Attachment 1 - Council Policy Committee February 22 2022 Staff ReportPREPARED BY: Shelley Neis
Town Clerk
Reviewed by: Town Manager, Assistant Town Manager, and Town Attorney
110 E. Main Street Los Gatos, CA 95030 ● (408) 354-6832
www.losgatosca.gov
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
COUNCIL POLICY COMMITTEE REPORT
MEETING DATE: 02/22/2022 ITEM NO: 3
DATE: February 14, 2022
TO: Council Policy Committee
FROM: Laurel Prevetti, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Discuss and Recommend to the Town Council Modifications to the
Commission Appointment Policy 2-11 in Relation to the Adult Commissioner
Appointments
RECOMMENDATION:
Discuss and recommend to the Town Council modifications to the Commission Appointment
Policy 2-11 in relation to the adult Commissioner appointments.
BACKGROUND:
At the January Policy Committee meeting, the Committee requested the Commission
Appointment Policy be brought for discussion regarding the annual interview and appointment
date for Adult Commissioners.
Currently, the Policy states the annual adult Commissioner interview date shall be set for no
later than the second Town Council meeting in December (page 3).
DISCUSSION:
The Committee has discussed Commissioner appointments on many occasions in the past
several years. The last few years, the interviews and appointments have been held at the first
meeting in November to reduce the number of applicants who are not able to attend because
they are traveling for the holidays.
When interviews and appointments were held in December, staff noticed a number of
applicants were traveling for the holidays and not available to interview, thereby reducing the
number of applicants eligible to be considered for appointment. The Policy requires that all
applicants must interview to be considered for appointment.
ATTACHMENT 1
PAGE 2 OF 2 SUBJECT: Commission Appointment Policy 2-11 in Relation to the Adult Commissioner Appointments DATE: February 14, 2022
DISCUSSION (continued):
Incumbents do have the ability to submit a letter, no later than the Friday before the
interviews, stating why they are unable to attend and why they should be considered for
reappointment.
When the Council Policy Committee met in January to discuss its workplan, a Committee
member suggested modifying the Policy to ensure that the newly elected Council would make
the appointments. Attachment 2 provides draft language (redline) to achieve this purpose.
Based on the information in this report, public comment, and discussion at the meeting, the
Committee is welcome to provide specific direction on interview and selection timing, and any
other related topics. If the Committee agrees on potential modifications, staff recommends
that the Committee forward their recommendation to the full Council for consideration.
CONCLUSION:
Staff looks forward to the discussion with the Committee.
COORDINATION:
The preparation of this report was coordinated with the Town Manager’s Office and the Town
Attorney.
FISCAL IMPACT:
None.
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT:
This is not a project defined under CEQA, and no further action is required.
Attachments:
1. Current Commission Appointment Policy 2-11
2. Proposed Commission Appointment Policy with Redline
COUNCIL POLICY MANUAL
TITLE: Commission Appointments, Residency and
Attendance Requirements, and Establishing a Quorum
POLICY NUMBER: 2-11
EFFECTIVE DATE: 2/28/1990 PAGES: 7
ENABLING ACTIONS: REVISED DATES: 6/13/1994; 6/16/2014;
4/7/2015; 10/18/2016; 2/21/2017;
2/6/2018; 3/19/19; 9/3/2019; 6/1/2021;
12/7/21
APPROVED:
PURPOSE
To establish a policy to encourage participation by the Town’s residents on Town Boards,
Commissions and Committees (hereinafter referred to as "Commissions"). The Town of
Los Gatos is committed to inclusivity. We value all our community members, regardless
of religion, immigration status, ethnicity, race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, or
gender identity. The Town will encourage residents to participate on Commissions by
advertising vacancies on Commissions for at least 30 days, preparing easily understood
applications, maintaining clear descriptions of the role of each Board, Commission, and
Committee and its respective members, providing current meeting schedules, and
conducting public interviews of all Commission applicants, except as provided by this
Policy.
SCOPE
This Policy applies to all applicants to Town Boards, Commissions and Committees.
POLICY
The Town Council encourages public participation in all decision-making and to be successful
residents must be assured both that the participation is meaningful and that their input will
be valued. The widest representation from the community can only be achieved if
vacancies are well advertised so that anyone interested will have the opportunity to apply.
