Downtown lone, 2026
2025-2026 Amador County Grand Jury
City Of lone:
Reading The Tea Leaves
June 23, 2026
12 CITY OF IONE TABLE OF CONTENTS
SUMMARY .15
METHODOLOGY 16
BACKGROUND 18
Council-Manager Form of Government .. 18
Municipal Code... 20
Rosenberg's Rules of Order.. 21
Protocol Manual ...21
Code of Ethics 22
Political Reform Act 22
The Brown Act.. 23
City Manager Turnover. ..23
Budgetary Oversight 24
Financial Policies and Procedures Handbook ..24
Purchasing and Bidding Policy 24
DISCUSSION .. 26
Financial Management 26
Annual Budget 27
Budget Amendment... 28
Audits and Financial Statements 29
Internal Controls. 32
Interfund Loans and Payments. 33
Retiree Healthcare Obligations. 34
Finance Manager.. 34
Administration, Finance, and Human Resources. 35
Adherence to Purchasing and Bidding Policy 37
Legal Expenses. 40
13 Governance and Decorum Issues ..44
Council Meetings 44
Developing Meeting Agendas.. 44
Transparency 47
Adherence to the Brown Act.. 49
Training 50
Behavior on the Dais ..51
FINDINGS .. 57
RECOMMENDATIONS ...62
REQUIRED RESPONSES ...66
INVITED RESPONSES ... 66
DISCLAIMER .. 66
APPENDIX 106
14 City Of lone:
Reading The Tea Leaves
2025-2026 Amador County Grand Jury
SUMMARY
The 2025-2026 Amador County Civil Grand Jury (Grand Jury) received multiple complaints with over 150 pages of supporting documentation related to the City of lone's (City) government operations and leadership. This is the sixth time the Grand Jury has investigated lone since 2010. Some of the complaints investigated this year are like those of previous Grand Jury investigations and include problems maintaining reliable financial records and failure to follow the City's adopted policies, procedures, and protocols. These issues are manifest in delays in adopting annual budgets, failures to complete financial audits on time, approval of expenses without proper backup or budget adjustments, and mounting legal expenses. They are worsened by the lack of decorum evident at city council (Council) meetings, which contributed to low staff morale, high staff turnover rates, and loss of residents' trust in their City's leadership (Council and city manager).
The current City leadership is actively addressing some of these issues by prioritizing reduction of the audit backlog and improving staff retention. These efforts include recognizing employees through verbal acknowledgement of staff contributions during public meetings and enhancing severance packages to discourage abrupt firings. Other problems persist, such as the city manager not following established bidding and purchasing protocols and councilmembers frequently violating codes of conduct.
The investigation focused on the actions of the City's councilmembers and city manager and their impact on current government operations. Through a lengthy investigation and material review, the Grand Jury identified opportunities to improve government operations, transparency, and fiscal management, as well as to foster more cooperative working relationships among the councilmembers, the city manager, and the public. 15 METHODOLOGY
The methodology the Grand Jury followed for this investigation began by verifying the complaints submitted. The Grand Jury conducted more than thirty interviews with community representatives and completed extensive research using the resources listed below:
Materials Reviewed
• California Government Codes 18700, 53234, 53891, 54950, 54952, 54953, and 54957.1
• Amador County Grand Jury Complaints and Attached documentation • lone City Council and Other lone Committees' Agendas and Meeting Minutes • City of lone Debt Services and Financial Policies and Procedures Handbook • City of lone Purchasing and Bidding Policy
• City of lone Employee Handbook
• City of lone City Council Protocol Manual
• City of lone Code of Ordinances
• City of lone Code of Ethics for lone City Council Members • City of lone Employment Contracts and Agreements
• Agreements and Payments for Attorney Services
• Censure Policy, Complaints, Emails, Memorandums, and Investigative Reports • Amador County Grand Jury Reports, Responses, and Follow-Up Reports for the City between 2010 and 2014
• Other California Counties' Grand Jury Reports, Responses, and Follow up Reports
• Conflict of Interest Material
• The City's Adopted Budgets, Audit Reports, and Financial Reports between 2010 and 2025
• Organization Charts
• Administration, Finance, and Human Resources Duty Statements • Hundreds of additional pages of information submitted voluntarily by interviewees or in response to specific information requests
16 Interviews Conducted
• Complainants
• Current and Former City Councilpersons and Committee Members • Current and Former City Employees and Contractors
• Representatives of Other Agencies Providing Services in lone • lone Community Residents
Websites/Digital Posts Consulted
• California State Controller's Office
• Live and Recorded lone City Council, Commission, and Committee Meetings • News: Ledger Dispatch and KVGCRadio.com
• Social Media Platforms: Facebook, Instagram, YouTube
• AmadorCounty.gov
• lone.ca.gov
• Fair Political Practices Commission
• California League of Cities
• Institute for Local Government
• California Grand Jury Association
17 BACKGROUND
lone served as a major supply center during the California Gold Rush and incorporated as a city in 1953. It retained its character as a small, rural community until the beginning of the 21st century. In recent decades, the construction of new subdivisions has substantially increased the population.
According to the Amador County 2021-2029
Housing Element (Countywide 6* Cycle
WELCOME Housing Element, DeNovo Planning Group,
September 2024, Part 3, Annex to the
Background Report-lone, p. 2), the number of
Downtown households in Amador County increased by 23
percent from 2000 to 2021, while the number
IONE of households in lone increased by 83 percent
during the same period. With this growth, lone
has surpassed Jackson to become the biggest
city in the county. The City's current population
lone, 2026 hovers just above 5,000 people, not including the almost 4,000 inmates housed at Mule
Creek State Prison. Some friction between long-time residents and relative newcomers is evident in arguments that take place at public council meetings over doing things the old way, through volunteerism and community spirit, versus wanting clear policies and more transparency in local government.
It is no secret to the public that the City's elected and appointed officials have been entangled in ongoing controversy in recent years. This is evident in media headlines and from readily accessible print and online sources. In this age of immediate access to information, anyone can observe public meetings by simply watching the City's video broadcasts of its Council meetings or by reading community Facebook pages like "lone Politics" or "lone News and Safety" discussions of current events and local politics.
Another indication of internal challenges is that, between 2010 and 2026, the City has appointed 12 interim and permanent city managers, while the next two largest cities in the county-Jackson and Sutter Creek-each had only 3 city managers during the same timeframe.
Council-Manager Form of Government
The City operates under the council-manager form of government (City of lone, City Council Protocol Manual 2008 (Protocol Manual), § 1.01, app. A). The council-manager form of government requires the election of a city council to guide local governance. 18 The mayor presides over meetings and suggests items for meeting agendas but otherwise has no more authority than any other councilmember. As stated in city code:
The city manager shall take his or her orders and instructions from the city council only when sitting in a duly held meeting of the city council and no individual council member shall give any orders or instructions to the city manager (Res. 1582 (2007) § 2 (part); Ord. 300 (1989) § 1 (part)).
The five-member Council is the governing body of the City, with the authority to establish policy, enact local laws, adopt an annual budget, and provide vision and goals to the city manager (Protocol Manual 2008 § 2.02, app. A). The Council establishes priorities for public services, approves contracts over $15,000, and establishes boards, commissions, committees, and task forces. Committees and task forces are purely advisory to the Council. They give well-qualified, responsible, and willing citizens the opportunity to participate in the governance of their community and serve the City (Protocol Manual 2008 § 2.08, app. A). The Council appoints the city manager and city attorney, who serve at the pleasure of the Council.
The city manager is the chief executive of the City. The city manager enforces the City's laws and ordinances, makes recommendations to the Council, and implements the policies through daily operations, staff hiring and supervision, and managing budgets.
City managers and city councils hold fiduciary duties to manage assets with loyalty, obedience, and care. Together, they must ensure transparency and act solely in the best interest of the public.
The council-manager form of government is depicted in Figure 1.
Voters
City Council
City
Attorney City Manager
Department Heads
Figure 1: Council-Manager Form of Government
19 Councilmembers are elected for four-year terms, with staggered elections occurring every two years. The mayor and vice mayor are elected each year by fellow councilmembers. A current list of councilmembers, along with their terms and roles, is depicted in Table 1.
Councilmember First Elected Term Expires Mayor Vice Mayor Jody Maita 2025 2028 2026 2025
2021, 2023,
Stacey Rhoades 2019 2028 2020, 2026
2025
Dominic Atlan 2015 2026
Jack Mitchell 2023 2026 2023
Alison LaFayne 2023 2026 2024
Table 1: lone's Current City Councilmembers
Prior to taking office, councilmembers swear an oath of office as specified in California's Constitution. Once sworn in, they must comply not only with California laws, but also with local laws and adopted ordinances aimed at guiding Council authority and actions.
Pertinent policy documents and laws that guide councilmember actions are described below.
Municipal Code
The Council's actions are guided by the municipal code, which is continuously updated to incorporate ordinances adopted by the Council. Much of the municipal code pertains to land use, zoning, and building standards but it also addresses city administration.
Title 2 (2013) of the Municipal Code addresses the role of the Council, describing the organization of Council meetings and Council responsibilities, as well as rules of order.
Municipal Code 2013 section 2.04.120, app. B, contains rules of conduct for councilmembers:
Members of the council shall confine themselves to the question before the council and avoid personal or indecorous language. No discussion of a sectarian or political nature shall be allowed. No member shall interrupt another while speaking, except to make a point of order, the point to be briefly stated to the mayor or presiding officer. No member shall, while the council is sitting, interrupt or hinder its business by standing, moving about, talking, expressing approval or 20 disapproval of any of the proceedings, or by any conduct tending to disorder or contuse.
Municipal Code section 2.04.100 states, , "The mayor shall enforce the rules of the council and preserve order and decorum," placing the responsibility for maintaining decorum at Council meetings squarely on the mayor (Municipal Code 2013 § 2.04.100, app. B).
Rosenberg's Rules of Order
Parliamentary procedures set the agreed-upon standard for conducting Council meetings. Municipal Code section 2.04.090 states that Rosenberg's Rules of Order (2011) shall be used as a guideline to govern the proceedings of the Council (Municipal Code 2013 § 2.04.090, app. B; Rosenberg's Rules of Order (2011), app. C). The Protocol Manual section 8.11 (discussed below) states the Council will follow Rosenberg's Rules of Order to facilitate the orderly processing of the business of Council meetings (Protocol Manual 2008 § 8.11, app. A). The rules of order are meant to create an atmosphere of courtesy, decorum, and where all present can attend to business efficiently, fairly, and with full participation. The mayor is responsible for running Council meetings but can refer to the city attorney to act as the parliamentarian as needed.
Protocol Manual
Council adopted the Protocol Manual on August 5, 2008. [Note: this manual received only very minor updates until 2026, when the current Council completed its review of the entire document during two Council meetings and subsequently adopted a revised Protocol Manual on May 5, 2026. By that time, the Grand Jury had substantially completed their investigation. Thus, discussion of the Protocol Manual below is based on the 2008 policy document unless otherwise noted]. The purpose of the Protocol Manual is to assist the Council by documenting accepted practices and clarifying expectations. The agreement of Council and staff to be bound by these practices greatly enhances the administration of Council affairs. Expectations and practices are articulated to guide Council's actions (Protocol Manual 2008 § 1.02, app. A).
As outlined in the Protocol Manual section 8.12, during the debate and decision-making, the Council will (Protocol Manual 2008 § 8.12, app. A):
• Fully participate in city council meetings and other public forums while demonstrating respect, trust, kindness, consideration, and courtesy of others; • Prepare in advance of city council meetings and be familiar with the issues on the agenda;
21 • Be respectful of other people's time. Stay focused and act efficiently during public meetings;
• Serve as a role model of leadership and civility to the community; • Inspire public confidence in the City of lone government; • Demonstrate honesty and integrity in every action statement; and • Be responsible and accountable for your words and actions.
Code of Ethics
The Council adopted a Code of Ethics for members of the Council (Resolution 1383, (2003), app. D) to set forth standards as a means of reaching ethically sound decisions, with a commitment to conducting business according to the highest achievable ethical standards, based on the following:
• We shall serve equally all members of the community without prejudice or favoritism toward any individual, group, organization or economic interest; • We shall promote and protect the health and safety of all members of the community;
• We shall serve with efficiency, respect legality and heed the commands of due diligence and morality;
• We shall recognize that we are agents of public purpose not owners of authority; • We shall deal with all employees, fellow officers, and members of the public without regard to political partisanship;
• We shall promote and affirm equal opportunity for appointments and promotions of all persons without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, or physical or mental disability;
• We shall recognize the obligation to participate fully and responsibly in matters and organizations concerned with the betterment of life in the City of lone; • We shall exercise our authority and prestige for the benefits of the City of lone and all members of the community and never for personal or private advantage; • We shall always consider how our official actions and personal behavior might be interpreted by the public; and
• We shall avoid personal invectives in public or closed forums.
Political Reform Act
California's Political Reform Act (Act) prohibits public officials from using their official position to influence any government decision that could affect any personal financial interest they may have (CA Government Code §18700). Financial interests can include 22 employment or other sources of income such as investments, real estate, and gifts. The Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), whose regulations prohibit officials from participating in such decisions, enforces the Act. Although individual City councilmembers typically make their own decision regarding whether they should recuse themselves from participating in particular deliberations, the city attorney may provide advice to a councilmember. Legal advice, however, may not provide a defense if the FPPC brings an enforcement action against the councilmember. A councilmember may seek a formal written opinion from the FPPC (Protocol Manual 2008 § 6.02(F), app.
A); CA Government Code § 1097.1(c)(1) -(2)).
The Brown Act
The Ralph M. Brown Act mandates that public bodies such as councils, boards, and commissions conduct their business openly in public sessions, with adequate advance notice and opportunities for members of the public to witness and comment on deliberations and decision making (CA Government Code § 54950, app.
E). The Brown Act requires that meeting agendas be posted in advance, discussion be limited only to those items on the agenda, and public be given opportunities to comment on matters on or off the agenda. Closed sessions are permitted but are limited to specific topics such as pending litigation, personnel matters, and real estate negotiations. A description of the items to be discussed shall be included in the published agenda (CA Government Code § 54954.2, app. E).
City Manager Turnover
According to a 2025 survey conducted by the California City Management Foundation, the average tenure of city managers in the State of California is approximately 4.5 years (Rose Institute of State and Local Government 2025, 14). As shown in Table 2 below, the City's tenure rate is far below average. The challenging nature of the job is reflected in the fact that the City has had five city managers since 2020.
Name Title Year
Lori McGraw Interim City Manager 2020 - 2021
Michael Rock Interim City Manager 2021 - 2022
Michael Rock City Manager 2022 - 2023
John Alfred Acting City Manager 2023
Amy Gedney Interim City Manager 2023 - 2024
George Lee City Manager 2024 - current
Table 2: City of lone City Manager Turnover, 2020 to present 23 Budgetary Oversight
In addition to its general governance and policy making functions, the Council is responsible for ensuring the City's financial assets are properly managed. One of its most important functions is adopting an annual City budget to guide expenditures. The city manager presents the annual budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 and ending June 30 to the Council for adoption in June. The annual budget is the City's primary fiscal guide, providing the necessary structure and funding to execute its core mission and provide for public services. By adopting the annual budget, the Council makes policy decisions, sets priorities, allocates resources, and provides the framework for government operations (Protocol Manual 2008 § 1.03(D), app. A).
The duty to prepare the City's budget is described in the City's Municipal Code, Title 2— Administration and Personnel (Municipal Code 1989, § 2.10.150, app. B):
It shall be the duty of the city manager to prepare and submit the proposed annual budget and the proposed annual salary plan to the city council for its approval.
Financial decisions made by Council and city manager about use of City funds are guided by policies approved by Council, as described below.
Financial Policies and Procedures Handbook
Council adopted the City's Financial Policies and Procedures Handbook (Financial Policies) on June 16, 2015, to achieve a long-term stable and positive financial condition. "The watchwords of the City's financial management include integrity, prudent stewardship, planning, accountability, and full disclosure" (Financial Policies 2015 § 1.I, app. F).
Amendments to the Financial Policies include Resolution 2015-25 (app. G), which establishes policies on interfund transfers, consolidating funds and eliminating funds, and Resolution 2018-18 (app. H), which establishes debt policies and other financing obligations.
Purchasing and Bidding Policy
The Purchasing and Bidding Policy (Purchasing Policy) provides a fair and equitable process for vendors to provide a bid to the City and for the City to make an award.
Exceptions must be approved by Council as Council may, by majority vote and in accordance with its fiduciary responsibilities, approve expenditures of any amount, for any length of term, consistent with applicable laws (Purchasing Policy 2019, Ch. 2.44, app. I).
24 Pertinent Purchasing Policy guidelines in section 2.44 include:
2.44.130,1. Vendor Limit
Combined purchase orders without a "The watchwords of the formal bid cannot exceed $50,000 per City's financial
vendor, per fiscal year.
management include
2.44.140D. Expenditures of $10,001 to integrity, prudent $15,000 stewardship, planning,
Authorized by the city manager, require accountability, and full disclosure."
a purchase order plus a city
contract, and three Financial Policies 2025 § 1.1
informal bids (verbal, written, telephone
or email).
2.44.140E. Expenditures over $15,000
Authorized by City Council, require a
purchase order, formal bids, and a city contract.
2.44.150 Procurement Procedures
Expenditures over $50,000 require an invitation for bids or Requests for Proposals (RFP) or Requests for Qualifications (RFQ), a city contract, and city council approval.
2.44.150A.8.
When no bids are received, the City Council may accomplish the project in any manner it sees fit.
The Council and city manager are assisted by a finance manager to maintain the City's records of revenues and expenditures. The finance manager reports to the city manager and is assisted by additional staff as needed. Similar to the frequent turnover in the position of the city manager, the finance department has had five finance managers in recent years.
25 Table 3 below details recent staffing for the City's finance manager position.
Name Title Year
Lori McGraw Finance Manager May 2017 - May 2021
Chris Hancock Acting Finance Manager August 2022 - June 2023 Jodi Steneck Finance Manager June 2023 - September
2024
Michael Ormsby Finance Manager October 2024 - March 25
Andrea Bonham Interim Finance Manager March 2025 - July 2025 Andrea Bonham Finance Manager August 2025 - current
Table 3: City of lone Finance Manager Turnover, 2017 to Present
DISCUSSION
In this section, the Grand Jury provides further information about its observations and research findings regarding recent Council and city manager performance in two areas:
financial management (fiduciary responsibilities) and general governance (including issues such as communications and meeting decorum). Since the Grand Jury received multiple complaints regarding excessive legal fees charged to the City and this has been a contentious topic at numerous Council meetings over the past year, the Grand Jury also presents information and findings on that topic below.
Financial Management
The Grand Jury initiated an investigation into the Council's management of public funds and oversight responsibilities to ensure that the principles of integrity, prudent stewardship, planning, accountability, and full disclosure (Financial Policies 2015 § 1.I) guide budget decisions and resource allocation. These core principles are necessary to promote transparency, foster public trust, and ensure the City's long-term financial sustainability.
26 Annual Budget
The annual budget, beginning on July 1 and ending June 30, aligns financial resources to complete the City's short-term and long-term goals set by Council. The Protocol Manual section 1.03(D) establishes study sessions or budget workshops "held in May and public hearings in June with adoption at the second Council meeting in June." The budgetary process is also described in the Financial Policies section 1.IV, Operating Budget (Financial Policies 2015 § 1.IV, app. F).
Adopting an annual city budget on time provides a clear, approved framework for spending to avoid making rushed financial decisions. An adopted budget is important for operational continuity and legal authority to spend money. Meeting fiscal deadlines builds public confidence by showing a city is organized, accountable, and transparent.
The city manager is charged with preparing and submitting an annual proposed budget, administering it upon adoption, and keeping Council fully advised of the financial condition of the City and its future needs (Protocol Manual 2008 § 7.02, app. A). This can be done through Council meeting reports and agenda packets, as well as through special workshops or study sessions to present more detailed information on important matters.
The City's Finance Committee is a two-member sub-committee of the Council responsible for providing fiscal oversight, guidance, and policy recommendations to the full Council. According to Financial Policies section 1.IV.3, the city manager and finance manager will present the draft preliminary budget to the Finance Committee for its review and recommendations (Financial Policies 2015 § 1.IV.3, app. F).
The Finance Committee met six times during fiscal year 2023-2024 to examine areas including the budget, financial reports, budget amendments, audits, salary schedule, and revenues/expenses. On June 18, 2024, the Council adopted the fiscal year 2024- 2025 operating budget (Res. 2014-15, effective July 1, 2024).
Council discussed a draft fiscal year 2025-2026 budget plan at the April 1, 2025, Council meeting. On July 15, 2025, the Council approved to extend the fiscal year 2024- 2025 budget (Res. 2025-20) until the fiscal year 2025-26 budget could be adopted.
Failure to present the draft preliminary budget to the Finance Committee violated Financial Policies section 1.IV.3. Failure to hold public hearings and adopt the budget in June violated Protocol Manual section 1.03(D). Council adopted the fiscal year 2025- 2026 budget on September 30, 2025 (Resolution 2025-32). The Finance Committee 27 has not had a public meeting since July 25, 2024, nor has the City formed an ad-hoc committee to address major financial issues.
During the April 21, 2026, Council meeting, the proposed budget process and schedule for fiscal year 2026-2027 was presented and included budget workshops during regular Council meetings in June and July. The presentation, public hearing, and adoption of the proposed budget is scheduled for the July 21, 2026, Council meeting, violating timeframes required in policy. The finance manager explained the short timeframe for the budget workshops and adoption date is due to ongoing work on the outstanding financial audits.
Budget Amendment
At any time during the fiscal year, the city manager may recommend amendments to the adopted budget (Financial Policies 2015 § 1.IV.5, app. F). All budget adjustments that increase or decrease total appropriations must identify an equal offsetting increase/decrease. Proposed budget amendments are submitted with the Council meeting agenda to Council and the public and approved by Council. Once approved, a budget amendment resolution is used to increase or decrease estimated revenues or appropriations, establish new funds, enable access to new funds, and transfer funds (Financial Policies 2015 § 11, app. F].
On April 2, 2024, the Council unanimously selected Mr. George Lee as the new city manager. Mr. Lee was to be paid a salary of $135,000 in line with the City's adopted 2023-2024 Salary Schedule. Less than a year later, Mr. Lee requested consideration of new contract terms for his appointment. On January 21, 2025, an agenda item with negotiated contract terms was presented to Council. Council voted 3-1 to increase Mr.
Lee's salary to $180,000, well beyond the maximum step allowed in the fiscal year 2024-2025 Salary Schedule, extend employment to 2029, increase severance pay to 18 months, and fully pay for his healthcare plan premiums. The Grand Jury recognizes the higher than maximum salary and generous benefit package may have been intended both to reward performance and to address the significant retention issue (i.e., high turnover in the city manager position). However, the salary increase exceeded the adopted budget without an approved budget amendment.
28 During the August 19, 2025, Council meeting, Council approved the purchase of property for its new police headquarters (contingent upon an appraisal). The cost was $880,000, with $150,000 down payment from the police budget. Improvements that were needed for the property were estimated at $125,000 to $150,000 with no identified source of funding other than potential grant funding and fundraisers. The purchase lacked an approved
budget amendment
During the September 2, 2025,
Council meeting, Council approved
a consulting services contract for
building inspections, with Weber
Ghio, without a budget amendment. OF
CITY
Invoices totaling approximately
$25,000 were paid between July
and October 2025.
LIFOR
During the last two years, two
FUTURE HOME OF THE
councilmembers vigorously IONE POLICE DEPARTMENT
protested repeated violations of the
lone, 2026
City's Financial Policies. Members
of the public similarly reported these violations to Council during this same timeframe, but the Council majority continued to cast three votes to approve the contracts and monthly warrants (invoices to be paid) with little discussion. During its investigation, the Grand Jury found the Council consistently approved contracts and monthly warrants without an approved budget amendment, violating Financial Policies 2015, section 11.Il (app. F).
Audits and Financial Statements
Outstanding financial audits or delayed financial
statements may signify that financial information has "The biggest hurdle the not been verified for accuracy or compliance. This can City has right now is result in loss of credibility, increased risk of we can't borrow money misstatements of records, and the financial statements ... we can't borrow may not be fully relied upon. money because the
audits aren't done."
Mr. Lee, 8/19/2025 Council
Meeting
29 The Grand Jury received complaints detailing a significant multi-year backlog of financial audits and financial statements. Requirements pertaining to the annual audit are contained in several policy documents:
• It is Council's responsibility to hire an independent auditor to perform the annual financial audit and prepare accurate financial statements of the City for the fiscal year (Protocol Manual 2008 § 1.03(E), app. A).
The audits must be conducted by a Certified Public Accounting (CPA) firm and completed in accordance with Generally Accepted Auditing Standards within 180 days of end of the City's fiscal year (Financial Policies 2015 §
1..B, app. F).
• The City's basic financial statement shall be prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accountings Principles (GAAP) and the Governmental Accounting Standards Board and provided within 180 calendar days of the end of the City's fiscal year (Financial Policies 2015 § 1.III.C1, app. F).
The fiscal year 2020-2021 audit was completed by Richardson & Company, LLP, and the Independent Auditor's Report (app. J) was issued October 15, 2025, approximately 1,383 days overdue. Timely audit completion for the City has not been achieved since fiscal year 2016-2017. Audits are still outstanding for fiscal years 2021-2022, 2022- 2023, 2023-2024, and 2024-2025.
Table 4 below shows the City's financial audit status and days overdue (as of March 31, 2026).
Fiscal Year Due Date Date Completed Days Overdue
2016-17 1/1/2018 11/24/2017 0
2017-18 1/1/2019 3/2/2019 60
2018-19 1/1/2020 2/15/2022 776
2019-20 1/1/2021 5/11/2023 860
2020-21 1/1/2022 10/15/2025 1,383
2021-22 1/1/2023 1,185
2022-23 1/1/2024 820
2023-24 1/1/2025 454
2024-25 1/1/2026 89
Table 4: City of lone's Annual Financial Audit Status and Days Overdue by Fiscal Year (As of March 31, 2026)
30 Grand Jury research, witness testimony, and Council meeting videos support evidence of prevalent late or incomplete audits. This has severely impacted the City financially over the years, both operationally and reputationally. At the August 19, 2025, Council meeting, while contemplating a property purchase, Mr. Lee informed the Council that the "biggest hurdle the City has right now is we can't borrow money" and the City could not "borrow money because the audits are not done."
California Government Code section 53891(a) (app. E) requires a Financial Transactions Report due to the State Controller's Office (SCO) within seven months of end of fiscal year, based on audited financial statements in accordance with GAAP, if this data is available. The Grand Jury has determined the last seven years of the City's data reported in the SCO's Financial Transactions Reports contain unaudited financial data and is likely inaccurate.
In the past two years, the Council has made it a priority to resolve outstanding audits.
During the December 2, 2025, Council meeting, Council approved Mr. Larry Bain, CPA, to complete bookkeeping services for fiscal years 2021-2022 and 2022-2023. Key points of the Engagement Letter, dated November 5, 2025, include:
• "Bookkeeping services will be performed based on the information" the City provides to them, they "will not verify or audit this information", nor will they "perform an audit, review, or compilation" of the City's financial statements; • "No accountant's report will be prepared or submitted." The "engagement does not include any procedures to detect errors, fraud, or theft," and • They "have no responsibility to identify and communicate deficiencies or material weaknesses" in the internal control system as part of the engagement.
The substitution of bookkeeping for an independent external financial audit constitutes a material deviation from established municipal financial protocols. As a condition of the bookkeeping services, the City agreed they are responsible for the proper recording of transactions, accuracy of the financial data, and establishing and maintaining internal controls over the bookkeeping processes. Financial statements have become effectively useless for decision-making because the City's data is unverified.
In the same December 2nd meeting, the Council also approved an engagement letter with Mr. Bain, CPA, for fiscal year 2023-2024 audit services. The Council agreed the audits were so far behind that it is in the City's best interest to bring the backlog of audits current as quickly as possible. The current 4-year audit backlog is the direct result of unaddressed issues neglected by past Councils. 31 The Grand Jury reviewed correspondence during the previous one-year period between the City and the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank (IBank), the loan servicer for the City's Infrastructure State Revolving Fund Loan. IBank sent two dozen requests to check on the status of the outstanding annual comprehensive financial reports from fiscal years 2020-2021, 2021-2022, 2022-2023, along with a request to expedite completion of the report for fiscal year 2023-2024. One witness said IBank has consistently requested status updates for years; responses from City personnel have been limited to assurances of ongoing work with little progress evident.
During the last two audits, current financial staff spent much of their time researching and attempting to complete and correct prior-year records to the best of their ability so that auditors could attempt to bring the City current. City finance staff could not find important financial records and the records contained errors. It is challenging to correct years-old financial records when the staff who complete them are no longer on the City's payroll. As a result, less attention is paid to managing the current year budget and to providing the other vital services such as issuing payroll in a timely and accurate manner and processing personnel documentation. These problems and findings are discussed in detail below. The City fell far behind in completing required annual audits, unable to borrow funds from conventional lending sources and tarnishing the City's reputation for fiduciary responsibility.
