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Home My WebLink About0379.093" . July 1, 1993 THE HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL PALO AI>TO, CALIFORNIA Attention: Policy and services Committee CITY COUl!CIL SIZE BlpocrrroH Msabers ot the Council: Preliminary discussion of the. issue of Council size reduction occurred at the Policy and Services Committee meetinq of June 15, 1993, as a result of Council referra~ The committee requested that the city Attorney resolution for consideration at the July 7 Committee, which is under separate cover in this prepare meeting packet. a draft of the The CO!l.l:lli'ttea also requested the folloloiinq information which is attached. to this report: 1~ Data on other charter cities concerning council size and use of standing committees; 2. Excerpts from minutes of council's prier consideratj~n ui this subject: a. City Council minutes of June 4, 1990 b. citf council minutes ot October 22, 1990 c. Policy and Procedures Committee minutes of December 18, 1990 d. City council minutes of April 15, 1991. Assistant to the City Manager JUNE FLEMING City Manager Attachments CXR:379:93 ·iJ" " BIllS O~ CITY COOHCIL8 IN CHARTra CITl88 Eiqhty-three of califo~nie's 469 cities are charter cities, which qives them greater latitude concerning the number ot members on their Qity councils as compared to the five-member councils ~hich typiry qeneral law cities. Thirty-nine of those charter cities, ranging in size from Ver:lon (population :.52) to Anaheim (populat"_ion 266,406) have nevertheless chosen to have fiVe-member councils. The others have selected larqer size councils, as shown in the accompanyinq table. At the request ot the Pol1cy and. Services Committee, statt has contacted seve~al of the cities which have seven-member councils, priaarily those ot comparable size to Palo Alto, specifically to determine it they make use of council standing co~ittees. That information follows the table. The Policy and Services Committee also requested that in:ormation concerning th~ council size of the other Northern california Power Agency cities be obtained. Only three other NCPA members are cbarter cities: of them, Alameda (population 76,459) and Roseville (population 44,665) have five-member councils; santa Clara (populatiorl 93,613) has I! seveh-member council. Chic,,· Fresr.o Gilroy-ft.· ward Huntinq,ton Beach Merced- Mod.uta )!.ountain View. He.dles Ne'ltpClrt Beach OrQvill'll!l Pacific Gr-o"C" Pilli>.<J~nil. PetBlun- Poaonil Reclwood City. Salinu lt &a1\,Le4ndrO* Santa AMI Santa Serbara Santa clara. Sante Cruz. Swlta Monica Ctoekton Sunnyvale" 'l'onance Vallejo Vent~a" Watst"nvi1 le-llo 8&Jter&ri.]d" River-aide San Bernardino '0,079 )54,0102 )1,4'" 111,4<;18 181,519 56,216 l64,730 61,11'060 5,191 66,643 11,960 lG,117 l)1.~91 43,184 131,723 66,<>72 108,777 68.~13 293,742 ilS,571 !D, E13 49,040 86,905 210,943 117,229 133,101 IM,lS9 92,575 :)1,099 114,8.20 226,5C5 164,lS.c CITIES "U'II :NDI1-XEtUlBR CODHCIL Berkeley Oakland Palo Alto RlchDond Sacramento San Oi_9"0 1.Q2,724 372,242 56,3J4 87,4025 :>69,365 1,11':',549 3,415,396 .. City was contilcte~ to determinE it council makes use of council standing committees. · , USB OP COUNCIL BTANDIHO COHKITTBBS k'exsfje1d has seven standing comml ttees~ each chaired by a di~fer~nt member of the council. The committees each have three Jleabers and meet, on average, once a month. Meetinqs are qenerally in response to council referrals. Committees are: Budget and Finance, Community services, Intergovernmental R~lations, Legislation and Litigation, Personnel, Urba~ Development, and Water Re80urces. ~ has three standing committees, each with three members~ The Finance and Int(llllo.rnal Affairs ccmmittees each meet monthly. The l:ntergoverrurtental Committee, on a.'hich the mayor serves, meets quarterly. Gilrpy has no standinq committees. All council work is conduct9d by the body as a whole. Hayward has eleven council ~ommitteas, some of which are designated as standing committees, others as ad h~ committees (but the distinction was unclear). The committees each have three members and _eet as needed: for several that means once a month. The mayor (Who is separately elected for a four-year term) serves on four of the coaaittees. committees are; Airport, Capital Improvements J City center and centennial Hall,. Downtown Revitalization, Environment, His:"i:orical Socisty and stl'"eet Naming, Si5te.r City, Growth Hanaqement,. Economic Development, Duoget and Fiscal, and Shopping Center Beautification. Merced has three council committees: Development, Downtown Marketing, and General Plan Review. Each has three meabers and meets as needed. Instead of relyinq on standing committees, the mayor often appoints ad hoc committees for items requiring more detailed attention. ~;r:untain Vieid' has sil': standing committees: Appointments Review, Architectural and Public sat~ty, Finance, NeighborhOOds, Policies and Procedures, and Transportation. Three members serve on e.ach, and each is chaired by a different council member, appointed by the mayor. Meetings are called on an as-needed basis. Newport Beach_ bas seventeen council cOlU!Dittees, all of whieh meet on an as-needed. basis. Most are hiqhly spE:eialized., such as Tidelands Affairs, Underground utilit.ies, Income property, Offstreet parkinq. Those with broader responsibilities, such as BUdqet, Appointments, and EconoOllic Development, meet more regularly. o ~~ rer.ently reduced its number of council committees sUbstantially. What remains Are tour special focus committees: Hanaqement Compensation, cable, Traffic, and Mobile Home Rent Control. Only the: !1:anaqement Compensation committee consists 801ely of council me,.bers. The others ar-e chaired by council ~rs, but include citizen~ among their members. Redwood; City has a. list of thirty council cOllUllitte.ee:., to which council ~emDers are appointed based on their interests and which meet as needed. HoweVEr, council work is conducted by ~he body as a Vbole~ §Alina. uses ad hoc council coltlllittees as needfe!d. Typically, three council .~ers will be designated by the mayor to work with staff, develop policy recommendations, and return to council. C1.~rrent examples tor which committees have. been named are the garbaqe. collection franchise and the downtown plan. San Leandro has ten council standing committees~ The mayor appoint~ two council lDelnbers to serve with him on each of the coaaittees, which meet on an as-needed basis~ The committees are: Finance (which is the busiest), Policy, Civic centar Master Plan, Disaster Preparedness, RedeY~lopment Agency, Mobile Home, Downtown ~arkinq, Marina ana Golf course, Shoreline, and Solid Waste/Refuse/Recycling. sant§ Barbara has two standing committees: Finance and Ordinance. Three council members serve c·n each, excluding the mayor, who is elected at l~rge. ~he commit,ees meet each week, at a specified tiae. santa Clara has three COUncil committees, each with three members. 'The Audit co_ittee meets t.'Wo or tht'ee times a year~ 'I'bG Golf Course committee meets monthly. The CAO Committee, of which the ma:r-?r ls one member, meets as ne.eded for-ev.alu~tions. Council work is primarily conducted by ~he body as a whole. SAnta ~ has eight council committees, which meet as neededa Three council ~embers are appointed to each by the mayor, who also aerves on some of the committees. Committees are: BU~get, Beach Area, Greenbelt, Property, Pu:blic Safety, Redevelopment, Social Services, and Whar!~ santa Monica has no standing ~ommittees. sunnyvale has no standing committees a Occasionally a council c~ttee will be appointed and authorized to act on behalf of the council in situations where an issue may require immediate action and there is clear council policy. Re.cent examples have been Moffett F5.eld .and regional government. ..", · , Valleio has six standing committees: Transportation l Interagency, ~eso~rce Re.lations, and CODlmission Enhancement. ~rs and mgets as needed. Revenue and Finance, and Energy I Employee Each has three council Venu," has eiqht standing committees! Utilities, Economic opportunity anu Revitalization, Transportation and Traffic, Solid waste, Housing, Rent Stabilization, Finance, and Rivers, Beaches and Environment. The committees, with three members each, meet as needed, generally once a m~mth. Wat§9Dyil1e has no standinq committees. The mayor will appoint council ~~mmittees as needed, usually of three members, when an issue is unresolved by the full council and requires more thorouqh study. ElCEIlPT -CITY C~lL KIJIUTES OF .JUNE 4. 1990 UNFINISHED BUSINESS Vice Hayor Woolley and council :Members Levy, sutorius re Ballot Measure for Two Consecutl ve (continued from 5/14/90) (705-90-03) KcCotiYl and Term: Limit MOT%ON: ViCE Mayor Woolley ~oved, ~econded by Sutoriu5, to direct the City Attorney to prepare a ballot measure to be placed before the Palo ~to voters in November, 1991~ which limits ,he numL~r of consecutive terms fnr council Members to two terms of four years each .. Herb Borock.. 2731 Byron street, said the Brown Act restricted discussions to the agenda iteR which was for a term limit for council Members. In the packet unoer the same aqenda item number, l Mayor Cobb had a recommendation to decre3se the number of Council Members and for.uer Mayor Arnold had cne tc change the way Council Members were e:ected~ however, tbose t .. 'o alternatives were omitted J trom the oZlgenda. If either of those pr('Jposals were tc be .:ii!' cussed, they should be oZlqendized. lie ~elie~ed both altern~tives 'Were bad ideas and whe'"1 they 'Were agendized be 'Would discuss them. Any proposal concerninq term li=it~ needed to be judged by vhether it made any difference arid whether it applied equally to all Ccuneil Members whose terms expired next year~ He believe-j current and prior service was excluded in ~alculatinq the number of terms served. Some of the individuals mentioned in Mayor Cobb's memo served only two or three terms: however, total years of service was large because some of the terms were for six instead of four years. A two-term limit applied equally to all Council "·:embers whose teI'llls expire next year: however, a three-term limit would treat them unequally. Belie-vinq in term limits a.cknowledged that council Members were part of the problem, not the solution, and the city Council would bE! the last place to look for a solution to a problem~ He urqed the Council to reject the proposal and en couraged those Who wanted a real limit on City Council service to place an amendment an the November 1990 ballot. Council Member MCCown queried if Mr~ Borock believed the terJ!1- limit propo5~l should h&ve been placed en the November 1990 ballet 50 that it should be ~n effect prior to the next election~ Mr. Borock said riqht, and current service should be counted. John XocJc., 2823 Alma Street, agreed with Mayor Cobb's argumants but disoZlqreed with some of the conclusions. Environmentalists did not get Bany representatives who were willing to be~o~e involved with ----~-- 63-399 O~/04/90 ~ 1 ~ I i (J ... running a city; however, Council ¥.ember Rentel was a wonderful, counter-'example.. He appreciated &eeinq &cmeone with so much dedicated service remain on the Council and would love to see more people ot her caliber Berve. Resi~entiali5ts or traaitionalists "ho tlelieved in g-oOO revenues and in providing decent services usually did not get a lot of experience in local government, and getting ca~idates from the environmentalist community was difficult. The business community h.ad an .excellent