STAFF REPORT
DATE: April 25, 2023
TO: Justin Hess, City Manager
FROM: Marisa Garcia, Park, Recreation, and Community Services Director VIA: Diego Cevallos, Deputy Director, Park, Recreation, and C ommunity Services
BY: Cathryn LaBrado, Recreation Services Manager
SUBJECT: Introduction of an Ordinance Amending Burb ank Municipal Code Section 2-1-416 Youth Board
RECOMMENDATION
Introduce AN ORDINANCE OF THE C OUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BURBANK AMENDING BURBANK MUNICIPAL CODE SECTION 2-1-416 YOUTH BOARD.
BACKGROUND
In November 1973, the Youth Board (Board) was established by City Council (Council).
Burbank Municipal Code (BMC) Section 2-1-416 describes t he core duties of Board members to: represent the interests of local youth in community affairs; represent the City in matters of inte rest to youth in the community; assist in helping other youth in the community to understand and appreciate local government; obtain interpretations for local youth on City ordinances, rules and regulations which affect them; encourage local youth to actively partici pate in community affairs and matters of concern to the City; conduct studies and investigations in the general field of youth and community interest and to communicate its findings and recommendation s to the Council; enc ourage coordination of e ffort among community institutions and organizations that focus on youth problems and needs; and advise and assist the Park s and Recreation (P&R) Board on issues affecting the youth in the community.
Board mem bers are expected to demonstrate strong commitm ent by attending all scheduled mee tings, providing key information to members and schools by attending various liaison meetings (P&R Board and Sustainable Burbank Commiss ion), and volunteering time, skills, and resources for Board initiatives.
The Board is structured to consist of 17 members. Representatives are provided from five d esignated high school s a nd six designated middle school s within Burba nk, including both public and parochial schools. The remaining six positions do not serve as
PARKS AND
RECREATION
2 representatives of a specific school but are appointed by Council to serve at -large. All appointments are for a one-year term, beginning on September 1.
DISCUSSION
BMC Section 2-1-416, subsection A currently requires high school representatives to be appointed to the Board from five designated high schools, B ellarmine-Jefferson Hig h School, Burbank High School, John Burroughs High School, Monterey High School, and Providence High S chool. However, Bellarmine-Jefferson High School closed in 2018 and the BMC does not designate how to fill a vac ant designated school representative seat. On request, staff was granted permission fro m City Council to appoint an additional at-large member to fil l the vacant Bellarmine-Jefferson High School representative seat.
Additionally, the BMC currently designates a middle school representative from Jordan Middle School, which has since undergo ne a renaming and is no w Dolores Hu erta Middle School, and only designates minimum grade-level requirements for the three parochial middle school delegates, which is reflective of a time when middle schools i n the Burbank Unified School Dis trict (BUSD) were only 7 th and 8 th grade. N ow BUS D middle schools include 6th grade.
The following permanent amendments are being proposed to BMC 2-1-416, subsection A (Attachment 2):
1. Remove the school representative seat designated for Bellarmine-Jefferson High School due to the school closing in 2018;
2. Increase the number of at-large members from six (6) to seven (7) to account for the removal of the Bellarmine-Jefferson representative;
3. Include language that details a process for filling future vacant designated school representative positions. As proposed, if a school is unable to submit a representative, the vacancy may be filled with an additional at-large member;
4. Change Jordan Middle School to Dolores Huerta Middle School to reflect the school’s official name change in 2021; and
5. Adjust language regarding grade level for middle schools to indicate that all middle school representatives must be in either 7
th or 8th grade, not just
representatives from parochial schools.
BMC 2 -1-416
, subsection D currently requires that middle and high s chools select Youth Board representatives through an election proced ure. This requirement is highly restrictive and can be difficult for schools to follow. Historically, schools have met this requirement by having a student elected to thei r Associated Student Body (AS B) serve as the s chool’s Youth Board representative, but t his creates a very small group of students to choose from and at times, these students are unable to meet the time commitment required by Youth Board and/or are not interested. Staff proposes that school administrators or teachers be able to select interested and qualified students for 3 Youth Board, which should increase the likelihood of having student representatives who ar e available, committed, and interested in serving on the Youth Board. The following permanent amendments are being propos ed to BMC 2 -1-416, subsection D (Attachment 2):
1. Adjust language to reflect that student representatives may be selected by school administrators rather than elected by the student body; and
2. Replace “junior high school” with “middle school,” to reflect current school titles.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This activity involves admi nistrative changes of the B MC and has no potential fo r resulting in either a dir ect physical change in the envi ronment, or a reasona bly foreseeable indirect physical c hange in the environment, and as such, is not a “project” subject to the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) 14 Ca l.
Code Regs § 15378.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact related to this BMC amendment.
CONCLUSION
The proposed amendment s to BMC Section 2-1-416 remove outdated language and ensure that yearly appointments to Youth Board can be made more efficiently.
ATTACHMENT
Attachment 1 – Ordinance – Code Amendment - BMC 2-1-416 Attachment 2 – Amended BMC Section 2-1-416 Redline