The City Council of Salt Lake City, Utah, met in Regular Session on Tuesday, January 21, 1997, at 6:00 p.m. in Room 315, City Council Office, City County Building, 451 South State.
The following Council Members were present:
Stuart Reid Joanne Milner Sam Souvall
Deeda Seed Tom Godfrey Bryce Jolley
Keith Christensen
Roger Cutler, City Attorney; Cindy Gust-Jenson, Executive Council Director; and Bonnie Ferrin, Deputy City Recorder were present.
Councilmember Seed presided at and conducted the meeting.
#1. The Council led the Pledge of Allegiance.
#2. Councilmember Godfrey moved and Councilmember Souvall seconded to approve the minutes of the Salt Lake City Council meeting held January 14, 1997, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
(M 97-1)
CITIZEN COMMENTS
Bob Fisher, Hannibal Street, said he felt a tire boot was not the way to impound vehicles. He said there had to be a better way.
CONSENT AGENDA
ACTION: Councilmember Godfrey moved and Councilmember Reid seconded to approve the Consent Agenda, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
#1. RE: Approving the appointment of Amie Laird McNeel to the Salt Lake City Art Design Board for a term extending through March 8, 1999.
(I 97-8)
#2. RE: Approving the appointment of John M. Schumann to the Land Use Appeals Board for a term extending through December 31, 1999.
(I 97-9)
Approving the appointment of Linda Lepreau to the Land Use Appeals Board for a term extending through December 31, 1997.
(I 97-9)
#3. RE: Adopting Ordinance 3 of 1997 granting to Nextlink of Utah, L.L.C., and its successors, a telecommunication franchise.
(C 97-20)
NEW BUSINESS
#1. RE: Adopting a resolution expressing the City Council's official position relating to recent published comments about Council Staff's relationship with the Administration.
ACTION: Councilmember Christensen moved and Councilmember Souvall seconded to adopt Resolution 6 of 1997, which motion carried, all Council Members voted aye except Councilmember Milner who voted nay.
DISCUSSION: Councilmember Christensen read the resolution. He said he had no knowledge of anything inappropriate which any member of the Council staff had done while working with City Administration. He said if anything had been inappropriate he would have dealt with the matter. He said he felt it was irresponsible for a Councilmember to attack another staff member without any facts to support the attack. He said he felt this resolution was appropriate.
Councilmember Christensen said he felt it was appropriate that if there was concern with a staff member, the matter should be discussed with the Council Chair. He said if the Council Chair refused to address the issue, then the matter should be brought to the Council as a whole.
Councilmember Milner said she wanted to amend and speak to the motion. She said for clarification of public record, in the fourth paragraph of the resolution beginning with "whereas" at the end of the first line, strike the word "one" and on the next line following the word "Councilmember", insert the new language "Joanne R. Milner".
Councilmember Christensen said if Councilmember Milner was inserting her name as the individual then he would accept a friendly amendment.
Councilmember Milner said she took responsibility for statements she made to the press and had not implied that she was speaking for the Council. She said she was talking as an independent Councilmember responding to a question. She said present policies were incomplete. She reminded the Council that she had met with the former Council Chair on July 25, 1996 to express major concerns. She said following that meeting, there was no procedure by which these grievances could be addressed. She said there had been a proposed packet of policy changes which had not been addressed by the Council. She said her concern was that current policies were incomplete. She said the Council would be setting a poor precedence for poor public policy in the passage of this resolution.
She said the role of public officials was to question policies, procedures and individuals if necessary. She said she could not support a resolution which restricted a Councilmember from questioning for the common good.
Councilmember Souvall said because of strong economy, transportation and growth, he felt the Council could not be distracted from their goals. He said this issue had taken the focus off the City's goals for the growth of the City. He said he supported the resolution.
Councilmember Godfrey said he supported the resolution. He said he had concerns that an official could publicly defame someone and only receive a resolution as a response. He said he had been a Councilmember for 12 years and City staff worked hard to meet the demands of all seven Council Members. He said if individual members had a complaint about how staff was responding to their concerns, they should take it up with the Council Chair. He said the concern of one individual might not be the concern of the other six Council Members.
Councilmember Jolley said he also supported the resolution. He said accusations which attacked someone who was not in a position to defend themselves was not good. He said the resolution was important because this action towards staff should not be allowed.