Internal Controls
A deficiency in internal control exists when the design or operation of a control does not allow management or employees, in the normal course of performing their assigned functions, to prevent, or detect and correct misstatements on "I've never seen a timely basis. (Richardson and Company, LLC, October 15, that many items 2025, Management Letter, 1, app. J). To understand the not able to be long-term trends regarding weaknesses in internal controls, found in an audit the Grand Jury conducted a comprehensive review of and I've been independent auditor reports, management discussions, and auditing for over schedules of findings from 2010 through 2020. This review 30 years." also included previous Grand Jury reports between 2010 and 2014 to evaluate the effectiveness of corrective actions over Brian Nash, CPA,
10/21/2025 the past 15 years.
The independent auditor's recommendations in fiscal
year 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 audit reports (app. K) include: post audit adjustments, reconcile to the 2019 (or 2020) financial statements, create a closing checklist and chart of accounts, maintain consistent evidence of the performance of the internal controls, label and document transactions, and organize and label electronic copies of financial records so they are easy to find. Many of these recommendations are included in 32 Financial Policies section 16 (app. F) but not implemented, resulting in a cascading effect, directly impacting the City's ability to close out subsequent outstanding audits.
The fiscal year 2020-2021 audit opinion (app. J) was modified, which means an auditor cannot issue a "clean" or unqualified audit because financial statements are materially misstated or sufficient evidence was unavailable.
In the October 21, 2025, Council meeting, Mr. Brian Nash, CPA, from Richardson and Company, LLC, presented the fiscal year 2020-2021 audit report and stated, in part, "The audit was difficult... the City was not ready for the scheduled audit dates...the scope of the audit changed...staff had difficulties finding and providing requested hard copies or digital copies of documents to the auditors." Two material weaknesses in internal controls over financial reporting were identified:
first, restatements and a significant number of audit adjustments and closing entries (33) were required to complete the financial statements, indicating ineffective year-end controls; second, there were a number of internal control exceptions and missing documentation in detailed testing (app. J). Mr. Nash said, "I think it's really significant to have that many items. I've never seen that many items not able to be found in an audit and l've been auditing for over 30 years."
Interfund Loans and Payments
Intertund loans are temporary, repayable
cash advances from one fund to another "It's really not appropriate to borrow restricted funds without a
designed to manage short-term cash flow
needs. They often require interest and plan and ability to pay it back. must have a defined repayment Make sure you do return those funds back to the restricted funds
schedule.
where they were borrowed."
The City took out several long-term Brian Nash, CPA, 10/21/2025 interfund loans between 2001 and 2018,
transferring money from restricted funds
to the general fund. The loans were to be
paid back within 10 years, but the
City failed to make a payment. Resolution 2015-25 established a formalized interfund loan repayment plan on June 2, 2015, with proposed annual payments of $103,123 over 25 years. The City has not followed the repayment plan and to date less than 3% of the loans have been repaid. Page 35 and 36 in the Note C of the June 30, 2021, audit report, identify outstanding interfund advances of over $3 million (app. J). 33 During his October 21, 2025, presentation to Council, Mr. Nash stated, "It's really not appropriate to borrow restricted funds without a plan and ability to pay it back. Make sure you do return those funds back to the restricted funds where they were borrowed." The interfund borrowing is complicated. Despite multiple inquiries from councilmembers and members of the public during 2024 and 2025 Council meetings, the City has not provided a status update or substantive response regarding the outstanding interfund loans. During its investigation, the Grand Jury requested, but the City could not provide, the status of the interfund loans, the need for them, or how some accounts will repay the loans if they do not have sufficient funds.
Retiree Healthcare Obligations
The Governmental Accounting Standards Board Statement No. 75 was implemented in fiscal year 2017-2018 and set new rules for state and local governments to report liabilities for Postemployment Benefits Other Than Pensions (OPEB), such as retiree health insurance. Many governments were shocked there was a large liability that existed and have since found ways to fund these benefits.
As required by law, the City began tracking and reporting its OPEB obligations in fiscal year 2017-2018. When they realized the size of this financial obligation, the City stopped offering these benefits to employees hired after July 1, 2019. According to Note I in the June 30, 2021, auditor's report, the amount of City's net OPEB liability was $1.71 million, and 0% funded (app. J).
It is a policy goal of the City to reduce the unfunded liabilities for OPEB (Res. 2018-18, Financial Debt Issuance and Management Policy, § 8ili, app. H). During his October 21, 2025, presentation to Council, Mr. Nash recommended the City "take a look at retiree health insurance benefits they promised employees and how to fund it." No further action has been taken by Council to address this unfunded obligation.
Finance Manager
The finance manager plans and manages the finance functions of the City, assists the city manager with the coordination and preparation of the City's budget, manages payroll, accounting activities, purchasing, internal controls, ensures audit compliance, prepares financial reports, sensitive customer relations situations, and other fiscal officer duties (Job Announcement May 2025, Finance Manager, app. L).
In addition to the current duties of the finance manager, the Grand Jury investigation revealed the City's current finance manager directly performs most of the daily transactional personnel functions which include maintaining employee files; keying pay, hours, and California Public Employees' Retirement benefits; and performing other 34 personnel functions. The finance manager also prepares annual tax rolls and performs daily operational tasks related to accounts payables and receivables, audits, and finance. This workload is unsustainable and may lead to burnout and errors.
High turnover in the finance manager and city manager positions over many years has put the City in a very difficult situation. The Grand Jury found that this instability is reflected in years of outstanding audits and internal control weaknesses, missing and incomplete financial and administrative records, delayed budgets, outdated financial and purchasing policies, and other shortcomings described in this report.
Administration, Finance, and Human Resources
The City's Financial Policies section 1.XII, Staffing and Training, states in part, "Staffing levels will be adequate for the fiscal functions of the City to operate effectively" (Financial Policies 2015 § 1.XII, app. F).
The Grand Jury reviewed the City's organization chart, policy manuals, and duty statements. Administration, Finance, and Human Resources employees are responsible for the core operational, fiscal, and personnel functions supporting City services.
Functions include, but are not limited to, budgeting, accounts payables and receivables, cash receipts, capital assets, grants, financial reporting, audits, utilities and licenses, special events, general administrative support, payroll, workers compensation, recruitment, and benefits.
Administration, Finance and Human Resources employees include the finance manager described above, two account clerks, one grant coordinator, and a retired annuitant.
Account Clerk - Finance. Key responsibilities of this position include accounts payable, accounts receivable, cash receipts, tracking and support.
Account Clerk - Front Desk. Key responsibilities of this position include customer service, sewer accounts and billing, intake, special events, cash receipts, and general administrative support.
Grant Administrator. This position was created about a year ago to manage and research various state and federal grants for the City to fund infrastructure, public safety, and community development.
Retired Annuitant. In 2017, the City hired a retired former City finance manager as a retired annuitant. Retired annuitants are allowed to work a maximum of 960 hours per calendar year. The City's retired annuitant continues to work for the City, and their current workload consists of audits, research, reports, accruals, journal entries, and special projects.
35 The Grand Jury investigation
"I am respectfully asking the city to look determined that long-term retired closely at medical benefit costs, annuitants could fill critical gaps, enrollment transparency, payroll providing specialized skills and accuracy, and how errors are institutional memory for
handled...when these issues go addressing backlogs. They are unaddressed, they affect morale, best utilized for specific, retention, and the long-term health of intermittent project work rather this organization." than a permanent replacement for
Public Comment, 2/3/2026 Council Meeting staffing needs. In this case, the retired annuitant is used for long-
term audit and finance work. The
City has no transition plan to
replace the services of the retired annuitant, nor is a permanent successor being trained.
To prevent recurrence of issues identified in this report related to internal controls, audits and financial statements, and missing or incomplete financial records, it is critical to transition knowledge, management oversight, records, and procedural continuity to an in-house City staff. This includes documentation of processes and key responsibilities and mentoring a successor.
Human Resources and Personnel Records. The City does not have a dedicated position for human resources, timekeeping, or staff training, resulting in the finance manager completing these functions. This includes tasks and assignments related to employee relations, return to work, benefits, and hiring. Witness testimony described many inaccuracies in deductions, payments, and delays in processing personnel documents, directly affecting employee morale and retention.
During public comment at the February 3, 2026, Council meeting, the wife of an lone Police Corporal said that errors with her husband's paycheck have been a constant problem and is an issue that places stress on real families. While the City contributes $1,700 a month for medical, their medical deduction is $1,324.60 per month. His take home pay after deductions is $1,656.43. On top of that, he was recently informed they were undercharged for medical insurance last year and expected to pay that money back, even though they did not make an error or process the payroll paperwork. She said if they were given the opportunity to review medical plan options or participate in open enrollment, they would have chosen medical coverage through her empioyer for only $632 per month. She concluded by saying,
36 I am respectfully asking the City to look closely at medical benefit costs, enrollment transparency, payroll accuracy, and how errors are handled. Not just for my husband, but for all City employees. Because when these issues go unaddressed, they affect morale, retention, and the long-term health of this organization.
The City lacks a cohesive, formal personnel policy and does not maintain centralized personnel or recruitment files. Regarding the April 2, 2024, hiring of the current city manager, City staff were unable to provide fundamental documentation of the hiring process, other than a proposal from the headhunting firm. In response to requests from the Grand Jury, they could not produce copies of the job advertisement, information about where the advertisement was placed, the number of responses received, or any summary information as to findings and recommendations of the search firm or the two review committees.
Grand Jury interviews with City staff indicate a recent significant shift in organizational culture, specifically stating morale has greatly improved since the appointment of the current city manager and finance manager. While the current finance manager has not earned a Bachelor of Arts in Finance, she is actively working toward it, has extensive experience working for the City, served on the Council in the past, and appears to be well respected and praised for the job she is doing.
Adherence to Purchasing and Bidding Policy
Purchasing Policy section 2.44.010:
The City of lone hereby establishes a purchasing and bidding policy under the direction of the city manager and finance office director. (Ord. No. 505, 11-16- 2019)
Purchasing Policy section 2.44.020 - Intent:
The purchase and bidding policy provides a fair and equitable process for all interested and qualified vendors in providing a bid to the city. The city will make an award in a manner consistent with the city purchase and bidding policy. Any exceptions to this policy must be approved by the city council. The city council may, by majority vote and in accordance with its fiduciary responsibilities, approve expenditures of any amount, for any length of term, not otherwise inconsistent with any applicable law.
According to the Purchasing Policy section 2.44:
The City will make an award in a manner consistent with the Purchasing Policy.
Any exceptions to this policy must be approved by Council. 37 The city manager makes and provides all purchases of materials and services for the City as required and requested in the regularly adopted budget and authorized by Council, whether or not in the budget.
Combined purchase orders without a formal bid cannot exceed $50,000 per vendor per fiscal year. Expenditures over $15,000 must be authorized by City Council and require a purchase order, formal bids, and a city contract.
Expenditures over $50,000 require an invitation for bids, RFP or RFQ, a city contract.
It is Council's responsibility to consider, reject, approve, and award contracts and bids over $50,000; award or reject contracts negotiated by City staff; and approve exemptions to any procurement method.
Over the course of the investigation, the Grand Jury found there were violations of the City's adopted purchasing policies. Examples of purchasing policy violations are detailed below.
March 18, 2025, Council meeting. Councilmember Alison LaFayne questioned building inspection invoices for Weber Ghio when the City already had a contract for building inspections. Mr. Lee said it is under his purview of $15,000. She asked, "When they go over $15,000 are we going to see a contract?" Mr. Lee said he was "going to bring to the Council probably next month an RFP." An RFP was not issued.
During the September 2, 2025, Council meeting, the city attorney presented an agreement with Weber Ghio "based on previous comments it seems we're past the $15,000 threshold, so Council has to approve the agreement at this stage." Councilmember LaFayne said the city attorney drafted the agreement in January, there were $66,000 on the contract in invoices this year, and the only reason the contract was here for Council approval was because the warrants were questioned again, and "then we got a 9-month-old contract that had been in place for 9 months. You can see my issue with that. We did not put out an RFP, and we have two city engineers." The vendor did in fact sign the Weber Ghio contract on January 13, 2025, and the current city attorney and city manager signed it on February 5, 2025, without Council approval or an RFP, in violation of Purchasing Policy section 2.44.150. The city manager exceeded his designated spending authority, in violation of Purchasing Policy sections 2.44.130 and 2.44.140. A staff report was not included in the agenda for the request for contract approval, despite repeated inquiries by councilmembers during the previous six months of Council meetings, and the Council majority approved $66,000 in invoices along with the contract with little discussion about the failure to follow Purchasing Policies.
38 June 3, 2025, Council meeting. Mr. Lee attempted to allocate $50,000 for a basketball court project without seeking input from the Parks and Recreation or Planning Commissions or discussing the project with direct neighbors. Defending his decision not to involve the Parks and Recreation Commission, he stated at a public Council meeting, "It was my decision to expedite things because summer's coming up and so forth, so again I don't think I have to bring anything to Parks and Rec, it is at my discretion, I'm trying to save some time and I am more interested in getting things done as opposed to spending a lot of time on the process." During the July 1, 2025, Council meeting. Mr. Lee requested that Council allocate $50,000 for a horse arena improvement project. When asked if the Planning Commission was consulted. Mr. Lee said, "I did not take it to the Planning Commission primarily because I read the tea leaves... why should I waste the City's time...to go through something that I knew was going to get turned down? | chose another route to save time and not lose out on the funds." October 7, 2025, Council meeting. Councilmember LaFayne asked if they put out an RFP for bid for Amador Tree Service $35,000. Mr. Lee said, "We did not put out an RFP because we did not have time."
December 2, 2025, Council meeting. Council debated contracting with the auditor to do limited, combined audit for fiscal years 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 to catch up on audits, rather than get further behind. Council discussion indicated that, "once again" they had not used the proper bidding process. The city attorney advised that, given lack of proper procedure, it might be possible that someone could sue to have the decision overturned, but in his opinion
the likelihood of that happening
"I did not take it to was low. In the interest of moving the Planning Commission primarily because forward quickly to catch up on I read the tea leaves... why should I waste audits, the Council voted 3-1 (with one abstention and one no
the City's time...to go through something vote due to not following adopted that I knew was going to get turned down? |
procedure) in favor of
chose another route to save time and not
lose out on the funds." proceeding with the limited multi- year audit, allowing quicker
Mr. Lee, 7/1/2025 Council Meeting completion of the fiscal year 2023- 2024 full audit.
The Grand Jury found that
throughout 2025 and 2026 Council meetings, two councilmembers, Councilmember LaFayne and Councilmember Dominic Atlan, regularly identified failures to follow the 39 City's Purchasing Policy and questioned the validity of warrants for those purchases.
The three other councilmembers and the city manager largely ignored the issues raised.
At the April 21, 2026, Council meeting, Mr. Lee presented a staff report on improvements needed at the amphitheater in Howard Park. He requested Council's approval of two contracts-one for the installation of shade sails for $25,750 and the other for the construction of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) parking improvements for $26,870. However, Mr. Lee had already approved both contracts, and the work had been completed. Both contracts exceeded the $15,000 limit specified in Purchasing Policy section 2.44.140. This resulted in a heated discussion, with councilmembers stating that the process had not been followed correctly and community residents complaining that the City does not enforce penalties for such administrative mistakes.
Nonetheless, community members expressed appreciation for recent improvements to Howard Park-including making parking and pathways more accessible and developing the Picnic Hill amphitheater-where a recent opening event featuring a music concert was well attended and enjoyed by residents.
Over the past two years, the Council majority voted to approve purchases despite two councilmembers' persistent protests of violations of the City's Purchasing Policy.
Members of the public also notified the Council of the policy violations during this same timeframe, but the Council majority continued to cast three votes to approve the purchases with little discussion. Failure to address these policy violations creates an environment of deliberate indifference for the City's established rules.
During its investigation, the Grand Jury found the city manager repeatedly violated the City's Purchasing Policy section 2.44 when he exceeded the authorized expenditure limit, obtained retroactive approval from Council, requested the Council approve a contract that was already signed by City officials, failed to issue an REP/RFQ, and failed to obtain proper bids.
Council and the city manager have failed to follow their own adopted purchasing policies and procedures, resulting in numerous material deviations from established municipal financial protocols.
Legal Expenses
The city attorney is the legal advisor for Council, its citizen commissions and committees, city manager, and City staff (Protocol Manual 2008 § 7.06, app. A). The city attorney provides routine legal services and specialized tasks like real property transactions, contract negotiations, and litigation matters. 40 The City has had four city attorneys since 2015, as shown in Table 5 below:
City Attorney Law Firm Date
James Maynard Maynard Law Ended Sept 2015
David Prentice Prentice Long, LLC
Jan 2016-April 2023
Andy Pinasco Neumiller & Beardslee May 2023-Dec 2024
Josh Varinsky White Brenner, LLC Dec 2024-present
Table 5: lone City Attorneys, 2015 to Present
The city attorney is a contract employee appointed by Council. The City entered into an agreement with White Brenner, LLP, for City Attorney Services on January 7, 2025, (effective December 17, 2024). Mr. Josh Varinsky was named the primary city attorney and Mr. Douglas White deputy city attorney for the City, with additional White Brenner, LLP, staff available to provide additional municipal support as needed.
In the past two years, legal expenses have risen substantially in part due to non-routine activities such as the sale of Castle Oaks Golf Course, censure proceedings, litigation, and redactions related to public records requests. The escalating legal fees have sparked significant community concern and questions over the lack of transparency and justification for mounting legal expenses.
The Grand Jury reviewed warrants for 2024, 2025, and 2026. From January 2024 through December 2024, the previous city attorney Neumiller and Beardslee's legal expense averaged $15,000 per month. As of March 1, 2026, White Brenner's average monthly legal expense was $31,000 for the previous 12 months, over twice the amount.
The authorized fiscal year 2024-2025 budget for legal services was $157,500; the projected year-end legal expenditures were $336,472, more than double the approved budget. A budget amendment to identify funding for these increased expenditures was never formally presented to or approved by Council, a violation of Financial Policies section 11.
The authorized fiscal year 2025-2026 budget for legal services is $230,000: current year legal expenditures through April 2026 are over $300,000. A budget amendment was not officially submitted or approved to cover these increased costs, violating Financial Policies section 11.
41 Over the past two years, councilmembers and members of the public have requested details for legal expenditures. The city
attorney stated there would be a
considerable redaction expense if invoices
were made public by attaching them to the "If you think that attorney isn't Council meeting agenda, but spending time trying to dig up councilmembers could review the invoices trash on each other from in City Hall. The public could submit a members of this board, well, then public records request. The Grand Jury you are sadly, sadly mistaken... requested attorney invoices but withdrew Let's break the Brown act on the request when informed it would cost social media, let's violate closed the City thousands of dollars to redact session, let's run up a tab with an privileged information. attorney. It's sick. Sickening. And you disgust me."
On March 4, 2025, Mr. Varinsky presented
Councilman Mitchell, 2/17/26 Council
a Staff Report and formal policy for Meeting
censure of councilmembers. The City's
Censure Policy states in addition to
admonishment, informal warning, or formal
resolution of censure, the Council is encouraged to take steps to de-escalate the behavior and consider addressing the complaint informally. The Grand Jury investigation found that the city attorney and Council bypassed informal de-escalation, warnings, or other lower-level actions in favor of jumping directly to a costly formal censure. The City spent $28,038 to hire an attorney to investigate the censure allegations against Councilmember LaFayne. The City spent an additional $17,000 over about a 3-month period for city attorney expenditures associated with the censure.
In the November 18, 2025, Council meeting, Councilmember Stacey Rhoades asserted that email correspondence from councilmembers to the city attorney were responsible for driving legal costs up. Mr. Varinsky prepared Resolution 2025-40 and an accompanying staff report proposing a new policy Use of City Attorney and Communications Between the City Council and the City Attorney. In summary, to save money, councilmembers were to cease direct communication with the city attorney, and his services were to be directed through the city manager. However, attorney invoices remained high and this policy failed to yield results months later.
At the January 6, 2026, Council meeting, the Council discussed potentially putting together a committee to update the Protocol Manual, last updated in 2008. Mayor Maita wanted a couple of councilmembers, "One of us three and one of them two, here together, to work towards this goal." Council was encouraged to bring changes they would like to the next Council meeting. However, a special meeting was called by Mayor 42 Maita, held on January 28, 2026, to consider the city attorney's proposed revisions to the Protocol Manual; two councilmembers and members of the public voiced concerns that the city attorney was not given authorization to update the Protocol Manual. On May 5, 2026, Council adopted the updated Protocol Manual, at which time several councilmembers mentioned that the city attorney had never been authorized to do this work himself, though the majority were generally pleased with the result. The estimated cost to the City for the city attorney to revise and update the Protocol Manual is $8,500.
In the February 17, 2026, Council meeting, the city attorney explained that redactions required in response to public records requests were the reason for a huge spike in the prior month's legal costs. Councilmember Jack Mitchell suggested that infighting among his fellow councilmembers was a major cause of legal expenditures, stating:
If you think that attorney isn't spending time trying to dig up trash on each other from members of this board, well, then you are sadly, sadly mistaken. And you guys are a busy, busy group. Let's break the Brown Act on social media, let's violate closed session. Let's run up a tab with an attorney. It's sick. Sickening.
And you disgust me.
Legal invoices are broken down by categories on the list of paid and unpaid warrants attached to Council agendas. Figure 2 (below) provides itemized categories of the City's legal fees over the 12-month period from March 2025 through February 2026.
City Attorney Expense Analysis Mar '25 through Feb '26
Water
Sewer
Real Estate
Litigation
A LaFayne/J-Bouldin West LLC
Labor and Employment
Human Resources
General Municipal
Contracts
Code Enforcement
# City of lone Attorney Fees
Castle Oaks
$40.000 S80 000 $120.000 $160 000
Figure 2: City of lone Itemized Legal Fees
43 As Figure 2 shows, the largest percentage of legal expenditures was for general municipal legal services, with other smaller amounts for civic matters such sewer, water, human resources, etc. The second biggest expenditure category was Castle Oaks, related to renewing the management agreement. If, however, the litigation and censure categories were combined, these would exceed the amount spent on Castle Oaks golf course issues.
During the Grand Jury's investigation, it was determined the city attorney drafts administrative or operational documents such as third-party contracts, staff reports, and policy edits. It would be more cost effective for City staff to complete these administrative tasks and have the city attorney complete a legal review.
Members of the public have asked for transparency for attorney billing as legal costs rise and cost estimates and actual expenditures for new, nonroutine tasks are not provided. The Grand Jury found there is a lack of transparency with legal costs, there are no cost control measures in place, and increased oversight is needed to control legal expenses.
Governance and Decorum Issues
Council Meetings
The City's regular Council meetings take place on
the first and third Tuesday of every month. They are
streamed live via Zoom, and a recording is usually
uploaded and available for replay from the City's
website. The Council, city clerk, city manager, and
city attorney sit at the U-shaped dais to face the
public during meetings.
Early in each Council meeting, public comments are
allowed (up to four minutes) on items that are not on
the agenda. Members of the public may also
address Council in person or via Zoom for up to four
minutes following the conclusion of their discussion
on each agenda item.
lone City Hall
Developing Meeting Agendas
According to the Protocol Manual section 8.06(A) (app. A), items may be placed on the Council meeting agenda by any councilmember, advisory bodies and civic organizations, or members of the public, by submitting a written request to the city manager or city clerk. The written request must, at a minimum, contain all the following:
44 • a substantive outline or summary of the information that will be presented to the Council;
• specific actions the Council will be asked to take on the item; and • a statement of the reasons why the requesting party believes it is appropriate and within the jurisdiction of the Council to consider the subject matter and take the requested action.
Members of the public may also request an item be placed on a future agenda while addressing the Council during a regular meeting.
Should two councilmembers request the same item, that item will automatically go on the next agenda. The councilmembers will provide the same written information as shown above (addendum to the Protocol Manual
2015 § 8.06, app. A). Ultimately, the mayor, city
manager, and city attorney review and discuss "Per agenda policy, you are potential agenda items and finalize Council supposed to make a written meeting agendas. request with some detail
supporting the agenda item
A staff report is required for each topic of
request. We don't follow
discussion on the Council agenda (Protocol that policy too strictly." Manual 2008 § 8.07, app. A). In addition,
monthly budget-to-actual reports will be City Attorney, 3/4/26 Council prepared for the city manager to monitor and Meeting
control the budget as authorized by Council.
These executive summary reports will be
presented to Council at the second meeting of
each month (Financial Policies 2015 § 1.IV.D,
app. F).
After reviewing dozens of online Council meetings, the Grand Jury determined the Council, city attorney, and the city manager often do not follow established City policy for agendizing items or providing staff reports, including financial status information.
Witness testimony indicates Councilmember Rhoades, Councilmember Maita, and Councilmember Mitchell do not submit written agenda requests, in violation of current City policy, while Councilmember LaFayne and Councilmember Atlan are required to submit their agenda requests in writing, in accordance with adopted City policy. For example, at the end of the February 4, 2025, Council meeting, Councilmember Rhoades mentioned he would like to see dismissal of the Planning Commission Chair and potential censure of a councilmember considered in future. Both items appeared on the February 18, 2025, Council agenda with detailed staff reports prepared by the city attorney.
45 In contrast, during a discussion of future agenda items during the February 17, 2026, meeting, Councilmember Atlan asked why an item he had requested weeks earlier had not been included on the agenda. The city manager informed him that the request must be made by two councilmembers-in two separate written requests-to be considered for inclusion. [It should be noted that the Council adopted Protocol Manual revisions on May 5, 2026. The revised Protocol Manual clarifies rules about agenda setting, making this the responsibility of the city manager in consultation with the mayor].
At the March 4, 2025, Council meeting, an agenda
item was included to consider adoption of a new "I'd like this to go on policy for audio/video recordings of closed session record that the Council meetings. When asked if a written agenda request voted to violate City with a justification was provided for this item, the city policy." attorney replied, "not thoroughly in the
beginning." When asked to explain how the Council Councilwoman LaFayne, 01/06/2026 Council Meeting
meeting agendas are developed and who writes
them, the city attorney replied,
It is a team effort in a way but it's the
city manager that creates the agenda, the mayor has control over which items go and which are held back...Per agenda policy, you are supposed to make a written request with some detail supporting the agenda item request. We don't follow that policy too strictly, the Council can take that up if they want to enforce that more, but generally if councilmembers have agenda item requests, we consider them the representatives of the City, and they have the right to bring those items up for discussion among the rest of the Council.
The September 2, 2025, Council meeting agenda includes items L.1. and L.2.- presentations and updates related to the Howard Park Master Plan and Wastewater/Tertiary Plant Operations. No written staff reports or presentation materials were included with the meeting agendas, although the meeting video shows that detailed information regarding these agenda items was presented during the meeting.
Similarly, no staff report is provided for regular agenda item L.4., professional services agreement.
During the October 7, 2025, Council meeting, Councilmember LaFayne stated she received Weber Ghio invoices and requested (with support from a second councilmember) a priority agenda item, and to bring the invoices before the Council for discussion. This request was ignored and not acted upon. 46 On the January 6, 2026, Council meeting agenda, regular agenda items I. 1, 2, and 3— Review/Discussion of Protocol Manual and Rules of Order for Meetings, Discussion/Direction on Preparation and Adoption of Social Media for Elected Officials, and Consider Reducing Time Limit for Public Comments-did not include staff reports as required by Protocol Manual section 8.07. Councilmember Atlan requested these items be pulled from the agenda as they violated the City's Protocol Policy. His motion failed 3-2. Councilmember LaFayne requested that "the record reflect the fact that the Council had just voted to violate City policy."
The Grand Jury found failure to properly and consistently agendize items and provide supporting information not only violate elements of the Protocol Manual and Code of Ethics but are also a major cause of conflict in the Council meetings, leading to frustration, interruptions, personal invectives, and meeting disruption. It fosters an impression of unequal treatment among councilmembers, increases public distrust in city leadership, and often results in unproductive, inefficient, and combative public meetings. Failure to address these policy violations creates a culture where rules are treated as optional.
Transparency
There are a variety of ways information is shared with councilmembers. The City's Protocol Manual section 7.08 (app. A) states that the city manager is to provide Council with regular, comprehensive memoranda concerning all aspects of City operations to assist them in their policymaking role. Pertinent information includes project status reports, executive summaries, and agendas of all weekly senior staff meetings-in addition to internal financial reports sufficient to plan, monitor and control the City's financial affairs, including monthly budget-to-actual reports (Financial Policies 2015 §§
1.III.C.2 and 1.IV.D, app. F).
The Protocol Manual section 7.07 (B) (app. F) specifies that the city manager is the information liaison between the Council and City staff. Requests from councilmembers for information are to be directed to the city manager and will be responded to promptly.
The information requested will be copied to all members of the Council so that each member may be equally informed. This sharing of information with the Council is one of the city manager's highest priorities.
The Grand Jury observed in a number of Council meetings that Council and the city manager claim they are being transparent. However, evidence and witness testimony suggest otherwise:
• It is difficult to determine how some Council meeting items are agendized • Staff reports are missing from many Council meeting agendas 47 • PowerPoint slides or other presentation materials are not consistently included in Council meeting agenda packets, making it difficult for attendees and online viewers to fully comprehend the presentation
• Hard copies of documents passed out during Council meetings are unavailable to Zoom participants or viewers who watch recorded meetings • Information is not provided on the implementation status of approved motions • Approved resolutions and City policies can be difficult to find online Interviews and Council meeting recordings reveal that City information is not always provided to all members of the Council. Information gets to some the councilmembers but not all five equally. The Grand Jury observed Councilmembers LaFayne and Atlan consistently request status reports of projects approved by the Council, financial updates, and updates on pending items, yet received little to no response or follow-up information from the city manager. During final comments at the end of the April 21, 2026, Council meeting, both expressed their frustration. Councilmember LaFayne listed numerous requests for information pertaining to contracts, RFPs, and code violations she had requested. "I have asked for multiple items to come back on these agendas, using a second councilmember...All of those requests have been denied... for any agenda item, even with a second councilmember....all of which have been denied."
