Personnel and Public Employees Committee Meeting – July 18, 2017
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Personnel and Public Employees Committee Meeting – July 18, 2017
On July 18, 2017, the Sacramento Personnel and Public Employees Committee met to interview candidates for several boards and commissions and to make appointments. The meeting began at 1:33 p.m., with Vice-Chair Steve Hansen presiding until Chair Larry Carr arrived at 1:35 p.m. All four members (Ashby, Warren, Hansen, Carr) were present. The committee approved prior meeting minutes, appointed one candidate to the Paratransit Inc. Board of Directors, interviewed candidates for the Sacramento Disabilities Advisory Commission and the Sacramento Youth Commission without making appointments, and nominated two candidates to the City-County Bicycle Advisory Committee.
Consent Calendar
- Approved the June 13, 2017, Personnel and Public Employees Committee meeting minutes unanimously (Motion: Ashby/Warren; vote 4-0, with Carr arriving after the vote but listed as absent in minutes).
Discussion Items
- Interviews for Paratransit Inc. Board of Directors (Seat A): Three candidates (Anna Fontus, Zara Abdani, Keith Ellis) were interviewed. The committee heard from Paratransit CEO Tiffany Fink, who noted the board had two vacancies and emphasized the need for a member with advocacy and community engagement skills. After discussion, Councilmember Ashby moved to appoint Anna Fontus, seconded by Councilmember Warren, and supported by Chair Carr. The motion passed 4-0. The committee directed Ms. Fink to reach out to the other two candidates regarding future opportunities.
- Interviews for the Sacramento Disabilities Advisory Commission (Seats B and G): Candidates (including Alex San Martin, Keith Ellis, Ray Derabigi, an advocate for mental illness, and Will Kennedy) were interviewed. Staff noted Ray Derabigi was unable to attend but was a strong candidate. The item was continued to the next meeting without a vote.
- Interviews for the Sacramento Youth Commission (Seats S, T, and U): Ten candidates (all female) were interviewed. Councilmembers praised the candidates' poise and diversity. The committee expressed difficulty in selecting only three and directed staff to bring options for engaging all applicants (e.g., other youth programs, council offices) before the next meeting. The item was continued.
- Nominations to the City-County Bicycle Advisory Committee (Seats B and D): After prior interviews, Councilmember Hansen moved to nominate Louis Mirante to Seat B and Nardos Girma to Seat D, seconded by Councilmember Ashby. The motion passed 4-0.
Committee Comments & Directives
- Councilmember Ashby requested staff to develop ways to better utilize unsuccessful applicants for other city programs or services.
- Vice-Chair Hansen directed clerk staff to review the feasibility of moving future committee meeting times from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. to improve public and youth accessibility, noting potential need for a council rule change.
- Senior Deputy City Attorney Gary Lindsey reported that a memo on including photos of current board members in future staff reports (per a prior request from Ashby) would be drafted within a week.
Key Outcomes
- Appointment: Anna Fontus was appointed to Seat A of the Paratransit Inc. Board of Directors (vote 4-0).
- Nominations: Louis Mirante (Seat B) and Nardos Girma (Seat D) were nominated to the City-County Bicycle Advisory Committee (vote 4-0).
- Continued Items: Selections for the Sacramento Disabilities Advisory Commission and the Sacramento Youth Commission were postponed to the next meeting.
- Next Steps: Staff to provide options for engaging unsuccessful youth applicants, review meeting time change, and deliver memo on board member photos.
Meeting Transcript
Hi, everybody. We're just waiting for another council member to join us, so we have a quorum, and then we'll get going in just a second. Thanks for your patience. Good afternoon. Let me call this order. This meeting of the personnel and public employees commission committee to order. Madam Clerk, will you please call the role? Member Ashby? Here. Number one, Chair Carr. Vice Chair Hanson. Here. We have a quorum. If you are here today to speak for the committee and you are not a candidate, please grab a speaker slip in the back window in turn of the assistant clerk. And if you are going to be a candidate, we're going to be calling you down to ask the questions you see behind us. Alright, thank you all for being here. First, the consent calendar. Alright, we have a motion to approve the consent calendar from Member Ashby and a second from Mr. Warren. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, abstain. Consent calendar passes. Alright. Just for the members of the public who are here, our normal process is to interview at this meeting and make the appointment in our next regularly scheduled PMPE meeting. In the instance of a chair is here, I'll just finish that thought. In the instance where there's a shortage on a particular board or commission, we may make the appointment today. No, it's just this is this is all you. Please welcome our chairman, Mr. Carr. That day you were late. All right. The way that our next item is going to be item two, which is interviews for the paratransit board of directors. So what we will do is call all the candidates down one by one. If you'll come to the podium, you'll be given two minutes to answer the questions you see behind me. When you have completed your your uh questions, if you'll step to the right to Katia, and she's gonna take a photograph, which we'll include in our next staff report meeting. So with that, we um today are have three candidates applying to fill one vacant position, which is seat A, and our incumbent has not reapplied. Our first candidate will be Anna Fontas. Go right ahead, Anna. All right, good afternoon. Um I'm super excited to be here. Thank you for having me. Um I think it's a really exciting time to be in Sacramento, particularly as the city is in the midst of a renaissance, or I feel like it. Um I've been here all my life. Um as we advance the quality of life for all our residents and the vitality of the local economy. Super imperative to ensure that these benefits are able to be enjoyed by as many communities as possible, as universally as possible. Um, ensuring that all those communities are able to participate in our success will not only contribute to the vibrancy of the Sacramento community, but also to sustain their access um to a high quality of life. Um the population paratransit set provides services to um is one that's often overlooked or disregarded, um, and I'm extremely interested in really amplifying their voice and also ensuring that their services continue to efficiently and effectively really um serve the needs of the community. Um in regards to question number two. Um for nearly four years I've been working to advance the scale of educational and workforce opportunities for previous for underserved communities, excuse me.
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