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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Policy No. 107 - BCCs Amended November 16 2021CITY COUNCIL POLICY CITY OF NATIONAL CITY AMENDED: November 16, 2021 ADOPTED: June 17, 1986 POLICY # 107 TITLE: Appointments to Boards, Commission and Committees PURPOSE To establish a procedure to serve as a guide in making appointments to various City Boards, Commissions, and Committees. The City currently has the following Boards, Commissions, and Committees to which this Policy applies: Mayor’s Appointments: 1. Board of Library Trustees 2. Community and Police Relations Commission 3. Park, Recreation, and Senior Citizens Advisory Committee 4. Public Art Committee 5. Sweetwater Authority 6. Traffic Safety Committee 7. Veterans and Military Families Advisory Committee City Council Appointments: 1. Civil Service Commission 2. Planning Commission 3. Housing Advisory Committee including Ex-Officio Members 4. Port Commission POLICY Appointment Process A. Opportunity to apply. All interested individuals shall be given an opportunity to submit applications for vacancies on City Boards, Commissions, and Committees. Incumbent Appointees are not automatically re-appointed but are required to fill out an abbreviated application provided by the City Clerk, indicating their interest in continuing to serve. B. Unexpired terms. If an incumbent Appointee was appointed to fill an unexpired term and the Appointee serves for less than one year in that position, the Council may re- appoint the incumbent without considering other applicants. C. Vacancies. When vacancies occur, the following procedure shall be followed: 1. Schedule vacancy. When a term is expiring or expires, public notice of the vacancy shall be made, inviting interested individuals to submit applications for the vacancy on a form provided by the City Clerk on the City website. Unscheduled vacancy. An unscheduled vacancy shall be filled according to CITY COUNCIL POLICY CITY OF NATIONAL CITY AMENDED: November 16, 2021 ADOPTED: June 17, 1986 POLICY # 107 TITLE: Appointments to Boards, Commission and Committees Government Code Section 54974, which generally provides as follows: Whenever an unscheduled vacancy occurs, whether due to resignation, death, termination, or other causes, a special vacancy notice shall be posted in the Office of the City Clerk, the City website, outside City Hall on the Bulletin Board, and on City social media platforms not earlier than twenty (20) days before or not later than twenty (20) days after the vacancy occurs. The City Council shall not make a final appointment for at least ten (10) working days after posting the notice in designated locations. The notice’s posting and application period shall be thirty (30) calendar days. However, if it finds that an emergency exists, the City Council may, fill the unscheduled vacancy immediately. According to this section, a person appointed to fill the vacancy shall serve only on an interim basis until the final appointment. The end of term for the members of Boards, Commissions, and Committees generally occurs in an annual rotation during the months of March and September. Appointments will be considered at those times unless a vacancy resulting from a resignation results in the lack of a Quorum on the Board, Commission, or Committee, in which case the appointment could occur at the time of the unscheduled vacancy in accordance with the procedure set out above. 3. Government Code Section 40605, and National City Municipal Code Title 16, grants the Mayor, with the City Council’s approvals, the authority to make all appointments unless otherwise explicitly provided by statute. The exceptions are: 1. Civil Service Commission 2. Planning Commission 3. Housing Advisory Committee including Ex-Officio Members 4. Planning Commission The City Council fills vacancies on these bodies. D. Implementation. Implementation of Council policy for appointment to Boards, Commissions, and Committees requires the following: 1. Per Government Code Section 54972, on or before December 31 of each year, the City Council shall prepare a list of appointments of all regular and ongoing Boards, Commissions, and Committees appointed by the City Council. The City Clerk will prepare the list of all regular and ongoing Boards, Commissions, and Committees appointed by the Mayor or the City Council. The list shall contain a list of all terms that will expire during the next calendar year, the incumbent appointee’s name, the appointment date, the term’s expiration date, and the position’s necessary qualifications. It shall also include a list of all CITY COUNCIL POLICY CITY OF NATIONAL CITY AMENDED: November 16, 2021 ADOPTED: June 17, 1986 POLICY # 107 TITLE: Appointments to Boards, Commission and Committees Boards, Commissions, and Committees whose members serve at the City Council’s pleasure and the qualifications required for each position. This Local Appointments List shall be made available to the public on the City website. 2. Notice. A public notice for vacancies must be placed in the newspaper of general circulation within the City, on the City’s website, City Hall Bulletin Boards, and City social media platforms. 3. Expiration of term. All appointees will receive a letter as their terms expire asking if they would like to re-apply for the position. 4. Applications. Applications shall be available on the City website and in the City Clerk’s Office. Submissions must be received before the advertised deadline for consideration for the appointment. All applications will be retained in the City Clerk’s Office for one year from the date the application was submitted. During the one-year retention period of the application, an applicant shall be considered for other vacancies on Boards, Commissions, and Committees. The City Clerk’s Office will notify the applicant being considered for an appointment to confirm that they are still interested in volunteering. 