CITY OF LAGUNA NIGUEL
CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM
To: Honorable Mayor and Council Members
FROM: Justin J. Martin, Deputy City Manager
DATE: April 18, 2023
SUBJECT: Second Reading and Adoption of Ordinance No. 2023-221, Amending the Laguna Niguel Municipal Code Related to the Military Support Committee
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council conduct second reading, by title only, and adopt:
ORDINANCE NO. 2023-221
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF LAGUNA NIGUEL, CALIFORNIA
AMENDING THE LAGUNA NIGUEL MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO
THE MILITARY SUPPORT COMMITTEE, INCLUDING PROVISIONS ON
THE ROLE OF CITY COUNCIL LIAISONS, DESIGNATION AND
SELECTION OF CHAIR AND VICE-CHAIR, AND OTHER NON-
SUBSTANTIVE REVISIONS AND MAKING A FINDING OF EXEMPTION
UNDER CEQA IN CONNECTION THEREWITH
BACKGROUND
During the City Council meeting held on April 4, 2023, the City Council considered several updates and amendments to the provisions of the Municipal Code related specifically to the Military Support Committee. The updates and amendments for City Council consideration included:
• Provide that the City Council liaisons to the Committee shall serve as non-voting •advisory members of the Committee and not as Co-Chairs; and, • Provide that the members of the Committee shall select the Chair and Vice Chair of the Committee.
This item was placed on the agenda by Council member Oddo and former Mayor Pro Tem Sharma. After comment and discussion, the City Council unanimously introduced Ordinance No. 2023-221 (Attachment A) to update the related Municipal Code provisions. 2 ANALYSIS
The final adoption of Ordinance No. 2023-221 would amend the Laguna Niguel Municipal Code related to the Military Support Committee to include updated provisions on the role of non-voting City Council Liaisons and the designation and Selection of a Chair and Vice- Chair from amongst the Committee's membership.
City Council Liaisons to Serve as Non-voting Advisory Members, Not Co-Chairs At current, two City Council members are appointed by the entire City Council to serve as Co-Chairs to the Committee. The Co-chairs lead the Committee through the business of each meeting and through the implementation of Committee guidelines. The request is to shift from City Council appointed Co-Chairs to City Council liaisons. The recommendation is to no longer have City Council liaisons serve as Co-Chairs but to instead serve as non- voting advisory member liaisons to the Committee.
The rationale behind this request is to make the City Council liaison structure match that of the other Commissions and Committees, excluding the Investment, Banking & Audit Committee (IB&A), resulting in a non-voting advisory role by the liaisons and the appointment of a Chair and Vice Chair from the Committee membership.
Members of the Committee Shall Select the Chair and Vice Chair of the Committee At current, the Committee is Co-Chaired by two City Council members. The request is to have Committee members who are selected by the Committee serve as Chair and Vice Chair of the Committee. The recommendation is that the Committee members, within 90 days of the effective date of the proposed Ordinance, select a Chair and Vice Chair trom the appointed voting members during a regular meeting and serve through the end of the current 1-year term. The selection of a Chair and Vice Chair will thereafter continue to be made annually.
The rationale behind this request is to make the Chair and Vice Chair structure match that of the other Commissions and Committees.
Last, there is one non-substantive revision to Section 2-3.26 (Accounting and approval of expenditures) to change the reference of committee-co-chair to Chair.
To make all of the aforementioned amendments and additions, the City Council can adopt Ordinance 2023-221.
ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED
The City Council may elect to:
1. Make no changes to the existing Ordinance.
2. Make additional edits to the provisions of Commissions, Boards and Committees. 3 FISCAL REVIEW
Adoption of Ordinance No. 2023-221 has no additional fiscal impact to the City.
LEGAL REVIEW
The City Attorney's Office has approved the report and Ordinance No. 2023-221 as to form.
