Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1970 03 16 CC MIN1970 03 16 CC MIN(ÌìÜlpe00043^ ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING OF THE BALDWIN PARK CITY COUNCIL MARCH 16. 1970 CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBER) 14403 East Pacific Avenue 4:30 P.M. The City Council of the City of Baldwin Park met in adjourned regular session at the above place at 4s30 porno Mayor McCaron led the salute to the flag FLAG SALUTE Roll Call; Presents COUNCILMEN GREGORY. HAMILTON, KING, MOREHEAD AND MAYOR MCCARON Also Presents CITY MANAGER NORDBY. CITY ATTORNEY FLANDRICK, CITY ENGINEER FRENCH, PLANNING DIRECTOR CHIVETTA, FINANCE DIRECTOR DUNCAN. CITY TREASURER CODLING AND CITY CLERK BALKUS Absents CHIEF OF POLICE ADAMS 00- Mayor McCaron stated that the purpose of this adjourned meet- CHARTER CITY STUDY Ing was to have a presentation on a Charter City status. He turned the meeting over to City Manager Nordby, City Manager Nordby distributed and reviewed his City Charter reports He discussed Exhibits A" through E"s Tax Rate Analysis, 1964-1970, Expenditure Analysis. 1964-1970, Source of Revenue for California Cities, 1970-1971, Department Requests, 1970-1971 and Sample Charter FairbankSo) Copy of report in official files a) City Manager Nordby stated that if and when the Council gets into the problem of draft- ing a charter, which he thought was extremely important now, that the Council establish the procedure to be followed in drafting the document; that he had. more or less, left this up to the City Attorney who had reviewed quite thoroughly and comprehensively the two major systems that can be used a committee of freeholders or a City Council committeec. Ci-cy Attorney Flandrick summarized the two methods of draft- ing a charter. He stated that the Council committee was the more flexible system where a charter committee or a charter commission was established with one to three members of the Council as members along with other interested citizens who would then work with the Staff in formulating what they feel should be 1n the charter; that thereafter it would be sub- mitted to the Council for approval in whole or part, after which it would be submitted to the electorate for their approval or disapproval; that after the people have passed on the matter it must be approved by the Stat;e Legislature before it takes effect. He stated it was up to the Council as to the manner in which this is done; that the more com- monly accepted way, in absence of a freeholder's charter group, was by the so called committee or commission form where one or more members of the Council operates as a part of the commission along with other people selected by the Council, City Manager Nordby stated that he thought it was desirable to involve the citizens; that a broad and intensive educa- tion program needed to be worked in with the procedure of utilizing a committee; that the City could certainty utilize some representative citizens from the community for that purpose. Mayor McCaron asked whether any member of Council had any objection? to proceeding from this point and working toward having a larter ity, fCon+.inuprn BIB] 37659-U01 1970-U02 03-U02 16-U02 CC-U02 MIN-U02 LI1-U03 FO9994-U03 FO9996-U03 DO10027-U03 C4-U03 MINUTES1-U03 2/6/2003-U04 ROBIN-U04 REGULAR-U05 SESSION-U05 CITY-U06 COUNCIL-U06 1970 03 16 CC MIN(ÌìÜlpe0004369 Adjourned legu1ar Meetinq of the Baldwin Park City Council March 16, 1970 Page 2 Councilman Morehead stated he had no objectionso Councilman Gregory stated that she had no objections to the study of the charter but that she was very interested in how that study would be delegated, that she had done a great deal of reading on how other cities had chartered; that usually they elect to chose the method of commission con- sisting from five to twenty-five or more people. She explained how one city had used a committee of twenty-five interested citizens which was eventually organized into five subcommittees for elective officers, financial organ- ization and procedures, survey of other cities, taxes and city organization, that this group went out into the field and brought back their recommendations to the Council; that the Council was able to make their decision based upon their information; that she felt it would take a committee of more than fifteen to obtain a dear crosscut from the citizenry who would be willing to put in the necessary time; that an educational process would have to be undertaken to involve the people and when once the citizens of the community be- came aware, they would be a part of what was taking place, that this was what the Council was really aiming