Similarly, Councilmember Atlan complained about having asked multiple times for a copy of Amador Water Agency's (AWA) agreement to send water to the City's wastewater plant for treatment. He was referring to recent discussions about granting an easement to AWA to send backwash wastewater across Howard Park to the US Mine property, claiming that if they did not grant the easement, AWA would send all the water they were permitted to under their current contract and that this would overwhelm plant capacity. "The first time I asked, I was told that I didn't get a second in writing. So, I got a second in writing. Okay? Then I was told it was going to be put on the next agenda, but it wasn't. Then it was going to be put on the next agenda, but it wasn't...'m tired of asking for stuff and I never get it." Atlan admitted that he had filed an information request with AWA and learned that no such contract exists.
Transparency requires considerable effort and planning but is essential for fostering public trust as it makes the reasons for policy decisions and spending clear. Openness protects the public's right to know and helps citizens understand the actions of Council and the city manager. Proactive transparency reduces staff time spent managing public records requests by facilitating easy access to information. 48 Adherence to the Brown Act
As previously mentioned, the Brown Act requires councils to conduct their business openly. Prohibited serial meetings occur when a majority of councilmembers use a chain of communication to reach a consensus on City business outside of the Council meetings. The Grand Jury received several complaints regarding Brown Act violations.
The Grand Jury investigated allegations that councilmembers engaged in a number of Brown Act violations, including closed session leaks and "daisy-chain" violations. Serial meetings involve only a portion of the Council but eventually involve a majority and may occur by either a "daisy-chain" or a "hub-and-spoke" steps. A "daisy-chain" meeting is where Member A contacts Member B and Member B contacts Member C. Similarly, "hub-and-spoke" serial meetings is when a person acts as the hub of a wheel (Member A) and communicates individually with the various spokes (Members B and C). These meetings use "a series of communications of any kind, directly or through intermediaries, to discuss, deliberate, or take action on any item of business that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the legislative body" (CA Government Code § 54952.2, app. E).
The investigation confirmed that three councilmembers were careful to avoid meeting together as a majority of Council but participated in serial meetings. They discussed issues or ideas individually in the "daisy-chain" manner described above. During the March 25, 2025, Special Council Meeting for the censure of Councilmember LaFayne, Councilmember Rhoades stated, "Myself, Vice Mayor Maita, and Councilmember Jack Mitchell have convened this meeting tonight to review what we think are important disclosures that we had to bring to the public's attention. We are here tonight for the censure of Alison LaFayne and what we think are absolute and indisputable breaches of her oath..." The Grand Jury confirmed separate discussions had occurred among the three councilmembers mentioned prior to the Special Council Meeting.
The Council did strengthen policy on confidential information. The recently updated Protocol Manual 2026 section 7.07(C) states:
Confidential issues, which may arise in closed session or in other conversations or communications with the City Manager or City Attorney, shall not be disclosed to any member of the public, including the press, without approval of the City Council. Confidential issues include but are not limited to anticipated or existing litigation, personnel matters, or other information relevant to City business that is confidential in nature. The release of any confidential information obtained or discussed in closed session may be subject to injunctive relief or referred to the grand jury or District Attorney's office as a Brown Act violation. 49 The Brown Act requires all votes, including closed session votes, to be recorded publicly (CA Government Code § 54953 and 54957.1). Meeting minutes outline the motions made and actions taken, so posting the meeting minutes makes it easy for the public to access Council meeting decision making and discussions. The Grand Jury reviewed agendas and meeting minutes for 2024, 2025, and 2026. Meeting minutes were not posted for September through December 2025. The Grand Jury commends the City for exceptional transparency in now publishing Council meeting audio/video to the City's YouTube channel within 24 hours of adjournment.
Training
The City's Protocol Manual section 1.04 (app. A) describes the orientation process for newly elected councilmembers. The city manager meets with them to acquaint them with the City's policies, procedures, and protocols. The city manager provides a tour of City facilities, key department heads brief them on current projects, and the city attorney meets with them to explain laws they must comply with and important legal matters the City is involved in currently.
Recent Brown Act revisions effective January 1, 2026, require that every newly elected councilmember and appointed commission or committee member be given a copy of the Brown Act. Additional training requirements currently in effect include:
• AB 1234 Ethics Training: Requires two hours of training every two years for local agency officials (CA Government Code 53234, app. E). • SB 827 Fiscal Training: Approved in October 2025, this new legislation expands the ethics training requirement to include department heads and similar key administrators and requires mandatory two-hour fiscal and financial training every two years for these individuals (including elected councilmembers) (CA Government Code 53238, app. E).
The Grand Jury requested all training records for the Council and Mr. Lee. As of January 2026, there were no training records on file for Mr. Lee, Councilmember Atlan, or Councilmember Maita, nor were there any records of the Brown Act or financial management training for the councilmembers or the city manager.
Ethics (AB 1234)
Councilmember LaFayne 2023
Councilmember Mitchell Jan 2023, Oct 2024
Councilmember Rhoades Oct 2019, Sept 2022, Mar 2024
Harassment Prevention (AB 1825, AB 2053, AB 1661)
Councilmember LaFayne Jan 2023
50 Councilmember Mitchell Jan 2023
Harassment Prevention (AB 1661)
Councilmember Rhoades Sept 2022
New Mayor and Council Academy
Councilmember Maita Jan 2026
Mr. Lee Jan 2026
During Grand Jury interviews, witnesses stated training was not viewed as a priority and they could not recall taking any training except the mandatory Ethics. They opined that additional training could help everyone better understand roles and responsibilities, manage public funds, and improve Council decorum and fiscal accountability.
While there are some guidelines for training and orientation for newly elected councilmembers, the City does not have a formal training policy or an onboarding process for employees and Council. In addition, there is a lack of consistent tracking and documentation of completed "These meetings
training requirements. Councilmembers are less effective are frankly a because they lack formal, ongoing training, do not follow circus because of established policies, protocols, and procedures, and ignore what happens. accepted professional codes of conduct, transparency, and You're constantly accountable processes. An enhanced training plan for
interrupted.
elected officials, department heads, and administrative You're constantly officers could improve compliance and effective governance. talked over." Professional organizations such as the League of California Cities offer numerous relevant training and educational Councilman Atlan 1/26 Counci
opportunities for elected and appointed officials. Meeting Behavior on the Dais
The powers of the Council are to be utilized for the good of the community and its residents. It is important the Council acts as a body (Protocol Manual 2008 § 2.01, app.
A). Constituents generally expect their elected leaders to serve in a professional and honorable manner while in office deliberating on local government business and voting on policy issues. While the City does not have a dedicated "Code of Conduct" policy, Council conduct standards are incorporated into the City's governing documents, including:
• Code of Ethics (2003)
• Protocol Manual (2008) section 8.12
• Municipal Code (2013) section 2.04.120
51 Despite the existence of these policy documents addressing conduct standards, the City has gained a reputation for the notable incivility of its Council meetings. Over the past five years, councilmembers have split into two (changing yet distinct) factions.
There is obvious animosity between the majority and minority factions and among individual councilmembers, a situation worsened by ongoing lawsuits and recent calls for censure. As Councilmember Atlan stated in the January 6, 2026, Council meeting, "These meetings are frankly a circus because of what happens. You're constantly interrupted. You're constantly talked over." The tensions and ill will evident on the dais impede the conduct of City business, to the point where recesses are sometimes needed to stop the infighting when the mayor loses control of the meeting.
The Grand Jury's investigation focused on Council meetings, social media discussions, documented evidence, and witness testimony that took place in 2024, 2025, and the first four months of 2026. The Grand Jury observed and heard testimonies about numerous instances where professional disagreement escalated into a breakdown in decorum and violation of adopted protocols, as in the examples below.
During the August 19, 2025, Council meeting, Councilmember Rhoades said to Councilmember LaFayne, "Why don't you just be quiet? ... you have no idea what you are talking about, as normal."
During the October 7, 2025, Council meeting, Councilmember LaFayne asked several questions about the warrants that took about eight minutes. Councilmember Rhoades said, "Just so you know some of us do have questions on the warrants, but what I do is come down to City Hall and to get the answers, so I don't waste an hour going over the warrants." Councilmember Rhoades, Councilmember LaFayne, and eventually Mr. Lee argued for another few minutes with Councilmember Rhoades (serving as Mayor at that time) threatening to remove Councilmember LaFayne and others calling to restore order.
The November 18, 2025, Council meeting was a particularly raucous one, with discussion of mounting legal fees and a proposal to limit Council communication with City staff sparking particularly hostile, argumentative commentary. Mayor Rhoades called for brief recesses multiple times to stop the infighting among councilmembers. The number of recesses prompted one audience member to comment that this Council needed more timeouts than his daughter's preschool. The recesses did seem to calm people down and lower the temperature of the debate, but at the cost of extending the evening meeting time, inconveniencing all participants.
During the February 17, 2026, Council meeting, two councilmembers violated Rosenberg's Rules of Order for common courtesy and decorum. A contracted public 52 works employee made a presentation related to City business during public comments time. Councilmember LaFayne called for a Point of Order. The city attorney confirmed the public comment was not appropriate as it must be agendized. Per Rosenberg's Rules of Order, the chair would ask the interrupter to "state your point." Instead, Mayor Maita said, "Everybody knows what the facts are. Okay, so let her do what she wants to do. Okay, say what you want, you made a Point of Order." Councilmember Rhoades said, "We call it a tantrum."
Councilmember LaFayne said, "Excuse me Mr. Rhoades?"
Councilmember Rhoades said, "We call that a tantrum."
During the May 5, 2026, Council meeting, the Councilmember LaFayne repeatedly interrupted discussion of an agenda item pertaining to awarding a sewer and tertiary plant contract, prompting Mayor Maita to say, "I wish there was a way I could have you removed...You just disrupt every meeting." The city attorney admonished her for frequently interrupting the speaker. When she continued to criticize the action after the Council voted on the matter, the mayor asked the city attorney to intervene. Mr.
Varinsky reprimanded her again, saying, "Councilmember LaFayne, you're out of order.
The item's over, you haven't been recognized, I could go down the list. It's over!" On occasion, the mayor made inappropriate comments to members of the public.
During the February 18, 2025, Council meeting, for example, then-Mayor Rhoades rudely addressed a long-serving appointed commissioner who had just learned of her proposed dismissal on the radio on her way home from work. She was not given an opportunity to speak as part of the agenda, so taking four minutes during the routine public comment period was the only way she could address Council about the matter.
The mayor interrupted her and told her to "Shut up and sit down." During the June 3, 2025, Council meeting, Mayor Rhoades again disrupted public comment, from one of the more recently arrived residents, by blurting out, "The problem is you people move here and ruin our damn town is the damn problem." The exchanges documented above fail to meet standards stated in the Protocol Manual that direct councilmembers to "be respectful," "serve as a role model of leadership and civility to the community," "inspire public confidence," and "demonstrate honesty and integrity." They also violate Code of Ethics provisions calling for the council to reach ethically sound decisions and by conducting business according to the "highest achievable ethical standards" by avoiding use of "personal invectives" in public forums and always considering "how official actions and personal behavior might be interpreted by the public."
53 These rude and hostile exchanges among elected councilmembers often inspire members of the public to use a similar tone in their remarks to Council or even shout remarks from the audience when it is not time for public comment. Most witnesses interviewed by the Grand Jury agreed the lack of decorum on the dais, constant bickering, and disrespectful language from councilmembers have turned public meetings into a public embarrassment.
The Grand Jury listened to recordings and watched videos of dozens of Council meetings during which public commentors implored the Council to "do better," "stop bickering," "set aside your personal differences" and "do the job you were elected to do." Such pleas have not resulted in any noticeable improvement in councilmember interactions, affecting constituents' respect for and trust in their elected leaders.
During public comments at the March 4, 2025, Council meeting, one community member voiced disappointment over a Council vote, stating:
This got out of hand by the spectacle of councilmembers on social media, the unprofessional hypocritical airing of dirty laundry on Facebook has been extremely embarrassing to lone for years. With all the crap going around how can anyone have confidence in our city council? It's time for our city council to remain in City Hall and not on Facebook or social media.
Table 6 is a compilation of similar comments concerning the lack of civility at Council meetings the Grand Jury heard during the course of this investigation.
Community Member Comments Concerning Lack of Civility at Council Meetings "The city is backsliding. People are giving up!"
"This is worse than it's ever been. It's got to stop."
"It's the city leadership culture that results in staff turnover and financial record keeping in a shambles."
"Their interpersonal hatred shows."
"Council behavior is shameful. It gets worse and worse." "The city has a culture of intimidation and harassment." "It's just sad. Some residents care so much..."
"We can do so much better than this."
" hate to see what's happening in Council meetings. It's sickening." "They are losing touch with the integrity they are tasked with." 54 "I'd like to see some stability and civility in City Council meetings. Snide comments and fighting don't help the town."
"It's always a majority/minority split."
"It's the Mayor's way or the highway."
"I come to a lot of the city council meetings, and I want to say that the Park & Rec is run very respectfully. And coming here and seeing the disrespect toward each other is very disheartening. You guys are leaders of this community, and it is hard to come here and hear the way you speak to each other the way you do." "You're all elected. And I am for not electing any of you ever again. It's ridiculous." "We have so many important matters in this city that need to be taken care of and need to be done in an accurate manner. and the fighting...doesn't help at all." Table 6: Community Member Comments Concerning Lack of Civility at Council Meetings
Council meetings developed a combative and divisive style before the current Council was in place, as indicated by the photo below (used with permission of the Ledger Dispatch). This was printed as part of the Ledger Dispatch's coverage of a City Council meeting held on April 22, 2022, where the proposed censure of Councilmember Rhoades was on
the agenda. At
that time, the
Council also had
a majority of 3
members who
often voted as a
bloc, resulting in
I'M JUST HERE frequent 3-2 split
TO WATCH votes on
THE SHIT SHOW important policy
issues.
A 3-2 split vote
determines
Council policy,
as is clear under
The shirt of an attendee at Tuesday's lone City Council meeting says it all! Rosenberg's Rules of Order and the adopted Protocol Manual. When public commentors express dismay over the fact that only three councilmembers frequently decide on policy, 55 effectively silencing the other two voices, long-time residents of the City will remind everyone that this 3-2 split voting has been going on for years-as a member of the public did during the May 5, 2026, Council meeting. The frequent 3-2 votes are not a reflection of partisan loyalty, but rather a pattern of voting as a bloc. It is not this split voting but the behavior on the dais and the vengeful tone of Council deliberations over the past five years that clearly violates the City's own adopted policies and procedures.
Local media coverage of the City's public meetings regularly highlights the contentious relationships and lack of decorum among councilmembers. Local media coverage on the City is not entirely negative.
Some articles and news stories do highlight positive activities or civic events, but more often they report discouraging news, as illustrated in Table 7 below.
Media Headlines of lone City Council Behavior (2025 and 2026) Amador Ledger Dispatch:
"lone's New Year, New Leadership, Same Quarrels". January 20,2026. "lone City Council division continues despite pleas." Nov 21, 2025. "City of lone residents growing weary of council divisiveness." Nov 10, 2025. "lone Council Continues Confrontational Course." June 4, 2025. "Accusations fly at special meeting to censure City of lone Mayor Stacey Rhoades." June 5, 2025.
"Allegations fly, frustrations grow in City of lone." March 28, 2025.
KVGC Radio:
"Hostility Continues Among lone City Council." May 19, 2026 "Litigation With Council Member Wafts Heavy Air in lone's Meeting." April 21, 2026.
"Legal Fees Scrutinized in lone." January 20, 2026.
"lone's New Year, New Leadership, Same Quarrels." January 6, 2026. "lone Council Continues Clashing." August 19, 2025.
"lone City Council Continues Confrontational Course." June 4, 2025. "Tensions Mount at lone City Council." February 18, 2025.
Table 7: Recent media headlines concerning lone Council Behavior. 56 These examples indicate that the Council's failure to follow the City's adopted policies and protocols governing communications and decorum not only inhibits the orderly conduct of city business but also affects constituents' respect for their elected leaders and their confidence in local government.
Throughout this report, the Grand Jury identified non-compliance related to financial, purchasing, decorum, and Council protocol and policies. The persistent lack of formal reprimands, or even constructive discussion, has effectively transformed adopted City policies into mere suggestions, where compliance is optional, rather than mandatory.
Until the Council demands accountability for policy and protocol violations and establishes a transparent commitment to meaningful self-correction, the cycle of non- compliance and rude behavior will undoubtedly persist.
FINDINGS
F1: The Council failed to hold public hearings in May 2025 and ensure a timely fiscal year 2025-2026 budget was adopted in June 2025 (per adopted financial policy), highlighting a significant failure in governance, financial oversight, and attention to fiduciary responsibilities.
F2: The city manager and finance manager failed to present the draft preliminary fiscal year 2025-2026 budget to the Finance Committee for its review and recommendations, violating Financial Policies.
F3: The Council authorized expenditures and approved contracts without following adopted Financial Policies.
F4: After nine months of employment, Council approved a significant city manager pay increase and augmented benefits, substantially exceeding the City's adopted Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Salary Schedule with no proposed budget adjustment to cover this expenditure, violating the City's Financial Policies.
F5: Council approved an enhanced severance and benefit package for the city manager to minimize turnover.
F6. The Finance Committee has not met since July 2024, at a time when oversight and advice on the City's financial record keeping and budget matters have been critically needed.
F7: The City has experienced a multi-year breakdown in audits and resulting financial statements, with significant reporting delays from fiscal year 2018-2019 through fiscal 57 year 2021-2022 and a complete failure to report thereafter, violating its own financial policies and protocols.
F8: Years of Council failure to ensure the City's financial audits and financial statements are completed annually creates a critical vulnerability to waste, fraud, and abuse, indicating a severe systemic failure and breach of fiduciary duties.
F9: The Financial Transactions Report due to the State Controller's Office contains unaudited financial data.
F10: Incomplete implementation of recommendations from prior audits slowed the completion of subsequent audits and caused a number of internal control exceptions.
F11: Ongoing significant deficiency and/or material weakness in internal controls related to financial transactions resulted in the auditor issuing a fiscal year 2020-2021 modified audit opinion (financial statements may not be entirely accurate or reliable).
F12: Chronic delays and a failure to finalize financial audits since 2021 have severely compromised the City's fiscal transparency and its ability to borrow funds.
F13: Council approved expedited bookkeeping and audit services because it was in the City's best interest to bring the backlog of audits current as quickly as possible.
F14: Outstanding audit recommendations related to significant internal control weaknesses described in the fiscal year 2018-2019, 2019-2020, and 2020-2021 audit reports resulted in a decision to suspend formal audits for fiscal years 2021-2022 and 2022-2023, and replace with remedial, contracted bookkeeping services performed by an auditor, a material deviation from established municipal financial protocols.
F15: Neglect of interfund loan repayments since 2015 highlights a fundamental governance breakdown masking financial accuracy resulting in lack of transparency.
F16: Despite adopting a Debt Policy in 2018 with a policy goal to reduce the City's sizable unfunded liability for OPEB, no action has been taken to address the unfunded debt obligation.
F17: The finance manager performs current duties in addition to daily transactional personnel functions and other operational tasks, which may lead to burnout and errors.
F18: High turnover in the city manager and finance manager positions impacted fiscal transparency, delayed the completion of audits, and the City's ability to qualify for loans.
F19: High turnover in the city manager, finance manager, and other City staff positions leads to serious losses of institutional knowledge that hinders City operations. 58 F20: The Finance Department has relied upon a retired annuitant for multiple years to complete outstanding audits, indicating a failure to address the underlying staffing shortage that can significantly impact operations.
F21: Morale of City staff has greatly improved since the hire of the city manager and finance manager.
F22: The reliance on a retired annuitant to perform core functions over a multi-year period without a transition plan creates a dependency on one special hire, jeopardizing the retention of institutional knowledge.
F23: The City does not employ a dedicated Human Resource position to manage personnel paperwork, benefits, enrollment, and workers compensation, creating significant legal, financial, and liability risks for the City.
F24: The City lacks formal, written policies or procedures regarding recruitment, interview, selection, and centralized filing for personnel files.
F25: The City's recruitment and hiring process for the most recent city manager position was characterized by a lack of fundamental documentation of the hiring process.
F26: The lack of a hiring policy, a dedicated Human Resources position, and adequate filing system contributes to an absence of administrative oversight.
F27: Council updated its Protocol Manual, replacing the prior version dating back to 2008.
F28: The Council and city manager have frequently bypassed or inconsistently applied established administrative and operational policies.
F29: The city manager frequently made decisions based on expediency over adopted City protocols, bypassing necessary financial oversight and the intended role of advisory bodies.
F30: The city manager presented a contract previously signed by the city manager, city attorney, and city clerk without Council approval, eight months after services started, violating City policies.
F31: Failure by Council and the city manager to address documented policy violations fosters an attitude that compliance is optional rather than mandatory.
F32: The public appreciates the tangible results and overall progress of city projects such as improvements to Howard Park infrastructure and completion of the amphitheater at Picnic Hill.
F33: The city attorney performs tasks-without Council direction-that could be handled by internal staff or a Council subcommittee, i.e., revising the protocol manual. 59 F34: Despite public and councilmember criticisms of rising legal fees and requests to review itemized attorney invoices, Council failed to provide rigorous, consistent, proactive scrutiny of monthly invoices. This systemic failure in oversight allowed expenses to exceed budgeted amounts without appropriate authorization or adequate justification.
F35: There is a lack of transparency to the public and Council regarding spending on legal services, specifically general municipal and estimated cost vs actual.
F36: There are no cost control measures in place to preauthorize or closely track high legal expenditures, and increased oversight is needed to control these expenses.
F37: The city manager failed to uphold fairness and accountability by responding to verbal requests from some councilmembers to include items on future meeting agendas while requiring others to provide such requests in writing, in violation of agendizing rules contained in the 2008 Protocol Manual.
F38: Staff reports are missing from many Council meeting agenda packets, a violation of adopted policy.
F39: Information to be provided in staff reports, such as who requested the agenda item, fiscal impact, and the specific action the Council is asked to take, has not been consistently presented in the agenda.
F40: The city manager fails to provide current financial data to Council as required by policy as part of Council meeting agenda packets despite numerous requests from councilmembers and the public.
F41: A culture of non-responsiveness exists during Council meetings where the city manager and the mayor ignore repeated and frequent information requests from councilmembers and the public.
F42: Council meeting minutes were not posted or provided to the public for September, October, November, and December 2025 (as of March 31, 2026).
F43: The City demonstrates a high level of transparency by publishing Council meeting audio/video to the City's YouTube channel within 24 hours of adjournment.
F44: Oral presentations made during Council meetings typically do not include written presentation materials or staff reports. The absence of visual aids (e.g. PowerPoint slides or written handouts) makes it difficult for attendees and online viewers to fully comprehend, analyze, and retain presentation information and hampers transparency.
F45: The city manager does not provide regular, comprehensive reports concerning all aspects of City operations to Council as required in protocol manual. 60 F46: The Council lacks policy mechanisms and enforcement tools to detect or prevent serial "daisy-chain" violations.
F47: The City has no formal, mandatory onboarding or ongoing training program for elected officials.
F48: The absence of training, particularly on the code of conduct, meeting protocols, and financial management, contributes to continued lack of decorum on the dais and impacts City operations.
F49: The City has kept inconsistent and incomplete training records.
F50: The lack of financial training by elected officials and the city manager has contributed to a failure in exercising proper fiduciary control over City funds, exemplified by weak internal controls, poor file management, and inconsistent record keeping.
F51: During Council meetings, the mayor has ignored councilmember calls for a Point of Order, violating City policy and causing disruption and conflict among meeting participants.
F52: During Council meetings, the councilmembers frequently talk over each other, engage in arguments, use inappropriate language, or mutter asides that disrupt deliberations, without consequences, violating the adopted Protocol Manual and Code of Ethics.
F53: During public comments, the public has requested the Council "do better," "stop bickering," and "do the job you were elected to do," but the Council has failed to respond to these requests. The rampant lack of civility evident at most Council meetings undermines Council credibility and constituents' trust in their local government.
F54: Councilmembers have used print and social media to vent about alleged inappropriate Council activities instead of discussing the issues during public meetings, in part because the mayor cut short their opportunities to speak in public meetings.
F55: Council's open animosity, personal attacks, and demonstrated lack of decorum on social media and on the dais, fails to set an example of credible leadership and civility to the community.
F56: When addressed, breaches of protocol are often treated with the most extreme measures (censure or litigation) rather than a progressive, tiered approach to corrective action, i.e. first using verbal warnings, written warnings, fines, or reprimands that would be much less inflammatory and costly.
F57: A lack of decorum on the dais, constant bickering, and disrespectful language from councilmembers have turned public meetings into a public embarrassment, discouraging members of the public from engaging in City government. 61 F58: There is no consistent process for tracking and reporting to the public the implementation status of approved Council motions.
F59: Council and city manager do recognize employee and staff contributions during public meetings.