Interviews of the applicants conducted in public by the Town Council demonstrates that it
values these appointments and that all have an equal opportunity to be appointed.
Applicants may apply to more than one Commission, and shall rank their choices in their
preferred order, during each recruitment cycle.
Small Town Service Community Stewardship Future Focus
ATTACHMENT 1
TITLE: Commission Appointments, Residency and
Attendance Requirements, and Establishing a Quorum
PAGE:
2 of 7
POLICY NUMBER:
2-11
To ensure the greatest possible participation by the public, it is the Town's policy that no
person shall be appointed to more than one Commission except in those cases where they are
ex-officio members of other Boards, Commissions and Committees. This Policy does not
apply to Commission members serving as representatives of their Commission who have
been appointed by the Town Council.
RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS
Residency within the incorporated municipal limits of the Town of Los Gatos, California is
required for appointment and continued membership on all Town of Los Gatos Boards,
Commissions, and Committees, with the exception of the Youth Commission.
Youth Commission:
The members shall be students who are entering grades 8 through 12 in the fall.
Membership for the students requires either residency in the incorporated limits of the
Town of Los Gatos or residency in the unincorporated areas of the County of Santa Clara,
which have a Los Gatos mailing address.
ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS
1. All members of all appointive Town Advisory Bodies should attend all regular and
special meetings of said Advisory Bodies.
2. Any member not in attendance at a regular meeting of said Advisory Body for at least
70% of the meeting shall be considered absent.
3. Any member of an appointive Town Advisory Body who is absent from the number of
regular meetings listed below appropriate to his or her Advisory Body shall, as a result,
surrender his or her office on the Advisory Body and the office shall be considered
vacant.
a. For an Advisory Body which holds six (6) or more regular meetings per a
consecutive twelve (12) month period: three (3) regular meetings.
b. For an Advisory Body which holds five (5) or fewer regular meetings per a
consecutive twelve (12) month period: two (2) regular meetings.
c. For an Advisory Body which holds sixteen (16) or more regular meetings per a
consecutive twelve (12) month period: eight (8) regular meetings.
4. The vacant position shall be filled by appointment by a majority vote of the Town
Council, for a term equal to the unexpired portion of the office vacated. Any member
removed from office due to non-attendance may re-apply to serve on a Town Advisory
Body but will not be treated as an incumbent in any subsequent application to the
same Advisory Body.
5. If a Youth Commissioner liaison misses three meetings of a liaison Commission during
a *consecutive twelve (12) month period, the Youth Commission shall appoint a
different Youth Commissioner as liaison.
TITLE: Commission Appointments, Residency and
Attendance Requirements, and Establishing a Quorum
PAGE:
3 of 7
POLICY NUMBER:
2-11
*Consecutive twelve (12) month period is defined as any consecutive twelve-month
period beginning with the first absence. A regular meeting shall not be cancelled and
replaced with a special meeting in order to alleviate an absence by an advisory body
member.
QUORUM REQUIREMENTS
The number of members needed to constitute a quorum on any Town Advisory Body shall
be a majority of the total number of filled seats.
PROCEDURES
The following procedures will be followed by the applicant, the Town Clerk, and the Town
Council for the appointment of applicants to Town Commissions:
Responsibility and Actions: Town Clerk
A. Annual Recruitments
Adult Commission members' terms begin on January 1st and end December 31st, Youth
Commissioners’ terms follow the academic year and begin on August 1st and end on June 30th.
The Town Clerk shall perform the following duties in conducting an annual recruitment for
Commission members:
1. Notify Town Council of vacancies on Commissions by indicating the names of the
Commissions, the number of terms expiring or being vacated, names of individual(s) with
expiring terms or vacating seats, advertising periods (at least 30 days) and the date of
interview.
2. Advertise the vacancies, including the application deadline and the interview date, which
shall be set for no later than the second Town Council meeting in December for Adult
Commissioners, and by the fourth Wednesday in May, no earlier than 4:00 p.m., for
Youth Commissioners.
