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HomeMy WebLinkAbout0304.094.. " June 2, 1994 THE HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA Attontion: Policy and Services Commi~tee OITY COUNCIL 812B RBDUCTION Members of the council: On several occasions over the past few years, the Council has discussed a proposal to r('.duce the size of the City counci 1 from nine to seven members. The most recent series of discussions occurred between JUne and September 1993. During that time, the Council had requested the City Attor-ney to draft a r.osolution setting forth a ~eagure vhich could be presented to the voters. During the course of the Council discussion on september 27, 1993, Council Members raisod concerns about the appropriate timing of such a reduction and the public's interost in, and dopth of understandinq of, the issue. Instoad of acting on the resolution, the Council referred the item back to committee with the following motion: Approve in concept the examination of a reduction of the city Council from nine to seven members and r~fer ths item to t~e Policy and services Committe a for a disoussion of the following: 1) define the scope of the examination; 2) the tlminq of the occurrenca of the said reduction; and 3) the means by which the examination should be conducted. Since the composition of the Policy and Services Comittee has changed since the' previous committee discussion ,of the issue, the committee chair has requested that background information be reproduced. Attached to this staff report are relevant excerpts from the councilninutes of June 7, July 12, and Septenber 2', 1993 and from the Policy and Services Colt.mittee minutes of July 7. 1993. Cl!R:304:~4 o P.ge Two Council will need to d$termine no later than July 11 if it wishes to plac$ this issue befo.l'e the voters at the November 8, 1994 qeneral election. Respectfully sub~itt.d. !/ r-~ 0&£ ~--- VICCI RUDI Assistant 0 the City ~naqer Attftchllients Related staff report: CHR:397:93 '-.. , \ .')' ,:XCERPT ,'ROM JUNE 7, 1993 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES 1. Council He~b-e'l's F.lZzlno r Cobb; fluber, and Vice Mayor Kniss Te City council -Si:z~ ~eduction emmei 1 Henbrn'" F"'i'!zir.o sa id the .i ssue of Counei 1 siz~ r-ectuction .... 'as first rhisnd in 19j~. Palo Alto had tIle largest City Council for a cit,' it, size ir. the sLJte> of califcl'nia. Outstanding city cou'lcil6 S\lch as SUll~y~~lc were dble to govern well and participate effectively i'l rcgion~l affairs ~itll seven ne~bers. A large city council :resu.lted in lengel' r.cctings and r,o~'e SLlf( tine to handle individual council l'le_f'-ber-nO:(jucsts. A s~~j,lll-:>r Council ",'ould ir:.provc the' "'orkin\) li:!lat."ionship ... ·ilh tile city :·:ana9cr and the 5t .. ~ff ~,ncl ,'ou},d 0110 ... · ,-ore individual contact and provide a better co',.wctl/city Hailage:t." balance. l!ost city councils in Cillifornia had rive nersbel's, hut ~ 5even-neI!i)cr structure probably best captured thl~ advalltages of both s;_~idl and l.arge. Counci 1 turnover "'as now '9ui'll"('Il1tf~~d in J'310 ~.lto given tern linits. It \-.'<15 reCo1":1i:wnded that the change tilk", place in ;:00) so thal the decision r.egarding council size could be-T1ade on the basis of merit. rather than Clll'l'Clll l~lCnDll";fSbip. Clti2en~~ \-.'ould cast h.-diots for three Council HCT:lb~r~, rather t.han five, 1n that year. The approach was also consist.ent: \Jith t.he 8-rear tine-table used to reduce council size iron 15 t'ler:r.hel's t.o 9 1T.(~:<ber.s bet""een 1963 and 19"Jl. HOl'ZON: Counci 1 t{cf;'jber Fazzino, seconded by Huber I that th"e City Council nove for\-.·a~"d and place the issue of Council oi ze reduction before tho-.... ot(>l"S in Uovenber 1993, bob MoSS, 4:010 On:-:(? str(?ct; did not support the idea. He had never heard, allY conplaint trom :rncnbcrs of the public about the size of thQ COllnci 1. He dicl not bel [eve b.,'o c>:tra people on t.he Council croat_eel proble7"s tor the statf. The Council interfaced' !'lith a number of region.) 1 organ J 7.l'Itiotls ~hich might be impacted, and mo)-e r-t1'1ional effort· \..'ou}d rcqu il~e nore Counci 1 Hembers. It was not n(!C~ssary to reduce the size of the Council, alld the savings were hot stlbstant ia1. COUllcil Mer".ber RO~;(,l1h3Ur:-, believed it was a precipitous ]:1otiol1. It dhl not seen ne(;(>ss.:\ry to place th.:; issll0 on the 1993 ballol ",hen JI: \"'ould not occm" until 2001. He qucl"ied how UIQ cities ..... 'ith five ll!\d G~VCJ1 Council Members -met theil-cOl1'n:.itb:"e obliq;,tions. fie Otj/fl, /93 70-455 , o queried the ~OOl date, an'." another choice would be to ~<'Ike the change in 1997. 111 1997 the Counc.il would be I1QW~ .und in 2001 some of the Council wight have to leavo office .tf the Counci,l were reduced. He belioved the issue should be rQterrod to the Policy and services. (P&S) Corunittee COl: [Uk"thor developMent. Council Member Sinitiar. said the Councit night risk tho perception that there-'I<I'as an attcl!I:pt to avoid havin9 the reduction apply to members of the ,present Coun-ell. ""OtlHH' approach ",·o~,.ld be to have a two-year seat in 1995 and elininate one scat in 1997 Which ",'ould leave the council roduced by two ~_nd wmlld shar& the itlpact betveen the two qroups of Council }icto.bors in 1.995 and 1997. Hayor McCQWn clarified Council MC2!'lbcl' ftoscnhauP'!l asked .... hether it wO~11d be advisable to ref.er th~ 1SS\.I0 to the P&S CCI""...nittcc. Cor further developr..ent of those: questions. . Cooncil Mcmbet' Anders~n had oppose\! tile first effort. He .... ClS a little r:lore sYJ:Ipathctic lifter 6erving fo[, three anci one-halt ye3rs ou.t still opposed the not ian. He ~as -conccrnc-d about the impression that a counci 1 had l~on~ po .... ..,)" M'hen it \I'~s 'reduced fror:l nine to Sf)ven p,enbers. Then~ night }~(> r:'.Jr-c po';(cr over the staff and a personts vote n!9ht have nOl::e ... ·ci9ht but that ""as not necessary. The s(!oven-r::e~ber {collnei ls in the region otten got divisive. It .... as difficult to get a bloc;.; of five r::cr.;bers. He did not bel ieve the matter !';"as that ir'pottant, Mid he was not anxious to dive into tho nattcr without a 9reat deal of citizen support for the change. 'rhcrQ · • .'I~re plenty of .n·.guHer.ts to leave the Council at its presellt sizo, alld the co~~unity offered Many qualified candidates. Vice ~tayor Kniss was opposed to tQrn 1 iJrJits, but with tho two .. tOl'l:'l limit, tho institutional :reernbel." \o,'olJld not be arouncL 11 five-rv~r:lber body .... as confining, b1..lt nine 'Was too v.an}l. She \.'as convinced Council created :most of tho WOt"X toOr stall. It t<.,ok a cert.aln amount of time to qet used to an idc.!l, and 'the year 2001 provided that adaptation. She supported tile 't:.otion. council Member Sirnitian re!nforcod the cOn]!{)'nls about serving on a five-member body. The "'\ ... ork of the Council ""'as enhanced and improved when the .... ·ork product was r.:oro thon the sure or the pa'rts. The Council's ability to taU: to each othe-r happened less frequent­ ly with a nine-Tllember body, and a fiv(!