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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - City Council - Meeting Date: 6/18/2013 *PLEASE NOTE: Since the Glendale City Council does not take formal action at the Workshops,Workshop minutes are not approved by the City Council. 4 GLE E MINUTES OF THE GLENDALE CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP SESSION Council Chambers 5850 West Glendale Avenue June 18, 2013 1:30 p.m. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Jerry P. Weiers. Vice Mayor Yvonne J. Knaack and the following Councilmembers were present: Norma S. Alvarez, Samuel U. Chavira, Ian Hugh, Manuel D. Martinez and Gary D. Sherwood. Also present were Richard Bowers, Acting City Manager; Horatio Skeete, Assistant City Manager; Nick DiPiazza, Acting City Attorney; and Pamela Hanna, City Clerk. Mayor Weiers called for the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silence was observed. WORKSHOP SESSION 1. CITY CODE, CITY COUNCIL GUIDELINES, COUNCIL MEETING RULES AND PROCEDURES —REVIEW AND DISCUSSION PRESENTED BY: Richard A. Bowers, Acting City Manager Staff is seeking guidance from Council to amend the City Code, the Council Guidelines and the Council Meeting Rules and Procedures to better reflect the direction and philosophy of the current Mayor and Council. Mr. Bowers said some of the changes were the voting meeting time change, amending the guidelines to reflect a calendar year term as opposed to a fiscal year term for Vice Mayor and council committees, having more time to respond to council items of special interest, to replace the moment of silence with a prayer, to move public comments to the beginning of the meeting, and to add the council workshop meeting location as the council chambers. Mayor Weiers and Mr. Bowers discussed the moment of silence and whether or not it should be a prayer or moment of silence. Mayor Weiers said he remembered there was a consensus to 1 change it to a prayer. Councilmember Martinez said he would like to see the minutes regarding that consensus. Vice Mayor Knaack said she did her own informal poll on this issue. She said most people liked the moment of silence, rather than a prayer. She said after speaking with several people of different faiths, they told her having a prayer seemed more of a Christian issue. She asked how they were going to have a moment of prayer without excluding anyone. Councilmember Martinez said during the moment of silence, anyone can pray or use the time however they want. He asked what it would mean if they adopted a prayer. He asked who would say the prayer. Councilmember Chavira said all faiths would have an opportunity to be represented and say the prayer based on their faith. Mayor Weiers said he thought of the prayer as an opportunity for each Councilmember to bring someone of any faith from their district to say a prayer. He said he remembered there being consensus on this issue at the Council Retreat. Vice Mayor Knaack said she would consider the prayer if there was a guideline for it. She said it needs more review and input before making a final decision. Councilmember Martinez said just because the Legislature does it doesn't mean the city should do it. He said everyone can pray in their own way and he didn't think it was necessary at the meeting. Councilmember Alvarez said anyone can come in and say a prayer, including the Boy Scouts. She said if the people want a prayer, then the council should accommodate it. She said it is a time for City Council to come together as a group and it might help them make better decisions. She feels they should have a prayer. Councilmember Sherwood said there should be guidelines on this. He said he would go with the majority on this issue. Mayor Weiers said there was a consensus to move forward with the prayer, and establishing guidelines on that issue. Mr. Bowers said this required a vote as it was a change to council meeting rules and procedures, so this will be put on a voting meeting agenda. Mr. Bowers then asked about moving the public comments to the beginning of the meeting. Councilmember Alvarez said they should let the public speak at the beginning of the meeting. Mayor Weiers said a little over fifty percent of cities hold public comment at the beginning and some allow public comment at both the beginning and end of the meeting. 2 Vice Mayor Knaack did her own informal poll and overwhelmingly she was told public comments should be at the end of the meeting. She said they would be able to get to the business of the meeting quicker, also applicants for liquor licenses and other agenda items wouldn't be kept waiting for public comments. Councilmember Martinez agreed with Vice Mayor Knaack comments. He said developers pay fees to attorneys to represent them at the meeting. He knew that lately there hasn't been that much development but things are changing. The developers and attorneys shouldn't have to wait through public comment before their business items are heard. Councilmember Martinez said for example, in Executive Session City Council hears our attorney consultants first so their fees aren't running up while they wait to be called. Councilmember Alvarez said they need to accommodate the people that pay the taxes and pay their salaries. She also said that children should be encouraged to attend the meetings. Councilmember Hugh suggested doing the public comments before the meeting, but limiting the maximum amount of time for speaker comments to about 15 minutes at the beginning of the meeting. Councilmember Chavira was in favor of moving comments to the beginning of the meeting. Councilmember Sherwood said he doesn't see a lot of merit in having the outside groups speak first. He said the youth groups that attend the meetings are not there to speak; they attend the meetings to see government in action. He said he thought the agreement was to try having the public comments at the beginning