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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002/11/25 - Minutes - Spec'l (Urg Ord) November 25, 2002 CITY OF RANCHO CUCAMONGA CITY COUNCIL MINUTES Special Meeting A. CALL TO ORDER A speciat meeting of the Rancho Cucamonga City Council was held on Monday, November 25, 2002, in the Council Chambers of the Civic Center located at 10500 Civic Center Drive, Rancho Cucamonga, California. Mayor William J. Alexander called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m. Present were Councilmembers: Paul Biane, Grace Curatalo, Bob Dutton, Diane Williams and Mayor William J. Alexander. Also present were: Jack Lam, City Manager; James Markman, City Attorney; Joe O'Neil, City Engineer; Captain Pete Ortiz, Rancho Cuoamonga Police Department; Michelle Dawson, Management Analyst Kimberly Thomas, Management Analyst II; and Debra J. Adams, City Clerk. B. ITEM OF BUSINESS 1. CONSIDERATION OF AN URGENCY ORDINANCE PROVIDING THAT ANY PERSON APPOINTED TO FILL A VACANCY ON THE CITY COUNCIL SHALL HOLD OFFICE ONLY UNTIL THE DATE OF A SPECIAL ELECTION WHICH SHALL IMMEDIATELY BE CALLED TO FILL THE REMAINDER OF THE TERM OF THAT OFFICE James Markman, City Attorney, stated if this Ordinance is not adopted, state law provides that the Council has 30 days to do one of two things once a vacancy occurs. They can either appoint someone or call a special election within 30 days once that vacancy occurs. He stated this is an urgency ordinance because there will soon only be three Councilmembers to vote on matters. Councilmember Williams stated she is in favor of the urgency ordinance. Mayor Alexander opened the meeting for public input. Addressing the City Council were: Jerald Van Westedin inquired how the appointed person would be chosen. Would it be selected by the City Council or filled by the person with the next highest votes from the November 5 election. James Markman, City Attorney, stated there is no process or criteria defined by law how the three remaining Councilmembers would do this. Mr. Van Westerlin felt the people should have the oppodunity to give input in the selection for the next six months and felt it should be the popular vote that has just taken place. Charlie Folinger stated if the Council doesn't select the two people with the next highest votes from the November 5 election, they can put their friends in office and felt this was unfair to the taxpayers. Mayor Alexander stated it was his impression that if someone is appointed now, they would not be able to run in the special June election. Councilmember Curatalo stated that was her impression also. James Markman, City Attorney, stated this is not what the Ordinance does. Councilmember Dutton stated the decision who to appoint would be done by Mayor Alexander and Councilmembers Williams and Gutierrez. He stated the Council cannot lock someone out from running in the special election. City Council Special Meeting Minutes November 25, 2002 Page 2 Ron Stark, past President of the Chamber of Commerce and resident of the City, felt there should be a special election in June to fill the vacancies. He stated what he hears about this ordinance makes sense to him. He felt it would be ideal to select one or two people who can fill the vacancy for six months if they would also agree not to run in the special election in June. Jerald Van Westerlin asked more questions about the process. He felt the community should have the opportunity to give input as to who is selected to fill the vacancy. John Lyons felt there should be an appointment to fill the vacancies. He stated he will leave it up to the current Council. Carol Douglas felt it was good to have a special election to fill the two Council seats. She stated she is in favor of the Ordinance. Melanie Ingram stated she was here to ask the Council not to approve the Ordinance. She asked that the Council sit on this matter until the three new Council are sworn in. She felt the Council should not appoint anyone and that there should be a special election. Leslie Grimes stated she does not think there should be any appointments made. She felt if there is though, it should be left up to the three Councilmembers to be sworn in. She did not feel there should be an appointment and that there should be a special election. Mayor Alexander stated he thought if someone was appointed after this Ordinance is adopted that it would preclude them from running in a special election. Jim Frost sated there are several candidates who were not successful that he would support. He stated he agrees with the idea of a special election. He felt the Council to be sworn in on December 4 should make this decision. Councilmember Dutton stated he had received a call from Councilmember Elect Gutierrez and was told he is in favor of this Ordinance. There being no further comments, public input was closed. Councilmember Biane felt there is the possibility of matters being challenged through court if there are only three people sitting on the Council. He felt there should be five people for the next six month. He felt there should be a special election in June. Councilmember Curatalo stated she does not feel there was enough publicity for this. She felt Councilmember Elect Gutierrez should have a say in this decision, not her. She stated she would like to get more people's input and that this should be occurring at a televised meeting. Councilmember Dutton stated there are too many serious projects to come before the Council in the next six months to run on a three person Council. He felt there should be a full Council of five. He stated this Ordinance will also provide for a special election with two temporary people being appointed now. He felt the Ordinance would give people the best of both worlds. Councilmember Williams felt she would be more comfortable with there being more than three on the Council, that it would be a lot of pressure for three to carry alone. She felt it would be good to appoint someone who is not interested in running in June and appoint them for six months. She stated she is in favor of the Ordinance. Mayor Alexander questioned the Ordinance. Jack Lam, City Manager, stated the Ordinance cannot preclude someone from running in June if they are appointed now. He stated the Council can ask someone not to run, but cannot make them. City Council Special Meeting Minutes November 25, 2002 Page ~, Councilmember Curatalo stated that was her understanding that if someone is appointed they could not run in the special election and she felt this was unfair. Mayor Alexander stated this Ordinance does provide that, but he did not feel he got the whole story on this. Councilmember Curatalo stated she felt anyone should be able to run in the race even if they get appointed for six months. Mayor Alexander stated he feels comfortable appointing the two people with the next highest votes from the November 5 election to fill the vacancies. Councilmember Biane felt by adopting this Ordinance people would have the best of both worlds. Debra J. Adams, City Clerk, read the title of Ordinance No. 694. ORDINANCE NO. 694 (urgency ordinance) AN URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CALIFORNIA, PROVIDING THAT ANY PERSON APPOINTED TO FILL A VACANCY ON THE CITY COUNCIL SHALL HOLD OFFICE ONLY UNTIL THE DATE OF A SPECIAL ELECTION WHICH SHALL IMMEDIATELY BE CALLED TO F~LL THE REMAINDER OF THE TERM OF THAT OFFICE MOTION: Moved by Williams, seconded by Dutton to waive full reading and approve Urgency Ordinance No. 694. Motion failed 3-2 (Alexander and Curatalo voted no) NOTE: 4/§ vote required to approve this. C. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE PUBLIC No communication was made from the public. D. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Moved by Williams, seconded by Biane to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously 5-0. The meeting adjourned at 7:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted, City Clerk Approved: January 15, 2003