-~c~ber body talked to .each other much )n.or(! effectivel}' th<:'\n a f1im'-n~nber Council. _ The opportunity for give and take ",'''5 :important. He believed a seVC1\­ member Council would provide for rnore accQuntabi 1 i ty, and more maneuverability of a seven-mem'oer body .... ·ould be helpful. He preferred the change take effect in 1997 01' to share in 1995 and 1997. He supported thA motion. Council Member Wheeler urged her colleagues to ta~-,c 50T!l(> tiMe to flush out the issues that needed to be disCHSS(>d. I-.'hile the public should be entitled to vote on the issue, Uw cOllneD needed t.o give the mat.ter mo:cn deli~rate thou9hl before it \.tas put on the ballot.. she was not prepared to debate the r".or i ts of a nine-versus scven­ member council that niqllt. cmlnci 1 H<nnber Siniti~1.n ~"Ind Vice Mayor 06/0"J/93 70-156 , " :' j j t I" I I , j , . ~ . . ;: , i ( , i I i I j: i i I " " , -r Kniss referred to the interaction which occurred with a sr:1allcr "mcItlber bodYi but she had not observed a l)ersonal interaction in smaller-member bodies that was better than Palo Alto's. It was not the number of Council Members but the temperament and the work ethic of the council that made the interactions possible or iJllpossible. h C'ovncil subcommittee. working with the city Attorney I was reviewing the rules under which the Council operated. There might be. some changes that would make it casier to have that interaction. The issue of cost was addressed in th~ propo$al and was: also addressed as a part of the benchmark study done by Hughes, Heiss & Associates. The figure for Palo Alto was $:2.00 por cc.pi,ta which was the lowest among the benchmark cities. council HCl!lber Andersen raised a valid argument j 11 terms of qual if Led candidatos and there might be geographic component to tlle issue. She-urged ·the Council to take some time and put a well thought proposal 011 the ballot. Council Member Cobb asked what the last date .... as tho(! r;-.ltter (.'Quld be placed on the November ballot. City Attorney Ariel Calonne said the deadline was August 1993 but early July \oms preferable. Council Mambe.!' Cobb said the iMposition of a t .... ·o-terr; 1 hlit ar<Jued for a smaller Council. The points raised · ... ere va lid and worthy o[ discussion. He suggested the matter be considered by the P&S Committee in the next four weeks. Mayor McCown did not understand the difference bC!t .... CCll I~oveir.ber 1993 and June 1994 to place the iE~ue on the ballot. If there ~ere a concern about. thinking through some. issues. it could be rer~rrcd to the P&S Committee and returned to the Council so that it could be placed on the June 1994 ballot as opposed to th~ )Io\'cnbl'!r 1993. Council Member CQbb said it might be more interp.stinq to have the issue on a ballot when there were no candidates for the Council because then the issue might get a different kind of attention than it would in the context of a campaign when people ... ·ere trying to get re-elected. Mayor McCown s~pported placing the matter on th~ ballot but ~,oith a referral to the P'&:S Committee to work through the various tifrlin9 issues raised. 80BBTITOTE HMIONl Hayor McCown moved, seconded by Kniss, that the city Council move forward and place the is:;.ue of council size reduction before the voters no later than June 1994. and refer the details of the timing of the implementation of th~ change to the Policy and Services committee and to bring bad" to the Council .:l more precise definition of the ballot meaSUl+e. MA!(ER AND SECONDER AGRE~:D '1'0 WITH[)RJ\W Kl\nl KOrION council Member Fazzino had no pt"oblem wi.th the June 1994 tir.ling and believed on balance the public was better served when an issue Was evaluated as part of the Hunicipal glcction rather than a Stat.p. 06/07/93 70-' 57 .... '-: . ". ~ ••• > .-.. '~"""'t.~:-,.", ,j,:'" I " t I , i j f . f .- L. ,> o Election. The June ~994 Election would be enormous. He said thet'C 'Were two extensive P&S Committe(>; public hearings in November and Decehlber 1990 _on the issue as well as the issue of designated seats. The cost of Council's salary was not a significant issue, but lnany times the cost o.f staff's time 'Wh~n contacted by a Council Melllber wa$:t si9nificant. While it ~/as important for Council Members to contact staff, seven Council Members, c~uld perform that activity better than nine. When the 'Council was reduced from 15 members to 9 -members' in 1971," there' ~as. signifi"c:..mtly more Council partici":,, pation !and a"ccountability, ,on" issues-. He believed moving forward with the next step would br:ing about ,even more Council ·pa.rticipa­ tion 'at:1d ,accountabilitj', .' The." nine;"member Council was neit a major problem, and he was ":not' suggesting neighboring councils of seven' members operated better thall' Palo l\lt.o but argued it had more to do with the members of the respective councils than the strur::ture. He believed the issue' was worthy of addi tio"nal discussion. He supported the substitute Motion. Vice Hayor Kniss said process was Palo Alto's most ilr:.portant product. Coullcil Member Andersen was pleased ..... ith the substitute hoped the P&S Committee .... ·ould consider the impact reduction on the utilities. MOTION'PJ\BSED 6-1, Andersen "no.1I 06/0'//93 "~I Motion. He of such a "}O-Ij, 58 \ ',\, .\ B~CBRPT FROM JULY 7, 1993 POLICY' SERVICES COMMITTEE Chail:person Sir.litian said the additional materials l::equested were in the pa;c):et~ and council Member Wheeler h:=J.d provided a memorandum at places which asked the Policy and Services (P&S) Committee to move slowly on the process. The City Attorney's Offica also provided a saJ::lple. resolution if the Comll'littee wanted to move. fonr~rd on the itern~ The proposed resolution .... 'ould reduce the Council to seven ~embers following the election in 2001, to take effect 1n 2002, or alternatively would look at a reduction at an earlier date by having a two-y~ar term in the 1995 election and less of one seat. in the 1997 election so that. ultimately the cit~, would end up with seVen council Members. He queried whether any additional inforroation was available. Counq!l Merilier Kniss said there seemed to be a lack of clarity reqarding the notion t.hat was passed by council that had refet.'red tho item to the P&S Cprnmittee. Chairperson Simitian said clarity was reached prior to the last P&S COlMlittc,o because there ..... as a preliminary indication that the . motion had been to place the item ,on the June ,1994 ballot. He clarifi~d the date with the city Clerk's and the City Attorney's Off~ces prior to the last Committee meeting, and his recollection was correct that it was "no later than" June 1994. Council Member Kniss said it was important to clarity that the ~otion by the Council did not determine a reduction from nine to sev.cn. 07/07/93 P&S: 5 .. , '\ , '". ___ '_. > ..... ,..:. ''>Jo" •• _~", ... ';...'.''_'" .. ,'"" ..... ,,' • .:._ -~'---, o Chairperson Sirdlian snid that \Jas a fair and accurate statement. As suggested by council H~Jl'J.