F60: Council approved invoices for contracts the city manager had signed that substantially exceeded his authorization limit of $15,000 for non-emergency spending with no reprimand or consequences for the violation.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The Amador County Grand Jury recommends that:
R1: The Council direct the city manager to adopt an annual budget cycle calendar detailing key dates for departmental submissions, reviews, work sessions, public hearings, and adoption, by December 31, 2026. [F1, F2, F6, F41] R2: The Council charge the Finance Committee with assisting the Council and city manager with fiscal oversight, transparency, and major financial transactions, by September 1, 2026. [F1, F2, F3, F4, F6, F7, F8, F10, F11, F12, F14, F15, F16, F28, F29, F30, F34, F35, F36, F41]
R3: The Council monitor non-essential spending pending adoption of a current year budget, beginning July 1, 2026. [F3, F4]
R4: The Council implement a detailed plan to address the observations, comments, areas for improvement, and the internal control findings discussed in the October 15, 2025, audit report and October 21, 2025, Council meeting presentation by Richardson and Company, LLC, and provide quarterly status updates until completed, by December 31, 2026. [F7, F8, F9, F10, F11, F12, F14, F15, F16]
R5: The Council ensure the completion of the fiscal year 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 financial audits within 12 months of completion of the 2023-2024 audit. [F7, F8, F10, F11, F12, F13, F41]
R6: The Council direct the city manager to address the outdated version of the Financial Policies and Procedures Handbook, strengthen internal controls and financial reporting compliance, and bring a plan to the Council for consideration, by December 31, 2026. [F11, F14, F41]
R7: The Council direct the city manager to develop a plan to repay all interfund loan agreements, with interest, proposing viable alternatives to repay the loans if there are 62 insufficient funds, and provide status reports to Council annually, beginning December 31, 2026. [F15, F41]
R8: The Council direct the city manager to establish a framework for recruitment and hiring to standardize documentation of outreach, advertising and vetting, and bring to the Council for consideration by December 31, 2026. [F24, F25, F26] R9: The Council direct the city manager to establish a secure, centralized personnel filing system for all current employee files by October 1, 2026. [F24, F25, F26] R10: The Council direct the city manager to investigate availability of resources to hire two additional administrative positions in the Finance Department; one dedicated Human Resources position and one position to perform audit and other duties completed by the retired annuitant, by December 31, 2026. [F17, F18, F19, F20, F22, F23, F24, F25, F26]
R11: The Council direct the city manager to ensure desk procedures are in place for all finance and administrative functions, by December 31, 2026. [F11, F15, F17, F19, F20, F22, F23, F24, F25]
R12: The Council direct the city manager to certify availability of funds or propose a budget amendment for every agenda item requiring a financial expenditure before it is presented to Council for vote, as required by existing Financial Policies, beginning September 1, 2026. [F3, F4, F6, F28, F29, F31, F34, F35, F36, F39, F41] R13: The Council verify all city attorney invoices are reviewed for contractual compliance, identify any billing discrepancy or excessive charges prior to approval, and report findings at public meetings, beginning October 1, 2026. [F29, F30, F31, F33, F34, F35, F36, F37]
R14: The Council direct the city manager to review the Agreement for City Attorney Services and the Scope of Work-to ensure it clearly defines the desired general counsel services, explicitly lists tasks the attorney should not perform without Council approval, and sets budgetary controls for special counsel legal services-and report findings and any recommendations to Council for consideration by October 1, 2026. [F30, F31, F33, F34, F35, F36, F37, F56]
R15: The Council direct the Finance Committee to prepare a cost-benefit analysis of a contracted vs in-house city attorney and report to Council, by November 1, 2026. [F33, F34, F35, F36]
R16: The Council direct the city manager to improve future agenda packets by agendizing all informative staff presentations, providing staff reports for substantive items or a written explanation of why they are missing, and include copies of 63 presentation materials for all oral presentations, by October 1, 2026. [F28, F29, F30, F37, F38, F39, F41, F44]
R17: The Council direct the city clerk to ensure that any PowerPoint presentation or written materials handed out during the Council meetings are appropriately posted to comply with the Brown Act and increase transparency for the public, by September 1, 2026. [F44]
R18: The Council require the city manager to comply with the Protocol Manual section
7.08 and the Financial Policies section IV.D and provide regular written reports to the Council concerning all aspects of City operations and monthly financial reports, by October 1, 2026. [F1, F2, F3, F4, F7, F8, F10, F12, F14, F15, F16, F17, F18, F28, F29, F30, F31, F33, F34, F35, F36, F37, F38, F40, F41, F45]
R19: The Council direct the city manager to establish and maintain a process to provide regular status updates at a public meeting on all approved motions, to include actions taken, anticipated next steps, and any changes to timelines or funding, due by November 1, 2026, and quarterly thereafter. [F12, F15, F16, F28, F29, F30, F31, F33, F34, F35, F36, F41, F45, F52, F53, F55, F57, F58]
R20: The Council direct the city clerk to post meeting minutes on the City's website no later than 10 days of the Council meeting and provide a separate link to the minutes, so they are easily accessible, starting October 1, 2026. [F42] R21: The Council establish a formal plan and framework for training, to include onboarding materials for elected officials, department heads, and administrative officers, to meet the requirements of AB 1234 and SB 827 (ethics, the Brown Act, conflict-of- interest, fiscal and financial training), by December 31, 2026. [F3, F7, F8, F11, F12, F14, F28, F29, F30, F31, F37, F39, F40, F41, F45, F46, F47, F48, F50, F51, F52, F53, F54, F55, F56, F57]
R22: The Council require the city manager to develop an enhanced training plan for elected officials, department heads, and administrative officers to build a strong, more effective leadership, and to comply with existing laws and adopted City policies, and make results available to the public, by December 31, 2026. [F3, F7, F8, F11, F12, F14, F28, F29, F30, F31, F37, F41, F45, F46, F47, F48, F50, F51, F52, F53, F54, F55, F56, F57]
R23: The Council direct the city manager to provide newly elected officials with onboarding materials within 30 days of hire so they are aware of existing laws and adopted City policies, and provide proof of completion to Council, beginning January 1, 2027. [F3, F7, F8, F11, F12, F14, F28, F29, F30, F31, F37, F41, F45, F46, F47, F48, F50, F51, F52, F53, F54, F55, F56, F57]
64 R24: The Council require the city manager to complete public purchasing, contracting, and municipal budget training now required by the Brown Act and provide proof of completion to Council, by October 1, 2026. [F1, F3, F5, F7, F8, F10, F11, F12, F14, F15, F16, F28, F29, F30, 31, F37, F40, F41, F45, F48, F50, F53, F54, F55, F56, F57] R25: The Council direct the city manager to facilitate specialized training for all councilmembers on conflict resolution, professional decorum, Brown Act, financial management, Conflict of Interest, Rosenberg's Rules of Order, and procedural fairness, by October 1, 2026. [F28, F29, F30, F31, F37, F41, F46, F47, F48, F50, F51, F52, F53, F54, F55, F56, F57]
R26: The Council direct the city manager to identify and designate a staff person to establish and maintain a formal tracking system to log mandatory training, send reminders to councilmembers and officials with training deadlines and upcoming opportunities, and make results available to the public, by December 31, 2026. [F47, F48, F49, F50]
R27: The Council submit, upon completion, copies of all training certificates to a secure, centralized repository, to ensure accuracy and ease of retrieval, by October 1, 2026. [F48, F49, F50]
R28: The Council establish a plan to address the lack of a Code of Conduct policy, separate from the Code of Ethics, that clearly outlines acceptable interaction protocol, with specific consequences for violations, by December 31, 2026. [F52, F53, F54, F55, F57]
R29: The Council to follow Rosenberg's Rules of Order to preserve order and decorum at every Council meeting as specified in the municipal code, beginning September 1, 2026. [F52, F53, F54, F55, F57]
R30: The Council establish a plan for a progressive, tiered approach to corrective action before considering formal censure, by December 31, 2026. [F56] R31: The Council establish a plan to hold staff accountable for policy and protocol violations, by December 31, 2026. [F60]
65 REQUIRED RESPONSES
Pursuant to Penal Code sections 933 and 933.05, the following response is required:
• The lone City Council: respond to Findings F1 through F60 and Recommendations R1 through R31 within 90 days of receipt of this report.
INVITED RESPONSES
The Grand Jury invites the following individual to respond:
• The City Manager of lone: respond to Findings F2, F6-F24, F26-F45, F47-F50, F52-F60, and Recommendations R1-R16, R18, R19, R21-R26, and R31, within 60 days of this report.
Mail or deliver a hard copy response to:
The Honorable J.S. Hermanson
Amador County Superior Court
500 Argonaut Lane
Jackson, CA 95642
Responses must be submitted to the presiding judge of the Amador County Superior Court in accordance with the provisions of Penal Code section 933.05. Responses must include the information required by Penal Code section 933.05.
DISCLAIMER
Two grand jurors recused themselves from all meetings and discussions regarding this investigation and abstained from voting for its approval.
Reports issued by the grand jury do not identify the individuals interviewed.
Penal Code section 929 requires that reports of the Civil Grand Jury not contain the name of any person or facts leading to the identity of any person who provides information to the Civil Grand Jury.
Note: The APPENDIX prepared for this investigation is on page 106. 66 Appendix A
CITY COUNCIL PROTOCOL MANUAL
OF
CITY IONE
FORNI
ADOPTED AUGUST 5, 2008
CITY OF IONE CITY COUNCIL PROTOCOL MANUAL
Chapter 1 Introduction and Overview
As a City Councilmember, you not only establish important and often critical policies for the community of lone, you are also a board member of a public corporation having an annual udget of several million dollars. The scope of services and issues addressed by the cit organization go well beyond those frequently reported in the newspaper or discussed at Cit
1.01 Council-Manager Form of Government
The City of lone has a Council-Manager form of government. As described in the Municipal Code and the Government Code of California, certain responsibilities are vested in the City Council and the City Manager. Basically, this form of government prescribes that a Cit Council's role is that of a legislative policy-making body which determines not only the local laws that regulate community life, but also determines public policy and gives direction to the City Manager to administer the affairs of the city government in a businesslike and prudent manner. (lone Municipal Code Title Il and Government Code §34100 et seq.) The City of lone was incorporated in 1953. At that time, the separately elected City Clerk vas the administrative officer for municipal affairs. There was also a separately elected Cr Treasurer. The City Council established lone as a Council-Administrator form of government i _and hired its first City Administrator that year. In 2007, the City Council changed the form
1.02 Purpose of City Council Protocol Manual
The City of lone has prepared its own Protocol Manual to assist the City Council by documenting accepted practices and clarifying expectations. Administration of City Council affairs is greatly enhanced by the agreement of the City Council and staff to be bound by these practices. While attempting not to be overly restrictive, procedures are established so that expectations and practices can be clearly articulated to guide Councilmembers in their actions.
1.03 Overview of Basic City Documents
This Protocol Manual provides a summary of important aspects of City Council activities.
However, it cannot incorporate all material and information necessary for undertaking the Coines or cereain Coses if in add plavices the no doing is sure whig binde of the most notable documents that establish City Council direction. A complete list of City plans and implementation programs is provided in the Appendix.
CITY OF IONE CITY COUNCIL PROTOCOL MANUAL
A. Lone Municipal Code
The Municipal Code contains local laws and regulations adopted by resolutions and Codes, ratic regulations, baig studard, and revenue and nance sandards, health and safety B. Goals
The City Council sets both long-term and short-term goals for the City each spring. The oal-setting process includes a review of the previous year's goals including progress towar ompletion and updating. The budget is then written with the objective of working towar C. Codes of the State of California
The state laws contain many requirements for the operation of city government and administration of meetings of city councils throughout the state. Ione is a "general law city" which means it operates under applicable general laws of the state. As a general law city of the state of California, Ione is vested with all the powers of incorporated cities as set forth in the California Constitution and the applicable California state laws. Conversely, there are a numbe of cities within California that are "charter cities" and have adopted local provisions that establis basic governing procedures for local government. (Government Code §§ 34100-34102) lone is D. Annual Budget
The annual budget is set for the fiscal year beginning July Ist and ending June 30th. It is he primary tool and road map for accomplishing the goals of the City. The budget document 1 he result of one of the most important processes the City undertakes. By adopting the annua budget, the City Council makes policy decisions, sets priorities, allocates resources, and provides the framework for government operations. Study sessions on the budget are held in May and public hearings in June with adoption at the second City Council meeting in June.
E. Annual Financial Audit
The annual financial audit includes the financial statements of the City for a fiscal year. It includes the financial condition of the City as reflected in the balance sheet, the results of operations as reflected in income statements, an analysis of the uses of City funds, and relate ootnotes. The annual financial audit includes statements for the various groups of funds and consolidated group of statements for the City as a whole. The City Council has the responsibility
CITY OF IONE CITY COUNCIL PROTOCOL MANUAL
of hiring an independent auditor, and of reviewing and accepting the audit.
F. General Plan
A state-mandated General Plan addresses the City's long-range planning needs relative to and use, transportation, economic development, and other planning elements. The City's Genera lan is reviewed on an ongoing basis, but mandatory elements may only be revised four times year; however, certain amendments necessary for affordable housing development are not subject to this limitation. (Government Code § 65350 et seq.)
G. Five-year Capital Improvement Program
The Five-year Capital Improvement Program serves as a guide for determining priorities, planning, financing, and construction of capital projects which add to, support, or improve the physical infrastructure, capital assets, or productive capacity of City services.
H. Disaster Preparedness Plan
The City maintains a disaster preparedness plan that outlines actions to be taken during imes of extreme emergency. The City Council may be called upon during an emergency t stablish policies related to a specific incident. The chain of command is as follows The City Manager is the Director of Emergency Services
The City Manager may appoint an Assistant Director of Emergency Services (lone Municipal Code Title II, Chapter 2.48, $§ 2.48.010 to 2.48.120)
1.04 Orientation of New Members
It is important for the members of the City Council to gain an understanding of the full range of services and programs provided by the City. As new members join the City Council, the following will be provided in a timely manner.
• The City Manager will host an orientation program to distribute materials outlining City policy, protocol and updates on labor negotiations. • The City Manager will facilitate a meeting with the City Attorney for conflict-of- interest training, review of current legal matters, and review of parliamentary The City Manager will arrange a meeting with Finance prior to the first pay period to cover information reviewed with all City employees, (e.g., benefits elections, I-9, retirement options, etc.)
The City Manager will arrange meetings with key Department Heads to be briefed on current projects within his/her Department and to tour City facilities.
The City Manager will arrange an opportunity for "ride alongs" with the lone Police Department.
The City Manager's assistant will arrange a meeting for a briefing on various aspects of City Hall, including, but not limited to, travel procedures, phone service, etc.
CITY OF IONE CITY COUNCIL PROTOCOL MANUAL
• The City Manager will provide information for attendance at the League of California Cities' New Mayors and Council Members Academy.
CITY OF IONE CITY COUNCIL PROTOCOL MANUAL
Chapter 2 Lone City Council: General Powers and Responsibilities
2.01 City Council, Generally
Fundamentally, the powers of the City Council are to be utilized for the good of the It is important to note that the Council acts as a body. No member has any extraordinary powers beyond those of other members. While the Mayor has some additional ceremonial and presiding officer responsibilities as described below, when it comes to establishing policies, voting, and in other significant areas, all members are equal. It is also important to note that policy is established by at least a majority vote of the Council. While individual members may disagree with decisions of the majority, a decision of the majority does bind the Council to a course of action. Councilmembers should respect adopted Council policy. In turn, it is staff:
responsibility to ensure the policy of the majority of the Council is upheld. Actions of staff t pursue the policy direction established by a majority of Council do not reflect any bias against Councilmembers who held a minority opinion on an issue.
A. Council Non-Participation in Administration
In order to uphold the integrity of the council-manager form of government and to provide proper checks and balances, members of the City Council shall refrain from becoming directly involved in the administrative affairs of the City, unless directed by a majority of the Council to participate in a policy or project.
2.02 Role of Councilmembers
Members of the lone City Council are collectively responsible for establishing policy, adopting an annual budget, and providing vision and goals to the City Manager. The following outline is a brief description of the various duties of Councilmembers. The description is not intended to be comprehensive, but rather it is an effort to summarize the primary responsibilities of the Council.
A. Summary of Council Duties and Responsibilities as Provided in State Law:
1. Councilmembers serve as the:
City Council
CITY OF IONE CITY COUNCIL PROTOCOL MANUAL
2. Establish Policy
• Adopt goals and objectives
3. Enact Local Laws
• Adopt ordinances
4. Supervise Appointed Officials
• Appoint City Manager and City Attorney
• Evaluate performance of City Manager and City Attorney • Establish boards, commissions, committees and task forces • Make appointments to such bodies
• Provide direction to advisory bodies
5. Make Decisions
• Study problems
• Review alternatives
• Determine best course of public policy
• Call special elections as necessary
2.03 Role of Mayor
A. Presiding Officer
The Council selects the Mayor on the third Tuesday of December. The Vice Mayor can he selected to l the eila discretie. ty Core an elect at the remaining henlet ve the City Council at their discretion.
lenst one full year on the City Council prior to being selected as the Mayor.
The Mayor serves as the presiding officer, unless otherwise delegated, and acts as chair at all meetings of the City Council. The Mayor sets the Agenda for regular and special Council meetings. The Mayor may participate in all deliberations of the Council in the same manner as any other member and is expected to vote in all proceedings, unless a conflict of interest exists.
During Council proceedings, the Mayor facilitates discussion, gauges direction, and listens for majority support prior to calling for a vote on a motion. The Mayor does not possess any power of veto. State law allows the Mayor to move or second an action. As a matter of lone tradition, the Mayor does not make a motion and will only second a motion in rare and unusual circumstances. (Government Code §§ 36801-36815)
CITY OF IONE CITY COUNCIL PROTOCOL MANUAL
2.08 Boards, Commissions, Committees, and Task Forces
A. Appointments Made by the Council
Boards, commissions, committees, and task forces provide a great deal of assistance to the lone These ad hoc committees will be dissolved upon completion of the intended task ommittees and task forces are purely advisory to the Council, and, in some situations, staff Commissions pursuant to the powers and duties specified by the City Council may have final decision-making authority, subject to appeal to the Council, but may also serve in an advisory capacity in certain situations.
The procedures established in this Manual reflect the policy of the City Council regarding the appointment of volunteer citizens to the various bodies of the City. The establishment of these procedures ensures that well-qualified, responsible, and willing citizens are given the opportunity to serve the City and participate in the governance of their community.
The City Council is specifically empowered to create all boards, commissions, committees and task forces, pursuant to the provisions of the lone Municipal Code, as the Council deems necessary or advisable. In the exercise of this power, it is the desire of the City Council to establish a consistent policy in its decision-making role to fairly and equitably evaluate those citizens of the community who demonstrate a desire to serve on such boards, commissions, committees, or task forces. (Tone Municipal Code Title 2, Chapters 2.17, 2.36, and 2.62) For full-term vacancies, the filing period is as determined by Ordinance. The City Clerk shall:
Publicly announce the position vacancy and filing period by publication of same in the official newspaper of the City of lone and set forth the qualifications required, if any.
Notify the incumbents) of whose terms are expiring, of such term expiration and invite the incumbents) to consider being reappointed.
• Advertise the position and accept applications when an incumbent's term expires on the Planning Commission, Park and Recreation Commission, and any other Commission.
B. Selection
1. Mayor Interview Period: The Mayor may personally interview each applicant individually, at a time and place to be designated by the Mayor.
However, after reviewing applications, the Mayor reserves the right to make appointments without conducting interviews.
CITY OF IONE CITY COUNCIL PROTOCOL MANUAL
Chapter 6 Conflicts of Interest
6.01 Ethics, AB 1234 Ethies Training
The City maintains a commitment to conducting business according to the highest achievable. thical standards. Recognizing that ethical dilemmas may arise and that public officials must nake difficult choices after careful consideration of competing public, personal and/or private interests at stake, the Council has adopted a code of ethical conduct, which is contained in the Appendix.
The City Manager is subject to a professional code of ethics as a member of the International City/County Management Association (ICMA). These principles appear in the Appendix of this manual. It should be noted that this code binds the City Manager to certain practices that are designed to ensure actions are in support of the City's best interests. Violations of such principles can result in censure by the ICMA.
State law (Government Code § 53234, et seq.) requires public officials to complete two hours of In addition to Councilmembers, lone
requires the training of all of its Commissioners (Planning and Park and Recreation), its City Manager, its Department Directors, its mid-managers when they staff a City Commission, and the Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of each committee or board. Additionally, the City Council encourages all committee and board members to complete the training. At present, the League of California Cities offers AB 1234 training, often in conjunction with League conferences or other training workshops, and on-line training is offered for a nominal fee through the Institute for Local Government and the Fair Political Practices Commission. Certificates of course completion are kept on file by the City Clerk. (lone Resolution #1385.)
6.02 Conflicts of Interest
There are numerous sources of conflicts of interest that may require a Councilmember to disqualify himself or herself from participating in decision-making. The Political Reform Act (PRA) controls financial conflicts of interest of public officials. The PRA is one of the most complicated laws affecting local government. This law is implemented and enforced by the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) which has issued comprehensive implementing regulations. To understand the PRA's impact on a Councilmember's actions, it is suggested that members discuss the law and potential conflicts with the City Attorney or a private attorney.
In general, under the PRA, public officials are prohibited from making, participating in or in any way attempting to use their official position to influence a government decision in which they know or have reason to know they have a financial interest. (Government Code § 87100, 2 California Code of Regulations §§ 18700, 18702-18702.4.) A "public official" is defined as including every member, officer, employee or consultant of the state or local government agency. (Government Code § 82048; 2 California Code of Regulations § 18700).
CITY OF IONE CITY COUNCIL PROTOCOL MANUAL
A. Applicability
Under the PRA, an official has a financial interest if it is reasonably foreseeable that the decision rill have a material financial effect, distinguishable from its effect on the public generally, on thi fficial, a member of his or her immediate family, or on any of the following " Say buor sore ly in which cod 04, as 2 cat or idiot investment vorte
2. Any real property in which the public official has a direct or indirect interest worth $2,000 or more. (Government Code § 82033)
Any source of income other than gifts or certain loans aggregating $500 or more provided to the public official within 12 months prior to the time of the decision. (Government Code § 82030; 2 California Code of Regulations § 18703.3)
4. Any business entity in which the public official is a director, officer, partner, trustee, employee, or holds any position of management. (2 California Code of Regulations §$ 18703.1, 18704.3)
5. Any gift totaling $360 (adjusted biannually by the FPPC) or more provided to, received by or promised within 12 months prior to the decision. (2 California Code of Regulations §§ 18703.4, 18794-18961)
B. Analysis
In general, the FPPC suggests that an eight-part analysis be followed in determining whether a conflict of interest exists:
• Is the person involved a public official? The PRA applies to "public officials at any level of state or local government." (Government Code § 87100)
Is the public official making, participating in making, using, or attempting to use his/her 1300, 13802-1702 4uence govemmental decision? (2 Califormia Code of Regulations 88 What are the actual economic interests of the official potentially impacted by the decision? (Government Code § 87103, 2 California Code of Regulations §§ 1870418704.5) Is the economic interest directly or indirectly involved in the governmental decision? (2 California Code of Regulations §§ 18704-18704.5)
• Is the financial affect on the economic interest material? (2 California Code of Regulations §§
CITY OF IONE CITY COUNCIL PROTOCOL MANUAL
18702-18702.6)
• Is it "reasonably foreseeable" that the governmental decision will have a material financial effect on the economic interest? (2 California Code of Regulations §§ 18700-18706) • Will the decision's effect on the official's economic interest differ from that of the public generally? (2 California Code of Regulations §§ 18707-18707.2) • Is panicipation by the public official legally required in order to create a quorum to vote on C. Disqualification and Disclosure
When the agenda item is called, a City Councilmember who has a conflict of interest is required to publicly state that a conflict of interest exists, describe the nature of the economic interest giving rise to the conflict, disqualify himself or herself, and leave the room. Ideally, Councilmembers will become familiar enough with the sources of conflicts to determine in advance whether disqualification is necessary. However, if a Councilmember becomes aware of a potential conflict only during the meeting, it is perfectly appropriate for the Councilmember to ask for a break in order to discuss the matter with the City Attorney, if necessary. If any Councilmember questions a potential conflict of interest related to another Councilmember, a recess may be called at the request of the Councilmember who may have a conflict to allow discussion of the issue with the City Attorney to determine if there is a conflict. If the Councilmember decides a conflict exists, that Councilmember may not participate in any aspect of the decision-making, including discussing the matter with City staff. When a conflict of interest arises involving a matter on the consent portion of the agenda, the Councilmember is not required to leave the room, unless that item is pulled from the consent agenda for separate discussion.
D. Legally Required Participation
In the event that a decision cannot be made because a majority of the Council is disqualified due E. Conflict of Interest Code
The City is required to adopt and maintain a Conflict of Interest Code. This Code is found in the Ione Municipal Code at Title 2, Chapter 8. Under state law, the code must be reviewed every two years and amended as circumstances change. The City's code must be consistent with minimum requirements of the PRA. (Government Code §§ 87300-87313)
CITY OF IONE CITY COUNCIL PROTOCOL MANUAL
F. Advice on Conflict of Interest
The City Attorney may provide advice to a Councilmember about the existence of a conflict of G. Other Sources of Conflict
In addition to the PRA, State law prohibits Councilmembers from entering into contracts with the City. (Government Code §1090 et. seq.) In general, this type of conflict is not subject to remedy through the disqualification of the interested Councilmember, but must instead be entirely avoided by the Council. There are, however, numerous exceptions to this provision that will allow the Council to enter into certain contracts after disqualification of the interested Councilmember and those should be reviewed with the City Attorney on a case-by-case basis. (Government Code §1090 et. seq.)
H. Revolving Door Policies
For a period of one year after leaving office, state law prohibits Councilmembers and chief administrators from accepting employment with the City, or from acting as agent or attorney for any other person by appearing formally or informally, orally or in writing before the Council or any of its commissions, or committees if the appearance or communication is made for the purpose of influencing administrative or legislative action, or influencing any action or proceeding involving the issuance of, amendment to, award of, or revocation of a permit, license, grant, or contract, or the sale or purchase of goods or property. (Government Code §87406.3)
CITY OF IONE CITY COUNCIL PROTOCOL MANUAL
Chapter 7 Interaction with City Staff/Officials
7.01 Overview
City Council policy is implemented through dedicated and professional staff. Therefore, it is critical that the relationship between Council and staff be well understood by all parties so policies and programs may be implemented successfully. To support effective relationships, it is
7.02 Council-Manager Form of Government
Ione has a Council-Manager form of government. Basically, with this structure, the City Council's role is to establish City policies and priorities. The Council appoints a City Manager to implement those policies and undertake the administration of the organization.
The City Manager is appointed by the City Council to enforce its laws, to direct the daily operations of city government, to prepare and monitor the principal budget, and to implement the policies and programs initiated by the City Council. The City Manager is responsible to the City Council, rather than to individual Councilmembers, and directs and coordinates the various departments. The City Manager is responsible for appointing all department directors and authorizing all other personnel positions except the City Clerk, City Attorney, and City Treasurer (lone Municipal Code §2.10.100). The City Council authorizes positions through the budget process; based upon that authorization, the City Manager makes the appointments.
The Council-Manager form of government is outlined in the Government Code. The powers and duties of the City Manager include:
• Generally supervise over the administrative affairs of the city • Appoint and remove at any time any department directors and employees • Attend all meetings of the Council at which the Manager's attendance may be required by that body [IMC $2.10.130]
• See that all laws and ordinances are faithfully executed, subject to the authority which the Council may grant the Mayor to maintain law and order in times of emergency • Recommend for adoption by the Council such measures as the Manager may deem necessary or expedient
Prepare and submit to the Council such reports as may be required by that body, or as deemed advisable to be submitted
Keep the Council fully advised of the financial condition of the City and its future Prepare and submit to the Council a proposed budget for the fiscal year, and be responsible for its administration upon adoption
Perform such other duties as the Council may determine by ordinance or resolutior : Implement and administer City Council policy
CITY OF IONE CITY COUNCIL PROTOCOL MANUAL
7.05 City Council/City Staff Relationship
City Councilmember contact with City staff members, inclusive of the City Manager, will be during regular business hours, except in the case of an emergency.
7.06 City Council/City Attorney Relationship
obtaining legal counsel for the City, either by appointment of a City Attorney on a full-time or part-time basis, or by any reasonable contractual arrangement for such professional services. The City Attorney is a contract employee appointed by the City Council. The City Attorney is the
1. Provide legal assistance necessary for formulation and implementation of legislative policies and projects;
2. Represent the City's interest, as determined by the City Council, in litigation, administrative hearings, negotiations, and similar proceedings;
3. Prepare or approve as to form ordinances, resolutions, contracts, and other legal documents to best reflect and implement the purposes and intentions of the City Council; and
4. Keep City Council and staff apprised of court rulings and legislation affecting the legal interest of the City.
It is important to note that the City Attorney does not represent individual members of the Council, but rather the City Council as a whole. Accordingly, with the exception of conflict of interest inquiries, in questions involving pending or upcoming matters, or protocol and procedure, the City Attorney's services are engaged and directed through the City Manager. Individual ouncilmembers may seek advice or assistance from the City Attorney on other matte kercising best judgment on the most efficient and appropriate use of her resources. The Ci Attorney's performance is reviewed as provided by the services retention contract.
7.07 Roles and Information Flow
A. Council Roles
The full City Council retains the authority to accept, reject, or amend the staff recommendation on policy matters.
Members of the City Council must avoid intrusion into those areas that are the responsibility of
CITY OF IONE CITY COUNCIL PROTOCOL MANUAL
staff. Individual Councilmembers may not intervene in staff decision-making, the development ot staff recommendations, scheduling of work, and executing department priorities without the prior nowledge and approval of the City Council as a whole. This is necessary to protect staff fro indue influence and pressure from individual Councilmembers, and to allow staff to execut priorities given by management and the Council as a whole without fear of reprisal. If a uncilmember wishes to influence the actions, decisions, recommendations, workloads, wo hedule, or priorities of staff. that member must prevail upon the Council to do so as a matter Council policy.
B. Access to Information
The City Manager is the information liaison between the Council and City staff. Requests from Councilmembers for information are to be directed to the City Manager and will be responded to promptly. The information requested will be copied to all members of the Council so that each member may be equally informed. The sharing of information with the City Council is one of the City Manager's highest priorities.
There are limited restrictions controlling when information cannot be provided. The City is legally bound not to release certain confidential personnel information. Likewise, certain aspects of police department affairs (e.g., access to restricted or confidential information related to crimes) may not be available to members of the City Council.
C. Staff Roles
The Council recognizes the primary functions of staff as executing Council policy and actions taken by the Council, and in keeping the Council informed. Staff is obligated to take guidance and direction only from the City Manager or Department Director. This direction follows the policy guidance of the City Council as a whole. Staff is directed to reject any attempts by individual Councilmembers to unduly direct or otherwise pressure them into making, changing, or otherwise influencing recommendations.
more appropriately assigned to staff through the direction of the full City Council.
7.08 Dissemination of Information
In addition to regular, comprehensive memoranda written by the City Manager directly to City Council concerning all aspects of City operations (exclusive of confidential personnel issues), all Councilmembers receive copies of all correspondence received by the City Manager that will assist them in their policy-making role. The City Manager also provides other documents to
CITY OF IONE CITY COUNCIL PROTOCOL MANUAL
Council on a regular basis, such as status reports, executive summaries, and agendas of all weekly senior staff meetings.
A variety of methods are used to share information with Council. Workshops and study sessions
7.09 Magnitude of Information Request
Any information, service-related needs, or policy positions perceived as necessary by individual Councilmembers that cannot be fulfilled based upon the above guidelines should be considered as an item for the agenda of a City Council meeting. If so directed by action of the Council, staff will proceed to complete the work within a Council-established timeline.
7.10 Staff Relationship to Advisory Bodies
Staff support and assistance may be provided to the City's boards, commissions, committees and These bodies, however, do not have supervisory authority over City employees.
While staff may work closely with advisory bodies, staff members remain responsible to their immediate supervisors and, ultimately, the City Manager. The members of the commissions, boards, or committees are responsible for the functions of the advisory body. The chairperson is responsible for committee compliance with the municipal code and/or committee bylaws. Staff members are to assist the advisory body chair to ensure appropriate compliance with state and local laws and regulations.
Staff support includes: (1) preparation of a summary agenda and appropriate notice after approval by the chairperson; (2) preparation of reports providing a brief background of the issues, a list of alternatives, recommendations, and appropriate backup materials, if necessary; and (3) preparation of minutes of advisory body meetings. Advisory body members should have sufficient information to reach decisions based upon a clear explanation of the issues.
Advisory bodies wishing to communicate recommendations to the City Council shall do so through the City Manager's Office. In addition, when an advisory body wishes to correspond with an outside agency, correspondence shall be reviewed and approved by the City Council.