o~1'"t_\H'i.'ty t-= present candidates, had a stronq qroundinq in fiscal matters, often spoke ~fore the council, and had an advantaqe to.ards going for a two-term il.:w.it, and had received help from the Chaml:ler of Commerce. The City Manager form of qov~rnment in Palo Alto did not present ma~y QPportuniti~s for patron&ge which ~a~ one of the main arguJlents tor going to a terlJl lilllit~ He believed having more Council seats vould have the same effect as a two-term linit, qive aore people the opportunity to run, and provide a wider spectrum of th~ cQmmuni~y a voice in City matters. More Council Members would .. ake: possible the format:ion of an Environmental Protectio:'l. commission and a Utilities 'Commission, and he urged greater citizen participation regarding the LrtT proposals and have t~em report to council instead oE giving t11e assignment to staff. The system "'as workinq without ~ term limit so he did n~t see A reason to change it. Lois Vanderbeek, 736 Barron Avenue, opposed limiting the Council terms and believed Mayor Cobb wrote an excellent lette:-on the matter: however, she disagreed with the idea ?f reducing the number of Council Members. A Council Member should not be barred from office berause of having served be.fore; it ""as. m.ore democratic too let :a representative continue to serve. The pr~p')sal to limit terNs favor"'!d the busir:ess cOl!l.lllunlty and those connet,;ted ..... ith t.he Chamber of Commerce where there were a larger pool of candidates. People with residential ~r environmental e~ncerns ~i9ht have Jess reSQuZ'ces and less time for campaiqninq: however, tho:;e people should be let onto the field. There was not an abuncancil: of qualified individuals who would d( ~ qood job on the Council, ar.d it was difficult to gr" good p ~""ple to serve on boards and commissions. Becoming infor:med and learning to fUnction effective ly as a Council Member took time~ Council Members Fazz.ino and Renzel provid~d an important historical aspect for the Council. Continuity was important ~n keeping on tep of sit\lations~ The issue involved the question of whether City staff or elected representGtive~ should have more decision-making power: li~iting COuncil MeIioher terms qave more poyer to the staff, but she beli~ved power should be kept in the hand~ of elected zepresentatives who were cUrectly accountable to the people. ~ouJlcil Members se.cved on regional agencies to bring the Palo Alto viewpoint and to exert some influence towards a =ore ecologically responsible .... ay. An organization called Don't Return Incumbent Politicians {DRIP) was eneouraginq 'V'oters not to return any incumbent politicians or to limit their terms~ Opponent.s seem.ed to think that removing ----.::::: --- 6)-400 06/C4/90 • l / incuabents in office would i&prove things and the pro~lems would go away with thea without qivinq any consideration for individU21 differences or accomplishments and did not distinquish bet"een tho •• who were doing a good job and theae who were not, and the proposal to li.it council Members terms struek ber as being-similar to the DRIP campaign. She believed Byron Sher represent-ed Palo Alto well and weuld not think of limitin9 his te:-nII!=:: An.:! ~..!tt:in:; his aervice. peop1e who wanted to continue their good service should be allowea to do so. The goal should be to have the best represen tation possible, not the greatest turnover. She hoped the Council would vote to preserve the current rorm of democracy. bob Kess l 40~O Or~e street, did not believe cutting the number of Council Members WOuld save money or ~tfect the amount of debate4 COuncil Members, statt, and the public learned from the discussions and debates. The Co~cern about sp~eadinq Coun~il Ke~ers too thin Was valid because they served on a number or ccm:m.issions/bOards outside of the citro ~he present number of nine council Members worke1 well, and he did not see a justification for a lower number. Former Mayor Arnold had suqgested numbered seats in which council Members Would be elected at large and a candidate cculd declare to run aqainst a particular incumbent. Individual Council Menbers would be more directly accountable so if ch~nges were to be :ade, the numbered seats approach might be feasible. He did not believe the term limitation concept was appropriate, necessary, or beneficial. Vice Mayor Woo~lcy &aid if finding enouqh available candidates was true in Palo Alto, democracy was in serious trouble~ She believed the nvmber of talented individuals willing to make time for public service ha~ to exceed nine. Fo~er Mayor Arnold's letter stated that a se.cond term could be very useful, but then it 'Was time to move over and give someone else the opportunity; individual council Member's were not thot. gre-at, and she agreed. Criticism had been raist!d that term limits were choice-limiting. Ass-..ur;,ing an incumbent was running for the third term and no one chose to run because of the time and amount of money involved, voters wou!~ r:ot have ~uch choice; whereas1 if council Membars were limited to two terms and candidates could campaign without having to run agai~st .an ir,cumb'2-nt" voters would have Blore choices. Establishinq a regular pattern of turnover was impossible whether terms were limited or not. If a two-term limit would have existed in 1987, the Council would have had two neW' Council Me.mlJers instead of none, but would have four new council Members in 1991. . Regarding deadlines. if the council kne~ it had eight years to a~complish something, it would qet it done4 The City had good representa~ion and ~overninq by Council Members in the past. !~ was not ~ matter of needing to ~~ people out but a matter of giving them a healthy challenge. 63-401 06/04/90 l , ! " I l" \ r " i l , I f I -- .' .... o COuncil Member Sutorius said the Council \oIas admonished by Mr. Boroc~ that discussion of an item other than the printed agenda !~em relating to the two-consecutive-term limit would be a violation of the Bro'~ Act and queried if the City Attorney could provid~ an understanding of why the Council was limite~. Ju::ti!'WJ C"i+-y ~tt~~ey T~~~~ E::::-...... '=-t'ti .Dai~ t1".;;;. P:.i.-v'yv~Gl WCl:"io for an initiative to go before the voters on tern lin.its. Council was free to amend the proposal and consider other options. The three terz limit and other alternatives were s~t forth in the documents responsive to the agenda item which was noticed to the public. Council Member Sutor ius agreerj wi th t.he cO"nrnents of Vice Kayor Woolley and believed former Mayor Henderson would join with former Mayor )mold as a proponent of the consecutive term limit. Several indiviu~a15 w~v h3d experience over the years saw a val~e and a benefit to a term Iiait. At least tour Council Members had indicated their beliefs and rE.;~:ommendations, and he believed it appropriate to al!~w the voters of the City of Palo Alto to make its position known through the proposed ballot measure. He encouraged his colleagues to support thE motion to direct the City Attorney to return with a proposed charter ~rnendment. council Me~er Kniss was concerned about the rationale for having a term limit~ She researched data with city Clerk Gloria Young a~d council Member Fazzino, and ~~ndered if legislation 'Was really necessary. Analysis of the data since 1965 suggested the current process ~as working well and did not need to be changed, and of 3J council Members since that time, 23 had sen.·ed eight years or less, 26 had served six ye2lrs or less, and only a feTJ Cou!Jcil Members had served more-than 12 yaars. A three-term limit would not have altered the outcome during the past 25 years. A public servant becaDe proticient in an incremental way; it took time, experience, and the ability to live with an issue over a long period of time She could consider a three-term limit but did not believe a t_o term limit was necessary. council Members were elect~d to provloe directicn in iand use planning, utilities, the use of Cubber-ler, and other major concerns: and made the policy 'Which staff acted upon and carried out. Being a Council Member was a serious job, b;Jt the Council would be taking itself too serio"iJsl. by limiting its .embers to two terms. If the voters were not happy with the elected officials" they votea: them out. If the election were combined with 8 General Election, the cost would probably be an additional $lO~ 000. Having followed the blJdge.t hearin9s, the $10,000 became ~mportant and the Palo Alto Child Care Corporati~n and the Senior Citizens Coordinating Council would have welconed the extra $10,000 in their budget~ She believed the ballot initiative was unnec~ssary, hoped the Council would not support it, and did not plan to support the ~aasure. 63-402 06/04/90 f , -. :.. ;-i , , council Meai)er Andersen chose to run for City Council because several seats were open. xnowinq the cost of c~mpai9ninq, his only opportunity to he elected was with open 5eat5~ Evexy political science book ~e bad read. suqgested an incumbent held a ~O percent advantaqe. The elected officials recp.ived a qreat deal of free -ftdvertiliing in the newspapers, television, and radio c:overaqe. RuT>_'".~ ... q ~-":" ~._~=-: -: -~:~~ -7·"'" 7-"-~ ... " in Palo Alto ... ·as diffi;:;:"1l1t \lille~:ii the playinq rield was leveled somewhat and eight years leveled it a great deo::.l.. He foun~ it '.nt.eI.'"estinq that the proposed Charter Alnendlkent was N!:i'n9 opposed en 'the basis of lett in'S the pe.ople decide: in his estiillation, that was precisely what the Charter Amendment would do. ~rhaps it would be defeated and the issue would be resolved. He foand a three-term limit to be excessive. It wa~ an honor to serve the community in the capacity of Council Kember and part of the re~son was because Palo Alto showed genuin~ interest, respect, and appreciation for the council's efforts. The people of the community should be allowed to decide whether to turnover Council Members more rapidly and more easily. Council Member Fazzino supported the qeneral concept of term limits. He believed many citizens should have the opportunity to &erve the co~unity ~~ that ;~vernment service s~ould not become a career •. He di~covered atter he left the Council in 1993 that he wa~ not indispensable. There were many able people "Who could take his place and CO a fine or better job. He ~~s willing to ~ive up a chance to break Ed Thoi~s' record of 40 consecutive ye3rs on the Council and support some Council term limit; however, he believed three terms was preferable to two terms. AKENDK2NT: Council Member Fazzino moved, seconded by Cobb, to direct the city Attorney to prepare a ballot measure to be placed before the Palo ~to voters in November, 1991, which li=its the number of consecutive terms for Council Members to three terms of four year3 each. council Kember Fazzino supported a three term limit because it allowed the truly extraordinary Council KeMber to continue servinq ~ut created opportunities for new council Membersa Kirke Comstock in his third term vas Mayor and led efforts to expand City services to child care, seniors, and affordable housing. John Beahrs, a strong fiscal advocate, led efforts to eliminate the City's druq problem. ar.d was more effective in his third terE. than in his first. Jay Mitchell built a ~ew city hall, led the search for a ~ev City Manaqer, brought about the major annexation to the area south of Oreqon Avenuer and helped to creat2 the shopping center. Charles Marx led the major expansion of the City's utility syste~: Charles Wing helped with the utilit.y expansion and designed Stanford Stadium on the present site during his thil~ term. Charles Jordan led the £!forts to &llneX Mayfield. Byron Sloy, Mayor durinq World War I.I, was responsible for the City's civil Defense And other full-time responsibilities. Council Kember Renzel vas just as .