>er Kniss, the Committee should try to articulate at the outset of the discussion what issues needed to be resolved that evening. The centra.l q\lestions were: {lj whether the. COJruQitte~l ... anted tOo l-econt:lond a reduction of Councl I size from nino to sovenJ (2) if so, by, .... hat Method, i. e., ho .... to get from nine to seven~ and (.3) when the issue s~)ould be put before the voters, N'OV(n~bllr 199) or June 199.,. council "ERber ,I-'a?z ina said liS indicated by the public I s attendance at tho Reetim} that ovenill9~ it lIa'S not an issue that had stirred tho-pilssion ~nd ~nthll:si.,sn of Palo A1 tans, but he bel ieved it Was timo to considor tho issue, The City council started with 5 lIenbers 'ill 1394 and went to 15 !!lo.cl>ers in 1909. Palo Al to had the l.ft:tgest city CO\lnc-l1 !o.r its size and ,-,rag one of only two cities in California "'hi~h had 15 r:mrtb(H:'S. Between 1965 and 1971, tho Council reducod its si.l"o tro:Ro 15 to 9 l:tombers. One of the most significant realwns: why thl'! Council size 'Was reduced was that in t.he 1950$ it ~a~ e/.'ls).' f_or th~ city Manager to run the City. sit dOlm with fout" ot· fiv'eo f,lvorlte Council menbers, and decide city policy~ With 15 nenhers, it was diftic\l\t tor more than J or 4 ~cnbe~s tc.o J;l1\k.e n S!eailingful conttibution at a council meeting ,,'hich t:lado tha-CIty H<:)Tlaqer r.;o["o po ... ·ertul. He believed the time had cor;o tOl-a: seven-~cnbc:r Counc.U f\nd ti1at a s-cven-r:u~Mcr Council Ioilr;S r:.ore nallacJeablfl Ml{1 required 1."'ore individual accountability on t~e part of Coullci 1 Ner.-bets. There \-'as i'I tenctency with nine -members to allow pc-ople t() tate on their area of expertise, e.g., utilities, transportation. Thera was ~ore shared accountability ahd responsibil.{ty with a s""ller; council. He believed a nine- 8C!ltL.bor Council required lj lot of staff tine in termn. of responding to individual requests, and the cost of staff time .... ould be reduced by the reduction of the size of the COllllCi 1 . 1\ seven-member CQuncil allo .... ed for a trluch better Council/City Managel" balance. with a sovon-nlol.,bor CounCil, it .... as nore unlikely that either the Councilor tho Cltv H:ana9cr would hecome too powerful. i\ concern I.lbout_ a smilller CO\lncil lJnd turnovor was expressed a few years ago, but the palo Alto voters in' 1991 approved two-term lirt\its .... tlich 'Would bring n.bollt turnover. Another concern had to do ",ith the Council's abIlity to got ).Iwolved in regional affairs~ The City of Sunnyv~lo had a sevGn").\el!\ber Council and was an outstanding example of a city that had be.Qn successfully involved in regional aff.airs. He believed a seven-no~be-r Council "h'olJld have: the ability to remain a siqniflcant" pl.,ynr .on regional issues. He referred to the material provided b~' Ms:. Rudin a'nd said there were only a handful of cities in california ...,ith seven T:\embers. l>fany of the cities 'With seven n~Thbers .... ere also e)(tre~.el}' \o,'e11 run, had their e .... n util i ty systen, a'nd 'WC'l-e active in regional affairs. He respunded to the menorandurn provided by council Member Wheeler and said it was wreng to view the issue as a north/south Palo Alto issue. He was troubled when Council Members raised that issue. lie argued that on the basis of expenditures tor capital imprevements and mell\bership on the COl'!,pre.hensivc Plan l\dvisor}' COTlUllittee (CPAC) I South Palo Alto did ey.tl:enely ""ell. With regard to community-wide repre~entation, it ..... .,5 tru~ that. no candidate frem South Palo 1\lto had placed hiqhe[" than third~ but ""hen he ran (or office in 19.$:9, he lived in West Palo Alto and finished fi:t:st,. fie argued that no 07/0"/~3 P&s: 6 .>>-.-_.<,...-. candidate fr.oll! South Palo Alto had lost a Pale Alto olection in the last 15 years. The Council should encourage: the participation ot candidates from the southern and western portions of the city. H~ argued tha.t a candidate's success was based upc,n the individual's. intellectual capacity, cham, community involvel'l'lent, and goneraL resume rather than what part of town the candidatv ",'t'l[' froM. He took exception to SOI'ilO of thtJ specific data .... 1th r-eqal"d toO diversity views. Council MOMor Wheeler indicated that if tl,er-~ had been a seven-member Council, an opportunity night not have been available tor creative aJld innovative individuals to soCt"Vo ot) the Council. He said John Beahrs ran in 1963 and 1967 and (inishod second and third, respectively, and would have be on o}Qcted; and former Mayor Frances Oias ran in 1961 and 1967 and finished first and second, respectivo1y I and would have been elected. CouncU Member Cobb 'Was not defeated in 1'981 and finished fifth .and \{ol.,(ld have -finished t-igher but 1,,'as the only non-lr.cu~hellt runninlJ that year4 'fhe north/south issue was a non-issue, and no did not believe it belonqed in the debate. An cxc{"llont c"ndidate, regardl.ess of what part of to· ... n he/sho \las f.1"on, I.'"ould win an election in the community. ,hero;! ... ·ere Many gOO'"J reasons to support redUction of Council size f:rof'. nine to so .... en. I~e l1op~d hi1> colleagues would focus 011 the othel" issues. thiJt Chf1irperson Simitian had indicated were rc,le .... ant to the disctls~ion. Chairperson Simi tian queried .... hether the four Pi-S-Co:-:,':;i tt(>c rer""bCl"S still supported the concept of reducing the council size (ron nine to seven. Council Member Kniss said yes. Council Hember Huber agreed 'With Council Xcnber r'az.eino in tOl"nS (Jt the various arguments that coulr:! be nade. He und~rst.ood. ".S pointed out by Council Nernber Anders€"n, that argument,:) could be m.:}de to the cont_rary. Ue suspected it WdS l1'lOl"a of ("I philosophy; and realistically, under a democ;-,:,("~', t. t.-.hllanc:;"! had to ho I~.,dc between efficiency and inC!fficioncy in ordor to accor.lplish the work. He believed a sev.en-nentbor Council was a gcxxl rll.lMer, and it. had proven to work clsewh.ere in larger cities with biggor budgets and more commitments than Palo Alto. It WdG an app):'opriatc-tir:oe to move forward. Chairperson Sirdtian said the next step would be the>, nothod to got the COUncil from nine to seven. He clarit'ied tour dilf&rent approacheG had been raised: (1) in the ~ear 2001, elect thl"CC rather than five Council Members; (2) elect three rathor than five Council Members in the Year 1997; Pl have a b,io-year tCIT.lo in 1995 and one seat dropped in 199"', so that after th~ 1997 election, there would be seven Council Herobors. He envisioned the 1995 two­ year seat being a designat~d seat for that one election, but that concept was not brought forward by the City Attorney. In 1995, inst~ad of having four seats for Council for four-year terns, there would be three scats for four-year terms and one scat for a two­ year term. In 1997, if the number werc reduced from five to four, the Council .... ·ould end up with seven members; and (1) the Cit}' Attorney had a slightly different approach and suggestod the possibility of a two-year seat in 1995 and onc seat dropped in 199-' 07/07/93 Pf..S: "' " _. o but' with the two-year seat in 1995 being the fourth place finlshet'. lie would not support tlle fourth place finisher in 1995 havln9 a two-year seat and believed the City Attorney misunderstood his suggestion. Council Member Kniss said that would be her least favorite approach. She believed people would be afraid to run because of the awkward position that would place them in. She suggested that approach. be. e:l iminated, although she appreciated the City Attorney's efforts. chairperson Simitian said that left tho Com.mitte~ with till'ee possibilities. He believed the public would be more receptive if it appeal"ed the Council .... ·ere willing to live with the consequonces of its decision, Le., that it affected the present Council. not potential Council candidates. He believed the prospect of reducing the Council seats from five to threo in 1997 would put all of the impact of the decision on that particular class of council candidates. He preferred to share the burden of moving to a seven­ member Council by having one member of the Class of 1995 and one member of the Class of 1997 bear some of the burden. council