CONCLUSION
Staff recommends that the City Council conduct second reading, by title only, and adopt:
ORDINANCE NO. 2023-221
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF LAGUNA NIGUEL, CALIFORNIA
AMENDING THE LAGUNA NIGUEL MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO
THE MILITARY SUPPORT COMMITTEE, INCLUDING PROVISIONS ON
THE ROLE OF CITY COUNCIL LIAISONS, DESIGNATION AND
SELECTION OF CHAIR AND VICE-CHAIR, AND OTHER NON-
SUBSTANTIVE REVISIONS AND MAKING A FINDING OF EXEMPTION
UNDER CEQA IN CONNECTION THEREWITH
Jamass SAetousneau Custin 9. Nastin
Tamara S. Letourneau Justin J. Martin
City Manager Deputy City Manager
Nicholas Ghirelli
Interim City Attorney
Attachment:
A. Ordinance No. 2023-221 Amending the Laguna Niguel Municipal Code Related to the Military Support Committee
ATTACHMENT A
Ordinance No. 2023-221 Amending the Laguna Niguel Municipal Code Related to the Military Support Committee
ORDINANCE NO. 2023-221
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF LAGUNA NIGUEL, CALIFORNIA
AMENDING THE LAGUNA NIGUEL MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO
THE MILITARY SUPPORT COMMITTEE, INCLUDING PROVISIONS ON
THE ROLE OF CITY COUNCIL LIAISONS, DESIGNATION AND
SELECTION OF CHAIR AND VICE-CHAIR, AND OTHER NON-
SUBSTANTIVE REVISIONS AND MAKING A FINDING OF EXEMPTION
UNDER CEQA IN CONNECTION THEREWITH
The City Council of the City of Laguna Niguel does hereby ordain as follows:
Section 1. Recitals.
a. On October 1, 2019, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 2019-198, amending the Laguna Niguel Municipal Code to include previously adopted provisions for the operation of all City Commissions, Boards and Committees into Division 3 of Title 2 of the Laguna Niguel Municipal Code. Ordinance No. 2019-198 became effective thirty days thereafter, on October 31, 2019.
b. On February 18, 2020, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 2020-203 to further amend Division 3 of Title 2 by amending Section 2-3-21 governing the procedures for removal of members of the Military Support Committee and making other changes to other advisory committees and commissions.
C. On April 19, 2022, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 2022-212 to further amend Division 3 of Title 2 by amending Section 2-3-21 governing the procedures for appointment and removal of members of the Military Support Committee, Section 2-3-22 governing Ex officio members and Section 2-3-24 Duties of the committee.
d. The City Council now desires to further amend the provisions relating to the Military Support Committee that are contained in Division 3 of Title 2 of the Laguna Niguel Municipal Code to: (1) provide that the City Council liaisons shall serve as non- voting advisory members of the Committee and not as Co-Chairs; and (2) provide that the members of the Committee shall select the Chair and Vice Chair of the Committee; and (3) a non-substantive amendment regarding the disbursement of funds by the Chair and not the Co-Chairs.
Section 2. Section 2-3-21 (Establishment, membership and appointment) of Article 3 (Military Support Committee) of Division 3 (Commissions, Boards and Committees) of Title 2 (Administration and Personnel) of the Laguna Niguel Municipal Code, is hereby amended to read as follows with deletions shown in strikeout format and additions shown with underlining:
"Sec. 2-3-21. - Establishment, membership and appointment. (a) The military support committee is hereby established. 13018-0001\2796228v2.doc
Ordinance No. 2023-221 Page 2
(b) The military support committee shall consist of not less than ten nor more than 20 members. Two members of the city council shall serve on the committee in a non-voting and advisory role as liaisons between the city council and the committee and shall be appointed by majority vote of the city council. The two members appointed by the city council shall serve as co chairs of the committee.
(c) The remaining members of the committee shall be at-large members appointed by the city council as deemed appropriate, and may include representatives from local service clubs, charities, civic organizations, veteran's organizations, as well as interested Laguna Niguel residents, local veterans, business owners and individuals residing outside of the City of Laguna Niguel.
(d) The city council may appoint up to five at-large members nominated by specific charitable, service or civic organizations which by virtue of their significant and ongoing presence within the city are expected to make a substantial contribution to the mission of the Laguna Niguel Military Support Committee. Such at-large members shall be considered the liaisons to the specified organizations and shall serve at the discretion of the organization. The city council may grant or revoke the right for an organization to appoint an at-large member at any time.
