Charter Review Recommendations Re: City Clerk Position
I. Overview
The following is a synopsis of the Charter Review Committee’s discussion and considerations regarding the portions of the Charter as they relate to the City Clerk’s duties, responsibilities, and qualifications.
The Committee’s objective was to propose changes to the Charter that would reflect the role of the City Clerk as agreed upon by both the City Manager and City Clerk.
The Committee felt it was important to get the current City Clerk’s concurrence as history has shown that approval by the voters of any changes to the Charter are not automatic.
Changes were also considered to the City Charter to ensure it was relevant to the 21st century, followed current State law, and provided the residents with qualified representation.
Considered in the discussions were comparisons with other California cities, historical context from previous proposals and past elections, and what the current actual duties and responsibilities are.
II. Proposed Charter Language Revisions
Blue type are additions and strikethrough represents current language that would be removed.
The City Clerk shall devote their full time to the duties of office.
The City Clerk shall have the power and be required to:
(a) Be represented at all meetings of the City Council personally or through a deputy. Record and maintain a true and correct record of all of the proceedings of the City Council in books devoted solely to such purposes. Such books shall have a comprehensive index to enable persons readily to ascertain matters contained therein.
(b) Compile and maintain ordinance and resolution books, in which shall be recorded all City Ordinances and Resolutions with the certificate of the Clerk annexed thereto to each said resolution or ordinance, together with a statement that the same is a true and correct copy, giving the numbers of said ordinances or resolutions and, as to an ordinance, a statement that the same has been published according to the requirements of this Charter;
(c) Be the custodian of the seal of the City of Redondo Beach; (d) Administer oaths or affirmations, take affidavits and depositions testimony as needed pertaining to the affairs and business of the City and certify copies of official records;
(e) Oversee all City elections and Pprovide all elective officials with certificates of election properly authenticated to by himself the City Clerk and appointive officers with certificates of appointment.
III. Discussion and Decision Making Process of the Committee There was a lengthy discussion regarding how the role of the City Clerk in RB compared to that of other California cities.
Although much of the described role in the current Charter is similar to many other cities, the financial aspects are a bit more unique, although not unheard of.
The RB City Clerk has had a role in the financial area going back to 1892.
In addition, as an elected official, the City Clerk answers to the people of Redondo Beach.
The consensus was that there was value in having someone who was independent of the city management have review of expenditures.
The committee also felt that it was important to have agreement between the current City Clerk and City Manager. With their input and agreement, the Committee felt that most of section 11 (f) needed to be re-written and/or removed to accurately reflect the separation of duties between the City Manager and City Clerk.
Below is our recommended changes and additions.
(f) Have charge of the administration of Review the financial affairs of the City which are under the direction of the City Manager, and in connection therewith shall have the power and be required to: access to the City’s financial system and, at the City Clerk’s discretion, review and approve City expenditures prior to payment to identify any irregular transactions. Any identified irregularities or approvals contested by the City Clerk shall first be resolved in conjunction with the City Manager or their designee. Any unresolved irregularities or contested approvals shall be presented to the City Council for final disposition within 45 days of when the information in question was first made available to the City Clerk.
(f) Participate during the process in review of accounting procedures and annual audit expenditures.
(2) Supervise all expenditures and disbursements to insure that budget appropriations are not exceeded;
(3) Provide and maintain a general accounting system for the City government and each of its offices, departments and agencies; keep books for and prescribe the financial forms to be used by each office, department and agency;
(4) Prepare and assemble the budget expense and capital estimates for the City Manager.
(5) Submit to the City Council, through the City Manager, a monthly statement of all receipts and disbursements in sufficient detail to show the exact financial condition of the City; and, as of the end of each fiscal year, submit a financial statement and report; and
(6) To approve, except as to correctness, together with the City Manager, before payment, all bills, invoices, payrolls, Supervise the maintenance of current inventories of all property, real and personal, by the respective demands or charges against the City government.
IV. Removal of Section 11(f)1-6
Section 11 (f) 1 -6 Were struck out in their entirety either because the language was replaced, or the duties were not presently being performed by the City Clerk and it was felt by the Committee that those duties were more properly assigned to the Finance department.
There was concern that a City Clerk could hold up payment to a vendor indefinitely and there needed to be a defined process for resolving disputes.
It was decided that the City Clerk would have 45 days to review and approve expenditures and where a resolution could not be reached with the finance department the matter would be referred to the City Council for a final decision.
The following changes are proposed to Sec.20.1 to compliment the changes in Sec. 11f The Committee felt that with these changes made to the Clerk’s role that the following strikeout regarding the City Manager’s responsibilities was also appropriate along with the additions shown below in Section 20.1
V. Corresponding Revisions to the City Manager’s Position Article XII. City Manager
Sec. 12.3. Powers and duties.
The City Manager shall be the chief administrative officer and the head of the administrative branch of the City government. The City Manager shall be responsible directly to the City Council for the proper administration of all affairs of the City, and the City Manager shall have power and be required to:
(a) Appoint, remove and assign, and supervise and direct the activities of all non- elected department heads and employees of the City, subject to the provisions of this Charter and the ordinances, Civil Service Rules and Regulations of the City and directives of the City Council; provided, however, that the City Manager shall not have any such or other authority over the City Attorney, City Treasurer or City Clerk, except as specifically provided in section 11(f) of this Charter, or over their Assistants and Deputies appointed in accordance with the provisions of this Charter and provided, further, that the City Attorney, City Treasurer and City Clerk shall supervise and direct the day-to-day work assignments of the employees assigned to their respective departments.
Sec. 20.1. Approval of demands.
All demands shall, prior to payment, be approved by the City Manager and the City Clerk or, if contested by the City Clerk, by the City Council. Prior to the approval of any demands by them, they shall satisfy themselves that the amount is legally due, that the payment, authorized by law, is just and fair, and that appropriation for the same has been made. All payrolls shall be certified by the respective department heads and approved by the City Manager.
VI. Appointment of Deputies by the City Clerk
There was a discussion regarding the appointing of deputies by the City Clerk and the conclusion was reached that any change in status of the current Deputy City Clerk could only be on a November ballot and that presently the current Deputy is a civil service employee and as such, does not hold the position “at the pleasure of the City Clerk”.
There was some disagreement whether State law dictated that City Clerks were required to have the authority to appoint deputies but that was disputed by the City Attorney stating that it was a local decision and the absence of anything in the City Charter addressing that didn’t mean that it reverted to State law.
VII. Qualifications of the City Clerk
Article XI Section 11 – last paragraph
In discussing the requirements for a candidate running for the office of City Clerk the Committee observed what the proposed role would be and considered what other cities required.
The Committee thought it was important to be consistent with the qualifications that the City required for employees in similar positions.
Discussion centered around whether experience could substitute for academic study, whether experience should be specifically in the public sector, or would private-sector accounting experience be of equal value.
Committee members expressed not wanting to overly limit the pool of candidates but at the same time ensure that the candidates be highly capable.
Requirements of other cities was also considered.
The changes shown below are what was finally decided on by a vote of 6 -1.
No person shall be eligible for office of City Clerk unless at the time of filing their nomination papers such person shall have a Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited college or university successfully completed, with a passing grade, at least 15 units consisting of the following courses: elementary accounting; intermediate accounting; advanced accounting; auditing; cost accounting; and municipal and governmental accounting. Said courses shall have been completed at a collegiate institution, either in residence or in extension, or in a recognized private school of equal educational standards. F and five years of experience in municipal accounting, in a responsible position involving public or private sector accounting., may be substituted for the educational requirements. Or have five years of experience as a City Clerk in the state of California.