HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 12102002 - C51 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Contra Ys>}
FROM: INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE to
;10.3,
CoCc
DATE: DECEMBER 10, 2002 County
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON DEVELOPMENT OF AN ADVISORY BODY TRAINING PROGRAM
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. ACCEPT report on the development of training materials and the conduct of training for
advisory body staff and members, and on the status of the County's webpage for Board
advisory bodies.
2. DIRECT staff to conduct a training session annually and to update the Advisory Body
Handbook at least every three years.
3. DIRECT staff to survey advisory bodies as to their regular meeting locations to determine if
the goal of public access is being adequately served, and to report back to our Committee.
BACKGROUND
On February 12, 2002, the Board of Supervisors directed the Internal Operations Committee to
work with the County Administrator, County Counsel, and Clerk of the Board of Supervisors to
establish a process for the orientation and regular training of advisory body members and their
support staff as to the legal requirements of the Better Government Ordinance, the Brown Act,
and the Maddy Act. The Board also directed the County Administrator to report to the IOC on
the status of efforts to establish and maintain an up-to-date Maddy Appointive List database,
and to provide access to current Maddy Act advisory body information through the County's web
page. In addition, Supervisor Uilkema asked staff to review the Ethics Orientation for State
Officials videotape and assess the applicability and value of the tape for County use.
County Administrator and County Counsel staff met with the IOC on March 4 and on June 3 to
provide status reports of their efforts and to seek direction as to the scope and content of the
training program. Our Committee directed staff to develop a handbook containing the important
information with which all advisory bodies and their staffs should become familiar, and to
provide copies of the County's Brown Act video and the State's Ethics/Conflicts of Interest
CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE: '
RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR ✓RECOMM� D ION OF BOARD COMMITTEE
APPROVE OTHER
e J�/
SIGNATURE(S):
RK DeSAULNIER, CHAIR I CAYL IL EMA
w____-------_------------------__
ACTION OF BOARD ON DQ,Mber. 10, 2002 APPROVE AS RECOMMENDED - OTHER
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE
AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN
X UNANIMOUS(ABSENT II 1 AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE
AYES: NOES: SHOWN.
ABSENT: ABSTAIN:
ATTESTED DeC rim
JOHN SWEETEN,CLERK HE BOARD OF
SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
CONTACT: JULIE ENEA(925)335-1077
CC: INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE STAFF
MARY ANN MASON,DEPUTY COUNTY COUNSEL
CHIEF CLERK OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
DEPUTY CLERK OF THE BOARD(MADDY BOOK) -
BY ,DEPUTY
Advisory Body Training December 10, 2002
Internal Operations Committee Page 2
video, as modified to meet the County's needs. The Committee also directed that the
County's website be updated to provide current committee and roster information. The Board
of Supervisors approved this plan of action on June 18, 2002. Following is an update of
activities that have occurred since our last report to the Board.
Handbook. The Advisory Body Handbook was published on September 1, 2002 and
distributed to Board of Supervisors Offices and advisory body staff at a training session
conducted on September 19, 2002. The Handbook includes an introduction describing the
role and responsibilities of board appointees; the legal requirements that staff and appointees
should know; suggestions on preparation for meetings and how to be an effective,
collaborative member of an advisory body; and the resources available to committee staff
should they have legal or procedural questions. The Handbook also includes instructions for
advisory body staff as to meeting noticing, roster maintenance, expenses, and Public Records
Act requests. A series of Handbook appendices provide the Board of Supervisors' policies
governing advisory bodies, County Counsel's summaries of the relevant laws governing
advisory bodies, sample comuniqu6s to the Board of Supervisors needed to maintain the
advisory body rosters, and screen prints from the Advisory Body website.
The Handbook is organized to allow advisory body staff to easily excerpt, copy, and distribute
various sections to each advisory body member. Approximately 100 handbooks have been
distributed.
Video Training Taxes. Permission was obtained in March 2002 from the State Department
of Justice to edit the State's Ethics/Conflict of Interest video training tape to meet the County's
needs. CCTV edited the tape, and it and the County's video training tape on the Brown
Act/Open Meeting Requirements were distributed to advisory body staff at the September
training session. In addition, the County is airing both videotapes on Community Access
stations countywide each Saturday in November and December 2002 to enable home viewing
or home taping for viewing at any time.
Training Session. Invitations (copy attached) were sent to staff of all advisory bodies on
August 21, 2002. Approximately 80 staff and commissioners representing 40 advisory bodies
attended the September 19 training session. In addition to providing an orientation to the
Handbook and highlighting problem areas in complying with open meeting act requirements,
staff advised attendees of the new annual reporting requirements including completion of the
training certification form, which is now incorporated in the annual reporting process. A 30-
minute question and answer session was provided at the end of the session.
