Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - Judicial Selection Advisory Board - Meeting Date: 9/8/2016MINUTES OF THE CITY OF GLENDALE JUDICIAL SELECTION ADVISORY BOARI) THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2016 Municipal Complex 5850 West Glendale Avenue 6:00 p.m. Council Chambers MEMBERS PRESENT: Dr. Frank Sisti. Chair STAFF PRESENT: Justin Beresky, Vice Chair Marc Eaton, Board Member Judge Andrew Gould, Board Member Nora Greer, Board Member Michele Tennyson, Board Member Judge Chuck Whitehead, Board Member Judge Elizabeth Finn, Non-Voting Member Debbie Burson, Assistant HR Director Katie Douglas, HR Business Parfrrer and JSAB Staff Representative Alyssa Bethel, HR Business Partner and incoming JSAB Staff Representative CALL TO ORDER Chair Dr. Frank Sisti called the meeting to order at 6:04 p.m. Judge Finn stated she wished to discuss the JSAB bylaws and she also planned to bring up an item during New Business. At Chair Dr. Sisti's suggestion, each of the Board Members introduced themselves to the rest of the Board. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM FEBRUARY 18.2016 MEETING Vice Chair Justin Beresky moved to approve the minutes as presented and Board Member Chuck Whitehead seconded the motion. Board Member Tennyson chose to abstain from voting since she was not present at the last meeting.The remaining six members voted to approve the Minutes as presented. INTRODUCTION OF NEW BOARD APPOINTEES JUDGE ANDREW GOULD. MICHELE TENNYSON AND ROY C. WHITEHEAD Dr. Sisti welcomed the new members to the Judicial Selection Advisorv Board. BOARD ORGANIZATION Dr. Frank Sisti became JSAB Chair upon the departure of former Chair Christina Rubalcava. His initial term expires November 29,2016. He is eligible to serve two additional one-year terms. BOARD ORGANIZATION The Board elected Justin Beresky to serve as Vice Chair, in accordance with JSAB by- laws. Mr. Beresky's first term as Vice Chair expires November 29,2016. He is eligible to serve two additional one-year terms. OATHS OF BOARD MEMBER MICHELE TENNYSON. CHAIR DR. FRANK SISTI AND VICE.CHAIR ruSTIN BERESKY Board Member Michele Tennyson, Chair Dr. Frank Sisti and Vice Chair Justin Beresky took their oaths at this time. BOARD ORGANIZATION Chair Dr. Frank Sisti requested nominations for Chair of the Judicial Selection Advisory Board. Vice Chair Justin Beresky nominated Dr. Frank Sisti to fill the Chair role for another term. Member Andrew Gould seconded the motion and it was voted unanimously to elect Dr. Frank Sisti as JSAB Chair. Dr. Sisti's first term as Chair will expire November 29,2017. He is eligible for one additional one-year term. BOARD ORGANIZATION Chair Dr. Frank Sisti requested nominations for Vice Chair of the Judicial Selection Advisory Board. Board Member Nora Greer nominated Justin Beresky to fill the Vice Chair role for another term. Chair Dr. Frank Sisti seconded the motion and it was voted unanimously to elect Justin Beresky as JSAB Vice Chair. Mr. Beresky's first term as Chair will expire November 29,2017. He is eligible for one additional one-year term. DISCUSSION AND VOTE ON SUGGESTED JSAB BY.LAW REVISIONS During extensive discussion regarding the JSAB by-laws at the November 17,2015 JSAB meeting, then-member Judge Randall Warner volunteered to draft revisions to the by-laws based on the aforementioned discussion. Draft revisions were provided to the Board for review. Chair Dr. Frank Sisti asked why the by-laws document was entitled "Organizational and Procedural Rules for the Judicial Selection Advisory Board". Vice Chair Beresky stated we've been using the two titles interchangeably. StaffRepresentative Katie Douglas stated that if the Board wished, the title of the document could be changed to "By-laws". Chair Dr. Sisti wondered if the title referred to a sub-document. Judge Finn asked if he was referring to the data recipient gathering document. She stated that document was created by stafffrom HR and the court and was a summary of information the court staff was in a position to be able to collect. She stated the document had been previously created but not yet approved by the Board. She stated if the Board votes to amend the by-laws as presented that will comply with what court staff is in a position to collect. Judge Finn stated she wished to suggest another proposal to the by-laws. She asked if the Board would consider delaying a vote on the amended by-laws until New Business so she could explain another possible scenario to the Board since, in her view, it could affect the by-laws. She funher stated she would like to broach the subject toward the end of the meeting when New Business would be discussed. Vice Chair Justin Beresky suggested they table the discussion and vote on the bylaws until the Board hears Judge Finn's input. Judge Finn stated the next reappointment process for both her appointment as well as that ofJudge Delgado were coming up in January. She stated she couldn't discuss it until New Business but the Board may wish to wait even longer before voting on the by-laws based on the information she planned to present. Staff Representative Katie Douglas advised Judge Finn and the Board that RIS, the survey provider, planned to implement the use of electronic surveys