2003 Council Announcements

March 11, 2003

 

City Council Announcements

March 11, 2003

 

 

A. Decisions, Feedback & Information needed by staff

 

1. Council Members Saxton and Lambert have been serving on the Utah League of Cities and Towns Policy Committee for the past year. Their memberships are currently up for renewal. Council Members Lambert and Saxton want to give other Council Members the opportunity to serve if interested, otherwise they will renew their memberships. Meetings are generally once per month and have been held on Mondays at 11:00 a.m. to approximately 1:00 p.m. However, during the Legislative Session meetings are held each week up at the Capitol. Are other Council Members interested in serving on the League Policy Committee?  

      No other Council Members volunteered to serve.  Council Members Lambert and Saxton will continue serving on this committee.

 

2. In January, the City Council directed staff to prepare a letter to the Wasatch Front Regional Council to comment on that organization's update of its long-range transportation plan to the year 2030. The Regional Council will take comment until at least May. Council staff has attached a draft letter for City Council review. 

   The draft letter was not available at this time and would be given to Council for review at

   a later date.

 

3. Civil Service Commission Appointment. The most recent nomination for the Civil Service Commission was questioned because of the balance of political affiliation for the board.  The administration indicates that this is a City commission in which professional expertise and experience are more important than constituency, party affiliation, or personal viewpoint.  We received the following information from Brenda Hancock advising us as to why this individual has been nominated:

a.    The Commission oversees hiring and is the appeal body for firefighter and police officer appeals regarding disciplinary action.  They hold complete quasi-judicial hearings, with both the City and the employee typically represented by counsel.  Their decision is binding and can only be appealed to District Court. 

b.    The members' professional expertise in human resources, labor relations, and mediation are the key considerations. 

c.    Members must be sensitive to diversity and due process, and must be knowledgeable about legal proceedings, testing and selection.

 

Currently the two members of the commission list their party affiliation as Democrat and Independent.  This nominee lists hers as a Democrat.  The ordinance indicates “Not more than two members of the civil service commission shall at any one time be of the same political party. (Prior code § 24-10-2) Some Council Members expressed interested in requesting a recommendation of a republican candidate to be appointed.  Would the Council like to process this nominee?

Council decided to move this forward and place the nominee on the Agenda.  Should any Council Members have an issue with her political party it could be addressed at that time. 

 

B. Council Office Policies

 

1. At the Council’s retreat in January, Council Members decided to modify the policy regarding the timeframe for district meetings. Do Council Members wish to make the following modifications to Council Policy?

 

C.4   CITY COUNCIL MEETING SCHEDULE (11/01 3/03)

 

b.  Council district meetings shall be held in January, February, March and April of each year as requested by Council Members.  Council district meetings will be held on the fourth Tuesday of the month.  Per Council Office policy item C3, Attendance of Members, district meetings are considered formal Council meetings.  Salt Lake City Code, Section 2.04.010, indicates the Mayor is expected to attend all formal Council meetings.    Upon request of Council Members, and through the appropriate administrative channels, representatives from the administration can be are invited to attend district meetings.

District meeting schedule:

                  Month             2001      2002     2003 2004

                  January              1          4          1         4

                  February            2          5          2         5

                  March                3          6          3         6

                  April                              7                     7

c.  Notification:  Council staff is responsible for notifying Mayor and Community Affairs of all district meeting dates.  A district newsletter shall be prepared for circulation prior to each district meeting.  If the Council Member chooses to circulate a newsletter at a time other than immediately preceding a district meeting, a one-page flyer may be prepared to notify district residents of the district meeting.

d.  In addition to the district meetings specified above, Council Members may elect to hold semi-annual community meetings.  While all Council Members, the Mayor and representatives from City departments are expected to attend the district meetings, community meetings are intended as an opportunity for an individual Council Member to meet with his or her constituents.  Council Members may utilize the same resources used for district meetings, staying within their communication budget as described in policy A40.

 

Council Members approved the changes made.

 

 

A40.   COUNCIL DISTRICT COMMUNICATION BUDGET  (02/02 03-03)

a.  Each Council district will have a communication budget to be used by the Council Member for communicating with constituents within his/her district; it is not structured for media communications.  Funds in the district communication budget will be expended at the Council Member’s discretion and may include, but not be limited to, district meetings, newsletters, postcards, mass mailings, flyers, refreshments, etc.

 

C. For Your Information

D. Upcoming Appointments (see attached goldenrod sheet)

E. Upcoming Agenda items (see attached goldenrod sheet)

F. Informational Mail items received (see attached goldenrod sheet)