7.11 Restrictions on Political Involvement by Staff
Ione is a nonpartisan local government. Professional staff formulates recommendations in compliance with Council policy for the good of the community, not influenced by political factors. For this reason, it is very important to understand the restrictions of political involvement
CITY OF IONE CITY COUNCIL PROTOCOL MANUAL
Chapter 8 City Council Meetings
The City Council's collective policy and law-making powers are put into action at the council eetings. It is here that the Council conducts its business. The opportunity for citizens to l eard, the availability of local officials to the citizenry, and the openness of council meetings a lend themselves to the essential democratic nature of local government.
8.01 Meeting Schedule
Regular meetings are held the first and third Tuesdays of each month at 6:00 p.m., in the Council Chambers, 1 E. Main Street, lone. By a majority vote of the Council, meetings not completed by 10:30 p.m. will be continued to the following Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers.
8.02 Public Notice of Meetings and Hearings
Pursuant to the Government Code, cities are charged with establishing a procedure for notifying the public of upcoming hearings and the preliminary agenda for the forthcoming council meeting.
The procedure followed by the City of lone is as follows:
A. Notices
Except where a specific means of notifying the public of a public hearing is otherwise provided by law or ordinance, notice of upcoming public hearings before the City Council or the City's Boards and Commissions shall be given by one publication of a notice containing the time, place, date, subject, and body before whom the hearing is to be held, in the City's official newspaper consistent with State law.
B. Preliminary Agenda of Council Meeting
The public shall be notified of the preliminary agenda for the forthcoming regular City Council meeting by posting a copy of the agenda in the following public places in the City at least 72 hours in advance of the meeting:
: United Staas lost Ofice Bulletin Board, One;c Street, Lone, CA 95640 United States Post Office Bulletin Board, lone, CA Electronic Posting City of Ione Web Page
C. Duties of City Clerk
The City Clerk is directed to publish notices and post agendas as required by § 8.02 of the lone City Council Protocol Manual.
Agenda Item #5
DATE: July 29, 2015
TO: lone City Council
FROM: Jon G. Hanken, City Manager
SUBJECT: Draft Update to the Council Procedure Manual
RECOMMENDED ACTION: There is no recommended action requested.
Motion:
FISCAL IMPACT: None
BACKGROUND: At the last Council meeting, Council reviewed and discussed the
8.06 Placing Items on the Agenda so that an item would be automatically placed on the process for placing items on the Council agenda. Council requested modifying Chapter next Council agenda if two councilors requested it.
Attached is Section 8.06 Placing Items on the Agenda with the new proposed language added for Council consideration. The new language is underlined. Council can accept the language as presented or modify it. Any change to the procedure would come back at Council's August 18' meeting for adoption. Adoption would be in the form of a resdution.
Attachments: Draft update to the lone City Council Protocol Manual Chapter 8.06 Placing Items on the Agenda.
8.06 Placing items on the Agenda
A. City Council Agenda Planning
Any Councilmember may request that an item be placed on a City Council agenda by submittinga written request to the City Manager/City Clerk. The written request must, at a minimum, contain all of the following:
1. A substantive outline or summary of the information that will be presented to the City Council;
2. 3. A concise statement of the specific action the City Council will be asked to take on the item; and, A statement of the reasons why the requesting party believes it is appropriate and within the jurisdiction of the City Council to consider this subject matter and to take the requestedaction.
Manager. The item shall be placed on the agenda as soon as possible with consideration for scheduling All matters to be presented to the City Council at its regular meeting are reviewed by the Mayorand City issues.
Should two City Council members, either independently or working cooperatively, request the sane item be placed on the agenda that item will automatically go on the agenda at the next scheduled meeting. Councilors will provide the same written topic information as outlined earlier in this setion.
CITY OF IONE CITY COUNCIL PROTOCOL MANUAL
8.05 Study Sessions (Workshops)
or to receive similar information from the City Manager and others. All discussions and conclusions held during a workshop are of an informal nature. Although no final action is taken while in a study session, a majority of the Council may give City staff preliminary direction on what to bring back to the Council for later consideration. Such direction given at a study session enter ta tone ma particular way the item is tal
8.06 Placing Items on the Agenda
A. City Council Agenda Planning
Any Councilmember may request that an item be placed on a City Council agenda by submitting a written request to the City Manager/City Clerk. The written request must, at a minimum, contain all of the following:
1. A substantive outline or summary of the information that will be presented to the City Council;
2. A concise statement of the specific action the City Council will be asked to take on the item; and,
3. A statement of the reasons why the requesting party believes it is appropriate and within the jurisdiction of the City Council to consider this subject matter and to take the requested action.
All matters to be presented to the City Council at its regular meetings are reviewed by the Mayor and City Manager. The item shall be placed on the agenda as soon as possible with consideration for scheduling issues.
B. Advisory Bodies and Civic Organizations
Advisory bodies of the City Council and other civic agencies (e.g., Chamber of Commerce, Ione Main Street) may submit items for Council consideration by submitting a written request, as outlined in paragraph A. City Council Agenda Planning—1, 2, and 3 above, to the City Manager/ City Clerk at least 15 working days prior to the meeting, to be considered by the Mayor and City Manager for placement on an agenda.
C. Members of the Public
A member of the public may request an item be placed on a future agenda while addressing the
CITY OF IONE CITY COUNCIL PROTOCOL MANUAL
City Council during a regular meeting and/or by submitting a written request to the City Manager/ City Clerk as outlined in paragraph A. City Council Agenda Planning—], 2, and 3 above. In order to allow sufficient time for the Council to review, and staff to research the matter, the request should be submitted at least 1S working days prior to the meeting for which the item is requested to be placed on the agenda. If the issue is placed on the agenda, the City Clerk will D. Emergency or Other Items Added to the Agenda
Emergency items may be added to an agenda in accordance with state law. The reason(s) for adding an emergency item to the agenda shall be announced publicly at the meeting, and the issue shall be included in the minutes of the meeting. Placing emergency items on the agenda requires a majority vote of the Council and the items are taken up as the last item on the agenda.
Additionally, the Council may add items to the agenda upon a 4/5ths vote determining that there is need to take immediate action and that the need for action came to the City's attention after posting the agenda. (Government Code §54954.2(b))
8.07 Development of the Agenda
Staff is required to submit a Staff Report for each topic of discussion on the City Council agenda to the City Manager. The deadline for submitting these reports is 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday of the week prior to the date of the meeting for which the item is scheduled.
The Agenda Packet will be available for the Councilmembers, staff, public and media by 3:00 p.m. on the Friday prior to the Council Meeting.
8.08 Order of Business
The City Council, by adoption of an ordinance or resolution, establishes the general order of meetings. This section summarizes each meeting component. The Council may, at any time, by simple majority of those present, vote to consider items in a different order.
I. Roll Call
II. Closed Session
The City Council will move to Closed Session on any matter on the agenda, such as litigation, personnel or real estate matters.
III. Call to Order & Pledge of Allegiance
The Mayor, or in the Mayor's absence the Vice-Mayor, presides over all meetings of the City Council, and after determining that a quorum is present, calls the meeting to order. In the absence of the Mayor and Vice-Mayor, the City Clerk shall call the Council to order, whereupon a
CITY OF IONE CITY COUNCIL PROTOCOL MANUAL
a quasi-judicial capacity when it acts on matters that implicate constitutionally protected property and liberty interests. These types of actions generally involve land use entitlements and other types of permits, licenses, etc.
The distinction between legislative and quasi-judicial activity is especially important because of he rights that are given to the applicant. Specifically, an applicant in a quasi-judicial matter i entitled to due process of the law. This includes a right to have a decision made on the record b a tair and impartial Council. In order to ensure these rights are satisfied, the Council mus fisclose all ex parte communication it receives; that is, information or evidence a Councilmembe obtains from outside the Council hearing on the matter. Additionally, Councilmembers may be called upon to answer questions about potential bias.
8.11 General Parliamentary Procedure
Parliamentary procedures set the agreed-upon standard for conducting business. For general guidance, the Council will follow Rosenberg's Rules of Order, as attached. Certain processes are subject to state code and must be complied with. The Council will accept direction from the City Manager/City Clerk and the City Attorney on the code. For other matters, the lone City Council has a tradition that adheres to the common parliamentary practices used by similar institutions to Facilitate the orderly processing of the business of its meetings. When necessary to resolve issues that may arise over the process, the Mayor will refer to the City Attorney who will act as the Parliamentarian. Upon such advice, the Council will vote and follow the decision of the majority.
8.12 City Councilmembers Conduct and Participation at Meetings In the process of debate and decision-making, each member of the City Council will:
• Fully participate in City Council meetings and other public forums while demonstrating respect, trust, kindness, consideration, and courtesy of others; • Prepare in advance of Council meetings and be familiar with the issues on the agenda; • Be respectful of other people's time. Stay focused and act efficiently during public meetings; Serve as a role model of leadership and civility to the community; • Inspire public confidence in the City of lone government; • Demonstrate honesty and integrity in every action and statement; and • Be responsible and accountable for your words and actions.
2.04.040 - Disorderly behavior. Appendix B
The council may, by a majority vote of its whole number, punish one of its own members for disorderly behavior by a fine not exceeding $50.00 and may expel a member of its own body for the member's conviction of a felony or of any offense involving a violation of his or her official duties. A member shall be deemed to have been convicted under this section when trial court judgment is entered. Fines imposed under this section shall be collected in such manner as fines imposed by the Amador County Courts. (Ord. No. 464, §1, 4-16-2013)
2.04.050 - Departure from order of business.
There may be a departure from the order of business as set out in Section 2.04.190 of this chapter, as long as the departure is in accordance with Rosenberg's Rules of Order and the lone Municipal Code.
Additionally, the mayor may determine to change the order of closed session for any meeting so long as the posted agenda for that meeting reflects the changed order of closed session. (Ord. No. 464, § 1, 4-16-2013)
2.04.090 - Rosenberg's Rules of Order: Simple Parliamentary Procedures for the 21st Century (Rosenberg's Rules of Order).
Rosenberg's Rules of Order as revised from time to time, except as otherwise specifically provided in this chapter, shall be used as a guideline to govern the proceedings of the council. (Ord. No. 464, § 1, 4-16-2013)
2.04.100 - Enforcement of rules-Preservation of decorum.
The mayor shall enforce the rules of the council and preserve order and decorum. (Ord. No. 464, § 1, 4-16-2013)
2.04.110 - Members withdrawing without leave.
After a member of the council has at any meeting been recorded as present, he or she shall not, without permission of the council, absent himself or herself from such meeting until its adjournment. (Ord. No. 464, § 1, 4-16-2013)
2.04.120 - Conduct in addressing the council.
Members of the council shall confine themselves to the question before the council and avoid personal or indecorous language. No discussion of a sectarian or political nature shall be allowed. No member shall interrupt another while speaking, except to make a point of order, the point to be briefly stated to the mayor or presiding officer. No member shall, while the council is sitting, interrupt or hinder its business by standing, moving about, talking, expressing approval or disapproval of any of the proceedings, or by any conduct tending to disorder or confuse.
(Ord. No. 464, 81, 4-16-2013)
2.04.120 - Nonmember addressing the council.
No person who is not a member of the council shall orally address it, until the mayor announces the public comment period is open, and has invited speakers to make public comment. Public comment may be made until the mayor announces the public comment period is closed. Speaker cards shall be available to the public: cards completed by the public are turned in to the city clerk who shall provide such cards to the presiding officer. However, completing a speaker card is not necessary to speak before the council.
Members of the public are not required to provide a name or address before making public comment though the public is encouraged to do so.
(Ord. No. 464, 91, 4-16-2013)
2.04.140 - Communications to be in writing.
No petition or request to the council shall be entertained, unless the same is in writing, which must be filed with the city manager.
(Ord. No. 464, §1,4-16-2013)
2.04.170 - Dissent or protest.
Any member of the council has the liberty to dissent from or protest against, any ordinance, resolution or order of the council and have the reason of his or her dissent entered upon the record. (Ord. No. 464, § 1. 4-16-2013)
2.04.180 - Calendar of unfinished business.
A calendar of all new, referred and deferred petitions and communications to the council shall be kept by the city clerk who shall deliver to the city manager seven days before any regular council meeting of such calendar.
2.10.070 - Powers and duties-Generally.
The city manager shall be the administrative head of the government of the city under the direction and control of the city council except as otherwise provided in this chapter. He or she shall be responsible for the efficient administration of all the affairs of the city which are under his or her control. In addition to his or her general powers as administrative head, and not as a limitation thereon, it shall be his or her duty and he or she shall have the powers set forth in Sections 2.10.080 through 2.10.210. (Res. 1582 9 2(part), 2007; Ord. 300 § 1(part), 1989)
2.10.080 - Powers and duties-Law enforcement.
It shall be the duty of the city manager to enforce all laws and ordinances of the city and to see that all franchises, contracts, permits and privileges granted by the city council are faithfully observed. (Res. 1582 § 2(part), 2007; Ord. 300 § 1 (part), 1989)
2.10.090 - Powers and duties-Authority over employees.
It shall be the duty of the city manager and he or she shall have the authority to control, order and give directions to all heads of departments and to subordinate officers and employees of the city under his or her jurisdiction, except the city clerk, city attorney and city treasurer, through their department heads. (Res. 1582 § 2(part), 2007; Ord. 300 § 1(part), 1989)
2.10.120 - Powers and duties-Ordinances.
It shall be the duty of the city manager and he or she shall recommend to the city council for adoption such measures and ordinances as he or she deems necessary or expedient. (Res. 1582 § 2(part), 2007; Ord. 300 § 1(part), 1989)
2.10.140 - Powers and duties-Financial reports.
It shall be the duty of the city manager to keep the city council at all times fully advised as to the financial conditions and needs of the city. The city manager shall assume the duties of the director of finance as set forth in Section 2.08.040.
(Res. 1582 § 2(part), 2007; Ord. 300 § 1(part), 1989)
2.10.150 - Powers and duties-Budgets.
It shall be the duty of the city manager to prepare and submit the proposed annual budget and the proposed annual salary plan to the city council for its approval. (Res. 1582 $ 2(part), 2007; Ord. 300 § 1(part), 1989)
2.10.160 - Powers and duties-Purchasing.
It shall be the duty of the city manager and he or she shall be responsible for the purchase of all supplies for all of the departments or divisions of the city. No expenditures shall be submitted or recommended to the city council except on report and approval of the city manager. (Res. 1582 § 2(part), 2007; Ord. 300 § 1 (part), 1989)
2.10.220 - Council-manager relations.
The city council and its members shall deal with the administrative services of the city only through the city manager, except for the purpose of inquiry, and neither the city council nor any member thereof shall give orders to any subordinates of the city manager. The city manager shall take his or her orders and instructions from the city council only when sitting in a duly held meeting of the city council and no individual council member shall give any orders or instructions to the city manager. (Res. 1582 § 2(part), 2007; Ord. 300 § 1 (part), 1989)
Appendix C
Rosenberg's Rules of Order
REVISED 2011
Simple Rules of Parliamentary Procedure for the 21st Century By Judge Dave Rosenberg
LEAGUE®
OF CALIFORNIA
CITIES
MISSION AND CORE BELIEFS
To expand and protect local control for cities through education and advocacy to enhance the quality of life for all Californians.
VISION
To be recognized and respected as the leading advocate for the common interests of California's cities.
About the League of California Cities
Established in 1898, the League of California Cities is a member organization that represents California's incorporated cities.
The League strives to protect the local authority and automony of city government and help California's cities effectively serve their residents. In addition to advocating on cities' behalf at the state capitol, the League provides its members with professional development programs and information resources, conducts education conferences and research, and publishes Western City magazine.
© 2011 League of California Cities. All righus reserved.
ABout THe AuTHOr
Dave Rosenberg is a Superior Court Judge in Yolo County. He has served as presiding judge of his court, and as presiding judge of the Superior Court Appellate Division. He also has served as chair of the Trial Court Presiding Judges Advisory Committee (the committee composed of all 58 California presiding judges) and as an advisory member of the California Judicial Council. Prior to his appointment to the bench, Rosenberg was member of the Yolo County Board of Supervisors, where he served two terms as chair. Rosenberg also served on the Davis City Council, including two terins as mayor. He has served on the senior staff of two governors, and worked for 19 years in private law practice. Rosenberg has served as a member and chair of numerous state, regional and local boards. Rosenberg chaired the California State Lotlery Commission, the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board, the Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District, the Yolo County Economic Development Commission, and the Yolo County Criminal Justice Cabinet. For many years, he has taught classes on parliamentary procedure and has served as parliamentarian for large and small bodies.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
About the Author.. .....ii
Introduction... .....2
Establishing a Quorum.. ...2
The Role of the Chair. ....2
The Basic Format for an Agenda Item Discussion ...2
Motions in General ..3
The Three Basic Motions. ..3
Multiple Motions Before the Body.. ...4
To Debate or Not to Debate......... ..4
Majority and Super-Majority Votes. ..5
Counting Votes.. ...5
The Motion to Reconsider. ..6
Courtesy and Decorum ....7
Special Notes About Public Input. .....7
1 INTRODUCTION
The rules of procedure at meetings should be simple enough for Establishing a Quorum most people to understand. Unfortunately, that has not always been The starting point for a meeting is the establishment of a quorum. the case. Virtually all clubs, associations, boards, councils and bodies A quorum is defined as the minimum number of members of the follow a set of rules — Robert's Rules of Order — which are embodied body who must be present at a meeting for business to be legally in a small, but complex, book. Virtually no one I know has actually transacted. The default rule is that a quorum is one more than half read this book cover to cover. Worse yet, the book was written for the body. For example, in a five-member body a quorum is three. another time and for another purpose. If one is chairing or running When the body has three members present, it can legally transact a parliament, then Robert's Rules of Order is a dandy and quite useful business. If the body has less than a quorum of members present, it handbook for procedure in that complex setting. On the other hand, cannot legally transact business. And even if the body has a quorum if one is running a meeting of say, a five-member body with a few to begin the meeting, the body can lose the quorum during the members of the public in attendance, a simplified version of the rules meeting when a member departs (or even when a member leaves the of parliamentary procedure is in order.
dais). When that occurs the body loses its ability to transact business Hence, the birth of Rosenberg's Rules of Order. until and unless a quorum is reestablished.
What follows is my version of the rules of parliamentary procedure, The default rule, identified above, however, gives way to a specific based on my decades of experience chairing meetings in state and rule of the body that establishes a quorum. For example, the rules of local government. These rules have been simplified for the smaller a particular five-member body may indicate that a quorum is four bodies we chair or in which we participate, slimmed down for the members for that particular body. The body must follow the rules it 21st Century, yet retaining the basic tenets of order to which we have has established for its quorum. In the absence of such a specific rule, grown accustomed. Interestingly enough, Rosenberg's Rules has found the quorum is one more than half the members of the body. a welcoming audience. Hundreds of cities, counties, special districts, committees, boards, commissions, neighborhood associations and The Role of the Chair private corporations and companies have adopted Rosenberg's Rules While all members of the body should know and understand the in lieu of Robert's Rules because they have found them practical, rules of parliamentary procedure, it is the chair of the body who is logical, simple, easy to learn and user friendly. charged with applying the rules of conduct of the meeting. The chair This treatise on modern parliamentary procedure is built on a should be well versed in those rules. For all intents and purposes, the foundation supported by the following four pillars: chair makes the final ruling on the rules every time the chair states an
1. Rules should establish order. The first purpose of rules of action. In fact, all decisions by the chair are final unless overruled by the body itself.
parliamentary procedure is to establish a framework for the orderly conduct of meetings. Since the chair runs the conduct of the meeting, it is usual courtesy
2. Rules should be clear. Simple rules lead to wider understanding for the chair to play a less active role in the debate and discussion and participation. Complex rules create two classes: those than other members of the body. This does not mean that the chair who understand and participate; and those who do not fully should not participate in the debate or discussion. To the contrary, as understand and do not fully participate. a member of the body, the chair has the full right to participate in the debate, discussion and decision-making of the body. What the chair
3. Rules should be user friendly. That is, the rules must be simple should do, however, is strive to be the last to speak at the discussion enough that the public is invited into the body and feels that it and debate stage. The chair should not make or second a motion has participated in the process. unless the chair is convinced that no other member of the body will
4. Rules should enforce the will of the majority while protecting do so at that point in time. the rights of the minority. The ultimate purpose of rules of procedure is to encourage discussion and to facilitate decision The Basic Format for an Agenda Item Discussion making by the body. In a democracy, majority rules. The rules Formal meetings normally have a written, often published agenda. must enable the majority to express itself and fashion a result, Informal meetings may have only an oral or understood agenda. In while permitting the minority to also express itself, but not either case, the meeting is governed by the agenda and the agenda dominate, while fully participating in the process. constitutes the body's agreed-upon roadmap for the meeting. Each agenda item can be handled by the chair in the following basic format:
2 First, the chair should clearly announce the agenda item number and Ninth, the chair takes a vote. Simply asking for the "ayes" and then should clearly state what the agenda item subject is. The chair should asking for the "nays" normally does this. If members of the body do then announce the format (which follows) that will be followed in not vote, then they "abstain." Unless the rules of the body provide considering the agenda item. otherwise (or unless a super majority is required as delineated later Second, following that agenda format, the chair should invite the in these rules), then a simple majority (as defined in law or the rules appropriate person or persons to report on the item, including any of the body as delineated later in these rules) determines whether the recommendation that they might have. The appropriate person or motion passes or is defeated persons may be the chair, a member of the body, a staff person, or a Tenth, the chair should announce the result of the vote and what committee chair charged with providing input on the agenda item. action (if any) the body has taken. In announcing the result, the chair Third, the chair should ask members of the body if they have any should indicate the names of the members of the body, if any, who technical questions of clarification. At this point, members of the voted in the minority on the motion. This announcement might take body may ask clarifying questions to the person or persons who the following form: "The motion passes by a vote of 3-2, with Smith reported on the item, and that person or persons should be given and Jones dissenting. We have passed the motion requiring a 10-day notice for all future meetings of this body."
time to respond.
Fourth, the chair should invite public comments, or if appropriate at Motions in General a formal meeting, should open the public meeting for public input.
If numerous members of the public indicate a desire to speak to Motions are the vehicles for decision making by a body. It is usually the subject, the chair may limit the time of public speakers. At the best to have a motion before the body prior to commencing conclusion of the public comments, the chair should announce that discussion of an agenda item. This helps the body focus. public input has concluded (or the public hearing, as the case may be, Motions are made in a simple two-step process. First, the chair is closed). should recognize the member of the body. Second, the member Fifth, the chair should invite a motion. The chair should announce of the body makes a motion by preceding the member's desired the name of the member of the body who makes the motion. approach with the words "I move...
Sixth, the chair should determine if any member of the body wishes A typical motion might be: "I move that we give a 10-day notice in to second the motion. The chair should announce the name of the the future for all our meetings" member of the body who seconds the motion. It is normally good The chair usually initiates the motion in one of three ways:
practice for a motion to require a second before proceeding to
1. Inviting the members of the body to make a motion, for ensure that it is not just one member of the body who is interested example, "A motion at this time would be in order"
in a particular approach. However, a second is not an absolute requirement, and the chair can proceed with consideration and vote 2. Suggesting a motion to the members of the body, "A motion on a motion even when there is no second. This is a matter left to the would be in order that we give a 10-day notice in the future for all discretion of the chair. our meetings"
Seventh, if the motion is made and seconded, the chair should make 3. Making the motion. As noted, the chair has every right as a sure everyone understands the motion. member of the body to make a motion, but should normally do so only if the chair wishes to make a motion on an item but is This is done in one of three ways:
convinced that no other member of the body is willing to step
1. The chair can ask the maker of the motion to repeat it; forward to do so at a particular time.
2. The chair can repeat the motion; or
The Three Basic Motions
3. The chair can ask the secretary or the clerk of the body to repeat the motion. There are three motions that are the most common and recur often at meetings:
Eighth, the chair should now invite discussion of the motion by the body. If there is no desired discussion, or after the discussion has The basic motion. The basic motion is the one that puts forward a ended, the chair should announce that the body will vote on the decision for the body's consideration. A basic motion might be: "I motion. If there has been no discussion or very brief discussion, then move that we create a five-member committee to plan and put on the vote on the motion should proceed immediately and there is no our annual fundraiser." need to repeat the motion. If there has been substantial discussion, then it is normally best to make sure everyone understands the motion by repeating it.
3 The motion to amend. If a member wants to change a basic motion First, the chair would deal with the third (the last) motion on the that is before the body, they would move to amend it. A motion floor, the substitute motion. After discussion and debate, a vote to amend might be: "I move that we amend the motion to have a would be taken first on the third motion. If the substitute motion 10-member committee." A motion to amend takes the basic motion passed, it would be a substitute for the basic motion and would that is before the body and seeks to change it in some way. eliminate it. The first motion would be moot, as would the second The substitute motion. If a member wants to completely do away motion (which sought to amend the first motion), and the action on with the basic motion that is before the body, and put a new motion the agenda item would be completed on the passage by the body of before the body, they would move a substitute motion. A substitute the third motion (the substitute motion). No vote would be taken on motion might be: "I move a substitute motion that we cancel the the first or second motions. annual fundraiser this year" Second, if the substitute motion failed, the chair would then deal "Motions to amend" and "substitute motions" are often confused, but with the second (now the last) motion on the floor, the motion they are quite different, and their effect (if passed) is quite different. to amend. The discussion and debate would focus strictly on the A motion to amend secks to retain the basic motion on the floor, but amendment (should the committee be five or 10 members). If the modify it in some way. A substitute motion seeks to throw out the motion to amend passed, the chair would then move to consider the basic motion on the floor, and substitute a new and different motion main motion (the first motion) as amended. If the motion to amend for it. The decision as to whether a motion is really a "motion to failed, the chair would then move to consider the main motion (the amend" or a "substitute motion" is left to the chair. So if a member first motion) in its original format, not amended. makes what that member calls a "motion to amend," but the chair Third, the chair would now deal with the first motion that was placed determines that it is really a "substitute motion," then the chair's on the floor. The original motion would either be in its original designation governs. format (five-member committee), or if amended, would be in its A "friendly amendment" is a practical parliamentary tool that is amended format (10-member committee). The question on the floor simple, informal, saves time and avoids bogging a meeting down for discussion and decision would be whether a committee should with numerous formal motions. It works in the following way: In the plan and put on the annual fundraiser. discussion on a pending motion, it may appear that a change to the motion is desirable or may win support for the motion from some To Debate or Not to Debate members. When that happens, a member who has the floor may The basic rule of motions is that they are subject to discussion and simply say, "I want to suggest a friendly amendment to the motion." debate. Accordingly, basic motions, motions to amend, and substitute The member suggests the friendly amendment, and if the maker and motions are all eligible, each in their turn, for full discussion before the person who seconded the motion pending on the floor accepts and by the body. The debate can continue as long as members of the the friendly amendment, that now becomes the pending motion on body wish to discuss an item, subject to the decision of the chair that the floor. If either the maker or the person who seconded rejects the it is time to move on and take action. proposed friendly amendment, then the proposer can formally move There are exceptions to the general rule of free and open debate on motions. The exceptions all apply when there is a desire of the body to move on. The following motions are not debatable (that Multiple Motions Before the Body is, when the following motions are made and seconded, the chair There can be up to three motions on the floor at the same time. must immediately call for a vote of the body without debate on the The chair can reject a fourth motion until the chair has dealt motion):
with the three that are on the floor and has resolved them. This Motion to adjourn. This motion, if passed, requires the body to rule has practical value. More than three motions on the floor at immediately adjourn to its next regularly scheduled meeting. It any given time is confusing and unwieldy for almost everyone, requires a simple majority vote.
including the chair.
Motion to recess. This motion, if passed, requires the body to When there are two or three motions on the floor (after motions and immediately take a recess. Normally, the chair determines the length seconds) at the same time, the vote should proceed first on the last of the recess which may be a few minutes or an hour. It requires a motion that is made. For example, assume the first motion is a basic simple majority vote.
"motion to have a five-member committee to plan and put on our annual fundraiser." During the discussion of this motion, a member Motion to fix the time to adjourn. This motion, if passed, requires might make a second motion to "amend the main motion to have a the body to adjourn the meeting at the specific time set in the 10-member committee, not a five-member committee to plan and motion. For example, the motion might be: "I move we adjourn this put on our annual fundraiser." And perhaps, during that discussion, a meeting at midnight." It requires a simple majority vote. member makes yet a third motion as a "substitute motion that we not have an annual fundraiser this year." The proper procedure would be as follows:
4 Motion to table. This motion, if passed, requires discussion of the Motion to close nominations. When choosing officers of the agenda item to be halted and the agenda item to be placed on "hold." body (such as the chair), nominations are in order either from a The motion can contain a specific time in which the item can come nominating committee or from the floor of the body. A motion to back to the body. "I move we table this item until our regular meeting close nominations effectively cuts off the right of the minority to in October." Or the motion can contain no specific time for the nominate officers and it requires a two-thirds vote to pass. return of the item, in which case a motion to take the item off the Motion to object to the consideration of a question. Normally, such table and bring it back to the body will have to be taken at a future a motion is unnecessary since the objectionable item can be tabled or meeting. A motion to table an item (or to bring it back to the body) defeated straight up. However, when members of a body do not even requires a simple majority vote.
want an item on the agenda to be considered, then such a motion is Motion to limit debate. The most common form of this motion is to in order. It is not debatable, and it requires a two-thirds vote to pass. say, "I move the previous question" or "I move the question" or "I call Motion to suspend the rules. This motion is debatable, but requires the question" or sometimes someone simply shouts out "question." a two-thirds vote to pass. If the body has its own rules of order, As a practical matter, when a member calls out one of these phrases, conduct or procedure, this motion allows the body to suspend the the chair can expedite matters by treating it as a "request" rather rules for a particular purpose. For example, the body (a private club) than as a formal motion. The chair can simply inquire of the body, might have a rule prohibiting the attendance at meetings by non-club "any further discussion?" If no one wishes to have further discussion, members. A motion to suspend the rules would be in order to allow then the chair can go right to the pending motion that is on the floor. a non-club member to attend a meeting of the club on a particular However, if even one person wishes to discuss the pending motion date or on a particular agenda item.
further, then at that point, the chair should treat the call for the "question" as a formal motion, and proceed to it.
