Agenda Item #16.2
For Council Meeting of: April 1, 2025
CITY OF SANTA ROSA
CITY COUNCIL
TO: MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
FROM: DONTÉ WATSON, DIRECTOR
RECREATION AND PARKS DEPARTMENT
SUBJECT: RETITLING AND AMENDING SANTA ROSA MUNICIPAL CODE CHAPTER 2-04, BOARD OF COMMUNITY SERVICES AGENDA ACTION: ORDINANCE INTRODUCTION AND RESOLUTION
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended by the Recreation and Parks Department and the Board of Community Services that the Council, by one ordinance and one resolution: 1) introduce an ordinance to retitle and amend City Code Chapter 2-04 to change the name of the advisory body from the Board of Community Services to the Recreation and Parks Board, update the Board’s statement of purpose, update the Board’s powers and duties to reflect their current role, align the number of members with the number of City Council members, reduce the number of members needed to achieve quorum, align members’ terms to coincide with the term of their appointing Council member, and update the process for member appointment to and member removal from the Board to accurately reflect City Charter Section 11. Participation & Diversity in Boards and Commissions and Council Policy 000-06: Appointments to Boards/Commissions/Committees; and 2) by resolution, amend Council Policy 000-06 to replace Board of Community Services with Recreation and Parks Board.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This ordinance will retitle and amend the existing municipal code to bring it into alignment with the City Charter and Council Policy 000-06, reflect the current role and function of the advisory board, and change the advisory body’s name to reflect the department it advises making it more accessible to the public.
BACKGROUND
In 1976, the City Council adopted ordinance 1832 establishing the Board of Community Services (BOCS) by consolidating the Recreation and Parks Commission and the Community Relations Commission into one advisory body.
In 2002, the City Council adopted ordinance 3579 increasing the number of BOCS members from seven to eight and raising the number of members needed to achieve quorum from four to five. The BOCS had eight members for four years, from 2002 - 2006. For the past 19 years, the Board has functioned with seven board members while maintaining the requirement to have five board members present to achieve quorum.
In 2019, staff researched and discovered the reason for this discrepancy and brought the item forward to the BOCS in 2022. The Board formed a three-member subcommittee to update the ordinance, as well as the Board’s bylaws, to bring the governing documents into alignment with the City Charter and Council Policy 000-06 and to reflect the current role of the BOCS.
PRIOR CITY COUNCIL REVIEW
Not applicable.
ANALYSIS
Prior ordinance history related to Municipal Code Chapter 2-04, Board of Community Services (BOCS) includes ordinances 1832, 2735, 3104, 3114, and 3579.
Ordinance 1832 (1976) – Abolished the Recreation and Parks Commission and the Community Relations Commission, combined the mission, powers, and duties of both Commissions, and established the Board of Community Services.
Ordinance 2735 (1988) – Amended the Board’s powers and duties to focus on parks, recreation, culture, and beautification matters reducing the number of powers and duties from ten to five.
Ordinance 3104 (1994) – Established uniform four-year terms for board members.
Ordinance 3114 (1994) – Established a uniform procedure for removing board members.
Ordinance 3579 (2002) – Increased board membership from seven to eight members and increased the number of members needed to achieve quorum from four to five.
In 2002, two high-quality candidates applied for one vacancy on the Board of Community Services. The Council chose to appoint both candidates and amend City Code Chapter 2-04, Board of Community Services. The City Code was amended to increase the number of board members from seven to eight and defined the number of members needed to achieve a quorum as five. The BOCS had eight serving members for four years, from 2002 - 2006. In 2006, one of the eight board members resigned leaving the Board with seven members.
For the past 19 years, the Board of Community Services has functioned with seven members and a required quorum of five members, placing a higher burden on Board members to attend every meeting. The reason for the membership discrepancy was discovered by staff at the end of 2019. Staff fully researched the history of the BOCS and the documents that govern the Board and found that the language regarding membership in City Code Chapter 2-04 and Ordinance No. 3579 does not align with the member appointment language in the City Charter or Council Policy 000-06 (Appointments to Boards/Commissions/Committees). Since 2002, the City Charter has been updated twice and City Council Policy 000-06 has been updated seven times, while Chapter 2-04 of the City Code has not been updated since Ordinance No. 3579 was adopted in 2002.
On October 26, 2022, staff brought these concerns forward to the Board of Community Services and recommended establishing a subcommittee to review, discuss, and update the Board’s governing documents. The BOCS created a three-member Board Ordinance Subcommittee which met eight times between November 2022 and November 2024. The Subcommittee recommended updates to the ordinance and bylaws. At the January 2023 BOCS meeting, the Subcommittee shared and discussed their recommendations with the full Board. Using the feedback received from the full Board, the Subcommittee updated and finalized the ordinance. The ordinance and bylaws were reviewed and edited on multiple occasions by the City Attorney’s Office, City Clerk’s Office, and City Manager’s Office. The ordinance and bylaws were presented to the full Board for review and recommendation on December 11, 2024, where they were unanimously recommended to Council for introduction.
The ordinance retitles Santa Rosa Municipal Code Chapter 2-04 from Board of Community Services to Recreation and Parks Board to align the name with the department it advises, Recreation and Parks, and to make the Board more accessible to the public. The proposed ordinance amends Title 2 Administration and Personnel, Chapter 2-04 Board of Community Services and makes the following changes:
2-04.010 Established:
Change the name of the advisory body from Board of Community Services to Recreation and Parks Board.
Reduce the number of board members from eight to seven to align with the City Charter and Council Policy 000-06.
Add language specifying that each Council member appoints one board member to align with the City Charter and Council Policy 000-06.
