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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - Public Safety Personnel Retirement Boards - Meeting Date: 11/29/2018GLEND^E >.' hfllNUTES PUBLIC SAFETY PERSONNEL RETIREMENT SYSTEM LOCAL FIRE & POLICE BOARDS CITY HALL - 4TH FLOOR CONFERENCE ROOM 5850 W. GLENDALE AVE. GLENDALE, ARIZONA 85301 NOVEMBER 29, 2018 2:00 P.M. CALL TO ORDER THE JOINT SESSION OF THE LOCAL FIRE & POLICE BOARDS Board Member and Acting Chair Charles Erickson called the meeting to order at 2:04 p.m. 3. 4. ROLL CALL Members Present: City Manager Kevin Phelps Board Member Charles Erickson Board Member Justin Harris Board Member Anthony Love Board Member Joe Hester (by telephone) Members Absent: Mayor Jerry Weiers Board Member Cody Carmichael Staff Present: Jim Brown, Director of Human Resources and Risk Mgmt. Charlotte Beadles, HR Specialist, Benefits Lisa Chill, HR Management Assistant Other Attendees: Attorney Carrie O'Brien CITIZEN CORfllUIENTS No citizens were present. NEW BUSINESS A. PRESENTATION BY ATTORNEY CARRIE O'BRIEN Mr. Erickson introduced this item and turned it over to Gust & Rosenfeld Attorney Carrie O'Brien. She gave a brief overview of her background in law, and her experience so far with the PSPRS Boards. She then read and went over each slide of the Powerpoint Presentation: PSPRS Local Board Powers, Open Meeting Law & Conflicts of Interest, which was also in print in each Board members' binder. There was a brief discussion about the medical board that conducts the pre-employment pysical exams. Mr. Erickson wanted to clarify that the City paid the medical boards and that they were not paid by the Boards directly, as the Boards do not keep a separate budget. Jim Brown confirmed that was correct, and Ms. O'Brien added that the Board does have the authority to select the medical board. B. BOARD BY-LAWS AND MODEL RULES Mr. Erickson introduced this item. Ms. O'Brien led the discussion and gave a brief description of the current Local Board By-Laws and how they differ from Model Rules. Ms. O'Brien stated that she had reviewed the Model Rules that are published by the PSPRS and the current Board By-Laws in depth and did a side by side comparison. She explained that the Model Rules promulgated in 2016 by PSPRS are an example of what local Boards may adopt and that they can be customized, and also that other cities are in the process of looking at these Model Rules as well. Ms. O'Brien stated the following with regards to the differences: . The biggest difference is that the Model Rules really are a duplicate of what is in state law for the most part. . A lot of the definitions that are in the Model Rules that are not in the By-Laws and are taken straight out of state law. There are a lot of references to the statutes as far as Board membership, and both the By-Laws and Model Rules talk about the composition of the Boards. . The local By-Laws go into more detail about voting, the oath of office and the indemnification of Board Members who are acting in good faith. Mr. Erickson asked if the "Head of the Merit System", who is to be a part of the Board according to statute, is the City Manager. Ms. O'Brien confirmed that was correct. Ms. O'Brien went back to stating more differences between the differences between the Model Rules and the By-Laws: . The Model Rules and By-Laws have similar descriptions of the meetings of the Boards, but the Model Rules have more of a description about the role of the PSPRS Board of Trustees and a reference to the Open Meeting Law. . The By-Laws contain definitions of the Secretary, the Minutes, the frequency of meetings, how meetings are noticed, and a quorum. . The Model Rules have no description of voting during meetings; the By-Laws state each member is entitled to one vote and then it references state law for appeals. . In regards to pre-membership physicals, the Model Rules really just pull it straight out of state law. The By-Laws basically refer to state law but don't duplicate it, they just refer back to state law . There's a definition of legal counsel in the By-Laws but not in the Model Rules. . As far as the Initial decisions of the Board, the Model Rules have a description of the claims submission process, and again it refers back to state law; whereas the By-Laws don't get into a lot of detail on this, they simply refer back to state law as controlling. . That's the same case for disabilitly benefit applications, the re-examination of disability recipients and then rehearing. . The Model Rules contain a detailed description of what the hearing process would like like, and its based off of a uniform administrative hearing act within state law that talks about the ability of the Board to subpoena records, take depositions and things of that nature. The By-Laws don't go into detail about it, they just refer to state law which is what Board Members would be required to follow. . The Model Rules don't talk about how the rules should be amended, and the By-Laws indicate that state law controls how they would be amended. Mr. Erickson asked if there had been any changes in state law since the current By-Laws were adopted. Ms. O'Brien stated that there have been lots of changes in the laws. She went on to say that even though the By-Laws don't go into great detail, they always refer back to state law. Mr. Brown stated that he and his staff follow the processes that are outlined in the Model Rules. Ms. O'Brien said that is what you are required by statute to be doing. She stated that in talking about the differences between the Model Rules and By-Laws, other cities also have By-Laws, not rules. She wnet on to say that In general By-Laws are a litte less formal than rules, which go through a little more rigorous process to adopt. C. PSPRS MODEL UNIFORM RULES Mr. Brown stated that really the task at hand for the Board is to review the By-Laws that we have in place that we haven't touched for a long time. He stated that Board Member Joe Hester had brought up at a prior meeting the Model Rules that were put out by PSPRS. The recommendation to the Board would be to review both the By-Laws that exist today and compare those with the Model Rules and for the Board to come to some sort of consensus in terms of whether to modify the current By-Laws or to adopt the Model Rules as some other cities have done as all that they use to govern their Boards. He continued to say that really it is up to the Board to review those and make a determination if changes are needed. City Manager Kevin Phelps asked if there was anything unique in our By-Laws