---::.----- 63-403 06/04/90 . ,- \ .. ~ ..• ·~i.~ .:-.... ./ effective a~d d tireless advoc~te of a variety of environmental issues as she was 10 years a90. Ellen Fletcher was a major leader in Santa Clara County ~ransportation issues and far more effective in 1988 than in 197.8.. While it 'Was: difficult to arque with text:t:"ok statistics with respect to tvo-terlll limits" he believer1 th~ tact& in Palo Alto spoxe for theJfts~lves and council Member Kniss had done an excellent job of researching and pointing them out~ Sreaking out the years from 1909 to 1990 in three separbtp. cateqories, in each 30-year set, 70 percent of the council Members served less than eight years.. A three-t~rm limit would be consistent with the two-term, six-year term limits which vas in effect between 1950 and 1964 and with the November ballot initia tive to limit Federal and state terms to 12 years. Most COUncil Members retiree! after eight years, but a third term allo1Jedthe extraordinalY person with outstanding expertise to continue. Ten incumben~ council Me~ers were defeated during the 19605 and six in the. 1970&. He did not agree ,..-ith the arqultent that serving on the Council for more than eight years caused a har~ship or ~as a strain upon a Council Kember's family.. .Host of the regional leaders Yere long, tenured Council He~ers and as more pcwer was being shifted to regior.al. agencies, it 'iolas essential that in dividuals 'With expertise, such as Council HeMer Re-r.zel in planning and land use or Ellen Fletcher in transportation, hav~ the opportunity to lead~ He was concerned about the piecemeal ~ature of the two-term li~it proposal and that three of the four sponsors of the measure had already decided not to run in 1991.. ~e believed each could continue to contribute a tremendous amount to the Council .. Council Member sutoriQ$' expertise in the utilities area ~ould be sorely missed and would not be easily replaced. The term limit issue came to council in 1909, 1950, and 1·954 as part of a conprehensive charter reform in whiCh the cor.~unity was engaged in extensive discussion and recommendations resulted. H~ encouraged the council to evaluate otjler ways in which the Council cond\Jcted its business and to support a three-te~ alt=rn~tive which would allow extraordinary Council Mer..bers to continue serving 01"\ the COl:ncil~ council Member McCown said the amendment did net plac~ a concise choice before the voters. A t ..... o-terlll limit presented a clearer vehicle to delineate the issues than a three-term limit~ Data showed very few Palo Alto Council Members had 5erved more than 12 years, so the alil.e-nd.ment did not help advance the discussion ~ debate, and ultimate voter decision. council Member Andersen opposed the a1t1endment. He believed a Council Member could serve eight years, take t~o years off l and run aqain with a fresh perspective. Council Ker.~~r ~enzel was amazed that Councjl Members felt a need to brinq the item of a term limit on the agenda~ She had seen no lIIovement on the part of the public to request it or suggest an 63-404 06/04/90 .. , ' .. •. abuse exl!1ted~ Having followed Palo Alto politics for i!-long period ot: time throllgh some turbulent periods, the dynamic was 'When the.::-e were rea.sons people were discontent with the 9overr.:e~'t I wbether it be one or all of the Council Members or a &ajority that too): III. particular ~s1tion, they were at CCuncil .eetings in forc~, leadership developed through issu~s and concerns in the community. s~ people aight not w,""nt 'tt:! C'hall~~.t! i!,!C1~!'!t:5' r b'.!t Palo 1.1tan~ had: no r~luct.ance to challe.'!;qe incumbents if they 'Were dissatisfied w~th performance. She supported the a~endment for a three-term limit because it did not create a restraint on the ~ublic to enter into the process. Some cities did not have enough candidate£ to create cOI:1petition which showed a shortage 0.£ candidates who ~~ere wi.lling to Z1J.n. 'The stronqest p)int in Mayor Cobb I s me]DO was that the City might end up with less candidates and less than the best available leadership. Mandated turnover put more po~er into the staff's hands. The City or Palo Alto had a fine statf, but ~here was a fine balance between a 90od, protesSiional staff and the oversight by the politically accountabl~ council Me~ers. She had not seen the clamor by citizens who JD.iqht be concerned about, the issue and did not believe the Council should put the energy into it. rn regards to the amendment, she believed the application of the la'W should be applied to only allow those who already had served three terms one additional term since it co~ld not be made applicable to the candidates running in the 1991 election, let them have the one term, ~ut if they then ca~e to the next election and had alr~ady served three terms, they could not run again. She se'W no reason in eithe~ the two-term or three-term limit to allo~ so many terms to those who followed the enactment of such a law~ Mayor Cobb supported the three-term limit becaus~ he was concerned about mandated turnovers vitn a Council of nine Members and having to come up with five new members in the same year~ A three-term limit would smooth the process and make it less likely to get ineffective c~ndidates elected. AXlKD~~ 7AXLED 4-5, Cobb, Fazzino, ~issr Renzel naye.~ COllncil Member McCo'Oln said former Mayors Henderson ~r.d Arnolj 'Were supportive of the two-te~ limit: however, ~he had discussed the issue with former Hayor Klein 'Who was not in favor of a two-term limit. The subject was significant enough to place befcre the voters: however, she saw no urgency in doing &0. Proposing a term liJa.it was a statement to the community that the council was looking to 9~vern itself and a reqular pattern of citizen participation 'Would tie developed. Other comlC:unities in the area had adopted term limits and successfully qoverned themselves with the system. She agreed with Council Member Renzel that if "'..., issue ""as si9'nifi-::=.nt, the Council heard about it from the public and miqht be the charge that WC'luld cause ;an incumbent to be challenged and successfully overturned; ho'Weve.r, durin9 periods of stability and less con troversy, people who would be excellent City Council Members would 6,,-405 06/04/90 , " ." o )~:'" ~~;" . . : ! ;. . '. '-..',c",., not run because of the ti~ing. She believed balance ~ould be .aintained because .any who ran tor city council hacj previous aervice. to the community in other ways: tour present City Council Members served on the Plar~in9 Commission, as had previo~s Council Meabers, 80 ill 10:'1qe.r base of contint:.ity came out among the City council candidates. In her experience on the Planning commission, wben new Comaissioners came on board there was a tremendous shot u! ene~gt ~o .~e prucess and in the ~ay t~ey worked together. New eo.missioners"asked questions that 6hould be asked or raised new points ot view. She clid not belie'le turnover put more power onto statt; instead, change with more new questions created a greater challenge for staff and a healthier balance for the strength and health of the organization. She believed the voters s.hould determine the right way to qo. AJdllDHENT: council Kember Renzel moved, seconded by McCown} th~t the grandfatherinq of incuw,ents be prohibited and that a re elected incumbent be limited to no additional consecutive term. council Member Renzel opposed the term limit. Council Members who proposed and espousea the propos~l "Would not want tc permit an addltion two terms to those who had already served two or three terms, so she believed the amendIJl'ent "Was consistent with the lIluorandum. Acting City Attorney Tony Bennetti said the measure would ~e on the sawe ballot as the ~andidates for City counci.l who would be elected to that term and the ballot measure would be effective immediately. He clarified the amendment intend~d that ne~ly-electe~ candidate~ would be limited to two consecutive terms and re ... elected incumbents uould be limited to no additional consecutive terms beyond the term to which they were re-elected. couucil Member Fazzino l::Ielieved it unfai.~ tor Council Members who were serving third terms to dictate to the newly-elected Members that they had to retroactively E-ubscribe and adhere. to "~ policy which had not gone before thp. voters. The one ~easonable portion of the original proposal was the idea that the clock.would start in 1991, everyone would begin ane~, and the rules would app!y to everyone at that time; anything diff~rent ~ould be unfair. Whenever Council had enacteQ its pay inc~eases or reducl!d it.s si2:e~ the co~unity and Council Members were given a transition period in .hich to conform to the new rules. Adding the amendment to ~he proposal would be the worst of all possible worlds. He urged the Council tQ reject the amendment in the interest at fairness. council Member Renzel shared Council Member Pazzino's opposition to the two-term limit and believed it illustrated that point that competent people were ready to serve and the proposal would force the~ to step down. She believed the proposal ~as ~ron9 and did not believe incumbents should be allowed a longer period to serve while 63-406 06/04/90 • .;:; ~ "T' . l';t~ __ ,_," :'-. .' /' tellin; new people they could not. The voters should deci~e but should be fully .ware of the i.plications of the proposol. Council Member ~cCovn supported the a~endment because _he loo~ed .tor consi8tency and the amendJ:::Ient would apply to first-term COuncil Members just as i~ would apply to anyone else who would limited to two terms. She supported the conc6pt in its ~pplication to her. She .ymplI.t.bizeQ with Council Member Fazzino's c:oncern with the rairness of the basic proposal's application. She was prepared to have the two-term limit apply to incumbents, effective as of passaqe. Council Member Kniss said Council :Member Fazzino mentioned that previous Charter Amendments had involved a graaual transition and queried bev long the periods baa been. council KembeK Fazzino said when the Charter vas passed in 1950, the two-term limit did not apply to Council Members who were serving at that point. When the council size Yas reQuce~ in the 19605, it was reduced over a period of eight year$. Cour~il Ke~er Levy believed the general rule of A Council should be not t~ vote on items Which ~ould affect it, and did not believe be should have the right to vote to limit council Membe~ Fazzin~'s tenurf! on the Council. He believed the. original motion was phl'"ased properly bUt the amend~ent .as not and should be voted aqainsta council Member Sutorius associated with the comments of council Kember Levy. When he campaigned for the City conncil in .1983 and in 1987, he strongly advocated a two-consecutive term limit and said that if he ~ere elected, with or without the legislation or Charter chanqe, he would abide by his position. His decision not to seek a third term: was not because he was tired or had lost interest/concern; it va, what he believed was right for the City of palo Alto and its re5idents~ He opposed the amendment bec&use he did not intend to make the decision for any Council Member. Mayor Cobb said: he was in s}'lIIpathy with the amend:nent but was cor~iil:rned about consistency. His basic be.lief was that ter.n limits were inappropriate at the local level of government. If someone were to advocate a two-term limit and run for a third term, it would be pointed out to the pul>lic. COUncil Kember Rentel believed having a fine Councll Kember like council Member Fazzino who came in overwhel~in9ly first in the last election and ~9ht wi~h to serve a third term beinq told he could not because of an arbitrary ru1e was the reason why the rule should not be .ade in the first place and was .. legitimate argument &qainst the ballot measurea ~, ---:--------.