CITY OF SOLEDAD
JOINT CITY COUNCIL/SUCCESSOR AGENCY/HOUSING AUTHORITY AND SUCCESSOR
HOUSING AGENCY SPECIAL MEETING AGENDA
THURSDAY, MAY 23, 2024
CITY HALL, COUNCIL CHAMBERS
6:00 PM
The public meeting will open at 6:00 p.m.
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Welcome to your City of Soledad City Council/Successor Agency Meeting. Your City Councilmembers/Agencymembers are:
Mayor Anna Velazquez
Mayor Pro Tem Maria Corralejo
Councilmember Fernando Cabrera
Councilmember Fernando Ansaldo-Sánchez
I. CALL TO ORDER
II. ROLL CALL
III. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
IV. ADDITIONS/MODIFICATIONS TO THE AGENDA
V. PUBLC COMMENT
At this time any member of the public may address the City Council on items not appearing on the agenda and items of interest to the public that are within the jurisdiction of the Council. In order to assist the City in both conducting efficient and orderly meetings and keeping accurate meeting records, we request that you complete A public comment card. The public comment card should be filled out completely to ensure the speaker is called upon to give comment. However, use of a card is optional and is not required to provide public comment. Public comments are generally limited to three (3) minutes; the mayor may further limit the time for public comments depending on the agenda schedule. Please be brief and to the point. No action or discussion shall be taken on an item not appearing on the agenda.
1 05/22/2024
VI. BUSINESS
1. Process and Action to Fill Council Vacancy
Attachments:
Staff Report
Resolution No. 6094
1. Evarista Banuelos
2. Carol Cordova-Anderson
3. Eugene Edward Ivey II
4. Joseph Ruiz
COUNCIL ACTION: ________________________________
VII. ADJOURNMENT
VIII. CERTIFICATION
I, Megan Hunter, City Clerk of the City of Soledad, do hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing Joint City Council/Successor Agency Special Meeting Agenda was posted at City Hall by Wednesday, March 22, 2024, at 5:00 p.m.
Megan Hunter, City Manager Date
In compliance with the American with Disabilities Act, if you need special assistance to participate in this meeting, please contact Deputy City Clerk Darlene Noriega at (831) 223-5014. Notification of at least 48 hours prior to the meeting will enable the City to make reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility to this meeting. (RCRF 35.102-35.104).
“Any writing or documents provided to a majority of the City Council regarding any item on this agenda will be made available for public inspection at City Hall located at 248 Main Street, Soledad, California during normal business hours.”
En caso que usted necesite ayuda en leer o en entender este aviso de Junta Publica, usted puede ponerse en contacto con la oficina del Edificio Municipal en 248 Calle Main o llamar al número (831) 223-5014, y el aviso será traducido para usted.
Advanced submittal of public comments via email are due by 2:00 P.M. on the day of the scheduled meeting to the Deputy City Clerk at [email protected] Comments are limited to 250 words or less and effort will be made to read your comment into the record, but some comments may not be read due to time limitations. The City Clerk will read email comments, provided that the reading shall not exceed three (3) minutes. The email comments submitted shall become part of the record.
Comentarios públicos por correo electrónico deben realizarse no más tarde de las 2:00 p.m. el día de la reunión programada y deben ser enviados al Secretario de la Ciudad a [email protected]. Los comentarios son limitados a 250 palabras o menos y se hará un esfuerzo para leer su comentario en el registro, pero es posible que algunos comentarios no se lean debido a limitaciones de tiempo. El Secretario de la Ciudad leerá los comentarios por correo electrónico, siempre que la lectura no exceda los tres (3) minutos. Los comentarios enviados por correo electrónico pasarán a formar parte del registro.
2 SUBJECT: Process and Action to Fill Council Vacancy
TO: Honorable Mayor Velazquez and City Council
FROM: Mike Rodriquez, City Attorney
MEETING DATE: May 23, 2024
CITY OF SOLEDAD
STAFF REPORT
THROUGH: Megan Hunter, City Manager
AGENDA ITEM NO. 1.
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council of the City of Soledad:
1. Conduct interviews with applicants for the current vacant seat on the Soledad City Council.
2. Close interview process.
3. Receive comment from the public.
4. Initiate Council discussion.
5. If desired, open nomination process and select a Council appointee;
6. Adopt Resolution No. 6094 to memorialize the appointment and direct the City Clerk to transmit the same to the Monterey County Elections Department.
Executive Summary
With the resignation of Councilmember Ben Jimenez on March 31, 2024, the Council considered its obligation to fill the vacancy and its only option for compliance with the same; namely, appointment.
Per council direction, Staff solicited applications for the vacancy via published notice in the Salinas Valley Tribune and notice posted on the City’s website. The Council also scheduled a special meeting for May 23, 2024, to interview candidates and to consider making a selection to fill the vacancy. Four applications were received by the May 15, 2024 deadline and meet the eligibility criteria and can be considered for the appointment.
Background
On March 31, 2024, Councilmember Ben Jimenez officially resigned from the City Council.
Councilmember Jimenez’ term was set to expire in November of 2024, so the vacancy would only be for a period of 7 months. Because of the timing of the resignation, Council’s only option for filling the vacancy was via appointment within 60 days from the date the vacancy occurs. During the April 3, 2024, the City Council established the process to fill this vacancy deciding to solicit new applications for the appointment and establishing a deadline for the submission of applications on May 15, 2024. 3 The Council decided to hold a special meeting on May 23, 2024 to interview applicants and select the appointee.