for to let the people know what the whole program was about, that when it was time for a decision, the people would know as much as the Council knewo In answer to Mayor McCaron°s question, Your idea is not to get into Ordinances then?". Councilman Gregory stated, not at this point; the Committee would be finding out whether there was a need, what the need was and how extensive the need iSo City Manager Nordby stated that he was not thinking of a commission, regardless of the way it was selected, to determine the need for a charter; that some Councilmen had not, at this point, been exposed to the subject sufficiently to realty delve into the fine points of its preparation; that he had hoped by his report, to indicate the need for the charter and that that particular question would be deter- mined by the Council; that from thereon the procedure to draft the document would be left to the Council's discretion; that the need for a charter was quite apparento Councilman Gregory stated that the committee should be studying as to the need for a charter, City Manager Nordby stated that this was not his recommenda- tion; that the need, he thought, could be determined by the Councilo Councilman Gregory stated that she felt there should be a study as to the needo Councilman King stated that he would also like to know whether there is a need; that he thought the Council should see whether there is a need and determine whether they should have a committee to look into ito Mayor McCaron stated that he thought that the need had been shown; that a study of the report would show a need; that new avenues for revenue had to be opened; that without new revenue, services would be curtailed; that this problem would have to be faced by the City this coming year and this was the reason for suggesting going to a Charter City; Continued) BIB] 37659-U01 1970-U02 03-U02 16-U02 CC-U02 MIN-U02 LI1-U03 FO9994-U03 FO9996-U03 DO10027-U03 C4-U03 MINUTES1-U03 2/6/2003-U04 ROBIN-U04 REGULAR-U05 SESSION-U05 CITY-U06 COUNCIL-U06 1970 03 16 CC MIN(ÌìÜlpe0004370 Adjourned Regular Meeting of the Baldwin Park City Council March 16, 1970 Page 3 that the report had been made so the Council could study it and ask questions. He stated he was trying to find out this evening whether there were any objections to the idea of the charter. He stated that at the next Council meeting a citizens committee should be appointed and they, along with the City Attorney and City Manager, as ex officio members, should come to the Council with a report as to what the charter would be like. Councilman King stated that he would like to study the report and other information to see how much the City would benefit from becoming a charter city. Councilman Gregory stated that she did not like to think that the City was going to charter" for taxation reasons only; that she did not think that any charter city had made use of the broader powers to tax; that it did not seem feasible that Baldwin Park would use such power to tax; that she would like a lay committee to study the needs of the City; that there was much material available for study and that a committee should make the decisions and recommendations to the City Council. In answer to Councilman Hamilton's request for a short summary of the advantages of becoming a charter city, aside from taxes, City Manager Nordby replied that the advantages to any particular city depended upon the characteristics of that city. He stated that the present system was, to him, government by remote control; that Assemblyman Johnson was working in Sacramento with seventy-nine colleagues', most of whom could not come within 500 miles of locating Baldwin Park geographically, on a map and they have to be convinced that Baldwin Park is a problem. He stated that the City was not being governed by the citizens of Baldwin Park and they could not make their own determinations; that this was ultimately what the City was after; that probably some wrong decisions would be made in the process but they would be made by Baldwin Park and not by Sacramento; that this was the philosophy behind his proposition. Secondarily, he stated that he thought the Council saw the problem the City faced, economically, which he emphasized was not the only one; that with a budget of $2,333,000, and only $1,600,000, in revenue what was the City to do; that if the problem were studied too long, then time would run out. Mayor McCaron brought out the point that when the budget was adopted last year, there was a deficit budgeting of $114,000; that the figures show that the deficit will be increased by $15,000. to $129,000; that it remains to be seen whether every item