Counting Votes
When a member of the body makes such a motion ("I move the The matter of counting votes starts simple, but can become previous question"), the member is really saying: "I've had enough complicated.
debate. Let's get on with the vote." When such a motion is made, the chair should ask for a second, stop debate, and vote on the motion to Usually, it's pretty easy to determine whether a particular motion limit debate. The motion to limit debate requires a two-thirds vote of passed or whether it was defeated. If a simple majority vote is needed the body. to pass a motion, then one vote more than 50 percent of the body is required. For example, in a five-member body, if the vote is three in NOTE: A motion to limit debate could include a time limit. For favor and two opposed, the motion passes. If it is two in favor and example: "I move we limit debate on this agenda item to 15 minutes." three opposed, the motion is defeated.
Even in this format, the motion to limit debate requires a two- thirds vote of the body. A similar motion is a motion to object to If a two-thirds majority vote is needed to pass a motion, then how consideration of an item. This motion is not debatable, and if passed, many affirmative votes are required? The simple rule of thumb is to precludes the body from even considering an item on the agenda. It count the "no" votes and double that count to determine how many also requires a two-thirds vote. "yes" votes are needed to pass a particular motion. For example, in a seven-member body, if two members vote "no" then the "yes" vote Majority and Super Majority Votes of at least four members is required to achieve a two-thirds majority vote to pass the motion.
In a democracy, a simple majority vote determines a question. A tie vote means the motion fails. So in a seven-member body, a vote of What about tie votes? In the event of a tie, the motion always fails since 4-3 passes the motion. A vote of 3-3 with one abstention means the an affirmative vote is required to pass any motion. For example, in a motion fails. If one member is absent and the vote is 3-3, the motion five-member body, if the vote is two in favor and two opposed, with still fails. one member absent, the motion is defeated.
All motions require a simple majority, but there are a few exceptions. Vote counting starts to become complicated when members The exceptions come up when the body is taking an action which vote "abstain" or in the case of a written ballot, cast a blank (or effectively cuts off the ability of a minority of the body to take an unreadable) ballot. Do these votes count, and if so, how does one action or discuss an item. These extraordinary motions require a count them? The starting point is always to check the statutes. two-thirds majority (a super majority) to pass: In California, for example, for an action of a board of supervisors to Motion to limit debate. Whether a member says, "I move the be valid and binding, the action must be approved by a majority of the previous question," or "I move the question," or "I call the question," board. (California Government Code Section 25005.) Typically, this or "I move to limit debate," it all amounts to an attempt to cut off the means three of the five members of the board must vote affirmatively ability of the minority to discuss an item, and it requires a two-thirds in favor of the action. A vote of 2-1 would not be sufficient. A vote of vote to pass. 3-0 with two abstentions would be sufficient. In general law cities in 5 California, as another example, resolutions or orders for the payment of Now, exactly how does a member cast an "abstention" vote? money and all ordinances require a recorded vote of the total members Any time a member votes "abstain" or says, "I abstain," that is an of the city council. (California Government Code Section 36936.) Cities abstention. However, if a member votes "present" that is also treated with charters may prescribe their own vote requirements. Local elected as an abstention (the member is essentially saying, "Count me for officials are always well-advised to consult with their local agency purposes of a quorum, but my vote on the issue is abstain.") In fact, counsel on how state law may affect the vote count. any manifestation of intention not to vote either "yes" or "no" on After consulting state statutes, step number two is to check the rules the pending motion may be treated by the chair as an abstention. If of the body. If the rules of the body say that you count votes of "those written ballots are cast, a blank or unreadable ballot is counted as an abstention as well.
present" then you treat abstentions one way. However, if the rules of the body say that you count the votes of those "present and voting," Can a member vote "absent" or "count me as absent?" Interesting then you treat abstentions a different way. And if the rules of the question. The ruling on this is up to the chair. The better approach is body are silent on the subject, then the general rule of thumb (and for the chair to count this as if the member had left his/her chair and default rule) is that you count all votes that are "present and voting." is actually "absent." That, of course, affects the quorum. However, the Accordingly, under the "present and voting" system, you would NOT chair may also treat this as a vote to abstain, particularly if the person count abstention votes on the motion. Members who abstain are does not actually leave the dais. counted for purposes of determining quorum (they are "present"), but you treat the abstention votes on the motion as if they did not The Motion to Reconsider exist (they are not "voting"). On the other hand, if the rules of the There is a special and unique motion that requires a bit of body specifically say that you count votes of those "present" then you explanation all by itself; the motion to reconsider. A tenet of DO count abstention votes both in establishing the quorum and on parliamentary procedure is finality. After vigorous discussion, debate the motion. In this event, the abstention votes act just like "no" votes. and a vote, there must be some closure to the issue. And so, after a How does this work in practice? vote is taken, the matter is deemed closed, subject only to reopening Here are a few examples. if a proper motion to consider is made and passed.
Assume that a five-member city council is voting on a motion that A motion to reconsider requires a majority vote to pass like other requires a simple majority vote to pass, and assume further that the garden-variety motions, but there are two special rules that apply body has no specific rule on counting votes. Accordingly, the default only to the motion to reconsider. rule kicks in and we count all votes of members that are "present and First, is the matter of timing. A motion to reconsider must be made voting." If the vote on the motion is 3-2, the motion passes. If the at the meeting where the item was first voted upon. A motion to motion is 2-2 with one abstention, the motion fails. reconsider made at a later time is untimely. (The body, however, can Assume a five-member city council voting on a motion that requires always vote to suspend the rules and, by a two-thirds majority, allow a two-thirds majority vote to pass, and further assume that the body a motion to reconsider to be made at another time.) has no specific rule on counting votes. Again, the default rule applies. Second, a motion to reconsider may be made only by certain If the vote is 3-2, the motion fails for lack of a two-thirds majority. If members of the body. Accordingly, a motion to reconsider may be the vote is 4-1, the motion passes with a clear two-thirds majority. A made only by a member who voted in the majority on the original vote of three "yes," one "no" and one "abstain" also results in passage motion. If such a member has a change of heart, he or she may of the motion. Once again, the abstention is counted only for the make the motion to reconsider (any other member of the body purpose of determining quorum, but on the actual vote on the — including a member who voted in the minority on the original motion, it is as if the abstention vote never existed - so an effective motion - may second the motion). If a member who voted in the 3-1 vote is clearly a two-thirds majority vote. minority seeks to make the motion to reconsider, it must be ruled Now, change the scenario slightly. Assume the same five-member out of order. The purpose of this rule is finality. If a member of city council voting on a motion that requires a two-thirds majority minority could make a motion to reconsider, then the item could be vote to pass, but now assume that the body DOES have a specific rule brought back to the body again and again, which would defeat the requiring a two-thirds vote of members "present." Under this specific purpose of finality. rulc, we must count the members present not only for quorum but If the motion to reconsider passes, then the original matter is back also for the motion. In this scenario, any abstention has the same before the body, and a new original motion is in order. The matter may force and effect as if it were a "no" vote. Accordingly, if the votes were be discussed and debated as if it were on the floor for the first time. three "yes," one "no" and one "abstain," then the motion fails. The abstention in this case is treated like a "no" vote and effective vote of 3-2 is not enough to pass two-thirds majority muster.
Courtesy and Decorum Appeal. If the chair makes a ruling that a member of the body The rules of order are meant to create an atmosphere where the disagrees with, that member may appeal the ruling of the chair. If the members of the body and the members of the public can attend to motion is seconded, and after debate, if it passes by a simple majority business efficiently, fairly and with full participation. At the same vote, then the ruling of the chair is deemed reversed. time, it is up to the chair and the members of the body to maintain Call for orders of the day. This is simply another way of saying, common courtesy and decorum. Unless the setting is very informal, "return to the agenda." If a member believes that the body has drifted it is always best for only one person at a time to have the floor, and from the agreed-upon agenda, such a call may be made. It does not it is always best for every speaker to be first recognized by the chair require a vote, and when the chair discovers that the agenda has before proceeding to speak. not been followed, the chair simply reminds the body to return to The chair should always ensure that debate and discussion of an the agenda item properly before them. If the chair fails to do so, the agenda item focuses on the item and the policy in question, not the chair's determination may be appealed. personalities of the members of the body. Debate on policy is healthy, Withdraw a motion. During debate and discussion of a motion, debate on personalities is not. The chair has the right to cut off the maker of the motion on the floor, at any time, may interrupt a discussion that is too personal, is too loud, or is too crude. speaker to withdraw his or her motion from the floor. The motion Debate and discussion should be focused, but free and open. In the is immediately deemed withdrawn, although the chair may ask the interest of time, the chair may, however, limit the time allotted to person who seconded the motion if he or she wishes to make the speakers, including members of the body. motion, and any other member may make the motion if properly recognized.
Can a member of the body interrupt the speaker? The general rule is "no." There are, however, exceptions. A speaker may be interrupted Special Notes About Public Input
for the following reasons:
The rules outlined above will help make meetings very public- Privilege. The proper interruption would be, "point of privilege." friendly. But in addition, and particularly for the chair, it is wise to The chair would then ask the interrupter to "state your point" remember three special rules that apply to each agenda item:
Appropriate points of privilege relate to anything that would interfere with the normal comfort of the meeting. For example, the Rule One: Tell the public what the body will be doing. room may be too hot or too cold, or a blowing fan might interfere Rule Two: Keep the public informed while the body is doing it. with a person's ability to hear.
Rule Three: When the body has acted, tell the public what the Order. The proper interruption would be, "point of order." Again, body did. the chair would ask the interrupter to "state your point." Appropriate points of order relate to anything that would not be considered appropriate conduct of the meeting. For example, if the chair moved on to a vote on a motion that permits debate without allowing that discussion or debate.
7 Appendix D
RESOLUTION NO. 1384
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF IONE
ADOPTING A CODE OF ETHICS FOR MEMBERS
OF THE CITY COUNCIL
WHEREAS, the lone City Council desires to achieve public faith in the ethical ideals of American democratic government; and
WHEREAS, the lone City Council, as a public body, desires to maintain high standards.
BE IT RESOLVED, that this Ione City Council adopt a CODE OF ETHICS for its members, setting forth standards as a means of reaching ethically sound decisions, based on the following:
1) We shall serve equally all members of the community without prejudice or favoritism toward any individual, group, organization or economic interest. 2) We shall promote and protect the health and safety of all members of the community.
3) We shall serve with efficiency, respect legality and heed the commands of due diligence and morality;
4) We shall recognize that we are agents of public purpose not owners of authority;
5) We shall deal with all employees, fellow officers, and members of the public without regard to political partisanship;
6) We shall promote and affirm equal opportunity for appointments and promotions of all persons without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, or physical or mental disability;
7) We shall recognize the obligation to participate fully and responsibly in matters and organizations concerned with the betterment of life in the City of Ione;
8) We shall exercise our authority and prestige for the benefits of the City of Ione and all members of the community and never for personal or private advantage;
9) We shall always consider how our official actions and personal behavior might be interpreted by the public;
10) We shall avoid personal invectives in public or closed forums; 11) We shall conduct Regular Council meeting in accordance with the Parliamentary Procedure set down in Robert's Rules of Order (Revised Edition).
PASSED AND ADOPTED this 21st day of January 2003, by the following vote:
AYES: Ulm, Thomas, Germolus, Podesta, Sinclair
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
ATTEST:
STATE OF CALLORNIA
AUTHENTICATED Appendix E
ELECTRONIC LEGAL MATERIAL
State of California
GOVERNMENT CODE
Section 54950
54950. In enacting this chapter, the Legislature finds and declares that the public commissions, boards and councils and the other public agencies in this State exist to aid in the conduct of the people's business. It is the intent of the law that their actions to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know.
The people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments they have created.
(Added by Stats. 1953, Ch. 1588.)
STATE OF CALFORNIA
AUTHENTICATED
ELECTRONIC LEGAL MATERIAL
State of California
GOVERNMENT CODE
Section 54954.2
54954.2. (a) (1) At least 72 hours before a regular meeting, the legislative body of the local agency, or its designee, shall post an agenda that meets all of the following requirements:
(A) The agenda shall contain a brief general description of each item of business to be transacted or discussed at the meeting, including items to be discussed in closed session. A brief general description of an item generally need not exceed 20 words. (B) The agenda shall specify the time and location of the regular meeting and shall be posted in a location that is freely accessible to members of the public and on the local agency's internet website, if the local agency has one. (C) (i) If requested, the agenda shall be made available in appropriate alternative formats to persons with a disability, as required by Section 202 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 12132), and the federal rules and regulations adopted in implementation thereof.
(ii) The agenda shall include information regarding how, to whom, and when a request for disability-related modification or accommodation, including auxiliary aids or services, may be made by a person with a disability who requires a modification or accommodation in order to participate in the public meeting. (2) For a meeting occurring on and after January 1, 2019, of a legislative body of a city, county, city and county, special district, school district, or political subdivision established by the state that has an internet website, the following provisions shall apply:
(A) An online posting of an agenda shall be posted on the primary internet website home page of a city, county, city and county, special district, school district, or political subdivision established by the state that is accessible through a prominent, direct link to the current agenda. The direct link to the agenda shall not be in a contextual menu; however, a link in addition to the direct link to the agenda may be accessible through a contextual menu.
(B) An online posting of an agenda, including, but not limited to, an agenda posted in an integrated agenda management platform, shall be posted in an open format that meets all of the following requirements:
(i) Retrievable, downloadable, indexable, and electronically searchable by commonly used internet search applications.
(ii) Platform independent and machine readable.
(iii) Available to the public free of charge and without any restriction that would impede the reuse or redistribution of the agenda.
(C) A legislative body of a city, county, city and county, special district, school district, or political subdivision established by the state that has an internet website and an integrated agenda management platform shall not be required to comply with subparagraph (A) if all of the following are met:
(i) A direct link to the integrated agenda management platform shall be posted on the primary internet website home page of a city, county, city and county, special district, school district, or political subdivision established by the state. The direct link to the integrated agenda management platform shall not be in a contextual menu.
When a person clicks on the direct link to the integrated agenda management platform, the direct link shall take the person directly to an internet website with the agendas of the legislative body of a city, county, city and county, special district, school district, or political subdivision established by the state.
(ii) The integrated agenda management platform may contain the prior agendas of a legislative body of a city, county, city and county, special district, school district, or political subdivision established by the state for all meetings occurring on or after January 1, 2019.
(iii) The current agenda of the legislative body of a city, county, city and county, special district, school district, or political subdivision established by the state shall be the first agenda available at the top of the integrated agenda management platform. (iv) All agendas posted in the integrated agenda management platform shall comply with the requirements in clauses (i), (ii), and (iii) of subparagraph (B). (D) The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to a political subdivision of a local agency that was established by the legislative body of the city, county, city and county, special district, school district, or political subdivision established by the State.
(E) For purposes of this paragraph, both of the following definitions apply:
(1) "Integrated agenda management platform" means an internet website of a city, county, city and county, special district, school district, or political subdivision established by the state dedicated to providing the entirety of the agenda information for the legislative body of the city, county, city and county, special district, school district, or political subdivision established by the state to the public. (2) "Legislative body" means a legislative body that meets the definition of subdivision (a) of Section 54952.
(3) No action or discussion shall be undertaken on any item not appearing on the posted agenda, except that members of a legislative body or its staff may briefly respond to statements made or questions posed by persons exercising their public testimony rights under Section 54954.3. In addition, on their own initiative or in response to questions posed by the public, a member of a legislative body or its staff may ask a question for clarification, make a brief announcement, or make a brief report on their own activities. Furthermore, a member of a legislative body, or the body itself, subject to rules or procedures of the legislative body, may provide a reference to staff or other resources for factual information, request staff to report back to the body at a subsequent meeting concerning any matter, or take action to direct staff to place a matter of business on a future agenda. (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the legislative body may take action on items of business not appearing on the posted agenda under any of the conditions stated below. Prior to discussing any item pursuant to this subdivision, the legislative body shall publicly identify the item.
(1) Upon a determination by a majority vote of the legislative body that an emergency situation exists, as defined in Section 54956.5. (2) Upon a determination by a two-thirds vote of the members of the legislative body present at the meeting, or, if less than two-thirds of the members are present, a unanimous vote of those members present, that there is a need to take immediate action and that the need for action came to the attention of the local agency subsequent to the agenda being posted as specified in subdivision (a). (3) The item was posted pursuant to subdivision (a) for a prior meeting of the legislative body occurring not more than five calendar days prior to the date action is taken on the item, and at the prior meeting the item was continued to the meeting at which action is being taken.
(C) This section is necessary to implement and reasonably within the scope of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 3 of Article I of the California Constitution. (d) For purposes of subdivision (a), the requirement that the agenda be posted on the local agency's internet website, if the local agency has one, shall only apply to a legislative body that meets either of the following standards:
(1) A legislative body as that term is defined by subdivision (a) of Section 54952. (2) A legislative body as that term is defined by subdivision (b) of Section 54952, if the members of the legislative body are compensated for their appearance, and if one or more of the members of the legislative body are also members of a legislative body as that term is defined by subdivision (a) of Section 54952. (Amended (as amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 131, Sec. 92) by Stats. 2025, Ch. 327, Sec. 16. (SB 707) Effective January 1, 2026.)
STATE OF CALDORNIA
AUTHENTICATED
ELECTRONIC LEGAL MATERIAL
State of California
GOVERNMENT CODE
Section 53891
53891. (a) The officer of each local agency who has charge of the financial records shall furnish to the Controller a report of all the financial transactions of the local agency during the preceding fiscal year. The report shall contain underlying data from audited financial statements prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, if this data is available. The report shall be furnished within seven months after the close of cach fiscal year or within the time prescribed by the Controller, whichever is later, and shall be in the form and manner required by the Controller. A local agency shall submit to the Controller information on annual compensation, as described in subdivision (1) of Section 53892, for the previous calendar year no later than April 30th.
(b) The Controller shall prescribe uniform accounting and reporting procedures that shall be applicable to all local agencies except cities, counties, and school districts, and except for local agencies that substantially follow a system of accounting prescribed by the Public Utilities Commission of the State of California or the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The procedures shall be adopted under Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2. The Controller shall prescribe the procedures only after consultation with and approval of a local governmental advisory committee established pursuant to Section 12463.1. Approval of the procedures shall be by majority vote of the members present at a meeting of the committee called by the chairperson thereof.
(Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 224, Sec. 4. (SB 813) Effective January 1, 2022.)
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
AUTHENTICATED
ELECTRONIC LEGAL MATERIAL
State of California
GOVERNMENT CODE
Section 54952.2
54952.2. (a) As used in this chapter, "meeting" means any congregation of a majority of the members of a legislative body at the same time and location, including teleconference location as permitted by Section 54953, to hear, discuss, deliberate, or take action on any item that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the legislative body.
(b) (1) A majority of the members of a legislative body shall not, outside a meeting authorized by this chapter, use a series of communications of any kind, directly or through intermediaries, to discuss, deliberate, or take action on any item of business that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the legislative body. (2) Paragraph (1) shall not be construed as preventing an employee or official of a local agency, from engaging in separate conversations or communications outside of a meeting authorized by this chapter with members of a legislative body in order to answer questions or provide information regarding a matter that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the local agency, if that person does not communicate to members of the legislative body the comments or position of any other member or members of the legislative body.
(3) (A) Paragraph (1) shall not be construed as preventing a member of the legislative body from engaging in separate conversations or communications on an internet-based social media platform to answer questions, provide information to the public, or to solicit information from the public regarding a matter that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the legislative body provided that a majority of the members of the legislative body do not use the internet-based social media platform to discuss among themselves business of a specific nature that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the legislative body. A member of the legislative body shall not respond directly to any communication on an internet-based social media platform regarding a matter that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the legislative body that is made, posted, or shared by any other member of the legislative body. (B) For purposes of this paragraph, all of the following definitions shall apply:
(i) "Discuss among themselves" means communications made, posted, or shared on an internet-based social media platform between members of a legislative body, including comments or use of digital icons that express reactions to communications made by other members of the legislative body.
(ii) "Internet-based social media platform" means an online service that is open and accessible to the public.
(iii) "Open and accessible to the public" means that members of the general public have the ability to access and participate, free of charge, in the social media platform without the approval by the social media platform or a person or entity other than the social media platform, including any forum and chatroom, and cannot be blocked from doing so, except when the internet-based social media platform determines that an individual violated its protocols or rules.
(c) Nothing in this section shall impose the requirements of this chapter upon any of the following:
(1) Individual contacts or conversations between a member of a legislative body and any other person that do not violate subdivision (b). (2) The attendance of a majority of the members of a legislative body at a conference or similar gathering open to the public that involves a discussion of issues of general interest to the public or to public agencies of the type represented by the legislative body, provided that a majority of the members do not discuss among themselves, other than as part of the scheduled program, business of a specified nature that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the local agency. Nothing in this paragraph is intended to allow members of the public free admission to a conference or similar gathering at which the organizers have required other participants or registrants to pay fees or charges as a condition of attendance. (3) The attendance of a majority of the members of a legislative body at an open and publicized meeting organized to address a topic of local community concern by a person or organization other than the local agency, provided that a majority of the members do not discuss among themselves, other than as part of the scheduled program, business of a specific nature that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the legislative body of the local agency.
(4) The attendance of a majority of the members of a legislative body at an open and noticed meeting of another body of the local agency, or at an open and noticed meeting of a legislative body of another local agency, provided that a majority of the members do not discuss among themselves, other than as part of the scheduled meeting, business of a specific nature that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the legislative body of the local agency.
(5) The attendance of a majority of the members of a legislative body at a purely social or ceremonial occasion, provided that a majority of the members do not discuss among themselves business of a specific nature that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the legislative body of the local agency. (6) The attendance of a majority of the members of a legislative body at an open and noticed meeting of a standing committee of that body, provided that the members of the legislative body who are not members of the standing committee attend only as observers.
(Amended (as amended by Stats. 2020, Ch. 89, Sec. 1) by Stats. 2025, Ch. 327, Scc. 1. (SB 707) Effective January I, 2026.)
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
AUTHENTICATED
ELECTRONIC LEGAL MATERIAL
State of California
GOVERNMENT CODE
Section 53234
53234. For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply:
(a) "Legislative body" has the same meaning as specified in Section 54952. (b) "Local agency" means a city, county, city and county, charter city, charter county, charter city and county, school district, county office of education, charter school, or special district.
(c) "Local agency official" means any of the following:
(1) A member of a local agency legislative body or an elected officer of a local agency who receives any type of compensation, salary, or stipend or reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of official duties. (2) A department head or other similar administrative officer of a local agency. (A) For a local educational agency, a "department head or other similar administrative officer" means the superintendent of a school district, the county superintendent of schools, or the chief administrator of a charter school. (B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), a "local educational agency" means a school district, county office of education, or charter school. (3) An employee designated by a local agency governing body to receive the training specified under this article.
(4) A member of the governing board of a school district, a county board of education, or the governing body of a charter school, whether or not that member receives any type of compensation, salary, or stipend or reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of official duties. (d) "Ethics laws" include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1) Laws relating to personal financial gain by public servants, including, but not limited to, laws prohibiting bribery and conflict-of-interest laws. (2) Laws relating to claiming perquisites of office, including, but not limited to, gift and travel restrictions, prohibitions against the use of public resources for personal or political purposes, prohibitions against gifts of public funds, mass mailing restrictions, and prohibitions against acceptance of free or discounted transportation by transportation companies.
(3) Government transparency laws, including, but not limited to, financial interest disclosure requirements and open government laws.
(4) Laws relating to fair processes, including, but not limited to, common law bias prohibitions, due process requirements, incompatible offices, competitive bidding requirements for public contracts, and disqualification from participating in decisions affecting family members.
(Amended by Stats. 2025, Ch. 661, Sec. 1. (SB 827) Effective January 1, 2026.)
STATE OF CALILORNIA
AUTHENTICATED
ELECTRONIC LEGAL MATERIAL
State of California
GOVERNMENT CODE
Section 53238
53238. For purposes of this article:
(a) "Fiscal and financial training" includes, but is not limited to, training in all of the following:
(1) Laws and principles relating to financial administration and short- and long-term fiscal management, including, but not limited to, the role and responsibilities of financial administration, financial policies, municipal budgets and budget processes, and financial reporting and auditing.
(2) Laws and principles relating to, but not limited to, capital financing and debt management, mechanisms for local agency revenues, pensions and other postemployment benefits, cash management and investments, the prudent investor standard, and the ethics of safeguarding public resources. (3) General fiscal and financial planning principles and any pertinent laws relevant to the local agency official's public service and role in overseeing the local agency's operations and relevant to the local agency's procurement and contracting practices and responsibilities.
(b) "Legislative body" has the same meaning as in Section 54952. (c) "Local agency" means a city, county, city and county, charter city, charter county, charter city and county, or special district.
(d) "Local agency official" means any of the following:
(1) Any member of a local agency legislative body or any elected officer of a local agency.
(2) Any official who is appointed by the governing body who, as part of their official duties, makes decisions or recommendations regarding financial administration, budgeting, or the use of public resources.
(3) A local agency executive, as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 3511.1, or other similar administrative officer of a local agency. (4) An employee designated by a local agency governing body to receive the training specified under this article.
(Added by Stats. 2025, Ch. 661, Sec. 4. (SB 827) Effective January 1, 2026.) Appendix F
City of lone
CITY OF IONE
FINANCIAL POLICIES AND
PROCEDURES HANDBOOK
June 2015
City of lone
FOREWARD
This handbook provides information and guidelines to staff on the financial principles of the City of lone. It is intended to help the City achieve a long-term stable and positive financial condition. The document was developed with the assistance of the City's accountant and finance personnel.
As City Manager, I want to stress the importance of revisiting these guidelines every few months or so during the first year to ensure accuracy. After the first year, the document should be revisited annually to incorporate recommendations by the City Auditor and to update procedures to meet the objective of maintaining a positive financial condition.
This document will be used by the City Manager, Department Heads, the Financial Manager, and the City Treasurer in planning and directing the City's day to day financial affairs.
The scope of these procedures generally spans accounting, auditing, financial reporting, internal controls, operating and capital budgeting, revenue management, cash and investment management, expense control, and debt management.
Full participation, cooperation, and support of City personnel are vital to ensure sound fiscal activities.
June 16, 2015
Jon G. Hanken
City Manager
City of lone
SECTION 1- FINANCIAL POLICIES AND PRODCEDURES
1. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
This Financial Handbook is to enable the City of lone to achieve a long-term stable and positive financial condition. The watchwords of the City's financial management include integrity, prudent stewardship, planning, accountability, and full disclosure.
The more specific purpose is to provide guidelines to the Finance Manager and City Treasurer in directing the day-to-day financial affairs, and in developing recommendations to the City Manager and City Council.
The scope of these procedures generally spans, among other issues, accounting, auditing, financial reporting, internal controls, operating and capital budgeting, revenue management, expense control, debt management, and planning concepts in order to:
• Present fairly, and with full disclosure, the financial position and results of financial operations of the City in conformity to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), and
• Determine and demonstrate compliance with finance-related legal and contractual issues as required by state and federal law.
This directive is distributed to all City personnel.
Il. GENERAL IMPLEMENTATION AND COMPLIANCE GUIDELINES
A. Implementation, compliance, accountability, and review The Finance Manager will be accountable for implementing these procedures and will, to the best of his or her knowledge make the City Manager aware of any variances in practice from these procedures or any other deviation from prudent financial practices in accordance with GAAP, federal laws, state laws, or ethics of the profession. Any variances will be presented as soon as the variance is determined.
B. Annual Review
The Financial Handbook will be reviewed annually and updated, if necessary.
City of lone
III. ACCOUNTING, AUDITING, AND FINANCIAL REPORTING
A. Accounting
The City is solely responsible for preparing its financial affairs, both internally and externally. The Finance Manager is responsible for establishing the Chart of Accounts and for properly recording financial transactions in the General Ledger.
Reconciliation
All balance sheets and revenue accounts are reconciled monthly.
B. External Auditing
Annual Audit
The City will be audited annually by external independent accountants (Auditor).
The Finance Manager will be the contracting officer technical representative for the annual audit. The Auditor will meet with the City's Finance Committee prior to starting the audit and when the draft audit report is prepared.
Auditor Reputation
The external auditor must be a CPA firm and must demonstrate that it has the breadth of experience and depth of staff to conduct the City's audit in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards and contractual requirements.
Schedule
The external Auditor's report on the City's financial statements will be completed within 180 days of the City's Fiscal Year end.