3. Prepare and maintain easily understood applications for appointment to Commissions.
Applications shall include the following policy information:
a. Prior to initial appointment to any Commission, non-incumbent applicants must
be interviewed by the Town Council. The applications of those not appearing will
be held for the next recruitment.
b. If an incumbent Commissioner is requesting reappointment to the same
Commission, the incumbent may submit a request to be interviewed by
telephone, with their application, instead of attending the interview or must submit
a letter prior to the interviews, describing the reason why the applicant cannot be
present telephonically or in person for the interview, and why the applicant
should be reappointed to the Commission.
c. Submissions deadlines are mandatory; no exceptions are permitted.
TITLE: Commission Appointments, Residency and
Attendance Requirements, and Establishing a Quorum
PAGE:
4 of 7
POLICY NUMBER:
2-11
4. Applications:
a. For adult applicants — Accept applications, verify eligibility, and distribute
copies of the applications of eligible applicants to the Town Council prior to the
interviews for appointment.
b. For student applicants — Accept applications, verify eligibility, and distribute
copies of the applications of eligible applicants to the Town Council Selection
Committee, consisting of the Mayor, Vice Mayor, Police Chief, and Youth
Commission Chair (if not reapplying), prior to the interviews for appointment.
5. Notify the applicant by letter or email as to the date and time of the interview.
6. Facilitate the Council voting process set forth below by informing Council as to how many
votes are possible on each Commission, calling out applicants' names, and identifying
the applicants receiving sufficient votes for appointment. This process does not apply to
student applicants.
7. Applicants:
a. For adult applicants — After the interviews and Council vote are completed,
notify all applicants of the Council's action, and explain Town policy of
keeping application active for one year with notification of subsequent
openings on that Commission to the interested applicants.
b. For student applicants — After the interviews are completed, notify all
applicants of the Council Committee's action, and prepare a staff report for the
Town Council to ratify the Committee's appointment at the first Town Council
meeting in June.
Interview Process
To ensure the interview process is consistent, fair, and equitable, each applicant shall be asked
the same standard questions, as provided below. Notwithstanding, no Council Member shall
be prevented from asking appropriate questions of applicants.
1. If appointed, what ideas would you like to see the Commission explore?
2. Please expand beyond the written response on your application: your experience,
interest, and/or expertise that you feel would be most useful to the Commission.
3. Please elaborate on any written response provided in the application to assist the
Council learn more about you.
4. If you did not answer any of the questions on the application, please explain why.
Given that most interviews are only three to five minutes due to the size of the applicant pool,
the standard questions are limited in number to allow an applicant sufficient time to respond.
The Council may or may not ask all of the questions, in the same order, or by the same Council
member. Interview questions will be reviewed annually by the Town Council in advance of the
interview process for any potential modifications.
TITLE: Commission Appointments, Residency and
Attendance Requirements, and Establishing a Quorum
PAGE:
5 of 7
POLICY NUMBER:
2-11
Balloting Process
Unless determined otherwise, the Council shall conduct a ballot vote for the appointment of
individuals to fill the vacancies for each Commission. Such ballot vote may be conducted at
either a regular, adjourned, or special meeting of the Town Council. The ballot vote process
shall be conducted as follows:
1. The Town Clerk shall provide a ballot to each Town Council member listing the names of all
applicants and “None of the above” for each respective Commission. Prior to the vote, the
Town Clerk shall publicly announce the position vacancy and all applicant names that are
listed on the ballot.
2. Each Council member may vote for the same number of applicants as there are current
vacancies on the respective Commission. In no case, can a Council Member cast more votes
than there are vacancies; or vote for the same candidate more than once on each ballot (i.e.
cumulative voting -- e.g. where there are three vacancies, a Council member may not give
all three votes to the same candidate). A Council Member is not required to vote for any of
the candidates or for the total number of vacancies available.
3. The Town Clerk shall collect all ballots and shall publicly announce the name of each Town
Council member and how that Council member cast his or her vote. In the case of a tie
vote, the Town Clerk will announce that there is a tie and that a run-off vote shall be
conducted but will not announce the names of the applicants in the run-off. Once all voting
is concluded and a decision made, the votes will be made public. The run-off ballot will also
include a “None of the above” option.
4. Applicants receiving a majority number of votes shall be deemed appointed to the
Commission. In the event of a tie, a run-off vote shall be conducted among the applicants
receiving the highest number of votes from the previous round. This shall continue until a
majority consensus on an applicant(s) is reached for the number of vacancies to be filled. In
the event of an unbreakable tie, the Council may determine an alternative method for
selecting the appointee(s) or direct the Town Clerk to re-advertise the vacancy.