budgeted this year will be expended; that there was a request last year for a 5% increase in salaries, in addition to the 5% pay raise which was granted; that at the time the City was, supposedly, a year behind in pay raises; that the same problem would be facing the Council again this year; that some thought would have to be given as to how to meet the City's obligations; that the property tax could be increased to the limit but this would not take care of the requests; that the only other alter- native that he could see was that some of the requests would have to be cut and the services being extended at present would also have to be brought down in line with the amount of money and revenue which the City has; that he would rather not have to place the additional burden directly on the property owner; that he would rather have some other means to spread it more evenly among the people of the City. Continued) BIB] 37659-U01 1970-U02 03-U02 16-U02 CC-U02 MIN-U02 LI1-U03 FO9994-U03 FO9996-U03 DO10027-U03 C4-U03 MINUTES1-U03 2/6/2003-U04 ROBIN-U04 REGULAR-U05 SESSION-U05 CITY-U06 COUNCIL-U06 1970 03 16 CC MIN(ÌìÜlpeAdjourned Regular Meeting of the Baldwin Park City Council March 16, 1970 Page 4 In answer to Mayor McCaron's question, in reference to the cigarette tax. City Manager Nordby stated that the City was now held to the existing revenue as a General Law City, with revenue tied to sates tax and population, that he did not think any advantage could be gained, In answer to Councilman King's question as to how much more revenue the City would have. City Attorney Flandrick stated that there would be some areas where the City could impose or obtain additional revenue that are not now available to it, that this was one facet of being a charter city; that others would result, he thought. He stated that the State law was recently amended with regard to public projects; that the City is now required to go out to sealed bids for everything over $3,500; that charter cities, for some years, have said that this figure was too 1ow« He stated that the amount required for the sealed bids could be governed in the City's own manner, by means of a charter; that this was one example Councilman Morehead stated that he realized that there was an advantage in being a charter city in that the City would benefit by future enactment of State laws such as the ciga- rette tax; that he questioned what the City would do when it reached its present $1o00 maximum City tax; that without being a charter city there was no place to go= He stated that the main meat" of this charter was City Manager Nordby's definition of a charter as a document of the people; as a mandate from the people as to how they want their City run; that he was sure that nothing would be included in this charter that the majority of the people in the City would not have a chance to voice their opinion on; that the sub- ject of a future charter should be pursued to its utmost; that he felt a committee should be established by the Council, whether it is fifteen, twenty or thirty; that it would be beneficial to the City and also the publicity of the charter when it comes up for a vote, Councilman Gregory stated that she thought everyone had made some valid points this evening; that there were many pros and cons on the subject; that the Council was primarily interested in what was going to benefit Baldwin Park the most; that the Council was aware that the Legislature had been looking more favorably upon general law cities and that, legislatively speaking, there was very little that charter cities received over general law cities; that more research should be done to find out how a charter would be more advantageous to Baldwin Parke She quoted statistics of the number of cities which had chartered and stated she would like to know why these cities chartered; that the committee should consider all of the facets of chartering and find out what benefit this would be to Baldwin Park; that she knew time was pressing; that this was not something which could be done overnight; that she thought a committee of interested citizens, to report to the Council, was very important before hiring anyone to set up a charter, City Manager Nordby stated that to become a charter city, a city had to have some kind of unique problem; that a report compiled by the Southern California Research Council en- titled, Taxation by Local Government" showed that the average assessed valuation per capita, for all Los Angeles County Cities, was $2,116,, while Baldwin Park's was $973.. and that the Sales Tax Revenue per capita, for the average of alt Los Angeles County Cities, was $19»68s while Baldwin