Review & Analysis
The City received four applications for the vacancy by the May 15, 2024 deadline. In order to be eligible for consideration of appointment, an applicant must be a resident of the City, a registered voter, and a United States citizen 18 years or older. (Government Code Section 36502, Elections Code Sections 201, 321.) The Deputy City Clerk has confirmed that all of the applicants meet the aforesaid requirements. The applicants are as follows:
1. Evarista Banuelos
2. Carol Cordova-Anderson
3. Eugene Edward Ivey II
4. Joseph Ruiz
There is no prescribed process in the Government Code or the Council Rules Policies and Procedures directing how an appointment to the Council is to be made. On April 3, 2024, the City Council provided direction on this process, setting the special meeting date, and recommending that Staff consider elements of the recently completed vacancy process in Marina. Staff used this example to craft the application and is recommending a hybrid approach combining the previous process used by Soledad and the Marina example. Based on Council’s guidance, Staff is recommending that the following process be used for the selection:
1. Interviews will be limited to no more than 15 minutes per candidate. Before starting with questions, each candidate will have up to 5 minutes to make an opening statement. Each Councilmember will ask a candidate one question based on questions the Council previously submitted to Staff. The candidate will be limited to a total response time of 10 minutes for all questions or 2 ½ minutes per question. To ensure adherence to this timeframe, each candidate will be provided the questions ahead of time at 5:00 pm on May 22nd. The order of presentation will be in alphabetical order by last name.
2. The public should be provided with the opportunity to comment upon the candidates after all interviews have been completed. The public may not ask the candidates questions.
3. The Council should discuss the City’s needs, desired qualifications of applicants, and any other matter the Council deems relevant to the selections process.
4. The Council should open the nomination and voting process. A motion for nomination for appointment may be made by any councilmember and thereafter will be deemed approved if it receives at least three (3) affirmative votes. (The Council may desire to require a motion for nomination to be seconded-there was a split in the process I reviewed for several other entities.) Once a candidate is approved, there will be no further vote taken on the remaining candidates.
5. Upon an appointment having been made, the successful candidate shall take the oath of office and be seated with the City Council at the next regularly scheduled Council meeting. No appointment shall be deemed to have been completed and become effective until the appointee takes the oath of office.
Upon appointment, the appointee will serve Councilmember Jimenez’ unexpired term, which runs through November of 2024. The appointed councilmember shall have all of the rights, privileges, and duties of an elected councilmember. The appointed councilmember shall complete and file all conflict of interest disclosure forms as are required by law and shall be bound by and obey all other requirements pertaining to membership on the City Council. 4 Resolution No. 6094
1. Evarista Banuelos
2. Carol Cordova-Anderson
3. Eugene Edward Ivey II
4. Joseph Ruiz
Financial Considerations
There are no financial impacts associated with the appointment process.
Alternatives
1. Select an appointee and adopt Resolution No. 6094.
2. Do not select an appointee and provide Staff with further direction. This is not recommended as an appointment is required by law. Leaving the seat vacant also has the potential to cause problems in achieving a quorum for meetings.
Planning/CEQA
The proposed action is not considered a project pursuant the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15378.
Public Notice Requirements
None required.
Attachment(s):
5 RESOLUTION NO. 6094
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SOLEDAD
MEMORIALIZING AN APPOINTMENT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
WHEREAS, Councilmember Ben Jimenez resigned from his seat on the Council effective March 31, 2024; and
WHEREAS, after considering its legal options for filling the vacancy per Government Code Section 36512, the Council chose the appointment process; and WHEREAS, Staff solicited applications for the vacancy via published notice in the Salinas Valley Tribune and notice posted on the City’s website, and received four applications for the position by the established deadline for the submission of applications, May 15, 2024; and WHEREAS, the Council scheduled a special meeting for May 23, 2024, to interview candidates, receive public comment, discuss issues associated with the appointment process, and to entertain motions for appointment, and thereafter selected ___________ to fill the current Council vacancy for Councilmember Jimenez’ unexpired term, through November of 2024; and WHEREAS, ______________ shall take office and serve as if elected at a municipal election for office; and
WHEREAS, the City Council desires to have a formal resolution both to memorialize its actions and to forward the same to the Monterey County Elections Department for its records.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Soledad that the Council hereby declares and confirms the following vote on May 23, 2024, to appoint _______________ to the vacant seat on the Soledad City Council for a term expiring in November of 2024: Ayes: __; Noes: __; Absent: 0; Abstain: 0. The City Clerk is directed to transmit a copy of this resolution to the Monterey County Elections Department for their records.
PASSED AND ADOPTED by the City Council of the City of Soledad at a special meeting duly held on the 23rd day of May 2024, by the following vote:
AYES, and in favor thereof Councilmembers:
NOES, Councilmembers:
ABSENT, Councilmembers:
ABSTAIN, Councilmembers:
6 _____________________________________
ANNA M. VELAZQUEZ, Mayor
ATTEST:
___________________________________
MEGAN HUNTER, City Clerk
7 05/15/2024
YES
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05/15/2024
YES
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05/15/2024
YES
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