(e) The committee shall hold an annual organizational meeting and each at-large member who is appointed for a term of one year shall serve from their date of appointment until the committee's next annual organizational meeting and each at-large member who is appointed to serve a term of two years shall serve from the date of their appointment until the annual organizational meeting held in two years. (f) Within ninety (90) days of the effective date of the ordinance that added this subsection (e), or as soon thereafter as the committee appointed and voting members of the committee. The committee may select a chair and vice-chair to serve successive one-year terms in those positions. City Council members appointed as liaisons to the committee shall not be eligible to be selected as a chair or vice-chair of Ordinance No. 2023-221 Page 3
(e g) The city council when making the annual appointments of the at-large members of the committee shall as to each member appointed designate whether that member shall serve for a term of one year or a term of two years. Each year, the city council shall appoint enough at- large members to insure that with the members who had been appointed the previous year for a two-year term there are at least ten members of the committee and no more than 20 members of the committee.
(h) The city council has the sole authority to remove any member of the committee before the expiration of their term and may do so with or without cause or with or without a reason.
Section 3. Section 2-3-25 (Time and place of meetings; quorum) of Article 3 (Military Support Committee) of Division 3 (Commissions, Boards and Committees) of Title 2 (Administration and Personnel) of the Laguna Niguel Municipal Code, is hereby amended to read as follows with deletions shown in strikeout format and additions shown with underlining:
"Sec. 2-3-25. - Time and place of meetings; quorum.
The military support committee shall determine when and how frequently to meet. The committee shall meet at least once annually for the purposes of appointing and organizing its members and establishing such ad hoc committees that it deems necessary or appropriate. All meetings of the committee shall be held at the City of Laguna Niguel City Hall. A meeting may be called and scheduled by the chair or by a majority of the members of the committee. either co-chair. A quorum shall consist of seven voting committee members being present at the meeting.
Section 4. Section 2-3-26 (Accounting and approval of expenditures) of Article 3 (Military Support Committee) of Division 3 (Commissions, Boards and Committees) of Title 2 (Administration and Personnel) of the Laguna Niguel Municipal Code, is hereby amended to read as follows with deletions shown in strikeout format and additions shown with underlining:
"Sec. 2-3-26. - Accounting and approval of expenditures.
It is anticipated that the city will continue to budget on an annual basis funds to support activities of the military support committee with the primary source of funding expected to come from the Laguna Niguel Military Support Foundation and various fundraising events. The finance director shall establish such funds and accounts that he/she deems necessary to properly account for contributed city funds and private contributions/donations. The finance director is authorized to disburse funds only upon the written request of the chair a committee co chair and written approval of the city manager.
Ordinance No. 2023-221 Page 4
Section 6. Exemption from CEQA. The City Council hereby finds that it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility the adoption of this Ordinance will have a significant adverse effect on the environment because the Ordinance only contains administrative provisions related to the membership and operation of the City's Military Support Committee. The adoption of this Ordinance is therefore exempt from California Environmental Quality Act review pursuant to State CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3) because the Ordinance is covered by the general rule common sense exemption that CEQA applies only to projects which have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. The adoption of this Ordinance only provides for the inclusion and amendment of the Laguna Niguel Municipal Code of the operational provisions for the City's already established Military Support Committee and does not have the possibility of resulting in any physical changes in the environment.
Section 7. Severability. If any section, subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion of this Ordinance is, for any reason, held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would have adopted this Ordinance and each section, subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrases, or portion thereof irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, subdivisions, sentences, clauses, phrases, or portions thereof be declared invalid or unconstitutional.
Section 8. Effective Date of Ordinance. This Ordinance shall go into effect and be in full force and operation from and after thirty (30) days after its final passage and adoption.
Section 9. City Clerk's Certification. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this Ordinance and cause the same to be posted at the duly designated posting places within the City and published once within fifteen (15) days after passage and adoption as required by law; or, in the alternative, the City Clerk may cause to be published a summary of this Ordinance and post a certified copy of the text of this Ordinance in the Office of the City Clerk five (5) days prior to the date of adoption of this Ordinance, and, within fifteen (15) days after adoption, the City Clerk shall cause to be published the aforementioned summary and shall post a certified copy of this Ordinance, together with the vote for anc against the same, in the Office of the City Clerk
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 18th day of April 2023.
Kelly Jennings, Mayor
ATTEST:
Marissa J. Asistin, City Clerk