~.-.-~ .. --.- 63-407 06/04/90 ·- -''< , ,:) Council Kember Levy agreed with Council Member Mcco~nts teelings and supported the :motion: because it would increase the true democratic process within the community. Council Member Andersen indic~t~ ~at he ran because he knew there would be openings and vas iIlb~e to plan .ehe&d. council M.=~r RI31'\zel mentioned eo shortage ot candidates, end be believed the reason 'Was that incumben,-"y discouraged i.naiv!dul!Il. t'rom planning ahead \:0 beCCir:1e a cancHda.te. Council Member Mccown indicated a benefit of having new blood in all City commissions, I. well as the Council. The ballot measure ¥Duld provide an opportunity to ask the public ~hether it agreed or not 4 He did not believe a crisis or civic turmoil should e~ist before new blood and nev ideas were injected into the system. Council Member Fazzino said the motion would direct the C.ity Attorney to prepare a ballot measure for the November 1991 election and ~eried when it would be appropriate t~ recommend that other issues be taken into cnllsidel-ation by the Pol icy and Procedures (P'P) Committee with no cO'lMit!llent. for the 1991 ballot~ but considered as :part ot ~ 1991. ballot meo,isure. Mr. Benn~tti said the items should be agendized for a future city Council meeting. Council Member Fazzino believed the P.P Ccmmittee should evaluate issues pertaining to the Council size~ l'lurnbered seats. and a directly-elected, two-year Mayor as part of a 1991 ballot measure. He could support a two-term limit if it "'ere part of a more comprehensive set. o.c proposals. He supp,:,rted the main motion: however, if there was no action with response to the other issue~, he would have serious concerns ~bout supporting a two-term limit in a va:c~um~ Mayer Cobb supported tbe concept of reducing the size of the Council and believed a two-term limit required a reduction in the size of the council to eliminate the five-person turnover problem. The purpose of the City CCluncil was to provide good governme.nt which it hau achieved, and he ~aS concerned about making changes which might frustrate the purpose. A lot of assumptions that the change would improve city gove~m~~t had been made, bu~ no proof had been ~!tabliGhed. Before he ran for a third term, he asked a number of ~ople if he should step dovn: nnd the p~blic, especially from the south end of Palo Al to, encouraged him to seek r-e eleetion~ Term limits 'Were needed in powerful government positions such as the President of the unite~ States, 9overnors. or the mayors of large cities because too much power and money were accumulated over a long period of time: however~ the Palo Alto City Council Me~ers did not have that kind of abusive power ~hich could accumul~te. The proponents' zemo stated the number of talented indi.iduals willing to make time tor public service must far exceed nine, b'.Jt he had seen examples during the past 10 years 'Where it -~ "- 6)-408 06/04/90 • '.~"- -'.' C", ~ -_". vas cUfflcult to qet strcnq City Council candidates; that open .eats were necessary for the democratic process to function, but in the last election where 17 ca~idates ran ~or five seats, only one-thIrd of the electorate voted; that ener9)" and enthusiasm diainished after eiqht years, but Council Membe~ Fazzino presented instan-::es in which former Council Members: I ene.rqy-l.tavel and neY ideas ~ere even better in their third term5~ The ~roposal misread the results or the past 10 yaars. Xn 1981, .e.ver~l candidates ran tor one open seat. In 1983, no one ran for a third terE. Xn 1985, it vas a slam-dunk tor anyone who wanted it and the Council Members had to talk someone into runninq. In 1987, it was an anomaly and not part of any pa~tern where all of the incumbenls ran for re election and was the one time when people lIIiqht have beE:~l frustrat ed in the opportunity for open seats. Yn 1989, 17 can~i~ate6 ran for the fiva open seats~ He believed cnly a few of the candidates would have aade strong, effectiv~, creative, and capable Counc~l Members: not all 17 candidates should be council Members just because they ran fer th~ seats, an~ the vot~r5 made some very good choices. Some potential candidates miqht be able to t~~e advantage o~ the mandateQ turnover; however, they might not be as stronq as the previous council Members. He had talked to council Hp.mbers from cities who had teD .l it:dts, and they believed the resultant council was not as strong as the one Which preceded it. The public was not concern~d about the issue of term limits at the present time; however, it could pass vhen the ~Alto Weekly, the most influential public-opinion maker, supported it, editorially. The nine council Members bad expressed their personal plans; Council Member sutor ius would abide by his belief in the two-term limit, and Council Member McCo.~ would uphold her convictions: but the fact w~s that the term limit would have no effect until the year 2000. He believe~ the proposal should be put off closer to the time when it would have some practical effect and until the assumption of too many people a~j not enouqh seats was proved. He oppose~ the motion, would oppuse the ballot measure when it came before the public, and WOuld make arguments to convince the public that it was a bad idea for the city of Palo A1to~ ~OTIOX rABSED 6-3, Cobb, Kniss, Renzel "no.- -__ --·----c- • 8. Mayor Cobb and COllncil Mer.lber Changes ir. the City Charter (70S-90-03) Fazzino ~e Council Organization (con~irlue~ from 10/15/90) Council t-Iember Fazzino said w"hen the issue of term limits ··'as dis cussed a couple of months ago, it WdS a sOJle ..... hat piecemeal discussion in that term limits should rE'ally hcve been discussed in the context of other City charter changes with respect to Council o~~anization~ The City council ~ad not evalu~ted the City Charter and the Council Or3'a.'1ization issues for almost 25 five years, and given that term li,nits W'ou:'d re on the 1991 ballot, it could c:ffec;t council organization. . There l<lere other issc.es which should be evaluated by the Policy and Procedures {F£P) COJfu'":1itte-e, some or none of whicil: could appear Ol") the 1991 bal1c~. The Futur.ec.:;st Conuni ttes, put together by Hayor Cobb fo..:= j'ears ai}c, (ad an outstanding job in the a"t"ea of govern'C',..:;-,t. crS'.}.uzation, and it ,,·ou;':::! be worthwhile for the P';i:' Com~.itte€ ~n.:i the Council to evaluate its work and .:;ssu .... e t..he commul'"'i ty after 25 rears that the city charter had been evaluated and to detcrm~~e whether some or no changes , ... ere appropriate. One item of the C::::.::-ter \\,hich CGuld re ] revieVled by the P&? committee related to the : .... unber of b.embers on the Council, and whet.her it sJ-,ould be reduced f~cm nine members to seven~ Another p,:,ssibj lity 1.';as tJ-le concept of ::'asj,;:!nated seats for purposes of elections. J-:e c.!a!"ifil?d he ;·'-::s I~ot referring to district election but rather designated seats along the lines of the SunnY"Jale system. Another possibility fer review was the question of the maycrship, He clarified that ".either he nor Nayor Cc~!:> necessarily suppor"t.ed ar.y of the proposc.l'S but merely wanted them to be put on the table for debate. MOTION TO REFER: Council r.1er.:-.ber Fazzino mov<=:::', seconded by Cobb, to refer the subject of council Organization changes in the City Charte,l" to the Policy and Procedures Committe=~ Roger t1"e,r.sell, 550 Santa Rita, opined tha."t. , .. .:nbered zeats would enhance the power of the incumbents because it was a case of Hdi vide 0[1\1 cOIlguer" n If t· .... o seats ",'ere ope:: on the council and· there. we:r:e eight contenders, t;,e contenders · ... ··:;uld be cut in hal:f for each of the standing seat-.s. If the P&? Conrni ttee reviewed Sunnyvale I s rec",rds. the power --;,f incur.tbe-,c:l ''':uuld speak for itself. He opposed desigl:dted S82'tS as a ceceptive methc..d to promote incumbents. He wo~ld like to see bet~er public notifica tion when the. items -were before the P&P committee. council Member Anderse.n queried When the item · .. ·culd be heard by the P&P Committee if passed. City Manager Bill Zaner soid the item wauld r~ heard at the next P&P committee DJeeting l b'..it nO'. .... lon;J it remained 'ltlith the P&P committee or when it "mula return to COl..i::-,-:::il 'Would be deter mined by the P&P committee. Council 11ernbeI." Andersen opposed the motl.on. · ... 'ith reg"i:trd to the 1 :number OT council Nembers l he l:.G.lieved it was :;:::: .. "rnatu.re, especially 65-57 10/22/90 o since Council had directed staff to proceE'C 'Wit_~, 3. utilit!~s commission. As a result there '!11ight lie re-pv;>,l!I-"'tion and restr'J.'::' turing of the P&P committee and the oth~r st<::.nding comrnittE:';'::;. There should fh.·st be an exa:inination of the work.load of those c:.:r rently se1 ving. He 'Was concern~d abc!...t the numbered sE:c~s e.o;pecially having been the fifth person in a five-person rz.c.:!. Those 'Who were difficult to defeat v,lould have no opposition c:\.o ,,"culd not have to campaign or defend their posi ticns. On the otht2!' hand, it could cause those members of the (ounei 1 ,,rho had te};:en unpopular or controversial positions to be targets. ""hose .. ,he ..... e:-e vulnerab1e 'Would b~ targeted by organized vested interest grc~r3 who could pour in as much money as they .... entc,j and be able ":,:) a5;,=-~SS '!I:ho on the Council ... ·ould not be aole to raise th(..; money. .=\. person-to-person race concentrated r,ar~ on person~lities tt~~ issues, and wh::'le pers{lnalities ...,ere a part of any pol l.t:",=:::. 1 campaign, one of the nice things a!::lout a City c,')u!1cil opportun:'ty was that i'to 'Was nonpartisan and dealt with ':"ssues and philoscp:-:y rather than personality. He was concern~d abo~t creating i:i'l atmosph~re of public servants ,,,rha ',,'ere r.8ncc,,':.roversial, qui!2t, :;:;.(" name recognition, and d€alt not with goycrnin~ but rather w~~h getting reelected. He did net belie >Ie Ute i t~l:: I.'.'as w'orthy f::::: referral to the P&P co;nmit~ee ~nd urged the mc,tic'n t s defeat. council J.lember Renzel was also cOi"lcern.cd a}:.cut the ::referral. '1 previous discussions of ter~ lir:'.its, those-Counc.il Hemhers .. _ supported it SPOKf::! eloqe.eY':~l'l c,n ~tle opportunities t:"ct \Joule :2- provided for people to ser·.'e on the Counci 1. By cult ing 7 = Council fror.l nLl.e to !;evcn, these opportunitit>s l,,·ol.lld be redt.:.c:.:.! across the board and the r..:·d,,;,c1:.ion • .;auld licre th~n o[fs.et -::'-:-: opportuni--:ies provided as c result of the hio-term lir':",,:. Regarding the reorgani7atian of cQ::7,;:tittees, !'.'.any expressed conCf:':., about a three-member cO!rc:C".ittee, having a quo::-Ui:1 of t\Jo, r:laJdn,::-, a decision and recommendation to the council ana r .. o"· it coul~. ernas::"..:. late the validity of the CO::1~.i ttee system. Th:;-nine-Demb~r CouT.c:'l bad been lrrlorking well. It had been productive and the var':'::..:.s changes to operating procedures tQ strc'::!'":",!.ine efficiency had 1;c~:.1 effective. Her philcsophy \""S, "if it ain't b~o}:en.t don't fix i-:,.r1 She saw no point to the refer~ol. She agreed ,dt.!j all of ;::.e arguments made by council l.