Verbal - Affidavit CosgroveTOWN OF Los GATOS
OFFICE OF THE TOWN CLERK CIVIC CENTER
110 E. MAIN STREET
P.O. Box 2
Los GATOS, CA 95031
AFFIDAVIT OF CERTIFICATION
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA) SS
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
MARIAN V. COSGROVE, BEING FIRST DULY SWORN, DEPOSES AND SAYS THAT SHE IS
THE DULY ELECTED AND QUALIFIED TOWN CLERK OF THE TOWN OF LOS GATOS; AND THAT SHE HAS
HELD THE PRESENT OFFICE OF TOWN CLERK SINCE DECEMBER 6TH, 2004 AND HAS RECEIVED
INSUFFICIENT INFORMATION TO CERTIFY ANYTHING BUT THE NOVEMBER ELECTI N F2004.
MARIAN V. COSGROVE, TOWN ( L RK 4
TOWN OF LOS GATOS, CALIFORNIA
DECEMBER 19, 2005
BACKGROUND
I received the Council Packet of December 19, 2005 on Friday evening, December 16, 2005 at my
door step in the same fashion as Council members receive their meeting packets. Thank you again.
I am once again going to address that receipt and my ability to certify the Legislative Record of
Council's action this evening.
I will retain the packet I received for the records of the Office of Town Clerk so as to be capable of
certifying the original record of this evening's proceedings. The Town Clerk's Office will need
several more items to be able to complete that certification. Two weeks from today the original
packet should have information appended to it to authenticate its validity, and those agenda items that
have that validating information can be certified by this Office.
The original packet should be on the Town Clerk's desk awaiting certification of the reports with the
following items and information included:
* The working agendas that show that the items on the final agenda have been anticipated and
that there has been sufficient time to notice certain items by publication, posting, pre-bid notification
and proper attesting to those notices by the Office of the Town Clerk.
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* A copy ofthe Notices that were posted in three public locations with the posted dates adhered
to them.
* The Posting Log in binder form which show the posting times of the agendas and the posting
times of any amendments to the agendas.
* The Affidavits of Publication which should have been received from the newspaper of record
* The Publication Log to review the publication dates that notices were submitted to the
newspaper and proof that the billing was received and forwarded to finance for payment.
* Copy of the Addendums received by Council
* Copy of Desk Items received by Council
* Copy of Submittals received by Council during its meeting
This Office will also require the following items for review:
* A copy of the Weekly for tracking the Town's legal notices regarding the people's business
* Current Town Rosters for tracking Town appointees and their terms of office
* Proof of the appointees' Residency
* Review ofthe applicants' Applications and resumes and copies for the Town Clerk's records.
(This Office did not receive any of this information last week)
* Proof of the appointees' Oath of Office
Also needed for final certification are review of the original and copies of the following:
* Minutes of each agenda item attached to the subject file for verification of Council action
* Resolutions numbered signed and sealed
* Ordinances numbered signed and sealed. (Proof of the first and second readings being
performed at the appropriate times)
* Legal instruments: Letters of Agreement; Agreements; Contracts; Certificates; Bid Awards;
Promissory Notes; Grants; Security Bonds; Recordings of Deeds, Easements and Property Liens;
Verification of Appropriate Insurance coverage; and any other executed instruments generated by
the Legislative Actions of Council at agendized Regular and Special Meetings.
* These instruments will be properly numbered and identified and linked to their Legislative
Report and their Resolution or Ordinance. This information should be linked within the Clerk's Index
and each Town Department should be able to access this information.
* In two weeks the Office of Town Clerk's cubicle and computer should have these paper
documents to review and electronic computer access to easily pull up Clerk's Index and the Time
Coded Transcript of the Council Meeting
* Each and every Council packet for the last two years should also be available on the
computer. When I was so rudely locked out, (November of 2004), there was a year's worth of
Council packets already scanned, and so at this time there should be another year's worth available
for review.
* In two weeks time I would also like a short training session in what is now available on the
Office of Town Clerk's computer and specifics concerning any new processes needed to access and
use these files. All of the records noted above should have been coded and cross referenced within
Clerk's Index and simplified for the various generating departments to review the status of their
records and to easily retrieve the originals if needed.
* Not only should these records be ready for internal use but they should be ready to be placed
on the Town's Web Site. Other cities are well on their way with open and public access to the
people's business and there is no reason for our town not to be part of this government of the people.
Seventeen years ago when I first became the Town's Elected Town Clerk, there were forward
moving cities already scanning and offering public record access to their constituents. I immediately
purchased Clerk's Index and began scanning documents and indexing retention but Council never
supported records management and my efforts were done on my own time with my own personal
limited funds. It is time for a change. It is time to become professional. It is time for the public to
take charge and demand fully funded public access to their business, the Legislative History of Los
Gatos.
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The last time I was at Town Hall during business hours there were none of the documents I had
requested at my desk. Any citizen that requests certain records is required by law to have them made
available to them within ten days time. They were not made available to me, nor was there any
methodology supplied by the manager's highly professional staff as to how I was to access these
records. Over the years I have supplied numerous records to the Town's auditors at just a simple
request by phone or by being given a list by the auditors and the time they would like to review those
records.
The best I have received from the manager's clerk a month ago is a question as to how I and my
family are doing, and from her assistant a quip that any record I want to see I can help myself to from
the files, since the administrator's office has no time to pull the records for the Office of Town Clerk.
The administrator's office is also unable to give any time to explaining the use of any of the Town
Clerk's equipment that was moved last year and which was given different codes and budget
references since that move. At that time the Town Clerk of seventeen years had taken the Oath of
Office once again and was prepared to certify records in the capacity mandated by the State of
California, but the administrator's office withheld all records for the past year and only a month ago
suggested that the Town Clerk help herself
I will attempt then to find these records on my own without any assistance or interference from the
manager's clerk.