5. A member may only serve on one (1) Board, Commission, or Committee at a time. If an applicant applies for another position on a different Board, Commission, or Committee, that applicant will forfeit the prior seat and a vacancy will occur per policy. 6. Interviews: a. Mayor Appointments: Interviews for Mayoral appointments will be conducted by the Mayor outside of the public meeting and scheduled by the Mayor’s Office. b. City Council Appointments: Interviews for the four (4) Civil Service Commission, Planning Commission, Housing Advisory Committee, and Port Commission who serve at the City Council’s pleasure and are appointed by the City Council as a body will be interviewed in the public forum at a City Council Meeting as described below. 7. Mayoral Appointments: The Mayor will make the motion to appoint (naming the appointee) and Councilmembers may second the motion. The City Clerk will then take a roll call CITY COUNCIL POLICY CITY OF NATIONAL CITY AMENDED: November 16, 2021 ADOPTED: June 17, 1986 POLICY # 107 TITLE: Appointments to Boards, Commission and Committees vote of the City Council. A majority vote of the City Council will be required for the appointment. If the majority of the City Council choose to deny the proposed appointment, the Mayor shall either propose an alternative candidate from the current application pool or choose to reopen the application period and return to the City Council at a future City Council Meeting with a different applicant for consideration. If a Mayoral Appointment is not approved by the majority of the City Council by confirmation, that applicant is removed from the pool for that seat. The Mayor will return to a future meeting with a substitute Mayoral appointment. 8. For City Council Appointments, the Interview Process is as follows: a. The City Clerk will provide an overview of the Board, Commission, or Committee(s) with current vacancy (ies). The Mayor will introduce the applicant and two (2) questions will be asked of each applicant on behalf of the City Council. b. Each applicant is given two (2) minutes to make a brief introduction of themselves and their qualifications to the City Council. c. Mayor and City Councilmembers will ask questions of each applicant. All applicants must be asked the same questions. d. Total time per applicant is five (5) timed minutes with time allowed for clarification at the discretion of the City Council, not to exceed ten (10) minutes total per applicant. e. All appointments and interviews before the City Council will be scheduled as needed to fill unexpected vacancies, with every effort to be made before an individual's term expires. Interviews may take place at one meeting, with appointments made at a subsequent meeting. 9. Vacancies for City Council Appointed Positions. If the vacancy is for a City Council appointed position, and there is more than one (1) applicant for a given position, the voting process will proceed as follows: Once the interviews are complete, each Councilmember votes for their choice via a written ballot provided by the City Clerk. Each Councilmember shall print and sign their name on the ballot. All ballots shall be considered a public record and be open to inspection by the public. The ballots are passed to the City Clerk who announces the number of votes for each candidate. CITY COUNCIL POLICY CITY OF NATIONAL CITY AMENDED: November 16, 2021 ADOPTED: June 17, 1986 POLICY # 107 TITLE: Appointments to Boards, Commission and Committees If the appointment process is conducted via a virtual meeting the process is the same except the ballot/vote process. The City Clerk’s Office will provide a Vote Sheet (a piece of paper electronically) with the name of each applicant to be considered. The Mayor will count to three (3) and the Council will hold their vote sheet up in front of their face to make sure it is captured on the camera during the live virtual meeting. The City Clerk will tally the votes and will then confirm the votes with a verbal roll call. The applicant with the most votes is appointed. In the event of a tie, each Councilmember votes again until one (1) candidate has the majority vote and is declared to be the newly–appointed member of the Board, Commission, or Committee. 10. Re-appointment beyond two terms. Anyone wishing to be re-appointed to any Board, Commission, or Committee and has served two or more full terms already must be approved by a four-fifths vote of the City Council. If all five members of the City Council are not present, or if one member abstains or recuses their vote, the four- fifths requirement shall be changed to require only a simple majority. 11. Report to Council: All applications received for vacancies, whether Mayoral Appointment or City Council Appointment, will be attached to the staff report to Council. All applications will have private personal information redacted (name, street numbers and name of street address, and phone number). This redacted information is in alignment with Government Code Section 6255(a) because the public interest served by not disclosing the applicant’s personal, private information and protection of the applicant’s right to privacy outweighs the public interest served by disclosing that information. 12. An automatic vacancy upon becoming a Non-Resident. An unscheduled vacancy automatically occurs when a resident holding an appointment position on a City Board, Committee, or Commission becomes a non-resident by moving out of National City limits. When an unscheduled vacancy occurs due to a resident becoming a non-resident, the unscheduled vacancy may be filled as follows: a. A special vacancy notice shall be posted in the Office of the City Clerk, and in other places as directed by the City Council, not earlier than 20 days before or not later than 20 days after the vacancy occurs. Final Appointment at a City Council Meeting shall not be made by the Appointing Authority for at least 10 working days after the posting of the notice in the City Clerk’s Office. CITY COUNCIL POLICY CITY OF NATIONAL CITY AMENDED: November 16, 2021 ADOPTED: June 17, 1986 POLICY # 107 TITLE: Appointments to Boards, Commission and Committees b. The Appointing Authority may appoint the former resident to a Non- Residential position if a Non-Residential position is vacant. However, the Appointing Authority may, if it finds that an emergency exists, fill the unscheduled vacancy immediately. A person appointed to fill the vacancy shall serve only on an acting basis until the final appointment is made pursuant to this section. 