for the upcoming reappointment process. Dr. Sisti tabled the item. DISCUSSION AND VOTE ON TN.HOUSE COLLECTION PROCESS FOR JSAB SURVEY RECIPIENT LISTS Judge Elizabeth Finn explained the reason for creating the in-house collection process for JSAB survey recipients. She stated stafffrom Human Resources worked with her and other court staff to further define and clariff the process. She stated the focus was on ensuring the accuracy of the contact information as well as taking into consideration what information the court staff was actually able to collect and then defining the process staff would use to collect the information. She advised the Board that as witnesses leave the courtroom, court staff hands out surveys to them to complete and send in to RIS, the survey provider. Chair Dr. Sisti asked if everybody had a chance to read the document and whether they understood the document. He also stated the reason this came up was because the question arose as to whether the survey information was verifiable and useful to the Board. He stated it tumed out the methodology used to gather data on contact information was where the breakdown occurred. He also stated this is a very useful and helpful document. At Judge Finn's request, Dr. Sisti tabled the item until Judge Finn brought forth an item during New Business. CALL FOR A VOTE TO ENTER INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION Board Member Andrew Gould moved to enter into Executive Session. Vice Chair Justin Beresky seconded the motion which was unanimously approved. The Board finalized interview questions for the interview of City Judge John Burkholder. CALL FOR A VOTE TO RECONVENE INTO OPEN SESSION Vice Chair Justin Beresky moved to reconvene into open session. Board Member Chuck Whitehead seconded the motion, and the motion canied unanimously. INTERVIEW PROCESS BRIEFING Glendale Assistant Human Resources Director Debbie Burson provided ajudicial reappointment interview process briefi ng. REAPPOINTMENT INTERVIEW OF JOHN BURKHOLDER FOR CITY JUDGE Board members interviewed John Burkholder for reappointment to City Judge. The interview was videotaped, a copy of which will be provided to the Mayor and City Council for their review, along with a copy of the interview questions asked of Judge Burkholder. Presiding Judge Finn stated she relies on Judge Burkholder to handle the calendar for the court, in addition to his usual duties. She added she was very pleased that he possessed the knowledge to manage the calendar. She stated the arraignments were previously handled by the Pro Tem judges. This changed when the City made budget cuts and budget reductions were necessary. She also stated they lost the Court Administrator and no longer had a Deputy Administrator and Judge Burkholder has provided much assistance in their absence. Judge Finn stated Judge Burkholder is always willing to step up to the plate, even when it means assuming unique non-traditional judicial roles. PUBLIC COMMENT There were no comments from the public at this time. CALL FOR A VOTE TO ENTER INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION Vice Chair Justin Beresky suggested the Board forgo entering into executive session and go directly to a vote regarding Judge Burkholder's reappointment recommendation. Chair Dr. Frank Sisti asked if any of the Board Members objected to this suggestion. There were no objections. Vice Chair Justin Beresky moved to forgo entering into executive session and go directly to a vote. Board Member Andrew Gould seconded the motion, and the motion carried unanimously. REAPPOINTMENT RECOMMENDATION FOR JOHN BURKHOLDER After consideration of the interview with City Judge John Burkholder, as well as additional information provided to the Board, Chair Dr. Frank Sisti moved to recommend reappoinhnent of John Burkholder to City Judge for a four-year term. Vice Chair Justin Beresky seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. PUBLIC COMMENT There were no comments from the public. STAFF REPORT Staff representative Katie Douglas introduced Alyssa Bethel as the incoming JSAB Staff Representative to replace Ms. Douglas who would be transitioning out of the role. Ms. Douglas also advised the Board that the City of Glendale was planning an appreciation event for members of the various board and commission members. Specifically, members of the JSAB Board were invited to attend the November 3, 2016, NHL Coyotes game against the Nashville Predators. The City's suite at the Jobing.com arena will be provided for this event. More information will be forthcoming. Ms. Douglas also advised the Board a meeting would be scheduled for January 2017 at which the Board would interview separately Judge Elizabeth Finn and Judge Manuel Delgado and vote whether to recommend their reappointment to subsequent terms. BOARD COMMENTS There were no comments from the Board. NEW BUSINESS Judge Elizabeth Finn discussed the process her staffuses to provide names for the judicial surveys. She asked Staff Representative Katie Douglas how many surveys went out for Judge Burkholder's survey. Ms. Douglas stated about 521 surveys were disbursed. Judge Finn stated she is the Chair of Buckeye's JSAB and in that role she assisted them with creating a judicial survey. She