<;enb~r 1->.ndersen '\,o:~ th respect: to s8ats f::::: purposes of the Council elec~ion. Palo Alto had a population cf 55,000, and had experienced no difficulty focllsing on iSS'"o.l1:!5 '::1 campaigns, and the public had no diff ieul ty distinguishing who i-: ",r"ished to support. Palo Alto was not a gigan~ic city 'I/,'here it ' .. 2.:;; hard to get information to the entire cOT':rmunity. She had also r.:.""=. seen that Palo Alto was in~ffe~tive in tho region because of ~~e length of the Mayor's terr::. If the motion passed, she ..... anted. t:.'2 entire issue of term limits incorporat(;d into it and the pr:-evic-.:.-s council action rescinded in ord~r for the P&P CC'!Tllrlitt8:G: to rev":'£:.·i the "'whole ball of wax" in one sitting. Council Member Fazzino clarifi8c.i the intent of ttH? r..oLion \oIiJ5 ::'0 refer the entire iss'.le of cowncil organiz<ltion to th2 P&f' Comt':i-:':' tee. He 'Was amazpd at the n?luctancc to do !iO. Und8T t.:~.,= designated system in Santa Clara and sunnyvale, r..orc .'incunbe:--.-:s 65-:'~ lO/22;'Sr:.· ----------~-"".-.. ~~~-- >, ~' '" . '," • were d~feated over the past 15 years than in Palo Alto. It was far more difficult tu defeat incumb<?nts under an at-large Sj'ste--. because an incumbent 'Would. win an tIle bt!sis of name recogni tic n ::nd popularity. Under the designated seat system/ one was forced to c.eal directly .... ith the issues and confront an opponent over those issuE..s. It was easier to defeat an incumbent in that type of system. The Futurecast Corn~ittee did an excellent job in the area of government organization a~d there h3C not b~en any evaluation of i.ts work~ It deserved to be discussed by the PSP Committee. The P&P Committ~e might well d~cide that ncthing in ,the Char~er needed to be ehanged, but he could ilot understand an umd 1lingne.ss to discuss the important issues. AMENDMENT: Council ~.~mber Levy r::.oved. seconded by Renze.l, to delete the issue of Council reduction fran nine to seven members from the referral~ Council Nemb8r Levy said the pi..irpose of reducing the :r.umbe.r of members on the Council from r,'i ne to seven appear(:d to be to reduce the time of Council n.eetings. The suggestion It.'ould reduce the lengt.!1 ~f .3 ~c'..:r.~il ;r,c<=.ting :::'y about 2;] ;.Linutes~ It was iIr.portant for a Ci t:y Council 11cmber to participate in 5ev~ra 1 areas, such as, liaison to support cO!":"JT'.ittees/ cGIT.rr.'.ssions and boards throughout the City~ P.S Council beca:ne r:-1ore iTJvolved in I"<"gional concerns, it would mean either more hOlJrs fron a s:i:laller CC':.lncil or more Counci 1 tlembers to do the job. Having nine Ci ty Council He:rnbers provided a better cpportu~ity fo~ ~itiz~~~ tv b~ closer to at least a few of the members because of l,.rhere they ~.;orke.d, 1 i Vl2d, 0r 5hoppec. Council Menbers were more inclined to see ~ore parts of the City and residents were :r;'.ore likely to encoun!:er Cou:1cil Hemhers and provLie inforr"al as "'.tell as fornal l.nput, ..... hich Has all to the better in terms of gover!:rnent~ As he revie,,'ed -the past 12 years, if there had been a seven~ r;-.£'mber Council ~ there ",ere several good people who would not have se~ved the City, e.g~/ Frances Brenner ~~d ~'rz::-:~ p~'ti.t'!..!=C"i: ."" ~'1e v.'itherspoon ,",auld not have se!:ved her second termj Mike Cobb ","oHld not have served his first terTI1.i and Jack Slltorius ........ ould no::' ha.ve served ei t.ber t.e::::-"i; and Frank Patitucci. He oppose~ reducing the size of the council. Counci 1 Hember Andersen heard di:scussion in the context of the tw-o term limit that somehow there L"light not be enough qU.:llified or interested candidates to sel.ve. He reject.ed that notion and said there "Were several "Well c:::ua1ified, cO~IDitted candidates dur;_ng the last election~ The Palo Alt.o community "Would always provide quality l~adership thrQughout the years. He supported the a~endment and continued to oppose the main motion. Council l1ernber MeCo·"m quer ied the procedurp that .... ould be fallo"lied to implement Council IS previous action to put the t1t.lQ-term limit on the ballot. l-ir. Zaner believed the item '.muld ro!'turn directly to council in the form of a recoI:1mended ballot r.1.t:!asure frop the City Jl.ttorney's , , 65-59 10/22/9G , ' office in time for Cou!1cil t':l 'Jet the matter. on the rIoveffiber ballot if it so chose. COl.:ncil Memb~r McCown understood the intent of th8 motior. lo'as to raise some ideas that might or Might not achieve support for some ad.:litional elements or fine tuning cf the ba11o~ meaS'..lre that W;3S al.=eady approved by the CounciL ",hi le .::ihe was not thri lIed .lith any of the: thz'ee ideas and \olas not sure ... ·hether ~ after debate, they would have sufficient mer it to be added to the essence of the prcposed ballot meaSULe, she wa~ nat afraid of an opportunity for further dtscussion. Th-a previous discussiol'. of the t .... o-term limit wes narrow in focus and council did not really hav~ an cpportuni~}' to discuss possible other features. She ...... ould not support the a=.endment but would support the refer~al to t.he P&P COl:l:!llittee l:t::cause the. ideas needed to b.~ fllJs!:ed out. 'l'h'C:'y • .. 'ould either rise or fallon their own merits. Ccuncil :t-tenber +Zl.ndersen said \I'hen the environmental commission was discussed, council expressed C0~c~~n ebou~ sending anything to the P&? Committee that wa~ unclear in the 't'lnds ot the cOl'nci 1 }!S!!;\bers. He had no fe.3.r of dis-=:ussin'J t.he i S5ues but queried 1';bGthcr a referral was beating a dead hor=-€' ;:!ld "hether sOi7lething ~.'ould be cccomplished. It might be rr,ox-~ ar-:f.'.ropriate to discuss s"..;.ch a r~~erral after some of the dust settled in terms of the roles ol tr+; committees including a utilities ccclrdssion. :t-rayor Copb believed the issue of r!;d\lcing the ~ounci] size ."'CC;":" ni:-.-e to seven needed the. !:',ost att-.E::.tior. b.t'canse he ".as :-I.O\: cO:"1vinced there ",,"ould ah'ays b~ g00d candid~tes t.o run. ',~'hile Fll]O Al-:o was full of highly qualified, capable I=-coplc, in IS87, it ',;2.:= d'::':fficult to get someone to run for a "s la!l dunl:" seat. He did not necessarily support a single t_hing on the: list, but if the City \-,<:!5 gcing to consider something as drd~atic as term limits, the entire s€,o: of issues should be conside::red .ceca';1se they \ .... ~re connected and in context a better decision could be ]".,aae. The P&P Committee was p=~~isely the right forum to discuss the matter because it gave pE'_:::ple like "fr. Hansell an opportur.ity to t2l].-. in morc detail, 2.:1C: ga-.'S the publ ic a chance to thi rl}: e.bcl,.,t the: issues and provi de ~0j';",~ input~ A..'i::=NDKENT FAILED 3-4, A:>Jdersen , Levy, nenzel "aye," Kn~ss, l:'oolley I ab$ent. ;:..-J cc....:ncil Member Sutor ius opposed spending tine on any of the three iss~es ~hich had been identified+ ne id8ntified a~d concurred witn ¥Or. Mansell ",itn respect to I1umbered sE:ats and vith CounciJ Nember k.d.ersen ~it.h respcct to Council ~ize ?nd ';.lith some of the CSrillments of Counci 1 Member RenzeL It se"';';'2d contradictDry for council to cc::-.sider reducing i ls size \!hen it jus't re<...."ent-ly discussed thl'". nesci, or rationale, for a public utilities t!ody of sone kine. JU5:~ification for the ccmmi!:sion €',rnphasized the complexity of the iss'Je and Council's current volul':';c of !,o,'CJTk1oac]. The yroposal had nc~ yet returned to Council. Further, there was nothing in thw c~r-rent processe.s ..... hich precluded 2.; Vayoc fro~ servinq hJQ consec- 65-60 10/22/90 ~ \'::'$i utive terms or more. Mandating the ~erm see~ed risky particularly when current ;Q1embers of thp. council seemed to believe there 'Was a considerable workloed just in being a council Member. Finding someone with the capacity and the commitment to take on the responsibilities of Hayor for two consecutive years on a regular basis was an ina9propriat3 request of future councils and the individualc who might become May~r~ He opposed the entire motion. Council Member Fazzino said Palo Alto had the largest City Council for a city its size in the state of California. Everyone looked to cities like Sunr.:-vale as a model of excellent city qovernment~ and it functioned well with seven rna.:nbers. Palo Alto 'W,,)llld do the same. In terms of the workload issues, there was not a city government more effective at regional involvement than sunnyvale. RegarcUng the mayorship, because of the importance of regional involvement, oftentimQs it took nine or ten months for the Mayor to becom~ effective on reqional activities. HOTION PASSED 4-3, }~dersen, Re~zel, sutor-ius ~no,M Kniss, Woolley absent. , 12 EXC~.Rn FROM POLICY AND PROC~Dt!RES COMMT1TIE SPI;J:JAL MEETING DECEMBt:R 18. 1~90 3. COUNCIL ORGANIZA.TION CliA.!X.ES Chairman ~evy called on CO\.:.l~+.::il Member Fazzino, seated in the audience, \Tho had referred the item to the P&P Committee~ I'he City Attorne::{ advised that since there " . .'as no motion on the. floor I Council Membe~ Faz~inQ was free to present co~ents~ council Member Fazzino thought it was extremely important to have the Council and the P&P committee r-eviellr a variety n.f C~:'!.rt~. issues as t.,",,,,,:: -:::.s·-:.·::-:""-=....-= 't:::::::-:u::. l";',jo • .ic.s. 'I'rie c.i~J' !JOU ~l,. iuui.cally ..... """!'~~ .. "'~~ .;':-:; ~!"_',;'Ir~p-.( in 1909 1 1926~ 1950 and 1965. The council ~~,::.:::-~,::.:~ ::":=-::l'!'-I;?: tcr:. liziits on the ballot in 1991. He preferred three teriilS 'io·!"":..icto~ WOuld allow a b .. -uly extraordinary Council Member 'to continue serving and at the same tirlle insure turncver; the council opted for two terms. He thought the public 'Would very likely approve that. With regard to designated seats, former Mayor Ed Arnold could speak to th~ item better than he and had suggested it to the Cour.cil 2!1 few months ago. Hp. believed designated seats would fo~ce incumbents to run on the basis of their records and force opponents to clarify agreements or disagre~~ents. A review of recent santa Clara and Sunnyvale deSignated seat E:lections demonstrated SOUle spirited campaigns during 'f1"rhlch tlJ,e issues had truly been clarified. Palo Alto's at-large syst~m protected the incumbent, and no incumbent had been defeated since 1979. More incumbents had been de£eated in cities with designated seats, like Santa Clara and sunnyvale, over the last ten years than in Palo ~lto. Statistically, with three or four in~urnbents in a rac€, it was extremely difficult for votes to split in favor of a non incumbent. He re.cognized under a designated seat syste"t'. the P&P:9D-91 12/18/90 ·-. ':., stJ:onqest incumbent~ were protecter'l. because it W'as unlikely people would run against them, but the ~eakest incumbents would not ~ protected. It was mere likely new people would be elected in that kind of system than in an at-large system. Palo Alto had by tar the largest council for a community its size in california. Most cities of Pale Alto's size operated. quite effectively with five members. He proposed seven and a transition period too current members 'Would not be affe.cteu. He believed a srcaller council would take on more worx. There would :be a bette!" balance of J;l0Yer between the Council and staff. There .. 