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Home My WebLink AboutMINUTES - 12031985 - IO.1 -1. ® TO. BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Contra FROM: INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE ,.,ma DATE: November 25 , 1985 Costa �o' t�/ SUBJECT: Proposed Anti-Apartheid Actions by Cola! ��/ Contra Costa County SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATIONS: 1 . Direct County Administrator and County Counsel, in conjunction with Treasurer-Tax Collector and Purchasing Agent, to review and redraft, as necessary, the proposed resolution presented to the Board of Supervisors by Residents Opposed to Apartheid Racism (ROAR) in order to provide a legally defensible and administratively workable system which will, to the maximum extent possible, achieve the goals of avoiding depositing County funds in banks which make loans to the government of South Africa, and of avoiding purchasing services and supplies from firms which do business with the government of South Africa. Once this resolution has been redrafted as noted above, it is to be returned to the 1986 Internal Operations Committee for further consideration. 2 . Authorize the Chairwoman to send a letter to the Contra Costa County Employees Retirement Board asking the Retirement Board for a report on what actions have been taken by the Retirement Board in response to the requests made by the Board of Supervisors in their Order of February 5, 1985 . 3 . Direct the County Administrator to report to the Board on actions which have occurred in response to the Board' s Order of February 5 , 1985. 4 . Request ROAR to submit to the 1986 Internal Operations Committee and the County Administrator a list of the banks and other firms they wish the County to refrain from doing business with so this information can be incorporated in the proposed policy statement being prepared under recommendation No. 1 above. 5 . Remove this item as a referral to our Committee and refer it instead to the 1986 Internal Operations Committee. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: X YES SIGNATURE: _ RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY, ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BO COMMITTEE X APPROVE0 r FX9THER5a&_ SIGNATURE(S): Tom Torlakson Tom Powers ACTION OF BOARD ON December 3. 1985 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS 1 HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE X UNANIMOUS (ABSENT II ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AYES: NOES. AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. County Administrator -- /� 5�. CC: County ATTESTED L�i Treasurer-Tax Collector PHIL BATCHELOR, CLERK OF THE BOARD OF Purchasing Agent (Dir. of General Svcs. ) SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR Public Wor ks Director Mr. James Rogers, ROAR BY )Q_�_�� ,DEPUTY M382/7-83 i Page 2 BACKGROUND: On October 8, 1985��i, the Board of Supervisors referred to our Committee correspondence from Mr. James M. Rogers, urging that the Board of Supervisors adopt a resolution which would prohibit depositing the County' s funds in banks which make loans to the government of South Africa, which would prohibit purchases of services and supplies from companies which do business in or with the government ofi�South Africa, and which would favor doing business with firms which do not do business with the government of South Africa. Our Committee met ;with Mr. Rogers and others who favor ROAR' s proposed policy, County Counsel, and representatives from the Treasurer' s office and County Administrator' s office. Mr. Rogers briefly reviewed their proposed policy, a copy of which is attached to this report. Mr. David Dezell, 'iAssistant County Treasurer, noted that his office has voluntarily complied with a policy of not investing County funds withlibanks which have loans outstanding with the government of Soutii h Africa. While expressing pleasure at the Treasurer' s voluntary compliance with this policy, IMr. Rogers urged that the policy be enacted by the Board so as to' make compliance with it mandatory. Concerns were expressed about some details of the proposed policy. For instance, the only bank which would handle the refinancing of the County' s buildings last year was the Bank of America, which does have loans outstanding with the government of South Africa. Our Committee wholeheartedly supports the goals of ROAR and is willing to urge adoption of a County policy which as closely as possible parallelsROAR' s proposed resolution. While our Committee is willing to have the County give preference to firms which do not do business with South Africa, we are reluctant to actually implement a percentage preference as is suggested in ROAR' s resolutionbecause of the possible impact of such a policy on the County' s fiscal situation. In addition, the policy must provide exceptions for situations like the Bank of America when they are the only ��available source of funding. . ISI I; �I it ROAR' s Proposed Contra Costa County Anti-Apartheid Act WHEREAS the Board of Supervisors of Contra Costa County in February of 1985 condemned the barbaric and inhumane legalized racism of. the minority goverment of South Africa (Resolution No . 85/46) ; and WHEREAS the . Board called on all investors of public funds to "terminate all financial relationships" with corporations doing business in or with South Africa in order to pressure the minority government of South Africa to abandon apartheid ; and • WHEREAS the violent oppression of Blacks in South Africa has steadily worsened ; NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Supervisors adopts the following policylto place the County strongly on the side of those fighting against apartheid racism: 1 . Prohibid, investments or deposits by the County of Contra Costa in banks or financial institutions which make new loans or renew loans to South Africa or Namibia (hereafter referred to as South Africa) , or which make new loans or renew loans to any business for the expressllpurpose of doing business with or in South Africa, or which make new loans or renew l.oans to any business organized under the laws of South Africa . Withdrawal of all investments and deposits shall be completed within 6 months , or sooner if feasible . 2 . Prohibitithe County from making any new investments- in the minority government of South Africa , or in businesses doing business in or with South Africa, or businesses which are organized under the laws of South Africa . I, 3 . Prohibit the County from contracting for services from any business whose policy is to do business with any of the following : the government of South Africa; any business organized under the laws of South Africa ; or any business for the express purpose of .assisting in opeerations or trading with any entity in South Africa . 4 . Prohibitthe County from purchasing any commodity produced or manufactured in South Africa, and prohibit the County from entering into a contract with , or from purchasing commodities from, any company that does business in or with South Africa . 5 . The h" in items 3 and 4 may be waived in cases where the amounit of the purchase is small , where no other service or product is available to provide the desired function , or where the prohibition would result in significant financial loss to the County . Specifically , the prohibitions in items 3 and 4 may b-0- waived ewaived if the County Administrator finds .that either : A. ) The purchase of the commodity or service is $5000 . 00 or less; or B. ) No otherproduct or service is available to produce the desired function; or C . ) The financial cost to the County of refusing to purchase the services or products prohibited by items 3 or4 is 12% (or, more) ori the total cost of the services or products . ,!I III Page 2 The County Administrator shall submit written reports to the Board concerning waivers under 5A and 5B, but he or she shall submit proposedl,waivers under 5C to the Board and shall not find the waiver to apply if one or more Supervisors object . If any Supervisor objects within 10 days , the waiver must be passed by the Board , after a public hearing . 6 . Because Items 1-5 apply only to matters controlled by the Board of . Supervisors , the Board shall send a letter to the Contra Costa County Retirement Board , the Contra Costa County School Board , and other County agencies urging them to consider the adoption of similar policies . BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the County Counsel is hereby directed to prepare an ordinance to implement this resolution for consideration by the Board of Supervisors within 30 days . This shall be prepared in consultation with the Board ' s Internal Operations Committee . �I