Member Kniss supported the 2001 because she believed the public would be. more comfortable .... ·ith that approach. If the Council had one short seat in 1997 and another short seat in 1999, by 2001 the Council would end up with seven Council Hcrn.ber seats. The public should be considered. and time should be given to adjust to the change. Changes in the size of the Council should not be made on a one-or two-year basis. Chairperson Simitian clarified the suggestion was the possihilit}· of a two-year scat in 1997, which was the five-member class, and a two-year seat in 1999, which was the four-member class. If there were a two-year seat in 1997, then in 1999 the seat ..... ould have to be dropp.ed because the Council would end up t.d.th eiCJht members. If there were a two-year seat in 1997 and a seat was dropped in 1999~ the five-member class of 1997 would be reduced to a total of four by 1999, and in 1999, the four-member class would be dropped to three so that would equal seven members. Council Member Kniss clarified it CQuld be done in 1~99 and 2001. It would take a four-year period to get to that point. Chairperson simitian said if the burden were split as he. suggested, by having a two-·year seat and then h.aving the other class drop a seat, it wOllld require t ..... o elections. A fair argument could be made that it waF> confusing r and the size could just be reduced by two in 1997. council Member Kniss said it that were the case, she would continue to support doing that in 2001. Council Member Huber supported the 2001 date and the L"<.\tionale stated by cour.cil Member Fazzino. He was conce:t'ned 11 the Co:mmittee started playing around with two years, a condidate would be limited t.o two t~rrns Which would amount to six years, and 07/07/93 P&s: s '- 1- '. everyone should have an opportunity for eight yearr.. He was ,n.ot concerned the public might perceive a Council Member was trying to protect his/her seat. He believed it would not be a major issue and wou'~d rather have it simpl istically done with standard four­ year terms which would give the people who currently served under the new two-term limit an opportunity to serve a full two terms, He supported the 2001 date. Chairperson Simitian clarified the. City Attorney had advised the two-year term did not constitute a tern for purposes of term liIuits. The ordinance stated anything more than two years constituted a term. If there w~re a two-year term, a person had not served a term within the meaning of the term limit. A person would have the opportunity to run for 10 years4 council Member J<'azzino supported the concept of 2001 primarily because if the Council went with that year. the measure would not affect the current members of the council. For good public policy reasons, it was important to move the issue forward, While he would continue to support the 2001 date, he did not have a problem \.11th moving it up to 1997 or 1999. He doubted the Class of 1989, if the voters decided they should be r~elected in 1993/ would <1ecide to run again in 1997. He did not believe it would be an issue in 1997. Chairperson Simitian said the last issue was whether the item should be scheduled for consideration by the public at the November 19!';13 Municipal Election or the June 1994 State consolidated Election. council Member Fazzino said some COnCel'rlS had been raised by one or two Council Members that the Council might be rushing the issue. The Council had a lengthy discussion of the item in 1990, and the Minutes from both the P&S Committee and the Council meeting had been avaiJ.able to the Council for several weeks. It was a clear­ cut issue, either the Council was in favor of a size reduction to seven or it was against it.. tie believed it could be moved forward to the voters as quickly as possible. He rejected the north/south argument as offered by council Member Wheeler. He was concerned about putting a City !l1easure on the June 1994 state ballot. There could be 20 to 30 ballot measures and 6 or 7 open State constitutional offices bec;'ause of legislative tC):1tl, limits. There would be a large number of State senators and assembly members seeking otheJ;;" offices. with all of those other items on the ballot, it would be extremely diffic~lt for the voters to focus on local issues. That was the reason why city elections were moved to November in the non-general election year so that City voters would have the opportunity to evaluate local measures only. He believed voters would benefit by a november 1993 ballot measure rather than a June 1994 measure. It was mUch less lik~,1y that a measure in November 1993 would get lost among the noise of State measures/ al though there would be a couple of interesting rneaSUl:·es on the November 1993 ballot. Two measures were fC\r different from 20 or :)0 ballot measures and sevel:.'al state and federal elected positions. He supported placement of t.he measure on thp.: November 1993 ballot. 07/07/93 P&S; 9 . , ;'1, \ ( . . , , / , I f I I " .. t') ....... / o council Komber Kniss said while she felt strongly about the 2001 year, she did not fllel as strongly about the November 1993 ballot. ~'or purposes of' r.wvinq the item along, she would support the Fall election because thQr~ needed to be gome indication as the matter retUrn~d to the council. The best argument for placement on the ·Novo.~hor 1993 ballot versus the Juno 1994 ballot was the rou9hly $10,000 cost diCference. council He-aber HuboI" recall,cd the discussion when the City went to the o!t-yebr, non-statewide elections and the argurrjents that more voters tended to t.urn out for the state eloction, and that while leGs voter$ turned out for the local elections, those that did paid ft\:tention. to what 'Was going on. Ue tended to agree with the latter cOl'o\J'!.ent althouCjh palo Alto did not get the world's greatest voter turnout. It. specifically local measure should, to the degree poSsible, bo £()CllSCd. in an election with local issues. He believed the C()lIncll G ize reduction issue s!Jould appear on thE: November ballot.. )(()-l'IQNt council MCl:'rer Fazzino noved, seconded by Huber, that the Vol!"y an''! Services cOr:"1T.littee t·ecomJ:1.end to Uw City council that it {>laee the l.'!lIttor ot City council size-reduction from nine to seven Renbers on tho Uover:;bel" 199) ballot; further, that the reduction .... o·Jld bo achieved by a reduction from five to three seats in the General Municipal Election in the year 2001. Couno.tl Kerfilior }'azz.lno "Wanted to be responsive to council Member wheeler's concern about no\: having enough City Council me-mbers from GOlJth/W'est Palo Alto, and he bC'lieved it was important for the P&S co~lt.toQ tl) send I.::he m.essa<"Je back: to the City Council tbat it concurred 'With her concern. [luring the next. few weeks and electlQIl&, friends and n.oighbors from south/'II'est Palo Alto should be strongly encouraged to run for election. He argued those people who "Woro wel·l qUf'llitied on the basis of long communi ty l.nvolvement ""'otlld vJ.r! '::.ha election ;·~qard!('<:>s of what. part of t.he Ci.ty they l.-epresented. Council MQP~er si~it1an bOlicved the issue was broader than just the ge·ographical question. The larger question related to diversity In (Joneral on the CI")'1ncil. He wnuld not have supported the· Jr,OVe to go fror,~ nine t() ':.t">ven r.liH11."b0.:::-S if it was going to slqnlficantly affect the tlivp.rsity of representation ou the Council that was available to the public. ~hile it was fair to say the nine merabers of .the Counci t might be a divct"'se group in terms of ·th& per8pe~tlvcs or skills they brougnt to the council, the fact of the matter was a nine-member Council had not brought any great measure of dlvorsity in terms of any reasonable set of demographic charactoristics. The CUt·l.