A follow-up memorandum (copy attached) was sent on October 4, 2002 to advisory body staff
who did not attend the training session highlighting new requirements for staff and
transmitting the Handbook, video training tapes, and CCTV airing schedule for the video
training tapes.
Website. The Advisory Body database is complete and the website is functional. It displays
the scheduled vacancies for all committees for the current calendar year; and the information
page, current roster, and current vacancy report for each advisory body. The site includes
links to the governing Board Resolutions and the Maddy Act, and provides a printable version
of the advisory body application form.
In summary, it is our recommendation that the Handbook and other training materials be
reviewed in three years time for possible updating and that a training session be conducted
annually in recognition of the turnover in advisory body staff and membership.
County of Contra Costa
OFFICE OF THE COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
MEMORANDUM
DATE: AUGUST 21, 2002
TO: (Board Advisory Body Staff Distribution List)
FROM: JULIE ENEA, Senior Deputy
SUBJECT: INVITATION TO ATTEND THE PRESENTATION OF THE
BOARD ADVISORY BODY HANDBOOK
The Internal Operations Committee of the Board of Supervisors, with the assistance of
the County Counsel's and County Administrator's offices, has recently published a
Board Advisory Body Handbook to provide guidance to commissioners and staff
members on their roles and responsibilities with regard to serving on and staffing a
board advisory body. The Handbook contains detailed information about open meeting
requirements under the Brown Act and Better Government Ordinance, conflicts of
interest, appointment procedures and, in addition, guidance on how to be an effective
commissioner. The Handbook also contains information on new requirements for
commissioners, including the viewing of the Brown Act and Ethics Orientation
instructional videotapes, and new annual reporting requirements for advisory bodies.
The new Handbook and videotapes will be distributed at a training session that will be
held on:
Thursday, September 19, 2002
4:00 p.m.
Board of Supervisors Chambers
651 Pine Street, Martinez
Attendance at this training session is mandatory for all County employees assigned as
staff to a Board Advisory body. Chairpersons and commissioners are encouraged to
attend. Handbooks will be made available to each staff support person.
For more information regarding the session or the handbook, please contact me at
(925) 335-1077.
cc: Board of Supervisors Members
John Sweeten, County Administrator
County Department Heads who provide staff to Board Advisory Bodies v''
-,� 2-
County of Contra Costa
OFFICE OF THE COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
MEMORANDUM
DATE: OCTOBER 4, 2002
TO: oa ame» «LastJ�tr>, Staff .
!=��artmentv
� »
FROM: JULIE ENEA, Senior Deputy lN�
SUBJECT: BOARD ADVISORY BODY H DBOOI( AND RELATED TRAINING
MATERIALS
The Internal Operations Committee of the Board of Supervisors, with the assistance of the
County Counsel's and County Administrator's offices, has recently published a Board Advisory
Body Handbook to provide guidance to commissioners and staff members on their roles and
responsibilities with regard to serving on and staffing a board advisory body. The Handbook
contains detailed information about open meeting requirements under the Brown Act and Better
Government Ordinance, conflicts of interest, appointment procedures and, in addition, guidance
on how to be an effective commissioner. The Handbook also contains information on new
requirements for commissioners, including the viewing of the Brown Act and Ethics Orientation
instructional videotapes, and new annual reporting requirements for advisory bodies.
The new Handbook and videotapes were distributed to advisory body staff support persons at a
training session held on September 19 in Martinez. Our records indicate that you did not attend
the session. Therefore, we are transmitting the materials herewith.
You should familiarize yourself with all of these materials. Please be advised of your new
responsibilities under Board policy. Please submit your annual report in the format described in
the handbook to the Cleric of the Board's office no later than December 1, 2002. In addition,
please ensure that commissioners on the advisory body you staff view the two videotapes and
sign the video training certification form found in the handbook. For the commissioners
convenience, both of the video training presentations will be aired on the local community
access channels in accordance with the attached schedule. Also attached are recent changes
to the Political Reform Act, relating to the Ethics Orientation videotape.
For more information regarding the session or the handbook, please contact me at(925) 33 -
1077. For legal questions regarding information provided in the handbook or videotapes, please
contact Mary Ann Mason, Deputy County Counsel, at(925) 335-1821.
Attachments
cc: Board of Supervisors Members
Mary Ann Mason, Deputy County Counsel
Patricia Molloy, Deputy Cleric of the Board
VIDEO TRAINING Viewings on CCTV
"The Brown Act and Better Government Crdlnance" (What You Need to
Know as a Commission, Board, or Committee Member)
Viewings for the Brown Act video are the I't' & P Saturdays in October,
November, and December. Viewing time is 3:00 p.m.
