Personnel and Public Employees Committee Special Meeting – September 19, 2023
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
Personnel and Public Employees Committee Special Meeting – September 19, 2023
The Sacramento City Council's Personnel and Public Employees Committee held a special meeting on Tuesday, September 19, 2023, in the City Hall Council Chamber. Chair Lisa Kaplan called the meeting to order at 2:32 p.m.; all committee members were present (Lisa Kaplan, Sean Loloee, Katie Valenzuela, and Caity Maple). The committee approved prior minutes, reviewed two annual reports, interviewed applicants for several boards and commissions, debated a youth voice proposal, and considered a nomination to the Natomas Basin Conservancy. The meeting adjourned at 3:46 p.m.
Consent Calendar
- Approved the Personnel and Public Employees Committee minutes of August 15, 2023. Motion by Member Maple, second by Member Loloee; unanimous.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public speakers came forward during the meeting, and no public comments were read for consent or discussion items.
Discussion Items
Sacramento Ethics Commission 2022 Annual Report and Recommendations
- Susan Underwood, chair of the Sacramento Ethics Commission, presented the 2022 annual report and asked the committee to forward it to the City Council. The report included four recommendations: an administrative hearing officer, independent budget and staff, authority to guide ethics education/training/compliance, and subpoena power, which Underwood called the most important.
- Councilmember Valenzuela moved to forward the annual report to the City Council. Chair Kaplan said the earlier 2018 recommendations should be handled separately from the annual report and expressed reluctance about pursuing independence and staffing during budget constraints. Valenzuela agreed to bring the recommendations back separately through a councilmember proposal. The motion to forward the annual report passed unanimously.
Animal Care Services Citizens Advisory Committee Annual Report
- Animal Care Services Manager Phillip Zimmerman and committee chair Leah Morris presented the annual report. It highlighted approximately 45,000 animal-related calls to the 311 system, about 10 percent of all 311 calls; a possible specialty call-center pilot with SPCA and grant funding; the need to renovate or relocate the aging animal shelter; an RFP for a shelter needs assessment released September 8; and veterinarian recruitment challenges, with only one of three full-time veterinarian positions filled.
- Councilmember Valenzuela praised the 311 analysis and called attention to shelter conditions. Chair Kaplan moved to forward the annual report to the City Council and requested that budget-related priorities also be discussed by the budget committee. The motion was seconded by Valenzuela and passed unanimously.
Ann Land and Bertha Henschel Memorial Funds Commission
- After interviewing Desli Beckman and Madison Hinojosa for Seats D and G, the committee appointed Beckman to Seat D and Hinojosa to Seat G. Motion by Vice Chair Maple, seconded by Member Loloee; unanimous.
Measure U Community Advisory Committee
- The committee interviewed Richard Georgeoff, III for Seat J; the applicant for Seat N was absent. Councilmember Valenzuela moved to appoint Georgeoff to Seat J and reopen recruitment for Seat N, saying she questioned whether the absent applicant's experience met the threshold for professional experience in trauma, mental health, or community-based crime reduction. City Clerk staff noted the staff reviewer had considered the applicant qualified. The motion was seconded by Member Loloee and passed unanimously.
Sacramento Disabilities Advisory Commission
- Two applicants appeared for Seats B and F; two applicants were absent. The committee appointed George Alan Lim to Seat B and Tanishia Hubbard to Seat F. Motion by Vice Chair Maple, seconded by Chair Kaplan; unanimous.
Youth Advisory Liaison / Sacramento Youth Voice
- This item continued from June 20 and August 15, 2023. Chair Kaplan and Councilmember Talamantes proposed amending Resolution 2022-0387 to create Sacramento Youth Voice, which would add dedicated youth seats on boards and commissions, expanding toward 14 youth positions, with appointees ages 16 to 22, one two-year term, a stipend, and support from the Sacramento Youth Commission. It would also make the Sacramento Youth Commission the official youth voice. Kaplan argued against placing a single youth on the City Council dais.
- Councilmember Valenzuela moved to defer action until the October Youth Commission meeting so youth could give input, citing 'nothing about us without us.' She noted youth advocates had suggested limiting the seat to 16- and 17-year-olds, a one-year term aligned with the school year, and a safety protocol for a youth member who felt unsafe or harassed.
- Member Loloee and Vice Chair Maple supported the Kaplan/Talamantes proposal. Loloee questioned whether teens should sit through late-night, sometimes hostile council meetings; Maple cited anti-Semitic and racist public comments and violent incidents at council meetings as reasons not to place a youth on the dais.