Park's was $5,08; that the whole system needs a revision- He stated that the City was still waiting for tax reform from Scaramento; that now the matter of chartering becomes more urgent than ever before. BIB] 37659-U01 1970-U02 03-U02 16-U02 CC-U02 MIN-U02 LI1-U03 FO9994-U03 FO9996-U03 DO10027-U03 C4-U03 MINUTES1-U03 2/6/2003-U04 ROBIN-U04 REGULAR-U05 SESSION-U05 CITY-U06 COUNCIL-U06 1970 03 16 CC MIN(ÌìÜlpe0004372 Adjourned Regular Meeting of the Baldwin Park City Council 1970 March 16, Page 5 Councilman Hamilton stated that Councilman Gregory's recom- mendations sounded all right; that he thought the Council should appoint a body of five to make an investigation of the cities who had chartered in recent years and bring back their report to the Council; that this would give the Council more information to go on before going into more committeeso Mayor McCaron stated that a general law city was easier to form; that it required knowlegeable people to draw up a charter for a charter city; that a method of selecting a committee would have to be determined; that he thought twenty-five would be unwieldly and he would like a smaller groupo City Attorney Flandrick stated that the number was up to the descretion of the Councils City Manager Nordby stated that he could see some merit to Councilman Gregory's suggestion; that specific assignments could be made within a committee despite its size. Councilman Gregory stated that she did not think an evaluation cou''d be made by five people as it was too much of a job. She said that there were many people in the community who could be called upon, such as former mayors, council men and police- men, as well as civic-minded individuals who had a real interest in the City; that there should be a cross-section of the City; that this would get the people involved and they would be speaking for City Hall; that if the Council wanted to consider a group of fifteen, then they could form into study groups. Mayor McCaron stated that thL number could be considered at the next Council meeting and also some method of selecting the people, City Manager Nordby stated that he thought the five people on the Council were probably the most concerned people in the City of Baldwin Park, and the people had charged them with the responsibility of making important decisions; that he felt that this was why the selection out of this group might be the most practical and expeditious,, Councilman Hamilton stated that he thought the Council should go ahead and agree on a committee, whether five or fifteen. COUNCILMAN GREGORY MOVED THAT THE CITY COUNCIL APPOINT FIFTEEN COUNCIL APPOINT PERSONS TO THE CHARTER COMMITTEEo COUNCILMAN KING SECONDED. 15 PERSONS TO There were no objections, the motion carried and was so CHARTER COMMITTEE ordered. Mayor McCaron stated that the fifteen would be in addition to City Attorney Flandrick and City Manager Nordby, who would be non-voting ex officio memberso Councilman Morehead suggested that each member of Council recommend three persons to the Councilo Continued) BIB] 37659-U01 1970-U02 03-U02 16-U02 CC-U02 MIN-U02 LI1-U03 FO9994-U03 FO9996-U03 DO10027-U03 C4-U03 MINUTES1-U03 2/6/2003-U04 ROBIN-U04 REGULAR-U05 SESSION-U05 CITY-U06 COUNCIL-U06 1970 03 16 CC MIN(ÌìÜlpe00043T3 Adjourned Regular Meeting of the Baldwin Park City Council March 16, 1970 Page 6 Councilman Gregory suggested that each Councilman submit five to eight names of people who were concerned with the welfare of Baldwin Park, and could give their time; that this could be done at the next Council meeting before adjournment. Mayor McCaron stated that each member could contribute three names and have some in reserve. City Manager Nordby stated that he had done a great deal of reading on this subject; that there was much left to research; that he appreciated what the Council had done and that they had accepted his report for the information it carried; that he thought the meeting had been productiveo Councilman King stated that citizen participation was very good; that he would like to have a better understanding of charters and how this would affect the City, 00- AT 5:58 P.M. COUNCILMAN HAMILTON MOVED THAT THE CITY COUNCIL ADJ. 5:58 P.M. ADJOURN. COUNCILMAN MOREHEAD SECONDED. There were no objections, the motion carried and was so ordered, 00- L^-^^S^C %^S2,.^r fHELMA L. BALKU5. CITV CLERK APPROVED: April 1_____, 1970 Date of Distribution to City Council: March 27_____, 1970 Date of Distribution to Departments: Ri^h W 1970 BIB] 37659-U01 1970-U02 03-U02 16-U02 CC-U02 MIN-U02 LI1-U03 FO9994-U03 FO9996-U03 DO10027-U03 C4-U03 MINUTES1-U03 2/6/2003-U04 ROBIN-U04 REGULAR-U05 SESSION-U05 CITY-U06 COUNCIL-U06