Management Letter
The external auditor will prepare and will jointly review the Management Letter with the Finance Committee, Finance Manager, and City Manager. Within 30 days of this receipt, the Finance Manager shall respond in writing to the City Manager regarding the auditor's Management Letter, addressing the issues therein. The City Manager, upon acceptance of the recommendations from the Finance Manager concerning the Management Letter, shall forward the Management Letter and the response to the City Council.
City of lone
External Auditor's Accountability to City Council
The external auditor is accountable to the City Council and will have access to the City Council members as the external auditor considers such communication necessary to fulfill its legal and professional responsibilities.
Rotation of External Auditor
The City does not require an external auditor rotation, but may circulate requests for proposal for audit services.
7. External Auditor Accountability to Staff
The following will be provided to City Staff by the external auditor:
Copies of all work papers, including diskettes and schedules, will be furnished to the City upon completion of the audit. Originals will be maintained at the auditor's office
C. Financial Reporting
External Reporting
a. Scope- The City's basic financial statement shall be prepared in accordance with GAAP and the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB).
Schedule- The City's basic financial statement shall be provided to the City Council within 180 calendar days of the City's Fiscal year end. The Finance Manager will inform the City Manager of any delay and the reasons therefore.
Internal Reporting
The Finance Manager will prepare internal financial reports sufficient to plan, monitor, and control the City's financial affairs.
a. Scope/ Format- The level of detail presented should be line item.
Information included should be current month budget and actual; budget and actual year-to-date; and variance from budget.
Schedule- On a monthly basis, the Finance Manager shall prepare a summary of the City's financial affairs. The report shall be submitted to the City Manager following the end of each calendar month for his or her review. Each such report shall accurately reflect the City's current cash position, revenue, and
City of lone
expense performance as well as any additional information that reflects the City's fiscal position.
C. Reconciliations- Reconciliation of all balance sheet and revenue accounts shall be performed monthly.
OPERATING BUDGET
A. Preparation
Budgeting is an essential element of the financial planning, control, and evaluation process of the City. The City's "Operation and Maintenance Budget" is the City's annual financial operating plan.
1. Budget Scope and Format
The annual budget process shall begin by the City manager reviewing the current year's budget status, and any changes in policy requested by the City Council. A proposed budget shall be prepared by the City Manager and Finance Manager reflecting the guidelines set by the City Manager and City Council, with the participation of all the City's departments. The budget shall include three basic segments for review and evaluation. These segments are: (1) Financial Overview/Summaries of all Funds, including statements of operations, (2) Operation and Maintenance Program for the General Fund, Special Funds, and Enterprise Funds, and (3) Capital Maintenance and Improvement Program (CMIP). A five-column format should be used such that 2-years prior actual, prior year actual, current year adopted, current year estimate, and next year adopted are all clearly shown.
2. Basis of Budgeting
The basis of budgeting will conform to a full accrual basis, except where adjustments for capital expenses, work in process or other financial adjustments are involved. These adjustments will be accommodated at year-end financial reporting.
Budgetary Process
The budget is prepared by the City Manager based on guidelines outlined by the City Manager and City Council with the cooperation of all City departments. The budget is started by the Finance Manager using information compiled from prior year activity, current year, year-to-date activity, and information gathered for future projections. Departments are responsible for submitting budget requests including any capital purchases to be utilized in the preliminary budget
City of lone
preparation. The City Manager and the Finance Manager will review all budget details to assure compliance with City policy and will present the draft preliminary budget to the Finance Committee for its review and recommendations. The City Manager and Finance Manager will make any adjustments as recommended and will present the draft final budget to the City Council at a Public Hearing. The City Council will review the budget presented and make recommendations if any to staff. If recommendations are made the adjustments will be implemented and the final budget will be brought back for official adoption at the City Council's regular June meeting (or at a special meeting in the month of June if circumstances so require). The City Manager will inform the departments of the approval, denial, or modifications to their budget submissions.
Budget Adoption
Upon presentation of a proposed budget to the City Council, it is the goal that it can be acted upon and approved by the City Council in the month of June.
Budget Amendments
Any time during the fiscal year, the City Manager may recommend amendments to the adopted budget. Budget amendments are submitted to the City Council for approval and adoption.
B. Balanced Budget
It is intended that the operation and maintenance budget be balanced with current revenues, exclusive of beginning resources, greater than or equal to current expenses.
The City's share of net remaining revenue, depending on the fund, shall be transferred to the City's Capital Fund or General Fund Contingency for use in establishing the budget, for other capital expenses, or held in reserve.
C. Financial Plans
Before the start of the new fiscal year, the departments will prepare financial plans based on the approved Operation and Maintenance Budget. Financial plans will be updated quarterly or semi-annually to reflect changes in priorities as the fiscal year progresses. The Finance Manager will inform the departments of changes to their plans, including approvals, denials, and/or modifications to requested line items. The departments will track the execution of the Operation and Maintenance Budget using the latest approved revision to their financial pians.
City of lone
D. Reporting
Monthly budget to actual reports will be prepared to enable the departments to manage their budgets and to enable the City Manager to monitor and control the budget as authorized by the City Council. These reports will be presented to the City Council for review and comments at the second meeting of each month. Summary financial reports will be presented to the City Council annually. Such reports will be in a format appropriate to enable the City Council to understand the budget status at a level of summary executive detail.
E. Control
Operating Expense Control is addressed in Section 6.
Operating Position
The guidelines that the City should be following to assure fiscal stability are those outlined in Financial Conditions, Reserves, and Stability Ratios (Section 9).
REVENUE MANAGEMENT
A. Characteristics
The City will strive for the following optimum characteristics in its revenue system:
Simplicity
The City, where possible and without sacrificing accuracy, will strive to keep the revenue system simple in order to reduce compliance costs and to make it more understandable.
2. Certainty
A thorough knowledge and understanding of all revenue sources increases the reliability of the revenue system. The City will understand its revenue sources and enact consistent collection procedures to provide assurances that the revenue base will materialize according to budgets and plans.
3. Equity
The City shall make every effort to maintain fairness in its revenue system structure. The City shall require that there be a balance in the revenue system; i.e. the revenue base will have the characteristic of fairness and neutrality.
Administration
City of lone
The planning, design and construction of major improvements at the City facilities are budgeted, by project in the CCP budget (i.e., construction of new police station or reconstruction of roadway.)
B. Budget Preparation
The City's Budget will be prepared annually on a fiscal year basis, including one section for 0&M expenses and capital expenses shown in one of the three categories identified in the preceding paragraph.
The budgetary requirements for the equipment and small facility projects referred to in Section VIII.A. 1 will be addressed in the preparation of the O&M Budget.
The CMIP and CCP Budgets will be prepared independently and included with the O&M Budget with a notation of the source of funding for each project. Generally, funding for CMIP projects will be from fund revenues or reserve funds of the City while funding for CCP projects will be from debt financing and facility fees.
C. Budgetary Control
The City Manager must verify the availability of funds within the appropriate Budget before any equipment or capital facility project contract is presented to the City Council for approval.
D. Program Planning
The CCP Budget will be derived from the Engineering plans that will typically have a planning time frame of at least 5 years into the future. The budgetary requirements for replacement and maintenance of capital items should also be projected for the next 5 years. Future operation and maintenance costs will be considered, so that these costs can be included in the O&M Budget.
E. Financing Programs
Where applicable, sewer fees should include the debt service for capital projects which have a primary benefit to sewer infrastructure.
Any City funds expended should be recovered over a reasonable time period and include an amortization factor. When debt is issued, it will be used to acquire major assets with expected life that equal or exceed the average life of the debt issue. The exceptions to this requirement are the traditional costs of marketing and issuing the debt, capitalized labor for design and construction of capital projects, and small component parts which are attached to major equipment purchases. The full cost of debt should be recovered from the project's beneficiary.
City of lone
E. Legal Requirements
The City will maintain procedures to comply with grant requirements, arbitrage rebate, and State and Federal requirements.
XI. INTERNAL CONTROLS
A. Written Procedures
Wherever possible, written procedures will be established and maintained by the Finance Manager for all functions involving cash handling and/or accounting throughout the City. These procedures will embrace the general concepts of fiscal responsibility set forth in this financial handbook.
Department Head Responsibility
Each department is responsible for ensuring that good internal controls are followed throughout his or her department, that all internal controls are implemented, and that all internal control recommendations made by the internal and external auditors are addressed.
XII. STAFFING AND TRAINING
A. Adequate Staffing
Staffing levels will be adequate for the fiscal functions of the City to operate effectively.
As a general rule, overtime shall be used only to address temporary or seasonal demands that require excessive hours. Workload shedding alternatives will be explored before adding staff.
B. Training
The City will support the continuing education efforts of all financial staff including the investment in time and materials for maintaining a current perspective concerning financial issues. Staff will be encouraged and expected to communicate, teach, and share with other members all information and training materials acquired from seminars, conferences, and related education efforts.
C. Credentials and Recognition
The City will support staffs efforts which result in meeting standards and receiving exemplary recitations on behalf of any of the City's fiscal policies, practices, processes, products, or personnel. Staff certifications may include, but are not limited to Certified Public Accountant, Management Accountant, Certified Internal Auditor, and Certified Cash Manager.
City of lone
SECTION 11- BUDGET AMENDMENT RESOLUTION
I. PURPOSE
The budget amendment resolution is used to adjust or change the final adopted budget.
The Budget Amendment Resolution is used to:
• Increase/decrease estimated revenue and appropriations in a budget unit. • Establish new funds.
• Transfer from fund balances.
Transfer from other funds.
II. PREPARATION
Resolutions to increase/decrease estimated revenue and appropriations shall identify the specific accounts to be adjusted by the full 10-digit account string for each account as well as the account names. All budget adjustments that increase/decrease total appropriations must identify an equal amount of offsetting increase/decrease in either total estimated revenues or fund balance available.
Departments wishing a budget amendment will submit the draft budget amendment resolution to the Finance Department. The Finance Manager will review the draft resolution to ensure that:
• The resolution properly reflects the numbers and names of the specific accounts to be adjusted and that the accounts designated appear appropriate given the justification for the budget amendment.
• Any impact on the estimated revenues appears reasonable and realistic.
If approved, the Finance Manager will sign the Budget Amendment Resolution and forward it to the City Manager for review. The City Manager will determine whether the amendment is appropriate and consistent with the City's priorities and, sign the resolution if approved, and submit with the Agenda through the City Clerk who provides the agenda to City Council and the general public.
Upon approval by City Council, the resolutions will be signed and will be distributed to the originating department and the Finance department. The City Cierk will keep the original resolution on file for the permanent record.
City of lone
SECTION 16 - YEAR END CLOSING AND FINANCIAL REPORTING
For a period of two months following the end of the fiscal year on June 30, Finance Staff will review both incoming payments that are not posted to accounts receivable and all cash disbursements to determine whether the transactions related to events that occurred prior to June 30. Copies of any such items identified will be made and placed in the Finance Manager's accrual file and an entry will be made to add the items to the accrual list. After August 31, the Finance staff will post a journal entry to the financial system to record the accounts payable and receivable at June 30 for all items identified in the preceding two months. The Finance Manager will then review the budget to actual report after posting this entry and confer with the City Manager to identify any additional amounts that are expected to be either paid or received that are related to the preceding fiscal year. The Finance Manager will also continue to monitor cash receipts and payments until approximately two weeks prior to finalizing the trial balance for audit and post any adjustments as necessary.
The Finance Manager or designee will then review the City's various balance sheet accounts to determine that the appropriate, most up-to-date balances are reflected. Although changes in applicable accounts occur from time to time that impact what procedures will be required, the following represents a partial list of suggested procedures:
• Ensure that the beginning fund balance for each fund matches the audited ending balances displayed in the previous year's audit.
• Ensure the cash balances have been reconciled to the bank statements, including the cash balances held with the fiscal agent.
• Prepare an analysis calculating the new liability for other post-employment benefits. • Prepare an analysis updating the pension liability.
• Review cash receipts and disbursements after year end, as noted above, to ensure amounts related to the prior fiscal year are properly adjusted. • Review developer deposit accounts, as noted elsewhere in this policy. • Reconcile liabilities owed between funds to ensure that the amounts owed equal the amounts receivable. Post interest if required.
• Ensure that any interfund reimbursements are posted.
• Ensure that interfund transfer and reimbursement accounts balance to zero among all funds. • Review each of the city's loan and other long-term liability balances to ensure that they have been reduced by the proper amount of current year principal payments and that interest expense has been properly calculated. Principal payments should be posted against the loan balance in enterprise funds (such as the sewer) and in a principal expenditure account in governmental
City of lone
funds. A government-wide adjustment should be prepared and given to the auditor to reflect the correct principal balance for governmental fund long-term liabilities. • Review the compensated absences (vacation and comp time) balances and post an adjustment to ensure the liability is correctly recorded in the enterprise funds for these. Prepare government- wide adjusting entries to furnish to the auditor for the portion of the liability that relates to governmental funds.
• Reconcile total payroll expenses to the amounts shown on the City's 941 payroll tax forms or Pay Chex payroll registers and to the amounts reported to CaPERS. • Review payroll liability balances to ensure that they properly reflect the amounts owed by the City at June 30.
• Compare balances to budget and prior year figures to identify any odd or unusual differences. • For cost reimbursement grants, compare the expenditures on the grant during the fiscal year to the revenues received and post a receivable for any outstanding balance, where appropriate. • Ensure that deferred revenue has been recorded in governmental funds for receivables that will not be received by the City within 60 days of June 30.
• Ensure that any capital assets (items or projects with a useful life extending beyond one year and an initial cost exceeding $5,000 per asset or project) are reflected in capital outlay accounts in governmental funds or are added to the appropriate capital asset account in enterprise funds. • Add any new assets acquired during the year to the depreciation schedule, reconcile to the previous year financial statements and the current year capital asset balances in the enterprise fund, and compute current year depreciation.
Update schedules on CDBG loans receivable to show interest earned on the loans for the current year and account for any repayments. Prepare and post a journal entry to record any activity not yet recognized and agree the balances to the loans receivable schedules.
Appendix G
RESOLUTION NO. 2015 - 25
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF IONE
ESTABLISHING POLICIES ON INTERFUND TRANSFERS,
CONSOLIDATING FUNDS AND ELIMINATING FUNDS
WHEREAS, City revenues come in at various times and from various sources during the fiscal year that do not correlate with the time that certain expenditures are required; and WHEREAS, certain revenues received by the City are of a restricted nature that can only be expended for certain purposes; and
WHEREAS, from time-to-time it is necessary to transfer funds from one fund to another to meet City cash-flow requirements; and
WHEREAS, when these restricted revenue sources need to be transferred over a time period that spans more than one fiscal year the funds must be accounted for separately to insure that the funds are properly expended; and
WHEREAS, the City Council wishes to establish policies to insure that the funds received by the City are properly accounted for and expended properly; and WHEREAS, the forgoing policies create a framework to properly account for the use of these restricted funds.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of lone, as follows:
That the City Council adopts the Fund Transfer Policy provided herein as ATTACHMENT 1.
Authorizes the City Manager to take such other actions as may be necessary to implement the purpose of this Resolution.
The foregoing resolution was duly introduced and adopted by the City Council of the City of lone at their regular meeting held on June 2nd, 2015 by the following vote:
AYES: Epperson, Smylie, Atlan, Haney
NOES: None
ABSTAIN: None
ABSENT: Weart
an Epperson, Mayo
Attest:
ATTACHMENT 1
TO
RESOLUTION NO. 2015 - 25
ESTABLISHING POLICIES ON INTERFUND TRANSFERS, CONSOLIDATING FUNDS AND
ELIMINATING FUNDS
1. Impact Fees - General Plan Transfers. The following Interfund Transfers are hereby approved:
From: Amount Io: Amount
2111 Gas Tax Fund $43,000 515 Impact Fees - General Plar $43,000 9515 Impact Fees - General Plan $21,000 9514 Impact Fees - Park: $21,000 9515 Impact Fees - General Plan $22,000 9517 Capital Projects - City Drainage $22,000
2. Impact Fee Revenue - General Plan Reimbursement Priority. Upon receipt of General Plan Impact Fee revenue through new construction fees paid or through the pre-payment of fees, such revenue shall reimburse the appropriate fund in priority order, with those funds listed first being paid back first, as follows:
From: Amount To: Amount
9515 Impact Fees - General Plan $43,000 2111 Gas Tax Fund $43,000 9515 Impact Fees - General Plan $180,000 9513 Impact Fees - Police $180,000 9515 Impact Fees - General Plan $375,000 1111 General Fund $375,000
3. Impact Fee Revenue - Fire Reimbursement Priority. Upon receipt of Fire Impact Fee revenue through new construction fees paid or through the pre-payment of fees, such revenue shall reimburse the appropriate fund in priority order, with those funds listed first being paid back first, as follows:
From: Amount Amount
9511 Impact Fees - Fire $25,000 9516 Impact Fees - General Admin. $25,000 9511 Impact Fees - Fire $329,384 1111 General Fund $329,384 9511 Impact Fees - Fire $616,804 9513 Impact Fees - Police $616,804
4. Consolidation of Local Transportation Commission Fund. The following funds are hereby consolidated into one fund:
From: Amount Amount
1111 General Fund $137,269 4211 Local Transportation Commission $137,269 1111 General Fund $426,087 4211 Local Transportation Commission $426,087 Revised Fund
1211 Local Trans. Commission $563.35( 1111 General Fund $563,356
5. General Fund Transfers. : The City Council shall approve such payments of General Funds to the Funds below on an annual basis during the Budget process as may be approved and in accordance with this policy.
From: Amount Amount
1111 General Fund $208,230 Till Gas Tax Fund
$208,230
1111 General Fund $364,107 9613 Measure M Fund $364,107 1111 General Fund $69,155 8231 ARSA Fund $69,155*
* Per Audit Finding 14-4
6. Interest on Transferred Funds. In June of each year beginning in 2015 the City Manager shall direct that an interest payment be made to each fund from which funds were transferred from, provided such sum was approved by the City Council in the annual budget. Such interest shall accrue at a rate of the average interest rate paid to the City by the Local Agency Investment Fund (LAIF) for the previous calendar year. An estimate of the proposed interest owed shall be presented annually in the budget for consideration of adoption by the City Council.
7. Railroad Depot & CDBG Funds. The following Interfund Transfers are hereby approved:
From: Amount To: Amount
7121 Self Help Housing $48,434 9520 Railroad Depot $48,434 7111 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) $25 7112 Rehab Housing $25
8. Park & Ride Grant Closeout. The Finance Manager is authorized to conduct an audit of this fund and the following Interfund Transfer is hereby approved and the fund closed out:
From: Amount To: Amount
2111 Gas Tax Fund $118,187.12 5112 CMAQ - Park & Ride $118,187.12
9. ARSA Fund Transfers. The following Interfund Transfers are hereby approved:
From: Amount To: Amount
3111 Sewer Fund - Sewer Operations $25,000 8231 ARSA $25,000 2111 Gas Tax Fund $14,560 8231 ARSA $14,560*
* Per Audit Finding 144
10. Elimination of Funds. The following funds are hereby eliminated as no longer necessary:
• 5112 CMAQ Grant - Park & Ride
• 5115 Energy Grant
• 5116 Community Based Transportation Grant (Downtown Plan) • 7111 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)
11. Annual Principal and Interest Payment. In addition to the annual interest charges under Section 6 above, a principal payment shall be presented annually in the budget for consideration of adoption by the City Council as follows:
No principal or interest payment shall be made to those funds subject to repayment by Impact Fees (see policy #s 2 & 3)
• To the extent that revenue is available to make payment to those remaining non-impact fee funds; a lump sum payment shall be made to each of the remaining funds' outstanding balance in the following priority order 1) Prior-year interest charges, 2.) Current-year interest charges, 3) The greater of 1% of the remaining principal or $1000,
4.) Such additional sums as may be approved by the City Council.
Appendix H
Agenda Item
DATE: April 26, 2018
TO: lone City Council
FROM: Jon G. Hanken, City Manager
SUBJECT: Resolution No. 2018-18: A Resolution of the City Council of the City of lone Resolution Amending the City of lone Financial Policies and Procedures Handbook - June 2015
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Council is being asked to approve Resolution No. 2018-18:
A Resolution of the City Council of the City of lone Resolution Amending the City of lone Financial Policies and Procedures Handbook (June 2015)
FISCAL IMPACT: None
BACKGROUND: In 2015, the City Council adopted a Financial Policies and Procedures Handbook as identified as an issue in previous audits. As the City is moving forward with refinancing the Community Facilities District No. 2005-2, it was identified that our debt policies are not up to date with current California law and needs to be amended.
The purpose of this Debt Policy is to establish guidelines and parameters for the effective governance, management and administration of debt and other financing obligations issued by the City of lone and its related entities (such as, but not exclusive to, the City- formed Community Facilities Districts and any entities for which the City Council serves as the governing board or legislative body). This Debt Policy is intended to improve and direct decision making, assist with the structure of debt issuance, identify policy goals, and demonstrate a commitment to long-term financial planning, including the City of lone's five-year Capital Improvement Program (the "Capital Improvement Program").
Adherence to a debt policy helps to ensure the City of lone's debt is issued and managed prudentiy in order to maintain a sound financial position and credit worthiness. When used in this Debt Policy, "debt" refers to all indebtedness and financing obligations of the City of lone and its related entities (together referred to as "City").
This Debt Policy is intended to comply with the requirements of Senate Bill 1029 (SB 1029), codified as part of California Government Code Section 8855(i), effective on January 1, 2017 and shall govern all debt undertaken by the City. The primary objectives of the City's debt and financing related activities are to:
A. Maintain the City's sound financial position;
B. Ensure the City has the flexibility to respond to possible changes in future service obligations, revenues, and operating expenses; Ensure that all debt is structured in order to protect both current and future taxpayers, ratepayers and constituents of the City; D. Minimize debt service commitments through efficient planning and cash management;
Protect the City's credit worthiness and achieve the highest practical credit ratings, when applicable; and
Ensure the City is in compliance with all relevant State and Federal securities laws and other applicable laws and regulations.
This resolution would amend Section 1 X. Treasury and Debt Management by removing paragraphs B, C and D and replacing it with the language in Attachment A of the resolution.
Attachments: Resolution No. 2018-18: A Resolution of the City Council of the City of lone Resolution Amending the City of lone Financial Policies and Procedures Handbook (June 2015)
City of lone Financial Policies and Procedural Handbook - June 2015
RESOLUTION NO. 2018-18
A Resolution of the City Council of the City of lone Amending the City of lone Financial Policies and Procedures Handbook - June 2015 WHEREAS, the City of lone adopted a Financial Policies and Procedures Handbook - June 2015 to meet the requirements of the City Auditor; and WHEREAS, the Financial Policies and Procedures Handbook contains the City's Debt Policies; and
WHEREAS, the purpose of the Debt Policy is to establish guidelines and parameters for the effective governance, management and administration of debt and other financing obligations issued by the City of lone; and WHEREAS, the policies and procedures in the Financial Policies and Procedures Handbook need to be updated from time to time; and
WHEREAS, staff has provided an update to the City's Debt Policy that is consistent California Government Code Section 8855(i), which went into effect on January 1, 2017.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of lone hereby amends the City of lone Financial Policies and Procedures Handbook.
1. The foregoing recitals are true and correct.
The City's Financial Policies and Procedures Handbook: Section 1 X. Treasury and Debt Management, Paragraphs B, C and D are replaced with the language in Attachment A.
The foregoing resolution was duly introduced and adopted by the City Council of the City of lone at their regular meeting held on May 1, 2018 by the following vote:
AYES: Atlan, Epperson, Reed, Wratten, Lord
NOES: None
ABSTAIN: None
ABSENT: None
Dominic Atlan, Mayor
Attest:
Janice Traverso, City Clerk
....
Debt Issuance and Management Policy
City of lone
Introduction
On May 1, 2018 the City Council of the City of lone (City Council") reviewed and considered this Debt Issuance and Management Policy (Debt Policy") of the City of lone and thi Debt Policy was approved by action of the City Council on May 1, 2018. This Debt Policy provide unidelines for debt issuance, management and post-issuance related policies and procedures for th ity. This Debt Policy may be amended by the City Council as it deems appropriate from time-to time in the prudent management of the debt and financing needs of the City of lone.
2. Purpose
The purpose of this Debt Policy is to establish guidelines and parameters for the effective governance, management and administration of debt and other financing obligations issued by the City of lone and its related entities (such as, but not exclusive to, the City-formed Community Facilities Districts and any entities for which the City Council serves as the governing board or legislative body). This Debt Policy is intended to improve and direct decision making, assist with the structure of debt issuance, identify policy goals, and demonstrate a commitment to long-term financial planning, including the City of lone's five-year Capital Improvement Program (the "Capital Improvement Program"). Adherence to a debt policy helps to ensure the City of lone's debt is issued and managed prudently in order to maintain a sound financial position and credit worthiness. When used in this Debt Policy, "debt refers to all indebtedness and financing obligations of the City of fone and its related entities (together referred to as "City").
3. Debt Policy Objective
This Debt Policy is intended to comply with the requirements of Senate Bill 1029 (SB 1029), codified as part of California Government Code Section 8855(i), effective on January 1, 2017 and shall govern all debt undertaken by the City. The primary objectives of the City's debt and financing related activities are to:
A. Maintain the City's sound financial position:
B. Ensure the City has the flexibility to respond to possible changes in future service obligations, revenues, and operating expenses;
C. Ensure that all debt is structured in order to protect both current and future taxpayers, ratepayers and constituents of the City;
D. Minimize debt service commitments through efficient planning and cash management:
E. Protect the City's credit worthiness and achieve the highest practical credit ratings, when applicable; and
Ensure the City is in compliance with all relevant State and Federal securities laws and other applicable laws and regulations.
4. Acceptable Uses of Debt Proceeds
The City will consider the use of debt financing primarily for assets and capital projects only if the term of debt shall not exceed the assets) or project's useful life or will otherwise comply with Federal tax law requirements. An exception to this long-term driven focus is the issuance of short- term instruments, such as tax and revenue anticipation notes, which are to be used for reasonable cash management purposes, as described below. Bonded debt should not be issued to finance normal operating expenses. General Fund debt will not be issued to support ongoing operational costs unles such debt issuance achieves net operating cost savings and such savings are verified by independent analysis.
A. Long-Term Debt.
Long-term debt may be issued to finance the construction, acquisition, and rehabilitation of capital improvements and facilities, equipment, and land to b owned and/or operated by the City. Long-term debt financings are appropriate when any of the (1) When the project to be financed is necessary to provide basic municipal services;
(2) When the project to be financed will provide benefit to the City's constituents over a duration of more than one year;
When the total debt financing would not impose an unreasonable burden on the City and its taxpayers and/or ratepayers, as applicable; or
(4) When the debt is used to refinance outstanding debt in order 1o produce debt service savings or to benefit from debt restructuring. ii. The City may use long-term debt financings subject to each of the following conditions:
(1) The project to be financed has been or will be considered and approved by the City Council;
(2) The weighted average maturity of the debt (or the portion of the debt allocated to the project) will not exceed the average useful life of the project to be financed by more than 20%;
(3) The City estimates that sufficient revenues will be available to service the debt through its maturity: and
(4) The City determines that the issuance of the debt will comply with the applicable requirements of State and Federal law.
2 B. Short-term Debt. Short-term debt may be issued to provide financing for the City's operational cash flows in order to maintain a steady and even cash flow balance. Short-term debt may also be used to finance the City's short-lived capital projects, such as undertaking lease- purchase financing for equipment.
Financings on Behalf of Other Entities. The City may also issue debt on behalf of other governmental agencies or private third parties in order to further the public purposes of the City. In such cases, the City shall take reasonable steps to confirm the financial feasibility of the project to be financed, the financial solvency of any borrower, and that the issuance of such debt is consistent with the policies set forth herein.
5. Standards for Use of Debt Financing
The City recognizes that there are numerous types of financing structures and funding sources available, each with specific benefits, costs, and risks. The City will consider debt issuance only in those cases where public policy, equity and economic efficiency favor debt financing over cash funding. Prior to the issuance of debt or other financing obligations, the City will carefully burden on the taxpayers/ratepayers. The evaluation process shall include a review of generally accepted measures of affordability and will strive to achieve and/or maintain debt levels consistent with its current operating and capital needs.
6. Types of Debt
In order to maximize the financial options available to benefit the public, it is the City's policy to allow the consideration of issuing all generally accepted types of debt, including, but not exclusive to the following:
Revenue Bonds/Certificates of Participation (COPs). Revenue Bonds and COPs are limited-liability obligations tied to a specific enterprise or special fund revenue stream where the projects financed clearly benefit or relate to the enterprise or are otherwise permissible uses of the special revenue. Generally, no voter approval is required to issue this type of obligation but in some cases, the City must comply with proposition 218 regarding rate adjustments.
B. Joint Powers Authority (JPA) Lease Revenue Bonds. As an alternative to COPs. the City may obtain financing through the issuance of debt by a joint exercise of powers agency with such debt payable from amounts paid by the City under a lease, installment sale agreement, or contract of indebtedness.