October 5, 2002
October 19, 2002
..,:::.: d, ";-v --no viewing due to Election
November 16, 2002
November 30, 2002
December 7, 2002
December 21, 2002
"Ethics Orientation for County Cfclals"
Viewings for the Ethics Orientation video are the 2nd & 4th Saturdays in
October, November, and December. Viewing time is p.m.
October 12, 2002
October 26, 2002
November 9, 2002
November 23, 2002
December 14, 2002
December 28, 2002
CCTV Channels
If you live In... Your cable provider Is... You can view us on...
Danville Ponderosa Cable Channel 10
----F
(Rebuild) Costa}
Danville, Alamo, Clyde AT&T Broadband (Contra Channel 15
��
FClayton, Concord, Broadband (Concord) Channel 15/27
unincorporated areas AT&TF
AT&T Broadband (Walnut
Walnut Creek Channel 19
Creek)
Oakley, unincorporated areas AT&T Broadband
(Bethel Island, Byron, (East County) Channel 19
Knightsen, etc)
Alamo, Clyde, Danville,
Lafayette, Martinez, AT&T Broadband of Contra
Moraga,Qnnda, Pleasant Hill, Costa Channel 19
Rossmoor, Pacheco,
unincorporated areas
[-Antioch, Bay Point, Pittsburg, AT&T Broadband
unincorporated areas (Pittsburg/Antioch) Channel 27
Pinole, Rodeo, Crockett,
Albany, San Pablo, Hercules, AT&T Broadband Channel 27
Richmond, El Sobrants, EI (Pinole/Rodeo/Richmond)
Cerrito, unincorporated areas
AT&T Broadband
F I San Ramon (Tri Valley) Channel 27
(Dublin)
State o California
BILL LOCKYER .1"
Attorney General DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
PUBLIC INQUIRY UNIT
P.O.BOX 944255
SACRAMENTO,CA 94244-2550
916 322-3360
TOLL FREE: 800)952-5225
7DY: (916)324-5564
or (800)952.5548
Re: 1999 Ethics Orientation Videotape,
In 1999, the Office of the Attorney General and the Fair Political Practices Commission ("FPPC")
collaborated in the making of a videotape that would satisfy the ethics orientation requirement
imposed by Government Code section 11146 on each agency in state government. Although our
office is considering the production of a new videotape, the original videotape produced in 1999
remains an available tool for training agency staff. however, in the interim, several provisions of
the Political Reform Act have been amended so as to place several portions of the videotape at
variance with current law. Below is a summary of the provisions at issue.
• Investments: The videotape states that the threshold for disclosure and
disqualification pertaining to investments is $1,000 or more. Current law
sets this threshold at $2,000 or more.
• Real Property: The videotape states that the threshold for disclosure and
disqualification pertaining to real property is $1,000 or more. Current law
sets this threshold at $2,000 or more.
• Sources of Income: The videotape states that the threshold for disclosure and
disqualification pertaining to a source of income is $250 or more. Current law sets
this threshold at $500 or more.
• Gifts: The videotape states that the gift limit for a calendar year is $300.
Current law sets the gift limit at $320 through 2002. The videotape states
that the disqualification threshold for a source of gifts is $300 during the
past 12 months. Current law provides that the disqualification threshold is $320.
• FPPC fines: The videotape indicates that the FPPC may impose fines of up to
$2,000 for each violation of the Act. Current law permits the FPPC to impose fines
of up to $5,000 per violation.
Reminder: 'There are hypothetical questions posed in the videotape to test the viewer's
understanding of the course materials. These questions are tied to the thresholds that were in effect
in 1999, not the current thresholds. Accordingly, the questions should be answered based on the
1999 thresholds.
County of Contra Costa
OFFICE OF THE COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
MEMORANDUM
DATE: OCTOBER 9, 2002
TO: uFirstName» al-astNamev, Staff
((CommitteeNameo
o(Department»
FROM: JULIE ENEA, Senior Depu
SUBJECT: BOARD ADVISORY BODY A DBOOK AND RELATED TRAINING
MATERIALS
As a follow-up to the recent training session held on September 19 in Martinez, please
be advised that for the convenience of advisory body commissioners, the County will be
airing the Brown Act and Ethics Orientation video training presentations on CCTV each
Saturday at 3:00 p.m. A schedule of airdates and community access channels is
attached for your information. Please share this information with your commissioners to
facilitate their compliance with the County's policy on commissioner training.
Attachments
cc: Beard of Supervisors Members
Mary Ann Mason, Deputy County Counsel
Patricia Molloy, Deputy Clerk of the Board