'oHld be few-er demands on the staff and perhaps even shorter meetings. Now that the Council was establishing a utilities commission, t~ere was not as much need to identify two or three Council Meobers with strong utilities expertise. He plefecred a smaller council and a large~ number of commissions to advise the Council on issues like poli~e and fire, public wor~s, housing, parks and recreation r and hUman services. Mayor Cobb and he thought the issue of th~ elec~ion of the ndyor should be discussed. They believed the present method, which was a mini-rotating syst:_'!'!:!!, ...... ~:; lei. more preferable than the political elcctions of a fe'ii years ago~ He recog::-;i:z:ed those "'-ere politically different times. l1ayor Cobb and he \lIould not support direct election of the Mayor. He ~ensed the town felt very comfortable with the decentr-alized nature of City government, 'Where po'..,;er resided with the Council ar.d not with the Mayor. However, gil,.'en the importance of regional activities and other responsibilities taken on by the Mayor in the last fe-'; years~ Mayor Cobb ar.d he asked the p&P Committee to consider other-'Ways in which the mayorship might be handled. Council Member ~enzel 'Wanted to discuss whether the two-term limit should apply to incumbents. Chairman Levy said it was not part of the P&P Committee's cha~ge, although he thought it might well be ft:',r the Committe~ to recommend to the Council hov to deal with the ballot item in terms of ~h~ would write the prQs and co~s. Edward Arnold, 1454 Hamilton Ave~ue~ e tormer Mayor of raio Alto, recommended a seven-member councila . It was hard to kn·:;)·", what was perfect, fi .... e or nine, but he guaranteed that 15 council members was not th. best. Seven council members sea"ed-t:; w thE! right l:l~r tOo er.able vc;t~rs--to bold individual members responsible and accountable. He in~icated in his lett~r to the Council that if the council Members found there were too many outside re~ponsibilities for seven members to handle them, then it was a matter council should consider. Term limitation had been, voted on by the voters of california. Colorado had approved limits and he just learned tonight the council planned to put the issue on the ballot. He recommended it for the reasons he had pointad out before. In a~dition, term limitations ~nabled a greater number of people to participate. It was a great ~xperience to be a council member, and -2- P&P;90-91 1</18/90 • the greater number who could experience the position was a benefit to the city. Numbered seats were important because each individual could face a challenge al~ be forced to defend his or her record and philosophy.. Ouring the Council d.isGussion, it was sl,!gqested it. miqht not be a good idea because it ~oul~ discourage people from bringing up unpopular ideas or favoring unpopular measures. Accountability and respon.sibility were key elements in B d.emocracy, and if they txied to obscure those, they attacked the fabric of the democracy itself.. The e::.cisting sweepstakes system blurred and confused candidates; pecple tended to say the council had done well and so were inclined ;':;0 vote for an incumbent, rather than clarify th.e issues. He opposed a direct election of the Mayor. The council was very well situated to select from its members. One :t·ear terms seemed reasonable~ He opposed district elections. They miqht work in a larger, diverse city. but in Palo Alt.o that put some petty considerations into the election and seemed not to be necessary. Council Member Renzel said ioo'hen the Council decided to put the two~ term limit on tbe ballot, it wOl!ld eXE::",pt sitting inc'..lmbents from being restricted to two full terms. She asked if Mr. Arnold had any opinions on that. Mr. Arnol.d was inclined to think the two-tern. limitation 5r.QuId include incumbents, although he understood the incumbents came in under a different set of circumstances. council Member Rcnzel said the idea .... ·as that once it went into effect, it would apply universally_ Chairman Levy said what the Council agreed upon, according to the minutes, was that the two-ter.m limitation would begin as soon as the voters approved it, so that anyone elected at that time could then serve "l.-wo fulr·te::.-ms trom that date. council Member Renzel said anyone sitting on the counci 1 could still r~ for two additional terns. Sh~ thought if Council M€~bers had already run and se~ved a term, and then came up after the two ter~ limita~ion was established: they should run for one more term and be done. Chairman Levy said they cO·..lld run [or twc lllore terms. Council Member Ren2el co~ented someone could be nn for four terms. Mr. Arnold would not favor that, but that 'Mas the way the Ir'atter "Was phrased no..,. council Kember Kniss thought M~. Arnold said the mayo~ship should be rotated as it was no-w. 'rh~t had not been her understanding, at least not over the past 20 years. SOD~ COUncil Members never got -)- P&P:90-91 12/18/90 to be mayor ~ a.ttQ some got to be! mayor at least twice. It might nut always look t!~L\t 'W'ay to the public, but. the position was lobbied for~ There might .nnt be many ballot.J., but there was still contention. Mr. Arnold accepted that and said be was under a misapprehension. Roger Maru=ell" 550 Santa Rita, agreed 1II.-ith the two-term limit, and fer the people in office at the time, it should apply to them as total cumulative time. Pe~haps there could be one ~ore term, so there could be a CUlIlulati ve of three terms, but beyond that, hS!! th·;')uqht it would not be living up to the spirit of whco--: a two-term lildt IShould be anri 'Why the public would vote tor it. As to the request of Mayor Cobb and council MCI'1her Faz.lino regarding rn .. '.:mbered seat$, he tended to agree with it. Numbered seats tended to make a more level pl~ying field. Bill Safire said in playing politics, ·they had to remember that the Coliseum had a level playing field, but the lions usu~lly won. He opposed the concept of the top seven candidates getting the job out of 17 candidates; it was a horse ~acl2. In the horse race, one tended to identify with the fact citizens would keep voting .tor a known devil rather than vot".e for an unknown. rt was human nature; security loi'(;..S the kno'Jr_. He might not have the same reasoning as council Member Fazzino l but he quite agreed "With him. The tent limit also allo""'ed more and a diverse number of people .... i\ ... h new and fresh ideas coming to the Council. It was refreshing to have people like Council Memeer Andersen and he~r his new iaeas which struck some sore nerves. With new people on the Council there would be more and more new ideas. He was involved in the golf industry, and people he y~ew had ideas on the golf course utilization but "Would not bring those ideas to the present Council because they understooQ the outcome. With the turnover of the Council$ the experienced pe.ople were not lost, be~ause those people could be utilized on commis~ons instead of having the council Members attend meetings for the vario\:s county and regional boards. They had not lost the cap~bilit~ of Edward Arnold or Gary Fazzino. Council Member ~ . .!ldersen asked if he "Were speaking in defense of a nine-member council. y~. Mansell said nine or S2ven did not matter to him; it depended upon how council Members handled assignments and "Work. If there were too D1any people involved in a project, they got nowhere. If they had a sruall group, they could come to a quick conclusion~ Mr. Arnold agreed with ~umbered seats. It "Was an interesting point because to say more people should be gjven the opportunity to serve and then turn around and argue for a seven-person Council instead of nine went against that argument~ -;--~,,--' .,,<.. --.' "" . " " , .' -4- P&P;90-91 12/18/90 "\ : ~'~~.;',:, -. ~~airman Levy had asked Assistant to the city Manager Vicci Rudin to contact both the Cities Santa Clara and Sunnyvale, who both used designated sea.ts, for CODm'l..?_nts. He d':'Sitributed copies of the results of the contacts. KOTIOII': Counci). Member Kniss moveci, seconded by Ren:zel, that the Policy and Procedures committee recoamend to the City C~uncil th~t the current number on the Council be maintained~ Chairman Levy remarked normally a moti~n was no~ ~ade if n~thin9 would be changed, but in order to allow comments to be made for the council's benefit, the P'P Committee would ceal with the ite~ in that way. Councii Hembe~ K~iss believed as a former school board member, she was the only one present who had served on a board of five for four years. She had not s~rved on a board of seven. She felt nine was a very_good number because it did not easily divide -tself into coalitions. A five-member b02!'t"d easily fell into a three-two syndrome; that was happening throughout california. She ~id not know if that happened on .c ~~gular basis with a seven-rr.ember board. She noticed with nine, there was almost no telling ~ho was 90ing to vote which waya It was very difficult for people, evefl for serial contact, to contact each other. She discovered on a five-member .board it ~'as easy to get a motion and a second, and it was not difficult to qet a third. Palo Alto was a ver~" dertanding comn.unity and nine allc"e.d t.he Council Members to spread: themselves out. She did not know about thoe other COUncil Me~bers, but there 'Was l-arely a night ",-hen she was home. Tl'Ie nun::ber of assignments for Council Me.mbers vas overwhelJ:l.ing; however, she thought most of the Cotlnr::il really enjoyed them. The COUncil as n-ow constructed allol .. ed diversity" She would not support eleven because a double-digit council got s(lmewhat out of ha~,d4 She did not know-whether there would be enough qualified running for election if there were nin~, but she ran ~n a field of 171 so it did not seem as though there was a problema It ~ollld not surprise her at the next election to see another 16 or 18 running ~~en four seats wer~ open again a She was not supportive of the two-t~rm limit, even though Ehe tnought that ~ould happen, bUt she could ~ot see any need in the coemunity for it.. The average 6-=r~,dc2 Yas eight and a one-half years~ Chairman Levy and cQuncil Member Renzel opted to serve a longer time, and they were very effec ;';'i\.-e melr':bers. Council Member Renzel said th-ere had bp.en talk about improving efficiency with fewer Council Members, but she 'Was not sure it would be ent1rely the case. It was cnly a ~3lter of a feW' minutes of council meeting time that ~ould be saved. It was the public who used the time at public hearings and so forth. The council dehates had typically been a small part of t.he meeting. The item of saving tiroe was a red herring. Those who argued for a two-term limit, argued principally in tenns of the diff icul ty of challenging -5- • P&P:90-91 12/18/90 . ' -.. - , -" .! / ;t.