Glendale's council recommended positions at the meeting of the full Resolutions Committee on August 24`h. He stated that staffs recommendations align exactly with the recommendations of the subcommittee. He read and reviewed the resolutions recommended for adoption and added it is important to note that each resolution, when received, was in concept form only and not a final bill. As a result, even while giving direction, these resolutions do not make up the city's legislative agenda. Councilmember Clark had a follow-up question on resolution 13 regarding public intoxication. She asked if this resolution created a patch work of DUI penalties depending upon what city you were in. Mr. Stoddard responded that it most likely did. He noted in these types of instances, the League will try to provide a model ordinance for cities to review and propose adoption. Therefore, each county and municipality should be authorized to enforce a similar ordinance governing public intoxication. Mayor Scruggs asked if the intoxicated individual had to be breaking another law to be arrested for public intoxication. Mr. Stoddard replied yes. Mayor Scruggs explained that most people agree public intoxication is wrong and should not be allowed. However, the liquor industry in this state was very effective at lobbying. Therefore, getting a law passed that would address the real problem would not be successful. As a result, a group of cities has tried to approach it from a different standpoint. She added she believes this is being done out of frustration because there was zero confidence in getting a state law passed. Mr. Stoddard agreed and added it would be an uphill battle to actually change state law. Mayor Scruggs noted that it was a sad statement as to what goes on in the state legislature. Councilmember Clark asked Mr. Stoddard to clarify resolution 15 since this was the second time it has been slated to pass. Mr. Stoddard explained this resolution proposes to modify state liquor laws to improve the ability of municipalities to address public safety and quality of life concerns associated with problem liquor establishments, primarily through the State Liquor Department and Board. He reviewed some examples of the modifications. Councilmember Clark noted that 2 modifying the definition of licensed premises to include parking lots of bars and liquor stores would be very helpful. Councilmember Clark asked to discuss resolution 21 and questioned if they were proposing a resolution that will turn into a mutual aid assistance program. Mr. Stoddard stated this process was a bit different. This allows cities to provide ambulance emergency transport service within their community and not have it done by an outside entity. Councilmember Clark asked if the ultimate goal of this bill is to develop a mutual aid for the delivery of emergency transport services. Mr. Stoddard said the resolution was not focused on allowing others to come into the community. Councilmember Clark said she was reading the resolution differently and asked for further clarification. Mayor Scruggs asked Chief Burdick to clarify this issue. Chief Burdick explained that the basis behind this resolution is not a restrictive process but rather only provides each community a choice. Mayor Scruggs stated if this becomes a bill, she would be interested in the actual language since the current language could be interpreted differently. She provided a comparison with an analogy of how the city runs its elections using Maricopa County services. She explained that at this time, she was not whole heartily on board on this item and would wait to see the final language. Mr. Stoddard noted that on issues such as this, staff will come back to Council to give more detail on specific pieces of legislation. Therefore, a support vote today does not lock the city into a position since the resolution is just taking shape. He reviewed the recommended amended resolutions. Mayor Scruggs asked to make a personal comment on resolution 3, which is to identify a permanent, designated funding source to support the development and operation of a comprehensive multi-model public transportation program. She believes that resolution 3 was a very bad idea. She explained the public was maxed out on being taxed. She indicated taxation was the only type of permanent designated funding source there could be on this issue. She suggested resolutions 2 and 12 be combined and they reinstitute the statutory distribution formula. She indicated raising taxes would be a burden that the public will not tolerate. In addition,until the whole public transportation system is set right in Maricopa County,where one or two cities do not dictate who receives funding, she was not interested in any new funding source. She would like to see the League concentrate its efforts on reinforcing what was already in state statute and working very well for close to 20 years. Councilmember Clark asked to discuss resolution 19, which urges the Governor and the Legislature to develop and pass legislation to address the shortage of physicians in Arizona. She explained that the problem occurs when they take money from another source in order to fund it. She wondered if education would take another hit and end up hurting the system even more. She indicated that on a personal level, she does not believe this was the time to bring forward a resolution supporting only one type of specialized education. Mayor Scruggs wondered how resolutions 3 and 19 got through the resolution subcommittee since the rules require resolutions involving money had to have their own funding source. Mr. Stoddard stated she was correct; however, the cities that brought forward this resolution identified no negative fiscal impacts to cities and towns. Mayor Scruggs noted this impacts the state budget. Councilmember Clark 3 stated that as a matter of principal, they should not support it if they do not identify their funding sources. Mr. Stoddard was in agreement. Mayor Scruggs commented that the state's budget had to be set right and they only had three years in which to do it. She noted it was difficult to understand why some actually wanted to create a deeper deficit with certain resolutions. Councilmember Martinez indicated that Council's direction should be not to support resolutions 3 and 19. Councilmember Goulet stated that funding for medical students was a tremendous cost. However, he understands it is possible the legislature was addressing this as a feel good measure since there was a doctor shortage. He explained funding this now would possibly dig a deeper hole and he would not feel comfortable supporting it. Councilmember Clark stated she will not support resolutions 3 and 19. Mr. Stoddard continued his review with resolution 22, which requires publication of notices, agendas, reports, and other statutorily mandated publication in a newspaper, be amended to allow cities and towns the option to publish on an official website. Councilmember Clark stated she would definitely not support resolution 22. She explained that by doing this, they would