- The committee passed a motion by Chair Kaplan, seconded by Member Loloee, directing staff to commence work on the alternative Sacramento Youth Voice proposal and forward it to the City Council without further committee review. The vote was 3-1: Loloee, Maple, and Kaplan yes; Valenzuela no. Valenzuela also asked the City Clerk to confirm whether expanding youth seats to all commissions had already been part of the Council's prior direction.
Natomas Basin Conservancy Board of Directors
- The committee considered three motions for Seat A; all failed.
- Alternate motion by Chair Kaplan to appoint Steven Thomas Johns failed 2-1-1: Loloee and Kaplan yes; Valenzuela no; Maple abstained.
- Original motion from August 15, 2023, by Councilmember Valenzuela to appoint former Mayor Heather Fargo failed 1-3: Valenzuela yes; Loloee, Maple, and Kaplan no.
- Alternate motion by Valenzuela to appoint Raymond L. Tretheway, III failed 2-2: Maple and Valenzuela yes; Loloee and Kaplan no.
- Kaplan cited concerns about perceived conflicts because Fargo is active in environmental advocacy against development in her district; Valenzuela argued all commissioners have strongly held views and Fargo had deep institutional knowledge; Loloee said appointees should be neutral and focused on the city as a whole; Maple said she saw no legal barrier to Fargo. The committee directed the City Clerk to reopen recruitment for Seat A.
Key Outcomes
- Approved the August 15, 2023 meeting minutes.
- Forwarded the Sacramento Ethics Commission 2022 Annual Report to the City Council, with the four substantive recommendations to be handled separately through a councilmember proposal.
- Forwarded the Animal Care Services Citizens Advisory Committee Annual Report to the City Council and requested budget committee discussion of budget-related priorities.
- Recommended appointments: Desli Beckman (Ann Land/Bertha Henschel Seat D), Madison Hinojosa (Seat G), Richard Georgeoff, III (Measure U Seat J), George Alan Lim (Sacramento Disabilities Advisory Seat B), and Tanishia Hubbard (Seat F).
- Reopened recruitment for Measure U Community Advisory Committee Seat N and Natomas Basin Conservancy Board of Directors Seat A.
- Passed, 3-1, the Sacramento Youth Voice proposal directing staff to forward it to the City Council without further committee review.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the personnel and public employee committee meeting. The meeting is now called to order. Will the clerk please establish a quorum? Thank you, Chair. Councilmember Lilowy. Here. Councilmember Maple. Here. Vice Chair Valenzuela. My apologies. Councilmember Valenzuela. And Chair Kaplan. Here we have a quorum. So for members in the public and chambers, if you wish to speak on an agenda item and are not an applicant, please fill out a speaker slip, which can be found at the back of the room and deliver it up here to the clerk. And when you are called, everyone, you have two minutes to speak when you are called upon. Now moving forward with today's agenda item. Vice Chair Maple, can you do our land acknowledgement and pledge, please? My pleasure. Please stand if you are able. Please rise for the opening acknowledgments in honor of Sacramento's indigenous people and tribal lands to the original people of this land, the Nissanan people, the Southern Maidu, the Valley and Plains Miwok, Putwin Wintum peoples, and the people of the Wilton Rancheriet, Sacramento's only federally recognized tribe. May we acknowledge and honor the Native people who came before us and still walk beside us today on these ancestral lands by choosing to gather today in practice in the act of practice of acknowledgement and appreciation for Sacramento's Indigenous People's History, contributions, and lives. Thank you. Now salute, pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Good afternoon, everyone. My apologies for starting at 2 30. We rolled a little late for Law and Ledge commit uh committee, and that is something that both uh myself and Councilmember Valenzuela are a part of, and we just needed a couple minutes to get some food in us. Um so we're now on to our first order of business, which is approval of the consent calendar. Do we have any public speakers on the consent calendar? Thank you, Chair. I have no speakers on this item. Right. Do I have a motion? I move consent. Motion by Maple, second by Leloy. All in favor, aye. Aye. All right. Now moving on to item number two, which is our Sacramento Ethics Commission 2022 annual report and recommendations. And I want to apologize, and this is why I also made it first because they got bumped from our last meeting. So, Chair of the Sacramento Ethics Commission, Susan Underwood is here, and come on up. Thank you. And thank you for putting me first on the agenda this time. Good afternoon, Council members. I am Susan Underwood, currently the chair of the Sacramento Ethics Commission. I have been a commissioner since its inception six years ago, and I am very proud of the work we have done in that time. This annual report describes what we have accomplished in the past year. The four recommendations were developed after talking to ethics commissions that had already been around for a while, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, and others.
openpublica.com