HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 12022005 - D.4 SUBJECT: Countywide MAC Review
DATE: December 2, 200,5 ,
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PAGE: 1 of 1
TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Contra
FROM: SUPERVISOR MARYPIEPHn Costa
SUPERVISOR FEDERAL GLOVER ,,
County
rA coun'�'t "
DATE: December 2, 2005
SUBJECT: COUNTYWIDE MUNICIPAL ADVISORY COUNCIL REVIEW
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
DIRECT Supervisor Piepho and Supervisor Glover to conduct a countywide review of all Municipal Advisory
Councils (MAC) under the direction of the Board of Supervisors. The review will conduct an analysis of each
MAC's operating procedures(i.e.,form and function,.agenda preparation and posting,creating and posting minutes,
conducting public comment, control of public meetings, etc.) in an effort to formalize and standardize operating
procedures for each MAC in the County.
DIRECT Supervisor Piepho and Supervisor Glover to acquire a history of agendas and minutes from each MAC in
Districts I,II,III,IV and V and to work with the other Supervisors in developing recommendations to the Board on
establishing formal and consistent MAC guidelines.
DIRECT Supervisor Piepho and Supervisor Glover to return to the Board with recommendations on establishing
standardized guidelines for each MAC in the County to adhere to.
BACKGROUND:
The District III and District V Supervisors' offices have noticed that the MAC's in District III and District V do not
have consistent guidelines in which to operate.It is important that all MAC's are consistent with county protocol as
it relates to the function of a MAC and the District III and District V Supervisors believe it to be of benefit to
conduct a review to determine how each MAC-operates so that the Board of Supervisors can implement format
guidelines to help the MAC's operate more consistently, effectively and efficiently.
CONSEQUENCES OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
The County MAC's will continue to have no standardized structur wi hin h' to operate which may lead to
increased public confusion about the MAC's duties and operatio
Continued on Attachment: ❑ SIGNATURE:
❑ RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE
❑ APPROVE ❑ OTHER
SIGNATURE(S): v
ACTION OF BOARD ON I ��
APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER
s
AR, a ova t9 eve
I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action
taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on
the date shown. '
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS '
UNANIMOUS(ABSENT ATTESTED:
AYES: NOES: JOHN SWEETEN,Clerk of Supervisors and County
ABSENT: ABSTAIN: Administrator
cc: Ryan P.Klobas,District III Chief of Staff \
Vincent Manuel,District V Chief of Staff
County Administrator's Office .Deputy
ADDENDUM
Board of Supervisors Agenda Item DA
December 20, 2005
On this day, the Board of Supervisors considered directing Supervisors Piepho and Glover to conduct a
countywide review of all Municipal Advisory Councils(MACS)operating under the direction of the
Board of Supervisors; directing Supervisors Piepho and Glover to acquire a history of MAC minutes and
agendas, and work with the other Supervisors to develop recommendations; and directing Supervisors
Piepho and Glover to return to the Board with recommendations on establishing standardized guidelines
for each MAC in the County to adhere to.
Supervisor Piepho said MACs are a great tool for the community and for County staff. She said the
recommended actions are an opportunity to strengthen and enhance the MAC structures while addressing
discrepancies. She said she hopes to work jointly with Supervisor Glover to develop strong relationships
with the MACs,while reviewing MAC charters to determine if a countywide charter would be beneficial.
Supervisor Glover noted that often MACS are operating under bylaws that have not been approved by the
Board. He said he thinks it is time to clarify the role of MACS in the community, and that it is important
to provide clarification to MAC members so they are clear on their roles.
Supervisor Uilkema suggested the Board may not want to require MACS to change a system that may
already be working very well,and that district differences may need to be incorporated into the review.
Supervisor Gioia said that the review can look for those areas where there can be continuity.
Supervisor Glover said the review will be done cooperatively with each district office, and will be an
inclusive process.
Supervisor Piepho noted that the MACS will also be involved in the review process.
The Chair asked for public comment on this item. The following people spoke:
Attila Gabor, Bay Point resident, in support of the review;
Judy Dawson, Bay Point resident,to suggest making MACs elected bodies;
Marilyn Millander,to support the review and submit written recommendations.
By a unanimous vote with none absent, the Board of Supervisors took the following action:
DIRECTED Supervisors Piepho and Glover to conduct a countywide review of all Municipal Advisory
Councils(MACs), analyzing operating procedures in effort to formalize and standardize MAC operating
procedures; DIRECTED staff to gather requested information for the review; and DIRECTED
Supervisors Piepho and Glover to return to the Board with recommendations.
Dec. 19, 2005
RECEIVED
Ms. Mary Piepho
Supervisor, Dist. III DEC 2 0 2005
Contra Costa Board of Supervisors
651 Pine St. CLERK BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
Martinez. CA 94553 CONTRA COSTA CO.
Re: Agenda Item DA 12/20/05
Dear Ms. Piepho,
I have been a member of the El Sobrante Municipal Advisory Council (ESMAC) since Jan. 2002. I
was elected via appointment because only 4 people ran for the 4 open positions. I am not a
political ally of Dist. I Supervisor John Gioia. All other current ESMAC members were either
appointed or supported by him in the most recent election.