- incu.abents. In rea~.ity, the numbeI of Council Hem}:)ers who had served aore than two terms was sDlall. with the r~duction of Council Members, there ~ould be a 25 pe~cent reduction of opportu.niti~s lost across the board. In the course of the utilities commission discussion, the Council agreed having committees of three people with a qu~rum of two made the committee system rather li8ited in input brought to the council. The~e wa~ good reason for having exclusive committees as oppose~ to committees that might overlap. If people wanted to serve on more than one committee with a committee system of four members anrl a seven-member Council, that could occur. Under the current comaitte.e s.ystem, having fQur members was very valuable becaus~ it meant ~ith a quorum of three, at least a third of the Council vas mUing; a. reco1Ul:lendation. The nine-men-her council had. warked well, and &he had heard no cl~moring £rom the public to change that. She w~uld support the motion. Council Member Andersen said most of his thoughts were expressed at thp lull council ~eeting so he did not need to comment too much He endorsed the notion of the cOr.l:littee structure.. He ... :as reluctant to have a committee of fewer than four.. Even though the Cour.cil was e$tablishing additional commissions, he would want to have the council actively involved in the process.. He was n~t in any way relinquishing the liaison role; it would be a very impor'tant part and he wanted the Council to be fully aware of ,"'t. The additional responsibility of regional assig:i'Utlents suggested there were additional demands placed upon the Ccunc":'l Me:mbers. The Palo Alto council probably received ~ore demands individually than cowicil members in other co~~unitics. It vas probably the reason behind the sUbstantial size of the council oriqinally.. He wonld nev~r want to go to 15 members, but there 'Was a need in thE' community to have a contact with COllncil Member-s. Reducinq the level of contact was inconsistent with the view e~ressed in the FUturecast .report for more contact by the citizenry. He o .... ould support the lIlotion to retairl nine seats. Chairman Levy thought it was important the opportunity fOL public service remain available to what he would call the average citizen, and in Palo Alto more and lnore t.hat meant the citizen __ ho was employed. It ~ant in order to serve on the Council. ch~ Council ;ob had to be reasonable in terms of the hours of cOmLitment. It was unreasonable on its ;[i:iC~, b~t if "t_he numl:ler 'Were redur:ed froi:n nine to seven. it 'Would mean that each Council Men-J:;;er 'WoulJ. ~-..<:....-~ more to do. He urged they not turn the council into a qro~p of professionals who were in some ~ay separate from the citizens they served .. KOTZON PASSBD 4-0 .. -6- P&P: 90-91 12/16/50 • UNFINISHED BUSINESS The ~olicy and Procedures Committee l."ecomruends to council regardinq council Organlzation Changes (CMR:203:91) the city (701) Council Meml:;er Andersen said the Policy and Procedures (P&P) Committee expressed concern about reducing the number of Council seats simply because of the nature of the ~ommunity and its denands 66-85 4/15/91 " ..• :~~ -r~ . ':;-:. ",-. ''''''"''''' on Council Members. Council services regio:lally and the other gxtraordinary demands which the COMmunity tended to place on the council seemed to outweigh any etricienci~s which might be derived from less time in debate 'With less Council Hem.bers~ The recom ~~M'lt.i.on was to lrIake no changes. With regard to desjgnat~d seats tor city Council .embers,. there was discussion ro£'qar-dinq the difficulties of beinq able to h~ve enough ti~e to clearly articu late views especially as in the case of the last election where tbertr were 17 candidates. other arguillents suggested strong incumbents miqht run unopposed or other individuals might not have any challenge in their campaiqn which could influence the process. Designated seats might create a hazar~ to being controversial or takinq a Bore regional perspective at the expense of the mo~e local view4 There could also ~ an occasion where a strong incumbent might be opposed by a strong can(2idate and they w'>uld draW' more votes than the weak incumbent on the ether seat. Concern was also expressed about politicizing the process and ~hether it would c~eate the slate candidacies. The vote was ~-1 in opposition to the desiqnated: seats. Concern was expressed about campaign spending limits4 While there wer~ constitutional questions involved, the Committee suggested the city Attorney be dicected to investiqate the options available to Palo Alto regard~_::!g election campaign spending limits. The P&P Committee discussed Palo Alto's relationship with other cities including the council liaison role with East Palo Alto. The suggestion was ~ade to consider extending the liaison role to the cities of Mountain View and Henlo Park. ItO'rZOlh Conncil Member Andersen for the Policy and Procedures Comaittee moved regarding Council Organization Changes that: a} the cu:rrent nmnber en th~ Council be maintained; b) the Council not go to designated seats; c) the City Attorney he directed to i:lVestigate the options available to Palo Alto reqarding election campaign spending limits; and d) Council consider council liaisons ..,ith the communities of Mountain View and Menlo park in addition to the current liaison ~ith East Palo Alto. City Attorney Ariel calonne said it would be extremely difficult to do anything in terms of expenditure limits which woul~ likaly survive a challenge. There was a greater likelihood of drafting something enforceable if council focused its enerqies on con tribution liMits rather than spending limits. Council Member Woolley queried how the liaison role miqht wo!'.c since council was already meeting with the Menlo Park City Counc!l and whether the jOint meetings of the full Councils would end. Council Member Kniss said while there was no intention to eliminate the full Councils meetings, it was evident, based on the experience 66-86 4/15/91 • • with the 1 iaisons in Palo Alto and Ei'".st Palo Alto. that such ~ qroup could get together more quick1r than it took 14 people to qet togetber. The liais~n role also est~blis~~d an ongoing relation ship over a long period of time and as issues arose they could be quickly add=esse~ and a communication schedule could be .orked out. Ed Arnold, 1454 Hamilton Avenue, svpported the contribution limit concept. Regardinq designated seats, it seewed reasonable to give the public an opportunity to express its opinion on whether such a .ethod of ballot designation might be Illore appropriate than the present at large method. He urqed Council to p!ace the matter on the ballot. Council Member McCown queried Mr. Arnold's opinion en whether ftat larqe-or -deSignated-seats generated more candidates. Mr. Arnold opined it would be easier for additional candidates to appear with designated seats. He believed accountability and responsibility could be pinpointed to a greater degree with desiqnated seats. Herb Borock, 2731 Byron street, supported an ordinance regarding contribution limits. Contribution limits in Palo Alto should be less than $100 for any individual or organization to any specific candidate or ccmmittee. The limit should be the sum of the various categories that candidates and committees needed to report.. If the dollar amount was set that evening, an ordinance could be effective for the next City Council election in November.. The U. S. supreme Court already ruled that spending limits were unconstitutional unless they were tied to a public financing system. He supported the recommendation of the P&P committee regarding designation of numbered seats given the way the question was framed, e .. g., numbered seats at a Citywide election. If Council chose to have numbered seats from and by districts, th~ districts would be small enough that a candidate could meet eact· one of the votl:!irs in t..~at district duriru:-a campaign, which would result in protection aqainst large sums of money in a targ~ted cace against a specific designated seat. In a city the size of Palo Alto, a citywide election with designated seats could result in a large amount of mol'l~Y being put toward a single candidate in a single designated seat which he opined ~as worse than th~ present at ~arge seats. Jobn Mock, 2823 Alma street, opposed designated Council seats as being worse than slate politics.. It could encourage well-financed challenges to Council MelDbers who might oppose development or take a position which was actually supported ~y a fair segment of the community but w~ich aight not be popular to those with the money in Palo Alto. !t could result in costly campaigns especially when a strong incumbent was challenged not on the basip of incompeten~ but rather on the basis of his or ber vie\i.'s. It tended to force all candidates to bend toward the middle of the political sp~ctrum rather than representing their constituency. Designated seats would increase posturing in politics and could reduce diversity on the Council. 66-87 4/15/91 -~-""" • -- " ·"'"' - . .-. Vice Mayor Fazzin~ said even though most cities in California had seven :member Councils or less and. fUnctioned very well with regional and other issues, he recognized there was no support~ MOTION DIVIDED POR PURPOSES OF VOTING FIRS'!.' PAR'!.' OP 1I0'1.'ION oro RETAIl! ClIRREN'I.' 1ItlIIBEll. OF CO!JlfCIL XEJ{IIERB PASSS» 7-1, Fazzino -no,· Cobb absent. ;rice Mayor Fazzino said if the second part of the motion a.s to designated seats was defeated, he would move to place the matter of designated seats on the November ballot along with t~o-term li~it&. !i.e believed. citywide numbered seats "Would force incumbents to d~fend their records which was important in a community such as Palo Alto. citywide designated seats liouid torce candidates to clarify positions and areas of aqreement or disagreement with other ca.ndidates. Only one inCUmbent had been defeated in Palo Alto since '.975, primarily because statistically with three or four incumbents in a race it was extremely Qif!icult for the votes to split in such a way as to favor ani nonincwnbent. Th.E;!-'WE'<akest incumbents were protected statistically in an at-large system. He re.ferred to the f~actious and slate politics which occurred. in Sunnyvale during the 1960's and 1970'S, ana said Palo Alto experienced the same thing. Those developments durinq camp~igns were more a re-.sult ot the political environment at the time, not the system used by the cities to elect its council Members. At eV£;r)" other level of government where indiviJuals were elected, voters c~ose between candidates. Local government waE the only level 'Where five or seven individuals were chosen at large. He felt strongly about the nged fer turnover and believed designated seats woald facilitate it because incumbents would not run again unless they we~e absolutely committed to running and serving for another tour years. He d.oubted there would have been non competitive el~ctions in 1985 or 1987 if an at-large desiqnat~d seat system had existed in Palo ~lto. Council H~r McCown was most interested in the type of system that would en¢ourage new faces to go through the process of running a ca~paign which was why she supported putting the two-ter.m limit on the ballot. As she thought about designated seats, where someone had to dec:de to go up against a particular incumbent, she was not persuaded it would necessarily pull more strong candidates into a race than the current systell. Notwithstanding newspaper editorials she 'Was not persuaded the designated system would quarantee iSfi,ues \o"ould be discussed differently than they were currently discussed. It might alloy for money to be spent by can<1idates. more selectively in the race. While she believed it was the citizens responsibility to determine how to elect the "ine Council Members, she did not see the compelling benefit to changing the current system. Council Member iUtdel"sen said bib decision to run for the city Council was largely based on the fact there were open seats. If 66-88 4/15/91 • -.'"' \ ....::\~~.,' . - '~ ! " palo Alto ha.d a designated seat !iiystem, he doubted :he would have run because he would h~ve had to i~entify one particular seat and ~e doubted he would have decj~ed to run against council Member Cobb or vice KDy~r Faz~i~c. Ir he had chosen another seat, there might hiiv~ Dl!:!en ~3 people running for that seat:. There 'Were 17 c"ndi dates in the last election because