C. General Obligation (GO) Bonds. GO Bonds are suitable for use in the construction or acquisition of improvements to real property that benefit the public at large. The California Government Code, Division 4. Chapter 4, Article | commencing with section 43600 authorizes cities to finance certain municipal improvements through GO bonds when a city determines the public interest and necessity demands the acquisition, construction or completion of such municipal improvements, including property or structures necessary or convenient to carry out the objects, purposes, and powers of a city. Examples of projects include but are not limited to 3 libraries. parks. and public safety facilities. All GO bonds shall be authorized by the requisite number of voters in order to pass.
Loans. The City is authorized to enter into loans, installment payment obligations, or other similar funding structures secured by a prudent source or sources of repayment.
Special Assessment/Special Tax Debt. The City will consider requests from developers for the use of debt financing secured by property-based assessments or special taxes in order to provide for necessary infrastructure for new development under guidelines adopted by City Council, which may include minimum value-to-lien ratios and maximum tax burdens. Examples of this type of debt are Assessment Districts (ADs) and Community Facilities Districts (CFDs), also known as Mello-Roos Districts. In order to protect bondholders as well as the City's credit rating, the City will also comply with all State guidelines regarding the issuance of special tax or special Tax Allocation Bonds. Tax Allocation Bonds are special obligations that are secured by the allocation of tax increment revenues that are generated by increased property taxes in the designated (now former) redevelopment project areas. Tax Allocation Bonds are not debt of the City. California Health and Safety Code, Division 24, Parts 1.8 and 1.85 limit the authority to issuance of tax allocation bonds only as to refunding of bonds properly and timely issued prior to January 1, 2011: such laws are referred to as the "Dissolution Law" and govern successor agencies to now dissolved redevelopment agencies.
Short-Term Debt. Short-term borrowing, such as commercial paper, Tax and Revenue Anticipation Notes (TRANS). and lines of credit. may be considered as an interim source of funding in anticipation of long-term borrowing and may be issued to generate funding for cash flow The final maturity of the debt issued to finance the project shall be consistent with the useful lite of the project. Short-term debt may also be used to finance short-lived capital projects such as lease-purchase financing for equipment.
Refunding Bonds. The City shall refinance debt pursuant to the authorization that is provided under California law, including but not limited to Articles 9, 10 and 11 of Chapter 3 of Part I of Division 2 of Title 5 of the California Government Code, as market opportunities arise.
Refundings may be undertaken in order:
(1) To take advantage of lower interest rates and achieve debt service costs savings:
(2) To eliminate restrictive or burdensome bond covenants; or (3) To restructure debt to lengthen the duration of repayment, relieve debt service spikes. reduce volatility in interest rates or free up reserve funds.
Generally, the City shall strive to achieve a minimum of 3% net present value savings. The net present value assessment shall factor in all costs, including issuance, escrow, and foregone interest earnings of any contributed funds on hand. Refundings which produce a net present value savings of less than 3% will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Upon the advice of the City Manager or the Finance Manager and with the assistance of a financial advisor and bond counsel, the 4 City will consider undertaking refundings for other than economic purposes based upon a finding that such a restructuring is in the City's overall best financial interest.
The City may from time to time find that other forms of debt would be beneficial to further its public purposes and may approve such debt without an amendment of this Debt Policy.
Debt shall be issued as fixed rate debt unless the City makes a specific determination as to why a variable rate issue would he beneficial to the City in that circumstance.
7. Relationship to Capital Improvement Program and Operating Budget The City intends to issue debt for the purposes stated in this Debt Policy and the decision to incur new indebtedness should be integrated with the City Council-adopted annual Operating Budget and Capital Improvement Program Budget. Prior to issuance of debt, a reliable revenue source shall be identified to secure repayment of the debt and the annual debt service payments shall be included in the Operating Budget.
The City shall integrate its debt issuances with the goals of its Capital Improvement Program by timing the issuance of debt to ensure that projects are available when needed in furtherance of the City's public purposes.
8. Policy Goals Related to Planning Goals and Objectives This Debt Policy has been adopted to assist with the City's goal of financial sustainability and financial prudence. In following this Debt Policy, the City shall pursue the following policy goals:
i. The City is committed to financial planning, maintaining appropriate reserves levels and employing prudent practices in governance. management and budget administration. The City intends to issue debt for the purposes stated in this Debt Policy and to implement policy decisions incorporated in the City's annual Operating Budget;
ii. It is a policy goal of the City to protect taxpayers, ratepayers and constituents by utilizing conservative financing methods and techniques so as to obtain the highest practical credit ratings, if applicable, and the lowest practical borrowing costs; ili. It is a policy goal of the City to reduce the unfunded liabilities for employee pension and other post-employment benefits (OPEB):
iv. The City will comply with applicable state and federal law as it pertains to the maximum term of debt and the procedures for levying and imposing any related taxes, assessments, rates and charges; and
v. When refinancing debt, it shall be the policy goal of the City to achieve, whenever ossible and subject to any overriding non-financial policy, minimum aggregate n resent value debt service savings of at least 3% of the refunded principal amoun 5 9. Internal Control Procedures
When issuing debt, in addition to complying with the terms of this Debt Policy, the City shall comply with any other applicable policies regarding initial bond disclosure. continuing disclosure, post-issuance compliance, and investment of bond proceeds.
The City will periodically review the requirements of and will remain in compliance with the following:
i. Federal securities law, including any continuing disclosure undertakings under SEC Rule 15c2-12;
Any federal tax compliance requirements including without limitation arbitrage and rebate compliance. related to any prior bond issues;
ili. The City's investment policies as they relate to the investment of bond proceeds; and iv. Government Code section 8855(k) and the annual reporting requirements therein.
The City shall be vigilant in using bond proceeds in accordance with the stated purpose at the time that such debt was issued. The City Manager, the Finance Manager or designee will monitor the expenditure of bond proceeds to ensure they are used only for the purpose and authority for which the bonds were issued. Whenever reasonably possible, proceeds of debt will be held by a third-party trustee and the City will submit written requisitions for such proceeds. The City will submit a requisition only after obtaining the signature of the City Manager or the Finance Manager.
10. Amendment and Waivers of Debt Policy
This Debt Policy will be reviewed and updated periodically as needed. Any amendments to this Debt Policy are subject to specific City Council approval.
While adherence to this Debt Policy is required in all applicable circumstances, on rare occasions there might be circumstances when strict adherence to a provision of this Debt Policy is not possible or not in the best interest of the City. If the City staff has determined that a waiver of one or more provisions of this Debt Policy should be considered by the City Council. it will prepare an analysis for the City Council describing the rationale for the waiver and the impact of the waiver on the proposed debt issuance and on taxpayers, if applicable. Upon a majority vote of the City Council, one or more provisions of this Debt Policy may be waived for a debt financing.
The failure of a debt financing to comply with one or more provisions of this Debt Policy shall in no way affect the validity of any debt issued by the City in accordance with applicable laws.
11. SB 1029 Compliance
SB 1029. signed by Governor Brown on September 12, 2016. and enacted as Chapter 307, Statutes of 2016, requires issuers to adopt debt policies addressing each of the five items below:
A. The purposes for which the debt proceeds may he used. Section 4 (Acceptable Uses of Debt Proceeds) addresses the purposes for which debt proceeds may be used The types of debt that may be issued. Section 6 (Types of Debt) provides information regarding the types of debt that may be issued.
The relationship of the debt to, and integration with, the issuer's capital improvement program or budget, if applicable. Section 7 (Relationship to Capital Improvement Program and Operating Budget) provides information regarding the relationship between the City's debt and Capital Improvement Program and annual Opcrating Budget.
Policy goals related to the issuer's planning goals and objectives. Section 3 (Debt Policy Objective) and Section 8 (Policy Goals Related to Planning Goals and Objectives) address some of the City's policy goals and how this Debt Policy has implemented them.
The internal control procedures that the issuer has implemented, or will implement, to ensure that the proceeds of the proposed debt issuance will be directed to the intended use. Section 9 (Internal Control Procedures) provides information regarding the City's internal control procedures designed to ensure that the proceeds of its debt issues are spent as intended.
This Debt Policy, as written, complies with and meets the requirements of SB 1029.
2.44.010 - Established. Appendix I
The City of lone hereby establishes a purchasing and bidding policy under the direction of the city manager and finance office director.
(Ord. No. 505, 11-16-2019)
2.44.050 - Duties.
The duties of the city manager and/or finance office director, or their designee, shall be to make and provide all purchases of materials and services for the city:
A. As are required and requested by the various departments and activities of the city which are usual, normal and necessary for the achievement of the end objective of said departments and are within and contemplated by the regularly adopted budget of the city for said department or departments; and
B. As requested by various departments and as specifically authorized by the city council, whether included within or without the then valid budget for said city. (Ord. No. 505, 11-16-2019)
2.44.060 - Rules, regulations and definitions.
The city purchasing department will set up and submit to the city council, for its approval, and within 60 days after the appointment by the city council of the purchasing agent, proposed rules and regulations with respect to the policy of purchasing, the manner of purchasing and the coordination of such purchases with budgetary provisions and limitations, and, when such rules and regulations have been adopted by the city council, then, and continuing from the date of said adoption until otherwise modified, such rules and regulations shall afford direction to the city purchasing department and to the city purchasing agent in the exercise of the duties, responsibilities and authority granted by this chapter.
Definitions:
"City manager" means the appointed city manager or a designee authorized to act on behalf of the city manager.
"Department director" means the city employee or consultant authorized to act as the head of a city department or authorized designee acting on behalf of the director, regardless of title. (Ord. No. 505, 11-16-2019)
2.44.130 - Administrative guidelines.
A. Vendor Limit. Combined purchase orders cannot exceed $50,000.00 per vendor, per fiscal year except in the case of major expenditures in which a vendor has participated in a public formal bidding process.
B. Change Orders or Amendments. A change order or amendment is a change in a contract term, other than as specifically provided for in the contract, that authorizes or necessitates any increase or decrease of the cost of the contract or in the time of completion that can be authorized by the city manager or department director. A valid request for a change order or amendment must meet the following criteria:
1. The change was not reasonably foreseeable at the time that the contract was signed;
2. The change must be relevant to the original contract; and
3. The change is authorized by the contract provisions and in the best interest of the city.
C. Conflict of Interest. No employee, officer, councilmember, or agent shall participate in the selection, award, or administration of a contract if he or she has a real or apparent conflict of interest. Such a conflict of interest would arise when the employee, officer, councilmember, agent, or any member of his or her immediate family, his or her partner, or an organization which employs or is about to employ any of the parties indicated, herein, has a financial or other interest in or a tangible personal benefit from a firm considered for a contract.
Nothing in this policy does or is to be construed as limiting the applicability of any other federal, state, or local laws and regulations governing prohibitions against financial conflicts of interest, including but not limited to the Political Reform Act (Government Code Section 81000 et seq.) and implementing regulations from the Fair Political Practices Commission (Title 2, Section 18110 et seq., of the California Code of Regulations), and Government Code Sections 1090-1999 and 1126. All such laws and regulations shall apply to every employee, officer, councilmember, and agent of the city.
D. Local Vendors. Purchasing goods and services from local vendors which stimulate the local economy is encouraged but not required.
E. Green Purchasing Practices. The city is committed to green purchasing practices in obtaining goods and services. The city shall consider environmentally-preferable products when appropriate. Nothing in this policy requires the procurement of products that do not adequately perform their intended use, requires procurement that excludes adequate competition, or requires the procurement of products that are unavailable at a reasonable price or at a reasonable time. An environmentally-preferable product means a product that meets any of the following criteria:
1. Is durable, repairable, reusable, or recyclable;
2. Has minimal packaging, toxic content, or chemical-hazard potential;
3. Is resource or energy efficient in any or all phases of its manufacture, use, or disposal; or
4. Its use or disposal minimizes or eliminates the city's potential environmental liability. (Ord. No. 505, 11-16-2019)
2.44.140 - Expenditure categories.
Purchases, which include those made by purchase order (PO), written agreement, amendment or change order that require city expenditures, are classified into five categories based on the anticipated expenditure amount. Each category establishes an authorization level, procurement method, and maximum term, which shall apply unless specifically exempted in accordance with this policy.
A. Expenditures of $50.00 or less (petty cash)
B. Expenditures of $51.00 to $5,000.00 (operational)
C. Expenditures of $5,001.00 to $15,000.00 (minor)
D. Expenditures of $15,001.00 to $50,000.00 (intermediate) E. Expenditures over $50,001.00 (major)
A. Expenditures of $50.00 or Less.
Authorization: Department director, who may delegate to a department manager
Procurement: No bids or PO necessary; petty cash advances or reimbursement
Term Limit: N/A
Note: These transactions take the place of ordinary ongoing purchases and shall be limited in use.
A cash disbursement or reimbursement may be obtained from the finance department and must not exceed $50.00. A petty cash request form shall be completed and signed by the department director before submittal. The form shall include the date, description of the item to be purchased, and account number. Petty cash amounts will be advanced to accommodate miscellaneous minor expenditure amounts of $50.00 or less and for which normal payment provisions are not practical. The finance department will periodically audit petty cash expenditures as to form and regulations and may confirm purchases.
B. Expenditures of $51.00 to $5,000.00 During the Initial Term. 151 Authorization: Department director, who may delegate to a department manager o
Procurement: No PO necessary; three informal bids/proposals 7] whenever possible
Term limit: Three years plus one three-year extension
C. Expenditures of $5,001.00 to $10,000.00 During the Initial Term.
Authorization: Department director
Procurement: PO required plus three informal bids/proposals Term Limit: Three years plus one three-year extension
D. Expenditures of $10,001.00 to $15,000.00 During the Initial Term.
Authorization: City manager
Procurement: PO required plus three informal
bids/proposals plus city contract [8]
Term limit: Three years plus one three-year
extension
E. Expenditures over $15,001.00.
Authorization: City council
Procurement: PO required plus formal bids/proposals plus city contract Term limit: No limit, any term approved by majority vote of the city council
F. Report to City Council. Any and all expenditures by department director or city manager in excess of $1,000.00 shall be reported to the city council at the next regular council meeting following said expenditure. Said report may be in the form of a list provided by the city manager describing the purpose and the amount of the expenditure. (Ord. No. 505, 11-16-2019)
Footnotes:
-(5)-.
For purposes of this policy, the "initial term" shall be either: (i) a term under the contract or PO not to exceed one year, or (i) a term longer than one year but not to exceed the maximum number of years authorized under a "Term limit" (set forth below) as long as the contract includes a continuing obligation for performance by a contracting party and the city has an obligation for payment only for the services actually performed and accounted for by invoice or other monthly or regular periodic documentation acceptable to the city. Under any contract or PO, either the contracting party or city may terminate the contract or PO prior to the expiration of the initial term for the other party's nonperformance.
Designee must have signature authorization form on file with the finance department, or active designation letter for a specific date range.
-(7)--
"Informal" bid/proposal means verbal or written, via telephone, e-mail or other casual medium. -- (8) --
The city's templates for contracts, agreements, amendments and change orders shall be used for category D and E purchases. The city manager may allow for modifications of these templates or use of other contracts, agreements, amendments and change orders, or may require use of city templates for category B and C purchases when the city manager determines it is prudent due to the level of risk exposure to the city, the need to spell out a complex scope of work, or any other reasons/he believes to be in the best interest of the city. To meet prevailing wage requirements any maintenance or repair project over $15,000.00 or construction project over $25,000.00 will require a written contract.
2.44.150 - Procurement procedures-Major expenditures (over $50,001.00).
A. Formal Bids for Major Public Works Projects and Major Supplies and Equipment Purchases. Major public works projects and supplies and equipment are defined as purchases and projects having an actual or estimated value of greater than $50,001.00. The solicitation and selection of bids and award of contracts shall comply with the lone Municipal Code (public works contracts), and this policy, and shall be administered through each city department, according to the following procedures:
1. Invitation for Bids. An invitation for bids (the "invitation") shall be published at least two times in a newspaper, electronic bulletin board or online submission source, city website, or other generally-recognized source of local public works contract information, at least ten days and at least five days prior to the date of the opening of bids. Invitations shall include general descriptions of the work to be performed, the time and place of the opening of bids, the place where bidders may obtain bid documents, the amount of bid security required, and the amount and nature of performance and labor materials security that will be required.
2. Form of Bids. Bids conforming to the requirements of the invitation shall be submitted to the department director (the "director") in sealed packages or by other means which will prevent the divulging of bids prior to the stated time for opening of bids, all as specified in the invitation or the bid documents. Unopened bids should be clearly marked or otherwise identifiable as bids for the project to which they apply.
3. Bid Security for Public Works Projects. Bids for public works projects shall be accompanied by cash, cashier's check, certified check, surety bond, or other form of security stated in the invitation or bid documents, in a sum equal to at least ten percent of the amount of the bid.
4. Opening of Bids. At the time and place stated in the invitation, the bids shall be publicly opened and announced. The bid amounts shall be tabulated and the tabulation shall be available for public inspection at the public works department during regular business hours for a period of not less than 30 calendar days after the bid opening
5. Review of Bids. The director shall review all bids received for completeness, accuracy, responsiveness to the invitation and the bid documents, and the city's experience with or knowledge of the qualification and reliability of each bidder and shall prepare a recommendation to the city council. Written amounts shall take precedence over associated numeric amounts. Mathematical errors, if found, shall be corrected and shall not disqualify a bid. The corrected total shall be the bid amount considered in determining the lowest responsible bidder and shall be the contract amount awarded if the bid is selected.
6. Award of Contract. Contracts shall be awarded by the city council to the lowest responsible bidder. Determination of the lowest responsible bidder shall be at the sole discretion of the city council pursuant to findings and recommendations presented by the director at the time of the award of contract.
7. Equal Bids. If two or more equal low bids are received, the city council may award the contract to any one of the equal low bidders by the following:
a. Select one bid;
b. Reject all bids and re-solicit for bids;
c. Reject all bids and authorize negotiated agreement if consistent with federal and state laws;
d. Select one bid, which is the most responsible bidder; or e. Take any other action that the city council deems to serve the best interest of the city.
8. No Bids. When no bids are received from responsible firms, the city council may accomplish the project in any manner it sees fit.
9. Rejection of Bids. The city council may reject any or all bids presented and may then direct that the project be re-advertised, may authorize negotiation of a contract with one or more responsible firms, or may resolve that the project can be performed more economically by city forces, day labor, time and materials contract, or other method.
10. Execution of Contract. The successful bidder shall execute the contract and furnish required performance security and labor and materials security when required pursuant to the bid document.
11. Forfeiture of Bid Security for Public Works Projects. If the successful bidder fails to execute the contract and furnish security within the stated time, and said failure is not primarily due to actions or omissions of the city or to acts of god, the bidder shall forfeit the bid security provided. The city council may then consider the bid of the next lowest responsible bidder.
12. Release of Bid Security for Public Works Projects. Bidders are entitled to the return of their bid security unless forfeited as provided herein. The city shall retain all bid security until a contract has been executed or until the city council rejects all bids at which time all bid security not forfeited shall be returned to the appropriate bidders.
13. Disposition of Forfeited Bid Security for Public Works Projects. The city shall retain forfeited bid security until a contract is awarded to another firm or the project is cancelled. The city shall retain an amount equal to the difference between the forfeiting firm's bid and the new contract amount, if any, and an additional amount equal to administrative and other costs incurred as a result of the failure of the forfeiting bidder to enter into a contract and provide required security, and shall return any remaining amount of the bid security to the forfeiting bidder.
14. Performance Security and Labor and Materials Security for Public Works Projects. The bidder to whom the contract is awarded (the "successful bidder") shall furnish performance security and labor and materials security in amounts specified in the invitation or bid documents.
B. Formal Proposals for Major Professional and Technical Services. Major professional and technical services are defined as services having an actual or estimated value of greater than $50,001.00.
The solicitation and selection of proposals and award of contracts shall comply with the lone Municipal Code, and this policy, and shall be administered through each city department, according to the following procedures:
1. Maintenance and Repair Services. Services intended to preserve and/or restore a public work to a clean, safe, efficient, and/or continually usable condition. Maintenance and repair services include, but are not limited to: carpentry, electrical, painting, plumbing, glazing, and other craftwork to preserve a facility in the condition for which it was intended; repairs, cleaning and other operations on machinery and other equipment permanently attached to a facility as fixtures; the mowing, pruning, and trimming of lawns, grass, trees, shrubs, bushes and hedges; and the regular removal or relocation of by-products or waste products accumulated at city facilities as the result of ongoing environmental processes.
2. The city manager shall approve the preparation and release of all requests for proposals (RFP) and requests for qualifications (RFQ).
3. City staff shall determine, based on professional judgment, whether an RFP or an RFQ process best suits its needs and city staff, or a city-authorized consultant, shall prepare the RFP/RFQ document.
4. City staff, or a city-authorized consultant, or both shall prepare a list of suitable firms from known registries, professional organizations, and/or any other source.
5. City staff shall issue the RFP/RFQ to suitable firms, and may also advertise for competitive proposals.
6. City staff shall form a selection committee, which may include private consultants, to review the RFPs/RFQs received, and the selection committee may conduct interviews and/or hold discussions with proposing firms.
7. The selection committee shall rank the proposing firms according to the criteria specified in the RFP/RFQ and city staff shall notify firms of their position in the ranking.
8. City staff, or a city-authorized consultant, shall negotiate with the top-ranked firm to arrive at mutually-acceptable contract terms.
9. City staff, or its authorized consultant shall terminate negotiations and begin negotiations with the next-ranked firm if an agreement cannot be reached and continue this process until negotiations are successfully concluded or until the list of qualified firms submitting proposals is exhausted and an agreement cannot be reached.
10. The city council shall award or reject the contract negotiated by city staff.
C. Procurement Procedures-Non-Major Expenditures ($50,000.00 and Under).
Informal Bids or Proposals. Intermediate, minor, and operational expenditure category projects, including minor public works projects, supplies, goods, equipment and minor services are defined as projects having an actual or estimated value of $50,000.00 or less. The solicitation and selection of bids and award of contracts shall comply with the lone Municipal Code for public works projects, service contracts, and this Policy, and shall be administered through each city department, according to the following procedures:
1. Informal bids shall be obtained verbally or in writing as dictated by this policy from the open market and a written record of informal bids shall be kept with the related PO.
2. Bid Security. Security and labor and material security shall conform to the requirements for major public works projects but may be modified or waived by the city staff person authorized to make the purchase if warranted and in the best interest of the city.
3. Execution and Award of Contracts. The city council may award contracts, or the city manager, or designated city director, or staff personnel may award and execute contracts, set forth in Categories A, B, C or D above, and may waive competitive bidding requirements if in the best interest of the city, provided there are unencumbered appropriations in the fund accounts against which the expenses are to be charged.
D. Exemption to Any Procurement Method. Justification for exemption to any required procurement method may be submitted to the city manager or in the case of a major expenditure, to the city council under the following circumstances:
1. Sole-Source or Select-Source Purchase. To determine that a sole-source or select-source purchase exists, rationale and/or proof must be provided in the purchase requisition. a. Acquisition of brand name to insure compatibility with other city products and equipment.
For example standardization of fleet inventory (select-source). b. Change orders additions to an original scope of work when the original source is the only reasonable one to provide the additional goods, construction work or service needed (select-source).
c. Only one manufacturer or vendor makes and/or sells the required equipment (sole- source).
2. State, county, or other public agency cooperative purchasing program or contracts utilizing funding or other participation from agencies which require conformance with state, federal or other contracting regulations.
3. The city does not require a contract for equipment purchases such as a specific type or brand of supply or part necessary for acceptable operation of a machine or device, or as required by warranty or contract on the machine or device; written documentation supporting a purchase must be provided.
4. Emergency purchases made necessary by an immediate threat to life or property or a substantial disruption of a vital public service.
a. In advance of any local emergency, the city seeks to retain a list of available local businesses willing to provide necessary supplies, materials, equipment, services, food, care or shelter to the city through the office of emergency management. Once the emergency operations center (EOC) is activated, these memorandums will be activated. b. In the event of an emergency, the city manager or designee may make immediate purchases of goods and services. Emergency purchases include any purchase required to prevent imminent danger or to prevent or mitigate the loss or impairment of life, health, property, or essential public services. Every effort shall be made to obtain advance approvals or to obtain approvals as soon as possible following the purchase. c. The city is not required to engage in either formal or informal competitive bidding in an emergency. The city council delegates to the city manager and city manager's designee the authority to waive any procedures in the policy that are not statutorily mandated when making emergency purchase of supplies, equipment, materials or services. d. The city council shall ratify emergency suspension of procedures at the next properly noticed council meeting following the emergency procurement and consider whether further suspension of procedures is required to abate the impacts of the emergency.
5. The awarding officers) may waive irregularities in formal or informal bids received provided that it is in the best interest of the city to do so, and it does not result in unfair advantage to any bidder.
6. The city council may authorize the award and execution of contracts without competitive bidding provided that such award is in the best interest of the city, or of the public health, safety and welfare.
(Ord. No. 505, 11-16-2019)
Chapter 2.46 - INFORMAL BIDDING PROCEDURES
Sections:
2.46.010 - Informal bid procedures.
Public projects, as defined by the Act and in accordance with the limits listed in Section 22032 of the Public Contract Code, may be let to contract by informal procedures as set forth in Section 22032, et seq., of the Public Contract Code.
OF TO
Appendix J
CITY OF IONE
IONE, CA 95640 Agenda Item J. 1.
DATE: OCTOBER 21, 2025
TO: IONE CITY COUNICL
FROM: ANDREA BONHAM, FINANCE MANAGER
JANE WRIGHT, FINANCE CONSULTANT
SUBJECT: 2020-21 AUDIT UPDATE
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
That the City Council receives and accepts the City of Ione's Audited Financial Statements for Fiscal Year ending June 30, 2021 and approve Audit Resolution 2025-36.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Audit expenses are budgeted and charged to the general, gas and sewer operations and capital funds.
BACKGROUND:
Governmental entities are required to have a financial audit. A primary reason for an independent the information that is provided by management is fair and reliable. As a result, an independent audit is to assist decision makers who are affected by financial representations to know whether auditor is hired to provide government officials and the public with an unbiased expert opinion as to whether the statements are fairly presented.
In July 2023 the City received the final audit for 2019-20 with the auditors adjusted journal entries (AJEs) that needed to be posted in our financial software, along with the Trial Balance for June 30, 2020. We posted the AJE's and compared the Trial Balance received from the auditors to our financial software and made the necessary corrections. This allowed us to start the 2020- 21 audit with a beginning balance that matches the auditors.
The Interim Preparation List provided by the auditors include items for each of the following categories; cash receipts, cash disbursements, payroll dısbursements, risk assessment, capital assets, receivables, liabilities, revenue, interfund transactions, and general information.
During the Interim Preparation portion of the audit, documents are selected by the auditors for City Staff to provide further detailed information.
Staff encountered difficulties with providing the requested items to the auditors as finding hard copies or digital copies has been challenging. We have completed this task with the documents that we could locate.
DISCUSSION:
Richardson & Company, LLP has completed the FY 2020-21 audit and Brain Nash, CPA and Partner at Richardson & Company, LLP is attending via Zoom to present the audit and answer questions.
Copies will be sent to the Amador County Auditor Controller's Office, the State Controller's Office and Capital One Public Funding, LLC.
ATTACHMENTS:
1.A Auditor Presentation Agenda
1.B City of lone AFS 2021
1.C City of lone Management Letter 2021
1.D City of lone Governance Letter 2021
1.E City of lone App Limit Report 2021
1.F Audit Resolution 2025-36
CITY OF IONE
AUDITOR PRESENTATION AGENDA
October 21, 2025
The following communications are required by Generally Accepted Auditing Standards:
Reports issued:
June 30, 2021 financial statements, management letter, governance letter City appropriations limit report
Auditor's responsibility under generally accepted auditing standards Opinion provided on major funds, all other funds combined and full accrual statements Modified opinions due to missing information.
Compliance report discloses material weaknesses
Scope changed and difficulties were encountered due to City not being ready for dates scheduled and finding 33 adjustments that increased time to complete audit. There were no disagreements with management, no conditions for retention or consultation with other auditors
Financial Statements
Government-wide statement of net position on page 10 shows restricted net position and negative unrestricted for governmental funds and $1.22 million unrestricted in enterprise fund.
Govt-wide statement of activities shows net income existed in governmental and business-type activities Restatement in govt activities/HOME Program Grant Fund is due to a foreclosure of collateral on loan in 2014 that was not removed from loan detail/GL.
Net pension liability was $2.97 million and net OPEB liability was $1.71 million.
On page 12, General Fund deficit of $915K at June 2020 and $469K at June 2020. This is before ARPA revenue was recognized
Interfund advances from restricted funds should be limited. Not appropriate if not able to be repaid according • Vallejo Bankruptcy. 25-year repayment plan exists. Future Councils need to implement that plat lajor govt funds due to size are General, HOME, CDBG and Local Traffic Mitigation. All maior funds ha net income in 2021 per page 14. General Fund had net income of $446K Sewer Fund unrestricted net position of $1.22 million, which was about 9 months of expenses less depreciation.
All other governmental funds are nonmajor funds. Nonmajor funds with deficits (p62-65) include SAFER Grant ($1.8K), Railroad Depot Fund ($141K), Fire Impact ($895K) and Governmental Impact Funds ($471K) due to past borrowings.
Pages 19 and 20 shows Fiduciary Funds - money held for CFD bondholders, other goverments or police seizure funds. GASB 84 was implemented so statement of changes in net position was required, which was broken out with adjustments. City needs to do that for new auditor in 2022.