5. If an applicant(s) is appointed to an Advisory Body which has vacancies for both full and
partial, unexpired terms, the length of the appointee’s term will be determined by the
Mayor.
B. Mid-Term Recruitments
During the year, Commissions may experience vacancies that drop the number of filled seats
to a number of members that is not sufficient to conduct Commission business. The
Commission may request the Council to conduct a mid-term recruitment to fill seats. To the
extent possible, the Town Clerk will consolidate mid-term recruitments to minimize the
number of recruitments occurring throughout the year. In the event of a vacancy on the
Planning Commission, the Town will automatically conduct a mid-term recruitment. Mid-
term recruitments will not be conducted for Youth Commissioners. The Town Clerk shall
advertise mid-term vacancies on Commissions for at least 15 days.
TITLE: Commission Appointments, Residency and
Attendance Requirements, and Establishing a Quorum
PAGE:
6 of 7
POLICY NUMBER:
2-11
Responsibility and Action: Applicant
1. Read the Commission Appointments, Residency and Attendance Requirements, and
Establishing a Quorum Policy, complete and submit to the Town Clerk the application for
appointment to a Town Commission by the advertised deadline date and time.
2. For adult applicants: Attend the Council meeting to be interviewed for Commission
appointment.
For student applicants: Attend the Council Selection Committee interview session.
3. If an incumbent Commission member is requesting reappointment to the same
Commission, the incumbent may submit a request to be interviewed by telephone, with
their application, instead of attending the interview or must submit a letter prior to the
interviews, describing the reason why the applicant cannot be present telephonically or in
person for the interview, and why the applicant should be reappointed to the
Commission.
4. If appointed, prior to starting the Commission term, appointees are required to attend a
Commissioner Orientation and take the "Oath of Office."
5. Attend Advisory Body meetings once term begins.
6. Read the Commissioners’ Handbook. The Handbook is to be returned to the Town Clerk
when the term is complete.
Responsibility and Action: Town Council
1. Review applications.
2. For adult applicants – Interview applicants individually by Commission at a public meeting
with all applicants present.
For student applicants – Town Council Selection Committee interviews applicants.
3. Determine if the incumbents not in attendance and having submitted a letter pursuant to
this Policy should be considered for reappointment.
4. If there are limited applications for any vacancy to a Commission, the Mayor, on behalf of
the Council, may request that the Town Clerk re-advertise the vacancy, reschedule the
interviews, and notify all applicants of the new interview date.
COMPLIANCE - GROUNDS FOR DISMISSAL
A member may be removed from the Advisory Body prior to the end of his or her term by a
three-fifths (3/5) vote of the Town Council and may not be reappointed for the following
reasons:
1. Failure to attend Advisory Body meetings.
2. Failure to file the following documents required by the Fair Political Practices Commission
(Adult Commissioners):
a. Form 700 – Assuming Office, Annual, and Leaving Office when term is complete.
b. Planning Commissioners are also required to complete AB 1234 Ethics Training and
file the original certificate with the Town Clerk every two years.
3. Failure to comply with all Town Policies, Guidelines, and Handbooks.
TITLE: Commission Appointments, Residency and
Attendance Requirements, and Establishing a Quorum
PAGE:
7 of 7
POLICY NUMBER:
2-11
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
Under the Fair Political Practice Act, an advisory board member has a disqualifying conflict of
interest in a governmental decision if it is foreseeable that the decision will have a financial
impact on his or her personal finances or other financial interests. In such cases, there is a risk
of biased decision-making that could sacrifice the public’s interest in favor of the official’s
private financial interests. To avoid actual bias or the appearance of possible improprieties, the
public official is prohibited from participating in the decision.
The Fair Political Practice Act does not prohibit an advisory board member from participating in
a decision simply by virtue of holding a position as a board member, director, officer, or
employment with a nonprofit corporation. However, the Town strongly encourages that in the
event that a decision concerns a nonprofit corporation for which an advisory board member is a
board member, director, officer, or employed with that nonprofit corporation, the person
should recuse him or herself and at a minimum shall disclose the potential conflict of interest
before any discussion and decision.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
________
Robert Schultz, Town Attorney
ATTACHMENT 2