-cnt nine-member Council had no divorsity in ton'i'tS of racial or ethnic composition. 1'here loins no one from west of Alma, and th.ere. 'W<'lS probably no one who Tr.ade less than the nedian household inco:r.te ill the cOllliTlunity. Probably 40 to 45 percent of: the comMunity were renters, and no one on the Council wa!'> a renter. In tenDS of single parents, there were none on the nino-moMber Council, and he did not believe there were any members ot the Council with school~-3ge childl'en even though that group represented ;20 percent of the popuLation. One-thit-d of the 07/07/93 P&S! 10 ·L , ... '. i· I I f I I comm.tmity did not have a college: education, and yet the Council 'Was full .of people loI'ith, advanced degrees. While thoro was nothing 'Wronq 'With the charactet'istics o( the council M'o~borst sO!l1ehow the nine-me~er Council had not affoyded any great measure of diversity.. WhethQr it 'Was a nino-, :;oV(,m-.. or five"1il.embet~ Council, each individual member had llll' obligation to i'epl'eS~tlt the entire coouaunity geographicall}' as ",'ell a~ those who rented ho~Cls ~nd those with chlldL'en 1n Palo Alto schools. He hoped the discussion about ropresentation did not ever get to thO' pOi.lt ""here there was a, belief that thor:-c had to be l'eprosentativos from Golu!ePl It. and col wan B in order to ",oet tho needs of tho entire co:m..lJlunity. Council Member Kniss Deli-ovod Q r;OV~ frol'l nine to sevon ~;onber6 was a fQOYe toward becoming a I\;Q1"O effective governin9 body. It was important for govornment'to (unction in tho most effective ...... ay possible, and the P&S Con.mittee VllS saying th"ilt a seven-meaber body took fe~~r resourc~8, had loss i~P3Ct on staff. and oVQrall would cost less, With the recently "dopted t"o~tem 1 ini t, wh ich she opposed, she believed the ~ovc to il 50\'en-F,'.j.:nbcr Council 'Wo\lld also change the candidate 'pQol in that there ~·oull.l ,wt be 3S nt\ny wiling and able c~lldid<'ttes. Thoro had becil so~~ disctJss,ion about the need to go to sor-e sct"t of di6trictifHJ "dth d so .... cn-f'".e!'>))cl· council, and she did not Sf..!C the necessity o( 3cg1:onting the cOtwllnit~' into districts. Each nenbcr of the Cit>' co~mcil .'.e~ded to be o'"Jare of needs and Tclaintain contact ... ·ilh the entil"e cor.l'.unit.y. Council 1>(ember Fazzino said council Her..ber Roscnbam"l raised the issue of cOnL!!litteo structuro with tl SCVOIl-l'1',p.1710er council. He did an informal poll of five cities with Se-VCI\-I1e-Mer Councils, and in each case those Councils had two standing com~ittees ot three members each. Ms. Rudin said the first attachmont to the statf report (CMRr:379:9J) listee tho cities with scv.oll-nen..bor Councils, and those with .astorisks \o"Qro ~ities which sho c;ontacted regardinC] the use of Council standing cOt\i':iilttees. ~hll{) a najority of tho cit ius utilized Council. standing COl:ll'llittcos, raroly did those standing cOJ!'\1'i1ittees meet on a :t'"t.HJular basi-£} as Palo Alto City Council' did. Most had many conmittQos ann used there on nOl·e of an ad hoc basis. KOTION PASSED 4-0. " -' ,-.-' ~, -'.' EXCERPT l~ROM '~·-::::'f.Y 12, 1993 CITY COUNCIL r~UTES 16. Policy and Services Commi tte(>-ReconJ:'tcnciat.ion rc city counci 1 S.i'ze Reduction Council Member Simitiah said the Pol icy and Ser .... iens (I''&'S) committee took unanimous .action with respect to the !n-oposect policy on Council size reduction l but he W<1S aware that it .... i\S a naltct-Q( some interest not only to mer.1bers of tile Council but to r.:cl":lbors o[ the public. Then~ might be some value in delaying the natte:t-until enrly or mid-September 1993 to allow further di$.cusslon both fof' the public and council Herobers l which Ttleant the ;r:!<.tter would not bo on the November election ballot and' would be on a ballot .]\JllC 1'>94 at the latest. MOTION TO CONTINUE: Wheeler, to continue council meeting. Council Ncmhcr Siniti.:m r:ovcd, ~p-c0Ilded lJ)' the iteln to a SeptenbcrjOcl:obcr 199) city l1ayor McCo ... m clarified the motion \,.'ol1ld pt"cclude putt inc) the iss.uo on the NOV9:t:lber b«llot hut Iwuld still pernit the issue to go 011 the June 1994 ba !lot. council Member cobb clarifted the discussion ~ould conti.luo at the council l~vel rather than at a P&S COI':lFlittee r:1ceting. council Nember sirnitian said that w"",s corn~ct. The P&S C01\"ittco rnove.u expeditiously on the natt(',r and tladc a rf.'cQ~'1cn(t.-ltion regarding the essential elements --whether or not to I:'lOVC trolll. nine to seven and the method that night be appropi"iate. '1'00 P&S Committee's will .... '8S to move to a November ballot .... ith the itcn, but since that time, a nUT11bcr of C01Jnci I Nembers had l","d'e CO::lle;cnts about the desire for extended discussion CIt the Council leveL Members of the public questioned the rush to <Jet J.t on tho 1993- ballot since the date was 2001 or a 1997 if.lpler.,entation date. Council Bomber cobb said the continuance was a lot of issues, including the timill9~ discussion before moving forward. in order. There ",etc th.lt needed seriolls council Member Andersen said the i\1otion did not include the assumption that it would go on a bal Lot at .1 fut:u:t'(> d'-:-t.te but rather that it would be discussed at a future date. At the P&S co~tttee meeting, the discussion was 'Whether or not there was "" aSSl1mption that the issue ~10uld be put on the bal Lot. fie understood the clarification suggested it was a referral. council Member simitian understood, attct' eonsuLtatioll with City staff I that the motion made-by Hayor Hcco' .... n l and app}:ovcd by the council, was to :t"efer the matter to the Pt:;S Conmittec toO that the conunittee might take act ion and refer the tlattlJl" bt\ck to the Council for place'!l1ent on a ballot /lot later th'-:ln .Tunc 1994. I.,Ihich 07/12/93 71-119 o g~ve the Counc.5.1 the optiQn to vote on whcthct· or not to place i.t .. on a ba),lot prior to 1994. The fact that any r:1emb~}: or majori ty of the Council voted to refer to the committee on ltlat U.rne line did not commit any member of tbe. Council or the entire Council, lo place the matter on a' ballot. It was a matter of timing ill terms of ~oving it through the process, Mayor McCo\<,'1l said the item was before the CO~lI1cill and the Coullcil needed to specify what the item would look. IH:e and whether it would go on the ballot. Vice Ha),or .Knis.s said Council Member Anderscnls point was well taken. There had been a misunderstanding a nurnber of times as to whether or not the issue was or was not a mot ion that \<"ould reduce the Council .trom nin(~ to seven Additional discussion ',,'as needed. Ci ty Hanager JUJH~ Fleming ilsked '",hen Lhe isslie should return t:o the Council. Council Member Simitian said it should rntl!rn to ttlC COLlnei} in September or Octobl~r 1993. MOTION TO CON'.L'INUE" PASSED 8-0/ Fazzino absent. 07/12/93 11-120 ;': .. ~. '. EXCERPT PROM SBPTEMBBR 27. 