that had been adapted specifically for Glendale for how we operate our Boards. Ms. O'Brien said that she hadn't seen anything like that when she did her comparison and that the By-Laws are always refering back to state law to govern how the Board operates. Mr. Erickson asked Ms. O'Brien if she had any recommendations that the Board needs to change. Ms. O'Brien stated that from what she has seen that the Board is working pretty well and administratively HR is following the Model Rules already. She said that from her position she doesn't see any gaps that we need to fill and if you did, you would simply follow the Model Rules and still be in compliance with state law. Board Member Justin Harris asked where in the By-Laws was it stated that the prevailing practice shall be that we follow the Model Rules. Ms. O'Brien answered that it wasn't in the By-Laws, but that it is in state law. So basically state law says that if a Local Board hadn't adopted the Model Rules and there was a gap, that they would follow the Model Rules. Mr Harris asked if we should add that wording to the By-Laws that we follow the Model Rules for the sake of transparency. Mr. Phelps suggested adding language that unless specified in the By-Laws, the latest revision of Robert's Rules of Order will be the framework by which we conduct meetings so that if there was ever a question as to procedures to actully running the meeting, at least there would be a framework in place. Ms. O'Brien found the location in the By-Laws to answer Mr. Harris' question. She referenced page 3 of the current By-Laws (b. under VI. Responsibilities) which reads: b. All actions taken by the Local Board shall be in compliance with the Arizona Revised Statutes pertaining to the System and any regulations authorized pursuant to those statutes. She stated that incorporates the Model Rules. Board Member Joe Hester stated that he agrees with both Mr. Harris' and Mr. Phelp's suggestions. He said that he wondered that if the Model Rules address everything in the By-Laws then maybe we should just adopt the Model Rules because they are the most up to date. It almost looks like the Model Rules are just an updated version of what our By-Laws started at some point. Mr. Erickson agreed that doing that would keep us updated as PSPRS changes then we would be on the most current Model Rules. Mr. Harris said that was what he would suggest is that we just adopt those since it is in the By-Laws on page 3. Mr. Hester said he is suggesting that everything in our By-Laws are in statute and we are following for them as we are administering, that maybe we eliminate the old and just adopt the Model Rules. Ms. O'Brien said that you could certainly adopt the Model Rules to supersede the By-Laws. You could also incorporate the Model Rules by reference into the current By-Laws if you didn't want to completely overhaul them. Mr. Phelps said the is why he asked the question if there was something in the existing By-Laws that was written specifically for how we conduct our business or could we, if we just adopted the Model ordinance, would we be able to continue to function as we currenlty are. If so, why not use the Model language as Justin and Joe have suggested and maybe put in the notion that how we run is the Robert's Rules of Order and we would be good to go. Mr Erickson said he was looking to see if that was in the Model Rules because almost every public body uses the Robert's Rules of Order. Ms. O'Brien said is wasn't in the Model Rules.' Mr. Hester said that it made sense to have that in there and he agreed. Ms. O'Brien said that the current By-Laws allow for amendment by a majority vote of the Board on page 4 of the By-Laws. She continued that there is a statement that should Arizona law, the statutes or any regulations, that would be the Model Rules, change such that the By-Laws are rendered inconsistent or ineffective, then these By-Laws are'considered amended de facto to such an extent that they become consistent and effective until such time that they are properly amended by the Board. She stated that she didn't see any inconsistencies between the By-Laws and the Model Rules. The Model Rules go into much more detail than the By-Laws do, but obviously you have the ability to amend your By-Laws to incorporate the Model Rules or to just supersede. Jim Brown said that what he is hearing is that the Board would like to adopt the Model Rules as our rules for governing this Board, with the incorporation of Robert's Rules of Order also. He asked if there were any other suggestions from the Board other than that. He said that we would review it and modify it a little bit so that it is Glendale. He continued that what we would do if there was consensus today from the Board, that we would bring it forward to a voting meeting for a final review and vote if you wanted to adopt that as your new rules. Mr. Erickson asked if we could also add that if the Model Rules change that we will be in conformance with the current PSPRS Model Rules. Mr.Brown and Ms. O'Brien stated that we could put language in that we would always use the latest, most up to date version of the Model Rules. Mr. hlarris referenced back to the current By-Laws on page 2, II. Statement of Purpose, lists the ARS statute and page 3: section VI. b. All actions taken by the Local Board shall be in compliance with the Arizona Revised Statutes pertaining to the System, and the Systenn is defined previously in the definitions as the Public Safety Retirement System. He continued that it states: and any regulations consistent with any guidance provided by the fund manager, so that the By-Laws actually do already specify that. hle said he like Kevin's suggestion about the Robert's Rules of Order for the decorum of the meetings. The entire Board agreed to bring this forward to the next joint session Board meeting. Ms. O'Brien stated that she thought then the Model Rules would be the operational governance of the Board and that you could add that section about process and procedures how the Board operates and the Robert's Rules of Order. The Board agreed to her summation. BOARD COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS There were no Board comments or suggestions. ADJOURN THE JOINT SESSION OF THE LOCAL FIRE & POLICE BOARDS MEETING Board Member and Acting Chair Charles Erickson adjourned the meeting at 2:49 p.m. The Public Safety Personnel Retirement System Local Fire & Police Boards meeting minutes of November 29, 2018 were submitted and approved this 23rd day of January, 2019. /s/Jim Brown Jim Brown Recording Secretary