on a temporary basis to see how it worked. Councilmember Alvarez said the crowds usually attend meetings for a high profile subject such as the Coyotes. She said the comments from the public should be at the beginning of the meeting. Vice Mayor Knaack said the citizens have a lot of avenues for input, in addition to the meetings. She said limiting the time for comments might work as well as limiting the amount of speakers for each meeting. Mayor Weiers said their duty is to listen to their citizens and to let them voice their concerns. He mentioned the kiosks at the Legislature that allowed citizens to weigh in with comments, which could be seen right away by all the members. Councilmember Alvarez said the meetings are moving so much faster now and she thinks the citizens should be allowed to speak at the beginning of the meeting. Vice Mayor Knaack asked the opinions of both citizens and city staff and one hundred percent said they wanted the comments at the end of the meeting. 3 Councilmember Martinez said he did not remember this issue ever being brought up by a constituent. Councilmember Alvarez said that developers do get a benefit coming to the city, and Council need to cater to the citizens a little more. Councilmember Chavira asked if a survey could be done of citizens and staff on this issue. Mr. Bowers said something simple could be put together, but a thorough survey would cost the city about $3,000 to $5,000. Mayor Weiers suggested trying this for six months and if it doesn't work,just go back to the way it was. There was a consensus of Councilmembers to give it a try for six months. Mr. Bowers clarified that this was only for items not on the agenda. Mr. Bowers next discussed the workshop meeting location. Councilmember Sherwood said holding the workshops in Room B-3 works better as it is an informal and suitable location. Councilmember Martinez supported Councilmember Sherwood's suggestion. He said it must cost more money to hold the workshop meetings in the council chambers and would prefer to have the meetings in Room B-3. Councilmember Chavira agreed with Councilmember Sherwood and Councilmember Martinez. Vice Mayor Knaack said she spoke to a number of employees and one hundred percent felt holding the workshop meetings in B-3 was more conducive to having a discussion about the issues. She would prefer to have the meetings in Room B-3. Mayor Weiers said he had no problem with holding the workshops in Room B-3, but if a large crowd was expected, the meeting should be moved to the council chambers. Consensus was to move the workshop meetings back to Room B-3 and to move the meeting to the City Council Chambers when a large crowd was expected. Mr. Bowers then discussed Council committees and the terms reflecting a calendar year instead of a fiscal year. He also commented regarding changing the Vice Mayor appointment time to the calendar year as had been done this year. Vice Mayor Knaack asked Ms. Krey to address her concerns with the Council subcommittees' item. Ms. Krey said the Council subcommittees are budgeted and run on a fiscal year rather than a calendar year. She said the boards and commissions are on the fiscal year as well. She said the June date works well for budgeting and meeting schedule purposes. 4 Councilmember Sherwood said when there was a change in an election year, they have to come up with a six month term Council committee and Vice Mayor appointments. Ms. Krey spoke about several scenarios for various committees who have new members. Vice Mayor Knaack said she was okay with the council committees staying in the fiscal year cycle, but supported the Vice Mayor position moving to a calendar year cycle. Councilmember Sherwood agreed. Councilmember Alvarez asked about limiting how many terms a councilmember can serve on a committee. She would like to see all the members of the council rotate into the committees instead of one councilmember serving ten years on one committee. Mayor Weiers discussed setting a maximum of serving two consecutive years on a committee. Further discussion was held about serving on committees. There was consensus to limit a councilmember to serving on a committee for two consecutive years. Mr. Bowers then discussed beginning the meetings at 6 p.m. instead of 7 p.m. Vice Mayor Knaack said her informal survey said about seventy percent said a 6 p.m. start time was better. Mayor Weiers said he would like to start the meetings at 6 p.m. Councilmember Sherwood agreed with the 6 p.m. start time. He also mentioned that the guidelines needed to be revised as workshops, the summer break and holidays were not addressed. Mayor Weiers said there was consensus for a 6 p.m. start time for the meetings. Mr. Bowers discussed amending the guidelines to reflect more time to respond to council items of special interest. He said the 30 day timeline was very tight and not enough time for staff to do proper research on some issues. He suggested a 60 day timeline instead. Vice Mayor Knaack said the 30 day timeline was very short, but asked for an update in the 30 day timeframe. Councilmember Martinez said he agreed with the 60 day timeline, but if an item was ready sooner than that, it would be heard as soon as it was ready. Mr. Bowers said an update at 30 days was possible. There was further discussion about specific language and wording. It was agreed to the 60 day timeline, with an update at 30 days on the progress. Further discussion was held on how this issue was handled prior to the agreement of a 30 day timeline. 5 Mr. Bowers said updating monthly was not a problem. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT There were no items to discuss. COUNCIL ITEMS OF SPECIAL INTEREST Councilmember Sherwood asked about the internal audit and if it was going to appear on the next voting meeting. Mr. Bowers said it would be on the next voting meeting. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 2:27 p.m. 6