1993 CITY COUNCrr. MINUTES 13. City Council Size Reduction (continued from 7/12/93) XOl'IONI Council Member Sir-lit-ian for the Policy and Services Coan!ttco ~oved to reco~nend to the City Council that it plac2 the l'!Hl.tter ot City Council sh:e reduction from nine to seven members on the ballot on a date to be determined. Council Member SiTTiitian said if Council size reduction were a good idea, then it should be worKed on sooner rather than later and not wait until the Year 2001. He believed there was more creditability with the public if the measure had some potential impact on the present city Council rather than a Council in the future. AXENDMEN'l'1 Council Member Sirnitian moved that the Council be reduced by one seat in 1997 and that there would be a designated two-year seat in the 1995 el.ection. .By the end of the 1997 electlon j the Council would have seven members, and the impact would not be on one class of Council Members but on both the Cl~sses of 1995 and 1997. AM£NDHENT PAlLED FOR LACK OP A SECOND 09/27/93 71-279 ./ ' .. -,. '" . ~ -, ;. ; .-:. ;L;,'YwC~~,_ ... -:-~ OJ o Council Nortber-Slmitian said tho reduotion from five t.O three Courwil soats could more easily be dono in 1991 because four of the five council Hcrohers would have served two full terms in 1997. It wag-likely that so~e of tho Council Members might decide to step down-after tvo full tor~s and that was a more sensible time to try to put the redu,ction in place rathor than to wait until 2001 when th&l'O =ight be a new counci 1 -in 1991 ",'hI) had only served one full tCI;1:l. AH£NDHENTI Council He:tlPor Simitian noved, soconded by Rosenbaum, th;).t the l'eduction of the Couhcil seats \.Iould be in 1997, not 2001. Counoil H&Q.b.er 1\ndergei1 s~id the proposal would put a burden on the . Council XOttba'C8 who'de-aired to bo rG-elected in 1991 and was hased on th~ ass~pt1on that those Council MeJlbet·s would not run. ~nNDH£~~ .ITRO~WN BY UAX~R ~D SECONDER Council McnhQr ~hceler ~anted the issue to he discussed in broader te~~s and wanted thQ public to speak on subjects that related to the general area. (lob Hoss, 4010 Orr,1) Street, said no one recently in tbe conul'.unity had told hh!J that toe city \IllS overrun with Council Members. He did not understand 'Why the Ct)l.lnci 1 was bothering ,·..-i.th the is'3ue I but if it ',,'ere qoiog to bother. it shou}d not ..... <lit until the 21st Century. 'the issue should be put on tho b .. 'lliot in 199-1 and the r<>duction ~adc a-ffcctive in 1995. A.t that tiTl1e, all seats should 00 declared vac .... nt, anel the sllrvtvors could run for the seven seato. 110 G\HJ9Qsted the council be elected by districts if the Council wanted to change tho w.ny it operated. The Council should consIder the entire issuo0 1 i. e. I whether seven Council Hombers were !"!aeded, whethor it should bfl dono in the 21st Century, Whether d.iatrict olections r;hould be consider-ec\. It 'Was arl issue the public had not l"aised. tit) sU9CJosted tho Council consid~r the !osuos as a pacKhqo. Herb Horoe);;, ~7:l1 6yr-on street, concurred with the comroents of Counc.il Kel'llbor Wheeler' dated July 7, 1993, which expressed the main reasons why ths proposal tias ~ bad idea. The proposal was being brought to'th.-.: c-:w"!1oi} 11;6-an amendment to a soction of the City's Chllrter, lind that ncct!on also had the: (":urrent provisions for limitations on' tOn"B. Tho same election could change t.hat prOVision by countlnq torms before January 1. 1992, in the two-term 118it and by eliJ:linating the qualifier "consecutive" so that there would ho an absolute linJt of two terms per council Member 'includ~ng terns served at i'lhY tine in the past. The council would h~ve beon down to sevan Council Members if that had happened. He ~as'disappointed the iBsue was not on the ballot tor November 1993 and that it "Wi"IS being brought to the Council as a cottmlittee recoJ1..'!enda.tion rather than by the maKer-and seconder of the motion. The last tii<le t-ho Council's size ""as reduced was a political decision to dlM1CJ9 the conposition or the Council to mor-e accurate­ ly reflect the public composition. "-the advantage of dividing the City into individual districts was that each district would be s~all enough so that. =oney would not be a concnrn in winning an 09/27/93 71-280 \ ! t" election. The problem with a citywide elcotio,\ was that the. City was larqe enough that tho only 'Way to corur.unlcate w-ith all the voters was by spending a lot of ~oney. Ue quer-icd ""hy the Counoil did not wait until 2001 and let a future CQIJnci 1 dG'cide whether or not to place the i,ssue on the ballot~ He suggested the Council Members could circulate an initi~tivo petition Cor-a Charter amendment to determine whether ther-o was public sentiment Cor the issue. Kathy Barnett, 451 Alger Drive, agt:~.od 'With Hr. Moss that tho public had not raised the issue. 1m issue had been r-aiscd .about viable candidates, but council Me~bor ra~zino stated that after he left the Council in 1983, he discovered he was not indiGpen~able. Ten years later, that statement ~as stili -truo. Sho referred to council Homber Sindtian's statel'lents -~>n div-ersity and said thore were morc di vorse ideas on a nine.-:t!.9nbor' counci 1. She wflntcd nore concrete infonnation l"egardinq the costs for-. a ninc"'~e~bor Council versus a seven-member council and ~anted to see tho effects of the term limits before addin9 another chan90. Coun~il HCl1iber Fazzino did not agree .... Uh the cor"-:.cnls by tho. Moss and agreed with Ms. Barnett that he ... ·as not indispcns<lblo. The perfect nU-fl',ber of council Hcnhers could b€' debated f<lt: hours, but it was instructive to consider the analysis Pl"Ollidc:>d nJ{jardillg the Council size in other cities in California. There I-lcrc .IlG9 cities in Californiaj all but the 83 charter cities st~rtcd out with five­ meICber councils. Of the 83 chartet: cities, )9 cities h~d five members, '35 had seven members, o!!ond only 6 cities In tllC': Stl\to had nine members. Palo Alto was the sl:Iall£':st cit.)' ",ith a cQuncil size of nine mombers. The J:l:ain reason Palo Alto had nino ~e~bers 'was because it was viewed to be ~n appropriate: cOJ'!';pronise in the 1960s when the. Council moved from IS rner.!bet"s to 9 t\~1'1lbers. 011 the basis of other California citios, it was incredible th~,t ahyone ... ·ould argue that a seven-mcTllber council II!)S inappropriate. Palo l\lto would still be part of a small ninoi'ity if the City ttovcd for\ol1\r<1 with a seven-member CounciL He beli(lved l::peclfic rlat~' should 00 provided reqarrling the fact thl'lt 1\ large council did r06l11t, fh long meetings and more staft time to handle individu(.'!,l Council requests. He strongly believed a sm~ller Council. i"proved the balance in decision makinq betweon thE! staff and COltncil and fOl"Ced individual members of the 'Council to pla~' a st.ronger role in the policY-r::1a'king of the city. There was a tendency on the part of a largor Council to rely on other members of tho Council to tako th& lead and develop expertise in particular areas and not take responsibility themselves for that particular area. He \las supportive of the 2001 approach and emphasized that the d"ecision needed to be based primarily on merit I not on an individual/s future or lack of tllture careers. A concern had been raised about the issue of regional participation, but there were several Councils in tho area, e.q., Sunnyvale, which did as good or better job thim Palo Alto in partic,ipating actively and effectively in regional affair-so Thore was a concern about tUrnovp-r three years aqo, but there ~as not a tlw ... term limit which forced turnover in Counci 1 r!l.crnbCI'ship. An issue was raised that there was 1'.0 qreat public outcry, but three weeks ago there was a meeting regarding signif ic"nt issues of concern to the City, e.g .