12-8-2032
Public Presentatin
Good afternoon Mayor and Council:
Two things. Frist,
Section 807 of the City Charter makes it clear that "except for the purpose of inquiry, the City Council and its members shall deal with the administrative service under the City Manager solely through the City Manager and neither the City Council nor any member shall give orders to any subordinates of the City Manager, either publicly or privately." A violation is a misdemeanor.
The Civil Grand Jury learned that the then-City Manager made a complaint that, among other things, a councilmember was directing City staff. An outside investigator was hired to investigate the complaint. If true, the allegations in that complaint may have violated the Charter.
Vartan - Public Comment - Dec 8, 2022 Page 1 of 4
On August 23, 2022, the City noticed a closed session meeting under the exception for "public employment appointment" for the City Manager. At that meeting, the City Council Voting Bloc voted to stop the investigation made from that complaint.
There are a number of issues here, but these all seems to fall into the lap of the city attorney and the duties their in. For example:
1. Why did the city attorney allow something that was not on the agenda to be discussed and acted on by the council?
2. Why didn't the city attorney report out the action of the council after closed session?
3. Why is the city attorney allowing the city council to violate the Sunshine laws around council behavior and actions?
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Second, (Regulations of the Fair Political Practices Commission, Title 2, Division 6, California Code of Regulations) - § 18944.1. Gifts: Agency Provided Tickets or Passes.
(a) Gift Exemption. A ticket or pass provided to an official by the official's agency and distributed and used in accordance with a policy adopted by the agency is not a gift under the Political Reform Act if all of the following criteria are met:
(1) The distribution of the ticket or pass by the agency is made in accordance with a policy adopted by the agency that incorporates all of the provisions of subdivision (b) and is maintained as a public record as required in subdivision (c).
(b) Agency Ticket/Pass Distribution Policy. Any distribution of a ticket or pass under this regulation to, or at the behest of, an agency official must be made pursuant to a written agency ticket distribution policy, duly adopted by the legislative or governing body of the agency or, if none, the agency head that contains,..."lots of requirements." Vartan - Public Comment - Dec 8, 2022 Page 3 of 4
Since there is no policy, the tickets are a gift and is not allowed. It is my understanding that the city attorney has all the details and is legally required to follow-up on this. It appears he is not
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