Associate board member’s term with their appointing Council members term in alignment with the City Charter and Council Policy 000-06.
Add language specifying that the member’s appointing Council member can remove them at any time in alignment with Council Policy 000-06.
Update the Board’s statement of purpose to align with their current role.
New Purpose Statement: The purpose of the Recreation and Parks Board is to review recreation and park policies, facilities, and programs and advise the Director of Recreation and Parks and City Council on their effectiveness, to encourage public input and engagement on matters related to City parks, facilities, and recreation programs, and to serve as a conduit for recreation and parks with the community.
2-04.020 Meetings – Rules of procedure:
Reduce the number of board members needed to constitute a quorum from five to four.
2-04.030 Powers and duties of the Board:
The powers and duties of the Board have been updated to reflect the Board’s current role. The Board goes from having five powers and duties to eight. Two powers and duties were removed and five were added.
Removed powers and duties:
Promote and coordinate arts and cultural activities within the City.
Advise the City Council on matters related to community beautification.
Added powers and duties:
Review and recommend to City Council on capital improvement projects, recreation fees, and tax revenue expenditures related to recreation, parks, and lands maintained by the Recreation and Parks Department, as well as plans submitted for development of, modification of, and/or improvements to the city parks system including master plans and amendments.
Support the Recreation and Parks Department in the Department’s public engagement, education, and promotion of recreation and park policies, programs, and planning efforts including arts, cultural, and community activities within the City’s Recreation and Parks facilities. Convey feedback from recreation and park users to the Staff Liaison and City Council members.
Maintain awareness of public and private parties engaged in recreation and parks policies, facilities, and programs.
Review and provide feedback regarding maintenance needs of the City’s recreation facilities, parks, and lands maintained by the Recreation and Parks Department.
Appoint one non-voting advisory youth member to serve a one-year term, at the discretion of the Recreation and Parks Board.
A redline of the proposed modifications to Santa Rosa Municipal Code Chapter 2-04 is included with this staff report as Attachment 1.
As part of the retitling and amendments, staff also recommends that Council amend Council Policy 000-06 (Appointments to Boards/Commissions/Committees) to replace the occurrence of the Board of Community Services with the Board’s proposed new name, Recreation & Parks Board. A redline of the proposed modifications to Council Policy 000-06 is attached as Exhibit A to the Resolution.
FISCAL IMPACT
Introduction and adoption of this ordinance will not have a fiscal impact on the General Fund.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
The proposed retitling and amendments to Municipal Code Chapter 2-04, Board of Community Services, and Council Policy 000-06 (Appointments to Boards/Commissions/Committees) have been reviewed in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15378, the proposed action is not a “project” subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it does not have a potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment. In the alternative, the proposed action is exempt from CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3) because it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the project may have a significant effect on the environment.
BOARD/COMMISSION/COMMITTEE REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS
On October 26, 2022, staff introduced the documents governing the BOCS and discussed the need to update the BOCS ordinance. The Board formed a three-member Board Ordinance Subcommittee to review and update the ordinance as well as the Board’s bylaws.
On January 25, 2023, staff assisted the BOCS Ordinance Subcommittee with a presentation to the full Board of key discussion topics regarding the Subcommittee’s progress. The Board provided feedback on the name of the Board, meeting start time, youth membership, and the purpose of the Board.
On February 22, 2023, staff presented the BOCS Ordinance Subcommittee’s recommended updates to the Board’s ordinance and bylaws. The Board of Community Services recommended that Council review the Board’s bylaws and, by resolution, adopt a City Council ordinance to change the name of the Board to the Parks and Recreation Board, update the Board’s purpose, align the number of members with the number of Council members, reduce the number of members needed to achieve quorum, update the Board’s powers and duties, and update the process for member appointment to and member removal from the Board.
On May 24, 2023, staff presented recommended updates to the Board’s ordinance and bylaws including meeting start time, youth membership, and type of advisory body. The Board held four votes and voted to change the meeting start time from 4:00pm to 5:00pm, to add a youth member to the Board, and to retain Board instead of Commission as the type of advisory body.
On June 28, 2023, staff discussed the reinstatement of the BOCS Ordinance Subcommittee and addressed the name of the Board. The recommendation to change the name of the Board to the Parks and Recreation Board was rescinded with the City’s decision to keep the Department’s name as, Recreation and Parks Department. It was recommended that the name of the Board should align with the name of the department it advises, Recreation and Parks.
On December 11, 2024, staff presented proposed updates to the Board of Community Services’ governing ordinance and bylaws. At the conclusion of the presentation, public comment, and discussion, the Board recommended that Council introduce an ordinance to retitle and amend City Code Chapter 2-04 to change the name of the advisory body from the Board of Community Services to the Recreation and Parks Board, update the Board’s statement of purpose, update the Board’s powers and duties to reflect their current role, align the number of members with the number of City Council members, reduce the number of members needed to achieve a quorum, align member’s terms to coincide with the term of their appointing Council member, and update the process for member appointment to and member removal from the Board to accurately reflect City Charter Section 11. Participation & Diversity in Boards and Commissions and City Council Policy 000-06: Appointments to Boards/Commissions/Committees.
NOTIFICATION
A public hearing notice was posted at City Hall on March 21, 2025, and published in the Press Democrat.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1 – Redline Changes to City Code Chapter 2-04 Attachment 2 – Redline Changes to City Council Policy 000-06 Resolution
Exhibit A – City Council Policy 000-06
Ordinance
PRESENTER
Emily Ander, Assistant Parks Planner, Recreation and Parks Department RETITLING AND AMENDING SANTA ROSA MUNICIPAL CODE CHAPTER 2-04, BOARD OF COMMUNITY SERVICES – (CEQA EXEMPT)
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