• econorJic future, regional pa:rtic,lpation 09/27/93 71-201 -.;'."-;.--; o involving East palo Alto, and there were only eight or nine people in attendance, He argued that since he was '0; duly representative who had been elected three times to the city Council, he had a reasonable handle on what was important arid what might be important to tile city. It was reasonable for an elected official to suggest that the measure l>~ placed on the ballot, have the community discuss and debate the issue, and decide. He believed the issue raised by Council Memb.er Wheelor regarding rl!presentation in South Palo Alto was significant. The Council was concerned that there were not more council Members from South and West Palo Alto. He did,nut believe the issue related directly to that challenge. He argued that more time needed to be spent on identifying and encouraging candidates from South and West Palo 1'.lto to ,run for office. He did not see as much of a problem as did some of his colleagues with the concept of a district system that would assur~ representation from South and west Palo Alto. He supported the proposal and hoped it would be placed on the ballot $0 the commuI1ity could discuss, debate, and resolve the issue. Council Nernber Wheeler said the Counci 1 recognized that the proposal was a serious issue, and she hoped when the community was faced with the issue, it would also take the issue very seriously because it involved an amendment of the Charter. If the City -took action that encouraged that kind of change, it could only be undon.e by the voters. Sone of the serious issues raised by tlcmbars of the cOlllJnunity, members of the present council, and past councils were divE'.rsity of viewpoints that 'Were represented on a nine-ueobar Council versus a soven-member Council z tho organization of the Council to work in the most effective and efficient 'Way possible, the workload on individual council rnerobers z geographic representa­ tion} and the proper implementation date and the method of implementation. She had reviewed the minutes of the pre.vl.ous Council rnmeting as well as the minutes of the PC.S Cornmi ttee meeting and did not believe those serious issues had been addressed in ft :manner and t.O an extent that tho community desorved h.)fore it..wont to a ballot measure. She wanted the council to be able to design a ballot measure which was not fla ..... ed by its failure to addre.ss and attempt to resolve as many of the serious issues raised before it became a ballot measure. She did not believe a ballot meaF>ure campaign was the best way to get the issue before the public tor me~ningful dialogue. A ballot measure campaign .... as 8dvoi,"sarial, and there were argument:s and rebuttal to those arguments and allegations. It was a poor way to achieve the optimum results for the community, and the Council owed the community optimum results. She suggested the n,ethods to carry out the necessary research and acquire data to bring back to the Council so the Council could design an appropriate ballot measure or saries of ballot measures. The subject could he referred back to the P&S Committee} and the Committee (lnd staff could research the issues or a community organization such as the Leagui! of Women Voters or an ad hoc Gitizens advisory task force could be asked to help research tho project. GiVen the concerns expressed by the few members of the public who had taken an .tnterest in the SUbj13ct, by members of the present council an4 past Councils, and the fact that the earliest implementation date would be 1997, the Council had time to place the best measure it could before the community. 09/27/93 71-282 '.' , , , :.~ .'. ',," . \ .' I' . " i, . / . \. .,. "\ ,~ . " '. '''-''' ,: ',: ~. " -,J 8UBB'l'I~UTE: JoIOTION TO REFER: Council Member Wheeler moved, seconded by Rosenbaum, to approve in concept the. examination of a redu('.tion of the City Council from nine. to seven members and to refer t.he item to the Policy and, Services committee for a discussion of the followinq: 1) definition of the scope of the examination; 2) the timing of the occurrence of the said reductionj and 3) the means by which the examination should be comlucted. Ma~'or McCown asked whether Council Member Wheeler was rejecting the other two possibilities, i.e., the involvement of the League of Women Voters or a citizens, group. council Member Wheeler envisioned the P&S Committee would design the scope of the study and would return to the council with a recommendation of how the study would be carried 'out and the timing of when that report would return to Council. Council Member Fazzino asked whethor Council Member Wheeler was making a commitment to place t.he item on the ballot. council Member Wheeler did not ...... ish to keep the voters from voting on i'rnportant items, but she only wanted it to go on the ballot if it were determined that it was the best thing to do and it was a measure tllat was supported by the majority of the Council. C')uncil Z.tember Andersen lmderstood the substitute motion would ask for a process by which the Council would be able to determine the cx:te.nt to which there was citizen support for such an effort. If a citizen~ task force were involved in ma}~ing a recommendation to the council, it would give some creditability that the community supported the proposal. He clarified that. if the citizens task force returned with a recommendation that it did not believe it was an appropriate proposal; then Council Member Wheeler would not support that effort~ council Member Wheeler said individual Council Members. Council-sponsored meaSl,)re on consensus~ the decision would be up to the She hoped .if the Council put a the hal lot, it would have a close ·.':o'.'nciJ. H.(':lib~"r" Cobb said the issu:;; r;.f C'Cl1'H,,,:,;.j, size _',::--duction was beinq referred to the P&S ~o1Mlitt,~e and tilen the scope of the study W'as mentioned. He was against several areas, i.e., eliminating the word lIconsecutive" and district electio~lS. He asked whether the scope would be expanded or Would t'ocu~ only on the size reduction. Council Member Wheeler said the P&S Committee would oefine the scope. Council Member Cobb clarified the scope would open up those other issues. COllncil Uember Wheeler said those issues could be opened if it were desired by the P&S committee or the majority of the CounciL The substitute notion spoke directly about the council size reduction from nine to seven Council Members. 09/27/93 71-283 \ " I ' , . -.'-.'--.. ;..-"'->-~:.."' .. -.,".-•. ...,..-,--":"-",,';":,,"", ,.'_. :) Council MOltlber Cobb was comfortable with with tho other issues. o the si?c issue but not council Hember Wheoler clarified that chapter of the Charter was not incfuded in the substitute motion. Council H~n;ber cobb clarified those issues would, not be included in t.he scopo ot-the referral. ~ountJil I'<ember Wheeler-said that was correct unless the P&S Co'J1Jftittee wanted to convinc.a her otherwise. Vice Hayor Kniss said 'it was not difficlilt to support the referral. Sh0 WAS convincqd the fabric needed to be weaved carefully as the CQuncll talked about the reduction of the Council size. The City expected a hiqh leval of commitment and visibility, In many ways, nina council Ma~bcrs did that more easily than seven. She reminded her collo39ues that the two-ter:ro limit.: was sponsored by two !