You will be studying the operating procedures of Contra Costa County Municipal Advisory
Councils (MAC's)and possibly standardizing those procedures for all County MAC's. I am in
agreement that this needs to occur. Based on my experiences on the ESMAC I would like to make
the following recommendations:
1) All MAC members should be elected by the citizens they represent
2) All MAC's should have an operating budget decided upon by the Board;this should be the
same amount for all MAC's. This money should be allocated from County funds and the
Treasury books/files of all MAC's should be made available for all MAC members and
members of the community to view at regular meetings
3) A set of Bylaws should be prepared for all MAC's subject to review by County Counsel
and passage by the Board
4) MAC's should be able to issue written opinions on any legislation: local, State or Federal
5) The input of any MAC member should not be subject to exclusion by a vote of the MAC
members
6) Planning and zoning decisions for unincorporated areas represented by a MAC should be
done by the elected members of that MAC; if not, paid officials of the Community
Development Department should do this job to avoid conflict of interest problems in a
community
7) Supervisors should not be involved in the election campaigns of MAC members in their
district
8) All members of a MAC should be able to view all incoming documentation sent to the
MAC chair at least 96 hours prior to a MAC meeting
9) All outgoing communications sent on behalf of the MAC by the MAC chair should be
included in the next month's agenda or be available for viewing at least 96 hours prior to
the next MAC meeting
10) MAC meetings should generally follow Robert's Rules of Order and such procedures as
"brainstorming", et al should not be allowed
I feel MAC's should not be "yes"men or women for the District supervisor. There is no reason
MAC members cannot have opinions that are different than their Supervisor. They should feel
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comfortable expressing their opinion as they are on an "advisory"board. Consensus decisions
have no place on an elected board; opinions should be rendered by a majority vote. In many cases,
this may be the only way those citizens residing in the unincorporated areas represented by MAC's
can have their voice heard. In my area—Dist. 1 —there are many diverse communities represented
by the Dist. 1 supervisor. For instance,there is my town of El Sobrante that is predominantly
middle class, has many single family homes and residents from many different ethnic groups;there
is N. Richmond which has a large amount of lower income people and a huge crime problem; there
is Kensington which is an upper middle class community located in the hills overlooking San
Francisco Bay. All these communities need a voice and the retention of MAC's to serve them is
extremely important, in my view.
The Treasury books of the ESMAC were not available for me to view until very recently. There is
no reason I should have been kept from viewing them— it was an arbitrary decision supported by
the Dist. 1 Supervisor's office. Recently I was informed that there was a Board order that stated all
incoming MAC funds had to be approved by the Board. I don't know the status of this problem in
relation to the ESMAC or other MAC's. I have been told that the Rodeo MAC has thousands of
dollars in their Treasury donated by a local oil refinery. This should be investigated.
In my area,the ESMAC is not charged with hearing planning and zoning(P&Z) cases from the
County Community Develoment Dept. Mr. Dennis Barry sends these documents to the Chairman
of the ESMAC and asks for the ESMAC's recommendations, but it is unclear to me why this is not
happening. A private group which has been controlled by Eleanor Loynd for over 30 years,the "El
Sobrante Valley Planning&Zoning Committee" (ESVP&Z), has been hearing and making
recommendations for P &Z cases from Richmond and El Sobrante since the inception of the
ESMAC. This is a conflict of interest, in my view, as until recently,there were 3 members of the
ESMAC on the ESP&Z which actually constituted a quorum meeting of the ESMAC. After this
was "discovered"last year,there are now only 2 members in common but the ESMAC chair is
always made a member of the ESP&Z;this occurred recently when incoming ESMAC chair
Barbara Pendergrass was immediately appointed to the ESP&Z. Ms. Pendergrass is also active
with the "Garrity Creek"group that seeks to stop development of a privately owned piece of land
here in El Sobrante,
When I carne onboard the ESMAC, I found the Bylaws were unreadable and asked if we could
update them. The chair,called infrequent meetings over a period of 2 years that were sparsely
attended. Those in attendance did manage to review about 2/3 of the existing Bylaws and make
suggested changes. Unfortunately, when the latest group of 4 members came on board in 2004,
one of these members brought in a new set of Bylaws which were not derived from the work done
previously. After several meetings yet another set of Bylaws were derived and submitted to the
Dist. 1 Supervisor's office for approval. The disposition of these Bylaws is not know by me at this
time.
The ESMAC chair receives many communications addressed to the ESMAC that have not been
available for other members to see. Several times, the ESMAC chair has brought a large folder
(which was supposed to contain recent incoming communications)to the regular meeting but it was
not possible to participate in the meeting and go over these communications. Even though I'm an
elected member, I am not generally aware of much of the business that goes on with the ESMAC.
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I am available for any further input when you begin yyeour study of reshaping the County MAC's.
AanlynneellaYider
Member, SMAC
7010 Monte Verde Rd.
El Sobrante, CA 94803
510-223-0443
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