13. Only City Residents may be elected to Chair and Vice-Chair positions. To be eligible to be elected as the Chairperson of a City Board, Committee, or Commission, the member must be a resident of the City. 14. Resignations, Attendance, Training, and Removals Resignation: If a Commissioner or Member of a Board, Committee, or Commission is unable to continue serving because of health, business requirements, or personal reasons, a letter of resignation shall be submitted to the City Clerk, who will present to the City Council. Attendance: Regular attendance at meetings is critical to be effective operation of City Boards, Commissions, and Committees. The City Council relies on the advice of the City’s Boards, Commissions, and Committees, which is the result of discussions among appointed members. The City Council anticipates that members of Boards, Committees, and Commissions shall make every reasonable effort to attend all regular and special meetings of their respective Boards, Commissions, and Committees, and to be prepared to discuss matters on their respective agendas. A Commissioner or Member of a Board, Committee, or Commission shall be considered removed from any advisory board under the following conditions: 1. A Commissioner or Member of a Board, Committee, or Commission with unexcused absences from three consecutive regularly scheduled meetings. 2. A Commissioner or Member of a Board, Committee, or Commission misses more than 25% of the advisory body’s meetings in a calendar year. CITY COUNCIL POLICY CITY OF NATIONAL CITY AMENDED: November 16, 2021 ADOPTED: June 17, 1986 POLICY # 107 TITLE: Appointments to Boards, Commission and Committees 3. A Commissioner or Member of a Board, Committee, or Commission must be present at least one hour, or 50% of the entire meeting, whichever is less, to be counted as present for purposes of attendance. Excused Absences: An “excused absence” is only granted when absolutely necessary and pre- approved if at all possible. The City Council encourages Boards, Commissions, and Committees to refrain from scheduling meetings on cultural and religious holidays in order to encourage full participation by all Commissioners, Board Members, and the public. The pre-approval of excused absences will be by the body as a whole and documented in the meeting minutes. Excused absences are listed as follows: 1. Illness of the Commissioner or Member of the Board, Committee, or Commission, their family member, or their personal friend; 2. Business commitment of the Commissioner or Member of the Board, Committee, or Commission that interferes with the attendance at a meeting; 3. Attendance of the Commissioner or Member of the Board, Committee, or Commission at a funeral, religious service or ceremony, wedding, or other similarly-significant event; or 4. Other reason for which the Commissioner or Member of the Board, Committee, or Commission has given notice to the Chairperson or Secretary of their unavailability fifteen (15) days in advance, as long as the unavailability is not expected to last longer than 30 days. Removal: The Secretary or Lead of each Board, Commission, or Committee will report the attendance to the Office of the City Clerk on a monthly basis. If the attendance or absences fall within these guidelines, the Office of the City Clerk will prepare a report to City Council for review and possible removal of the Commissioner, Member, or Alternate sitting on the Board, Committee, or Commission. Any Commissioner, Member, or Alternate sitting on a Board, Committee, or Commission may be removed from office at any time by a simple majority vote of the City Council at a regularly scheduled Council meeting with or without cause. Mandatory Training and Filing Requirements: Commissioners and Members of Board, Committee, or Commission, as appointed by the legislative body, are entrusted with certain responsibilities and CITY COUNCIL POLICY CITY OF NATIONAL CITY AMENDED: November 16, 2021 ADOPTED: June 17, 1986 POLICY # 107 TITLE: Appointments to Boards, Commission and Committees concomitant training and reporting. The following are requirements of Commissioners and Members of Boards, Commissions, and Committees. This training is required to be completed within 30 days of appointment or notification. 1. Oath of Office (Article XX of the California Constitution, and California Government Code Section 36507) 2. Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) Statement of Economic Interest Form 700 Filing (California Government Code Section 87100 et seq) 3. AB1234 Ethics Training (California Government Code Section 53235.1(b)) 4. Sexual Harassment Training 5. Brown Act Training 6. Social Media Training 7. Any training required by State Law, Federal Law, or City Policies. All training is offered in a variety of formats including in person, via Zoom, training website/software, and pre-recorded video. Currently, these are all requirements of the Mayor and City Council, and City staff. Removal: Failure to complete any of these requirements within 30 days of the appointment date or date of notification is cause for automatic removal. Related Policy References Government Code Section 40605 Government Code Section 54970, et seq. Article XX of the California Constitution, and California Government Code Section 36507 California Government Code Section 53235(b) California Government Code Section 87100 et seq National City Municipal Code Title 16 (pending) Prior Policy Amendments: February 2, 2021 (Resolution No. 2021-08) May 19, 2020 (Resolution No. 2020-95) November 9, 1993 (Resolution No. 93-173) June 11, 2013 (Revised – No Resolution – Refer to Meeting Minutes) October 8, 2013 (Resolution No. 2013-147) May 19, 2020 (Resolution No. 2020-20)