~.ember9 0,( tho counci 1 'Who were leaving the Council and one member who had bean elocted for n third term. It was difficult to get an issue paused hy a Ijroup that would be affected directly by the item, She supported the referral to exanine the proposal but supported the 2001 1nple~ontation date. Council Her:toor Hosenbal.lm fJupported the substitute motion and agreed with so,1"e of the arguments put fort~ by council Member Fazzino. The neotings would be shorter, and there would be less burden on flt.{lff ~ He liked one-of the arguments Council Member simitian advanced that with 3 smaller Council there was an opportunity for qreater Intorchnngo. However, he believed those arguments were not ie:portant, .and. he worried about thE' governance of the City. He concurred with council Hor:o.ber Wheeler's recOrnT.lendation for a study. Tho City of sunnyvale had no standing committees and operated differently from Palo Alto. He liked the way the City operated, and it q("lve the Council a fair Cllnount of say in the City's outcome. Those Were issuas he wanted addressed in the st.udy. If he could be convinced that nothing significant would be lost, he would support a C()Ul'Icil s1-ze reduction. Council Member Huber supported the substitute motion. He was lmcartain Whether the recollUTlondations by the P&S committee would significantly alter his thinkin9. It was a representative d&~racy issue, and the question was how many people were needed to represe_nt the city in a given area. It. was a "gut." feel--what a rellsontlble number \fas lind how it would work. He was inclined to boliO-vo that seV4Jn was a better number but would reconsider the issue .nt the P&:S COlIU!littee. council Member Si~itian would not support the SUbstitute motion. It WhS a :r.Iarglnal issue that had been placed on the Council's agenda th"roe ti7ll.Qs and in front of the P&S Committee twice. The -quality of life-1n Palo Alto .... ould not be radically improved or danaged hy the differcn(!c between a nine-and seven-member Council ten years from n'o..., Ilor would it be radically improved or damaged by the existence of a two-term limit. He agreed with council Member Huber that it was a judgment call and agreed with Council Member 09/27/93 71-294 \ (' / ~ i I I· ,. I I , . " Fazzino thllt seven Council HCE'lbo\.'s ,-,'ould be an improvement over nine counoil Members. He rJid nQt bolieve it was a single Courteil Member issue. It had been in front ol,the P&S Committee twice, and the commit teo rna-do a unanimous recor.u:u:mdatiofl toO the Council that action be taken to reduce the council size to seven. The intent of his l'ocoNlerodat.ion to .ibpl~rtent a 1995/1991 date was to not impact a singlo qroup of Council Me~bcrs but rather that the burdon would be worn by both groups of Council Xertbel:.'s. The notion that the city miqht expect ft nu~ber of retirees in 1991 was not an atteMpt to be pl"eSllalptuous or an attetopt to I.'ely on tho law but a reflec­ tion of the historical trend. Tho histQricdl tr~nd had beou, oven in thu absence or a tern linit., that tha nost cOr-unol1 departure point 'Was two to:rI:!loG for nost Council }le19bcrs~ If history repeated itself, 1997 ,'Would 00 the tiBf) 'When Council Mcnhers would vacate voluntarily. lie \;Ol.lld not support sendlnq the issue b3C).: to the P&S CO:tUIitbee because-the issue had ~>eon disCUSSE>d to a conclusion point rather than to a tUl."tho-r discussiQn point~ Council Member Andol'"sen sa id there was olle a~ca that did not receive the discussion it deserved. 'fho City' .... as the only cOThP!'lunity of its si::-e th.1;t had nine Council HefJher!:> and the only cOl!lmunity that had its own ul-ilil}' .':;ystcn, The, Cit~· had t.wo Council M~rnbers .... ho devote .. 1 all extraordin)ry aijQunt of ti .... e to the uti 1 ities s}'stem which 'i<lS a den.,nd inc) assi-;Jh~::mt fot-any Council Mt3mber, He asked the P&S Comiittee to qive 9t31-ioI.l5 considt3ration to the inpact or the Council's representation on the val-ious utility bodies. and ~hat the inpact :r:Iight be it the size ""ere reduced to seVOJl council nenbers in tcr~s. of the city's ability to be adequately represented in those v3rious bodies. It wa.s an irnpo.l'tant iss\\e and needed to be .addressed. Mayor McCown suppoxti:!d th~ substitut.e 1!'lot ion but h.ol ieved the P&CS conunittee and Bon-col'l\mi ttec nenbers had talked about the issue enough. It was ovidont th~t it was an ~nsidor's issue; witnessed again was tho fact that as tlany tit:lt's as ttl€' Council had talked about the issue., not ~Any people {ron the public turned out for the discussion. She wltnted tho Ilol<t phase to bo out ... ·ardly focused so a seriQus look ",'ould bo 't~'k.f)n about whether it should be presented by the Council to the cOr:\Q~mity for-a vote~ A critical piece was for the Council to take a sounding in tho cOr,J,)'.1unity about whether it "las an issue that -w;~s anything other than an insidL'r's issue, which could COlaB through the Le.,gua of h'omen Vot.ers or whatever mechanism tho P&:S col!tBittce ~iyht datorl'lline. She ... ·c'mtcd to know whether members of the co:::r:tunity beU-evcd the sorvice of their interests in the cOl'.l1.!lun1ty would b~ ~Qrc effective 'With a seven­ member Council. The response IJould tend to push her over to the side of recommending that the issue be put on the ballot. She did flat feel strongly al:>out the issue at that tirc.e, which told her the council was spending a lot of th:w on an issue that ""(1S not that important. The infor'llation bro\lqht back frat!! the P&:S Corunittee process would be the tC!st of the sel1so of what the COm1nlHlit}' thought about the question. Council M.clt1ber Cobb ..... anted the issue to r:;o ..... e forward quickly. lie had softened on the issue of the dato, and it all the people who were proponents of term lir"its follo'Wcd thl-ough, there 'Would bOi 09/27/93 71-285 \. { I I I I I I !. I I I , I ! plenty of opportun~ for-turnover. 'i'he issueYr util1tios needed some consideration by th4J P&:S CommJ ttce. The Counci l' 5 participa­ tion in the utilities required an enormous amount of tlMle~ A smaller Council might get a bett.er cross fertil h:ation in terl:lS of issues among the members, but the utilities issuos were So co~plcx and tended to attract th~ attention of people 'Who hi\d more specialized interests, cackqround, and focus. Council MemblJl' Fazzino supported the sUbstitute rlotion. He was willing to have his colleaguee discuss the issue again hut hoped that a decision would be made when it returned to the Council again and hoped that the issue ret.u.rned to the councll w,{thin a reason­ able amount of. time. Council Member 'simitian sUC'Jgp.stod the council HQe"bers who wer.e seeking re-election ask citizens what they thought of the proposal. Vice Mayor Kniss suqgested a time limit on tho proposal returnin9 to the Council. Council M~rnber Wheeler said a time limit was not proposed bocausc the method the P&S cOmJllittee selected to carryon tho eX<'lnioa;,tion would have some bearing on the speed with which it l'eturnecl t,o the Council. Vice Mayor Kniss asked whether the issue ~ould return to t.he Council before the Suntrncr of 1994. Conncil Member-Wheeler said yes, if the Council .... anted to .be ill a position to make the Novernbor 1994 ballot~ BUB8T.ITOT2 MOTION' PASSED 8-1, Slrnitian "no." , .'.