Councilmember Reid said often elected officials were asked to sit in judgment of people. He said he tried to make these judgments based on his own personal experiences. He said without Council staff's help, he would not be an effective Councilmember. He said he felt his district was better because of Council staff professionalism and expertise. He said the staff was completely dedicated to Salt Lake City. He said it was unfortunate this resolution had to be adopted.
(G 97-8)
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
#1. RE: Adopting a resolution to create Salt Lake City, Utah Lighting District No. 3, generally as described in the Notice of Intention concerning the district; authorizing the City officials to proceed to make improvements as set forth in the Notice of Intention to create and operate the district; and related matters.
ACTION: Councilmember Godfrey moved and Councilmember Souvall seconded to adopt Resolution 4 of 1997, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
(Q 96-7)
#2. RE: Adopting a resolution authorizing the City officials to proceed to operate and maintain lighting facilities as set forth in the Notice of Intention to create and operate the Salt Lake City, Utah Lighting District No. 3; authorizing execution of a contract with Utah Power and Light Company for operating, patrolling and maintaining street lighting within the District; appointing a Board of Equalization and Review and setting the dates for the Board of Equalization to hear and consider objections and corrections to any proposed assessments; and authorizing the City Recorder to publish and mail a notice of meetings of the Board of Equalization and Review; and related matters.
ACTION: Councilmember Godfrey moved and Councilmember Christensen seconded to adopt Resolution 5 of 1997, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
(Q 96-7)
PUBLIC HEARINGS
#1. RE: Accept public comment and consider adopting an ordinance amending the Fiscal Year 1996-97 budget.
ACTION: Councilmember Jolley moved and Councilmember Christensen seconded to close the public hearing, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
Councilmember Jolley moved and Councilmember Godfrey seconded to adopt Ordinance 2 of 1997, which motion carried, all members voted aye.
DISCUSSION: Councilmember Seed asked what the objective was for the expenditure of the Pioneer Park security patrol and how long in the future would money be expended to patrol Pioneer Park.
Roger Black, Management Services Director, said the issue was to make Pioneer Park a desirable place for lawful activity. He said with warm weather returning there were choices which had to be made. He said 1) was to withdraw the stepped-up presence in the park and hope the point had been made that the park was a place where lawful activity was encouraged and welcomed and unlawful activity was not tolerated. He said Police Chief Ruben Ortega had said it would be risky to let the park go without continued presence. He said 2) would be to assign uniform police officers to provide stepped-up presence. He said this would take officers off their patrol elsewhere in the community. He said 3) was to continue with security presence in the park. Mr. Black said this was the best choice for long term response to the special needs. He said the proposed amendment was to seek funds to enable the City to keep the momentum moving in the right direction relative to the use of the park.
Councilmember Seed asked what was within the jurisdiction of the security officers in terms of enforcement action. Mr. Black said their primary responsibility was to be seen in uniform and to observe behaviors. He said if the officers noted things which were inappropriate or illegal, they were empowered to point out to the person that what they were doing was illegal and not permitted in the park. He said if the officers observed criminal activity, they were instructed to call in regular police officers.
Councilmember Seed asked if they could issue citations. Mr. Black said they had been given limited authority to issue citations for minor violations such as littering.
Councilmember Jolley asked about the Steiner Ice Sheet. He asked if the $228,631 from the parking lot project was earmarked for Steiner. Mr. Black said the parking lot project provided a parking facility for patrons of Steiner. He said when the project was completed and surplus funds were left over, it seemed appropriate to transfer the money to the ice sheet project.
Councilmember Souvall asked about the Hermes excess sales tax revenue. He asked if the City paid the rebate first then Hermes paid it back in. Mr. Black said by making it possible for this development to proceed, the City's total sales taxes were expected to grow quicker. He said the City received payments monthly from the State Tax Commission and the Hermes contribution was part of that allocation.
Councilmember Seed said it would be helpful for the Council to receive a briefing on Pioneer Park in terms of the City's policy. She said the problem with zero tolerance within the park had not been applied within the communities which existed in the areas adjacent to the park.
Bob Fisher, Hannibal Street, suggested fencing Pioneer Park off and taking reservations to use the park.
(B 96-1)
The meeting adjourned at 7:10 p.m.
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