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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