be contributing to the demise of local newspapers. She would rather throw her support to the local press by helping them stay alive for as long as possible. Councilmember Martinez agreed, however, believes they can also have it on their website in addition to the newspaper. Furthermore, not everyone has access to the internet. Therefore, he will not support this issue. Mayor Scruggs explained she also opposes this resolution for some of the same reasons; however, also believes the city's revenue helps the paper continue publishing weddings, obituaries, and school functions. The newspaper is a public community service entity which needs revenue to be able to survive and function. Councilmember Knaack stated she agreed with everyone's comments. She also believes putting everything on the internet was a great idea and will eventually be done. However, doing that exclusively today will disenfranchise a lot of people, including her 91 year old mother. She noted she will support the local and big newspapers. She will not support resolution 22. Councilmember Goulet agreed. He believes a shift in that direction would be appropriate in 20 years, but not today. He explained that many people would get discouraged if they could not find it on the internet. He indicated the community was not ready to lose the newspaper. He would like to preserve what is so valuable in so many communities, large and small. Vice Mayor Frate agreed and added that possibly 20 years from now this might occur, but now was not the time. He stated he enjoys reading the newspaper every morning. Mayor Scruggs commented that when using the internet, you already know what you are looking for as opposed to reading a newspaper where you discover new things. She stated the consensus of the Council was not to support resolution 22. 4 Mr. Stoddard asked if they would like to review the "not recommended" list. Councilmember Clark asked to discuss resolution 4, which urges the legislature to designate medications containing certain pre-cursor chemicals used in the production of methamphetamine as controlled substances. She indicated there was an epidemic in this country regarding theses specific chemicals and was amazed this resolution was not being supported. Mr. Stoddard explained there have been earlier resolutions that have been supported regarding these chemicals, which prompted them to be put behind counters and only released by signature. However, this resolution deals with pre-courser chemicals which would require a separate schedule for controlled substances in the state. He noted the legislators believe that further regulating medications like Claritin would not fix the problem. Councilmember Clark stated she was going to respectfully disagree and support resolution 4. Councilmember Martinez indicated he also had questions regarding this resolution. He explained that with meth being such a deadly problem, more restrictions might help the crisis. He asked Chief Conrad to speak on this issue. Chief Conrad stated that although they still have a problem with methamphetamines, they were not seeing the level of manufactured meth in this state seen in past years. He noted it had been some time since they discovered a meth lab in the city. He believes the non-support of this resolution was simply reacting to the extreme measures of further legislation of this item which would result in a doctor's visit simply for a prescription of Claritin or other similar medication. Earlier legislation already requires having medications behind the counter and requires proper identification for purchase. He added they have a number of controls already in place which make it difficult to obtain those chemicals. Mayor Scruggs remarked if that was the case, she would not support this resolution. She explained most people could not afford to go to the doctor for serious illness and having them go for simple prescriptions did not make sense. Mr. Stoddard confirmed Chief Conrad's assessment. Councilmember Clark asked what legislative resolution required having to sign the log books for controlled substances. Chief Conrad stated he would get that information for her if she wanted it. Councilmember Clark agreed not to support this item if it meant having to go to the doctor for a prescription for Sudafed. Mayor Scruggs noted that classification of controlled substances ultimately starts with the FDA and what they determine. Mr. Stoddard explained that this year, the League's Executive Committee had made additional recommendations. He stated the League identified seven additional areas for recommendation. These included: Protect and Defend the Model City Tax Code, Support Reasonable Reform to the State Revenue System, Incorporate Reform, Prohibition of Unfunded Mandates, Job Creation and Economic Development, Political Signs and Transparency. Councilmember Martinez remarked that he remembered bill 2542 being introduced earlier, which dealt with posting political signs. Mr. Stoddard stated he was correct. He explained that last year, a bill had been sponsored by legislators in Tucson that had identified a problem they believed was unfair with the way the City of Tucson was handling their sign ordinance. The League and the City of Tucson met with those legislators and after their discussions, the sponsors of the bill agreed to stop the bill and just work directly with the City of Tucson. He hopes that 5 same process occurs here and they are able to resolve any issues before having to resort to sponsoring a bill. Mayor Scruggs noted how the public has become intolerant of political signs being everywhere. She believed the legislature did not realize how the public felt about the signs. Councilmember Clark asked to speak in defense of local candidates and their signs. She stated that most know what the rules are and follow them. She noted the hysteria occurs with the legislative, state and congressional candidates. Mayor Scruggs stated she hopes if this committee comes together, they include traffic engineers. Councilmember Knaack remarked it was unfair to allow politicians to put out signs, but not allow business owners to do the same. She believes candidates have full responsibility for their signs and who is putting them up. Mr. Stoddard stated Glendale does have a brochure posted online that has information on sign rules and regulations. He complemented code enforcement on the great system they had regarding the timing and implementation of picking up signs when they were in violation. They also have a system for a candidate to come pick up their signs. He noted the city has received complements from candidates on code enforcement's professionalism. Councilmember Knaack also commended the code enforcement department onbeing able to keep signs out of right-of-ways. She stated that last week, they had picked up more than 300 political signs found to be in violation of the code. She noted they deserved a lot of kudos for a job well done. As there were no further comments,Mayor Scruggs adjourned the meeting. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 3:00 p.m. 6