AGENDA ITEM
TO:
HONORABLE MAYOR
AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM:
JOE HOEFGEN
INTERIM CITY MANAGER
SUBJECT:
title
PROCESS TO FILL A PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSIONER VACANCY
summary
Summary:
The City Council will review alternatives and determine a process to fill a vacancy on the Parks and Recreation Commission for an unexpired term through May 31, 2023.
recommendation
Recommendations:
1. Approve a recruitment and schedule a date to conduct commissioner candidate interviews and an appointment. The suggested date is the regularly scheduled City Council Meeting of November 8, 2022. If the number of commission applicants is greater than ten, Council may wish to call a special meeting for November 9 or November 10, 2022; or
2. As an alternative, provide staff direction to utilize the recent list of Parks and Recreation Commission applicants from the recruitment conducted in March 2022 and invite applicants to interview at the November 8 Council meeting.
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Fiscal Impact:
There is no fiscal impact associated with the recommended action.
Strategic Plan Objective:
Goal No. 6: Promote a transparent and open government.
Background:
A biennial recruitment for City commissions as defined in Article VI of the Signal Hill City Charter is conducted in the spring of odd-numbered years following the City’s General Municipal Election. Article VI of the City Charter specifies the criteria for the appointment and terms, meetings, and vacancies, and gives a general description of each commission’s powers and duties.
As a result, the normally scheduled recruitment for the Parks and Recreation Commissioners occurred in April 2021 at which time three Commissioners were appointed following the City Council interviews.
The City Council will recall that due to the passing of former Commissioner Terry Rogers, there was a follow-up recruitment that was conducted in March 2022.
At that time, ten applicants passed the application stage and were invited to be interviewed by the Council at the April 26, 2022 Council meeting. Two candidates withdrew and the following eight candidates were given three minutes each to address the City Council:
Edwin Cockrell Jr. Angelo Dickens II Michael Fricke
Mary Gonzales Katherine Kim Sherrie Routier
Lisa Wong Andrew Zacharias
As an outcome of the April 26, 2022 City Council meeting, Andrew Zacharias was appointed as a Parks and Recreation Commissioner.
More recently, Parks and Recreation Commissioner Nancy Lauer submitted her resignation effective August 17, 2022 due to her relocation out of the City. Ms. Lauer’s term expires May 31, 2023. As a result, there is a need to fill the remaining term of this Commission appointment.
Analysis:
Charter Section 602 of Article VI states the following regarding appointive boards and commissions:
The members of each of such boards and commissions shall be appointed by the mayor, with the approval of the city council.
Additionally, Charter Section 605 of Article VI states the following regarding filling vacant commission seats:
Any vacancies in any board or commission shall be filled by appointment by the mayor, with the approval of the city council. Upon a vacancy occurring which leaves an unexpired portion of a term, any appointment to fill such vacancy shall be for the unexpired portion of such term.
Because of the extenuating circumstances of having two unanticipated vacancies on one Commission in a relatively short period of time, staff has prepared two alternatives for the City Council’s consideration in determining the desired process to fill the current vacancy as listed below:
Alternative One
Provide staff direction to conduct a new recruitment between the dates of September 15 - October 14, 2022 to fill the Parks and Recreation Commissioner remaining term through May 31, 2023; or
Alternative Two
Provide staff direction to contact the Parks and Recreation Commission applicants between the dates of September 15 - October 14, 2022 from the prior recruitment conducted in March 2022 to fill the Parks and Recreation Commissioner remaining term through May 31, 2023.
In terms of process, staff offers the following observations:
• If there are ten or fewer applicants (as would be the case in using the prior recruitment list in Alternative Two), the interviews could be conducted at the regularly scheduled City Council meeting of November 8, 2022.
• If there are ten or more applicants (possible in Alternative One), the City Council’s practice is to select an alternative date for interviews.
• Using the prior recruitment list provides the City Council with the option of inviting the applicants from the March 2022 recruitment to interview without reapplying.
In any event, how to proceed in conducting the recruitment is a policy decision of the City Council.