obtained copies of the surveys used for the City of Phoenix Presiding Judge and City Judge, which she combined into one survey. Judge Finn stated they created a survey using Survey Monkey which yielded over 50 responses. She noted the Burkholder survey yielded oriy 26 responses. Judge Finn stated she wants Glendale's JSAB Board to look at the survey used by the City of Buckeye's JSAB for reappointment of their Presiding Judge. Judge Finn stated some survey recipients might be put off by the length of the survey currently used for Glendale judges. Board Member Nora Greer stated survey monkey is very easy to use. Judge Finn stated her staff would still be required to invest a lot of staff time to compile the names and contact information of survey recipients. She also stated the court staff has taken steps to ensure the information they provide will be more accurate than in the past. Judge Finn stated she would like the Board to look at the survey used recently by Buckeye's JSAB and consider using that moving forward Staff Representative Katie Douglas stated in regard to the survey, only attorneys and judges answer the full range of questions on the survey. Other respondent groups such as witnesses, jurors, court employees, etc. are asked only a portion of the total questions on the survey. She pointed out that when it came to witnesses, jurors, defendants and court employees, they were not asked any of the questions about legal ability, nor were they asked most of the questions about communication skills, nor some of the questions about judicial temperament. She asked Judge Finn if regarding Buckeye's survey, all recipient groups were asked all questions. Judge Finn stated she didn't remember if all recipients were asked the questions about legal ability. Judge Finn stated she would like the JSAB to review the questions used by Phoenix and Buckeye JSABs. Chair Dr. Sisti stated the numbers of responses for the Burkholder survey were not useful to the JSAB. He stated that kiosks created by IT with four or five screens could be a possibility in encouraging more survey recipients to participate in the survey as they exit the courtroom. Judge Finn stated that City IT cannot support that in the court. She stated she would like the Board to consider a change to the survey before the next survey is conducted. Judge Finn stated this is the reason she suggested withholding the vote on the by-laws until this was discussed. Vice Chair Beresky stated the by-laws don't necessarily refer to hardcopy or electronic surveys. StaffRepresentative Katie Douglas stated when Jim Riggs from RIS met with the JSAB in a prior meeting, he expressed a desire to move toward using Survey Monkey or electronic surveys. He had hoped to us€ electronic surveys for Judge Burkholder's survey, but unfortunately court staffwas unable to provide email addresses for the survey recipients. Therefore, he mailed out paper surveys to recipients. But, he will utilize electronic surveys for both Judge Finn's and Judge Delgado's surveys provided court staffis able to provide email addresses for recipients. She further stated her concern that waiting to decide on new survey questions could result in not getting the surveys completed in time for the Finn and Delgado surveys. She suggested going forward with electronic surveys using the existing survey questions to ensure they are completed in time for the reappointment interviews of Finn and Delgado. Meanwhile, the JSAB can take the time in a future meeting to review and discuss the survey Judge Finn is recommending and decide if they wish to use that going forward. Judge Finn stated she was reviewing the proposed by-laws and she further stated Vice Chair Justin Beresky is correct. She stated she doesn't think there is anything in the proposed byJaws that would be impacted by the use of electronic surveys. Staff Representative Katie Douglas stated that we know the lion's share of the surveys is going to defendants. We also know, and Jim Riggs has also stated, that statistically we are going to get the very smallest percentage of responses from them. In many cases, they may not have email addresses. In those cases, the surveys will be mailed out to them. Judge Finn stated court staffwill have to hand out paper surveys to witnesses. Judge Finn again stated she would like the Board to take a look at the extent of the survey and consider whether to continue with the same process or shorten the survey. StaffRepresentative Katie Douglas stated due to time constraints in relation to the upcoming reappointment interviews for Judges Finn and Delgado, she recommended moving forward this last time with the existing survey questions to ensure surveys are completed in time for this process. In the meantime, the Board can work on considering whether we want to change the survey, perhaps even shortening the survey, for future surveys. Chair Dr. Frank Sisti stated the Board needed to work in a parallel fashion. He stated in a linear process, we'll just delay ourselves until 2017. If we get the survey material Judge Finn is talking about, the Board can review it and then come together and discuss changing it. He suggested going ahead and approving the by-laws at this meeting, and if necessary, in the future pen