there were four open ~eats in an at-large system 0 While there could be strong candidates running aqai~st strong incu~nts, there could also be incumbents running unopposed 0 With desiqnated seats, there COLlld be two extra ordinarily strong candidates running for one seat and one would have to lose. With an at-large system both candidates could win. Based on the numbers runnin<j for each givel"l seat, there could be a situation where ene person pulled in more votes than others yet still lost because he or she did not choose the right seat. The i~~ue was complex, but in the context of what was presented, he would oppose changing the processo council Member Woolley supported an objective to increase account ability of Council Kembers~ Her primary concern was to have more candidates, and she agreed the way to get at it was through tne two-term limit where there would bl:! lr.ore empty seatso "with desig nated seats, no one would take on a strong incumbent. Because turnover was important especially in Palo Alto ;"'here there were so many capable and internsted active citi~ens, she would root support desi]nated seats. COUTlcil Kelllbar Renzel. agreed with Counctl Members Woolley and Andersen. Reg~rdinq full discussion of issues. she had seen no reluctance on the part of people who were unhappy with incum~ents to raise concerns a~ challenge incumbents in various forums~ The format of the forums was much 1I\ore i'mporta~,t to the ability to challenge incumbents than who vas running. Most people had nothing bad to say about someone with no track record. In the last election a lot of energy was directed at changing the syste~ and tryinq to tackle some perceived problems which spoke toward incum bents rather than the other people running~ She was glad to hear Vice Mayor Fazzino qualify hi.s discussion about fractio;Js and slate politics because they wer~ a symptom of the 1960's and 1970's and had nothinq to do with the manner of electing candidates. She believed designated seats tended to create highly political campaigns before. they even got going, and there was a high probability th3t incumbents would qet a free ride. She di~ not favor a two-term limit and believed the citizens of Palo Alto were perfectly capable to defeat any incumbent when they wanted to. She believed there had been turnover on the Council, and while there was a tranquil period on the C::>Uncil in the early 1.980' s, she ~lieved it vas more a function of where the community was as a body rather t.~an having anything to do wit.h the system. A two-ter1t\ limit vould provide a great deal of opportunity for people to run even though it was not her favorit,e position. Numbered seats could create confusion~ Council MembE::r Levy said November, 1991, .. QuId be a landmark election in Palo Alto. There would be a number of items on the 66-89 4/15/91 ballot, includin9 the two-term limit, and it made sense to add the issue o~ desiqnated seats. One advantage of designated seats ~as that ~ach ca.ndidate 'Would be subjected to p\lblic scrutiny and it '"orIas less likely that slate politics would occur~ . Currently, if four or five people needed to be elected, a slate could be put together where one or two poor p~~ple could be in among two, three or four good people~ and the one person might get in because of the slate. With individually designated seats, each candidate had to stand on his or ber own merits. While good incumbents would be less likely to, be challenged, mediocre incumbents would be more likely challe~ged. In the current 5yste~, it appeared incumbents generally won. While he did not believe there would be more new faces, there would be more PQople who knew the community and were willing to stand up and put their feelings directly on line against someone else's. He did not believe more money wouL1. be spent because campaigns for designated seats would be more focused and there would be more accountability. council MeMber Kniss did not fe7'~ the election.!! of" the late 1960's and early 1970's qave the community a better Council~ In the last ele_ct.i~J\ all 17 candiaates extensively discussed all the issues, e.g,. Arastra, floor area :ta-:..ios~ doilu Saild iiill Ruad. Sh;; ~id nut: believe it was necessary to go to designated seats. She supported the P&P committee recommendation. Mayor Sutor ius queried why desiqnated seats wculd cause the campaiqn cost to be less. The point wa~ made th~t campaiqn~ would be more focused but that ~id not mean to him it would be ani less expensive. He was also confused about how designated sea~s vould cau~~ forums to be nore brief unless there were les~ candidates. He believed the idea ~as to get more p~ople involved. Vice Mayor Fazzino referred to the cities of Santa Clar-a and Sunnyvale over ~e last ten year&6 and said while ~here were fewex candidates, they were stronger~ In such a situation, there ~ere not 15 or 20 candidates se~king four cr five seats but rather tyO candidates seekinq the open three or four seats~ Council Member Levy di~ not believe the iSGue ~as how many bodies raT: tor election in Palo Alto but rather accou..ntability of the elected officials. If the opportunity arose to challenge an indi vidual and speak directly to his or her votes or tho"ghts about the future of the community, the individual would be more accountable. The community had a better oppo~tunity to learn about their representatives. SBCORD PAR~ OF MOTION TO HOT GO TO DESIGNATED BEATS PasSED 5-3, Fazzino, Levy, Sutor ius -no,· cobb absent. AMzwnXZBT: Hayor Sutor ius moved, seconded by Renzel, to revise recommendation (c) to read -the City Attorney be directed to investiqate the options available to Palo Alto regarding election campaign contribution and spending limits for City Council carldi d.ates; a;)d- 66-90 4/15/91 8 ---- Mr. ca.lonne said his"'--~eticence in getting into "the matter 'Was it vas a core policy or poli~ical issue and he hesitated to interfere. Regardinq his earlier comments, better success would be achieved if Council focused on contribution limits rather t..l'J.an expenditure limits. He preferred to not get into greater detail that evening because be did not 'Want to influence 'a fundamental political deci sion~ ~ TO AMENDKEHT: Council Member Woolley moved, seconded by Ar!.:iersen, to amend tht!: amendment by deleting the re.ference to spendinq limits and adding at the end -for city Council candi dates.- COuncil Member Woolley did not support directing the City Attorney to invest.igate whether it was possible to get involved with spending limits when council already knew it was very unlikely. If Council wanted to pursue contribution limits., that was what it should do. Council Member Levy was uncomfortable that the item of contribution limits hao not been agendized. There was considerable discussion of the issue of spending limits at the P&P committee level with no discusslon regarding contribution limits. The item was agencUzed as spendinq limits not contributions. Because it was an important core issue, h~ would be more comfortable if it was aqendized on its own and discussed in that ~anner~ Mr. Calonne believed the amendment as framed was appropriate under the Brown Act. Council Member Ren.tel supported asking tile Ci.ty Attorney to return with information and believed the request was proper. Vice Mayor Fazzino was somewhat concerned about th~ request b~cause while it would return to council as information, it was likely Council would act at that time based on that information. He pre ferred that council Members Woolley and Andersen put th~ir sugges tions and recommendations in an agenda item so th~ public was clear on the intent of the proposal, and they could request the informa tion at that time. Council Member Andersen queried the time line with req~rd to the upcoming election if the matter of contribution limits was reaqendized and staff was ~iven direction at that time. Mr. calonne said staff intended to return to Council May 13, 1991, with the two-t~rm limit and everything possible would be done to be consistent with that date. He prefe~red direction to be given as quickly as possible. council Member Andersen supportea the aJlencimel1t. 66-91 4,15/91 -----~--------- .- --.~- AK2:HDXI:Jl'J' PASSED 6-1-1, Fez-zino -no," I.e\/'}" abstaining, Cobb ahsent. THUD PART OF HOTION U Akl:NJ)ED REGAADING CA>lPAIGIf SPBIfDING LIHITS PASSED 6-~-1, Fazzino "no," Levy abstaining, cobb absent. council Member An~ersen urged that co~ncil support liaisons with the Cities of Mountain View and Henlo Park. Mayor Sutor ius said there was already a recu::ring relationship between the city councils of Menlo Park and palo AltD and there seemed to be ample situations where ~he citizens in the individual cOlZlJllWlitie:s spent time e"ither in Palo Alto or Henlo Park because of common interest sUbjects. Since Palo Al~o and Mountain View were in Santa clara County, there was frequent contact through various associations or other get tog-ethers. ~'"hi Ie he did not see the necessity of a fo~l liaison with Mount~in View, he did support a joint Council Meeting with Mountain Vie •. Council Kember Kniss also m.et 'With a ':"::ansportation commission where the Mayor of Mountain View participated but in those particular situations the issues were very different. The liaison discussed by the P'P committee had a different 3genda in that ~ey were neighboring cOmIllUnitles an':i established a different type of liaison rcle~ She urged support for the liaisons. Council Member Levy aqreed with council Member Kniss. It was important to have a liaison focused on the specific issues between the two communities~ The community of Mountain ViE-w was noW' tar-ger than Palo Alto and there were xr;.any similarities in terms of bUsiness connnunities and many of the occupants of the Stanford Research Park also now had offices in Mountain View. A direct liaison was necessary~ council Member Woolley agreed with Mayor Sutorius that there were formal ways of meetinq with Council colleagues within Santa Clara County and the need for a liaisor. arose ~ith neighborinq cities not in the same county. She had not found the large meetings with the joint city Councils to be particularly productive~ When the Palo Alto City Council last met with the Mountain View City Council, it was a breakfast meeting and there ~as no forma] aq~nda even though it was a noticed meeting~ It was an opportunity to meet and talk and find out ~ho was on which Council. It 'Was important to establish some contact and it might be more appropriate to have an occasional meeting ~ith the entire Councils of Mountain View and Menlo Park, in a social context ancl rely on the business being accomplished by the liaisons as lIi'as: done in East Palo Alto. She agreed the channels were already establ~shed in Mountain View~ She would oppose the four~~ part of t~e motion but would leave it to the Mayor to vork out meetings as she outlined. Vice Kayor F.Ilzzino believed the Shoreline Amp!Cl1eatr-e was enough of a reason to have a formal liaison with Mountain View~ Despite the number of contacts in Mountain View 1 he believed it lIi'as taken for 66-92 4/15/91 • grant.ed. It was an important neighbor and there \;Iere several joint issues. He aqrecd with Council Member Woolley in terms of the nature of the iiaison meetings which had occurred to date and believed some changes were necessary to avoid the lengthy speeches ana focus more on individual Counci 1 'W:orJe. He supper-ted the recommendation of the P&P Committee~ FOt1R9 PAR'!" OF IlO'tXOR AS TO COOlfC:IL LIAISONS PASSED 6-2, Sutorius., Woolley, -no," Cobb absent.