the process along with the revised survey document as an addendum that can be changed without modi$ing by-laws again. He then asked for other comments from the Board. Judge Finn stated there's no issue with approving the by-laws as they don't refer to the methodology. She stated she thinks it's really a question of timing. She stated she thought the next meeting was in November, rather than January. StaffRepresentative Katie Douglas stated if the Board wished to meet in October or November to discuss possible changes to the survey questions, she would schedule a meeting for that purpose. Chair Dr. Sisti moved that the Board plan to meet in November with the intent the Board would deal specifically with the survey issue. He stated they would ask Judge Finn to provide them with an electronic copy of the survey so they can review it in advance. Vice Chair Justin Beresky seconded the motion and the motion canied unanimously. Vice Chair Beresky said he would be surprised if we weren't able to transition to electronic surveys. He stated the question becomes how we do that and what questions to include. Judge Finn stated the other part of that is court staff would try to be diligent in collecting as many email addresses from individuals as possible. Judge Finn stated she would collect Phoenix's surveys as well as those used by Buckeye and provide them to Katie Douglas to be distributed to the Board for consideration prior to the November meeting. Vice Chair Justin Beresky moved to change the name of the document entitled 'City of Glendale Organizational and Procedural Rules for the Judicial Selection Advisory Board" to "City of Glendale By-laws for the Judicial Selection Advisory Board". Board Member Nora Greer seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. Chair Dr. Frank Sisti moved to approve the by-laws as amended by Judge Wamer. Vice Chair Justin Beresky seconded the motion, which canied unanimously. Judge Finn stated she didn't want to totally discourage the use of a kiosk and stated it may be an option in the future. Chair Dr. Frank Sisti stated we may find it is cost-effective to conduct the survey using Jim Riggs' services and that a kiosk might then not be necessary. He also suggested that we invite Mr. Riggs to attend the Board's November meeting at which he could discuss how he is implementing the electronic survey process. Chair Dr. Sisti also stated he wanted the Board to entertain the idea of attendance by the Board Members in court to observe the Judges in the courtroom. Judge Finn stated she has calendars which run through December. These calendars show each type of proceeding in each courtroom, whether there's a public defender in the courtroom, Pro Tems, etc. She stated she can make the calendars available by email to Katie Douglas to share with the Board. She stated Board Members should plan to check the day of or the day before attending to confirm the calendar hasn't changed. Board Member Tennyson stated that getting survey responses before the respondents leave the courtroom would probably yield better results. Dr. Frank Sisti stated this takes us back to the Board's original question in 2015, which was whether the surveys really give the Board anything they can use. He asked the Board to contemplate within themselves whether, in Judge Burkholder's case, whether the surveys gave Board Members anything that helped them to make a decision versus the materials that were provided. He asked them to think about it between now and the next meeting. Katie Douglas stated with some JSABs, Board Members reach out to attorneys who had appeared before the judge and ask them what their experience was in the court with the judges. Judge Finn stated she had never heard of that before. Assistant HR Director Debbie Burson stated they used to do that with the Scottsdale JSAB. Board MemberNora Greer stated the Superior Court will post Superior Court Judge judicial applications online for review during the reappointment process. Board Member Marc Eaton suggested the Board consider other options for elecfronic surveys besides Survey Monkey such as putting together an electronic survey on a website that is confidential and user-friendly for staff and others to utilize. Chair Dr. Frank Sisti stated the Board would discuss the surveys further in the November meeting. StaffRepresentative Katie Douglas reminded the Board they had not yet voted on the tabled item regarding the in-house collection process for JSAB survey recipient lists. Judge Finn stated the names of court staff should be removed from the document as those staff no longer work in the court. StaffRepresentative Katie Douglas stated she would remove the names. Chair Dr. Frank Sisti moved to approve the document as written and then have it modified to purge rulmes in preparation for the November meeting. Board Member Marc Eaton seconded the motion, and the motion canied unanimously. CALL FOR FUTURE MEETING The Board will meet next in November 2016 to discuss surveys. The Board will also meet in January 2017 for the reappointment interviews of Judge Finn and Judge Delgado. ADJOURNMENT Board Member Nora Greer moved to adjourn the meeting. Board Member Chuck Whitehead seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 7:58 p.m.