Personnel and Public Employees Committee Meeting - October 17, 2023
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Personnel and Public Employees Committee Meeting - October 17, 2023
The Personnel and Public Employees Committee met on Tuesday, October 17, 2023, at 3:00 p.m. in the Sacramento City Hall Council Chamber. The meeting was called to order by Chair Lisa Kaplan at 3:02 p.m. and adjourned at 3:32 p.m. All four members were present: Chair Kaplan, Councilmember Sean Loloee, Councilmember Katie Valenzuela, and Vice Chair Caity Maple. The committee reviewed board and commission appointments, considered a proposal regarding 2018 Ethics Commission recommendations, and approved the prior meeting's minutes.
Consent Calendar
- Approved the Personnel and Public Employees Committee meeting minutes of September 19, 2023 (File ID 2023-01282) by unanimous vote (Motion by Maple, second by Loloee).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Item 6 – Ethics Commission Recommendations: Two speakers testified in support of forwarding the recommendations to the full City Council.
- Susan Underwood, Chair of the Ethics Commission, stated the commission considers all four recommendations important and expressed personal support for granting subpoena power, noting it would make investigations more efficient and avoid delays. She requested the full package be sent to the City Council.
- Paula Lee, President of the League of Women Voters of Sacramento County, urged the committee not to "receive and file" the recommendations, noting that volunteers had left the Ethics Commission because they felt their work lacked power. She recommended moving the proposal forward.
- No public comments were made on matters not on the agenda.
Discussion Items
- Item 2 – Ethel MacLeod Hart Trust Fund Advisory Committee (File ID 2023-01311): The agenda listed seats A, F, and G, but the clerk stated there was one available seat and eight applications. The item was continued to a special meeting (referenced as October 31) because applicants had not been invited to present. Note: The agenda and minutes conflict on the number of seats (agenda: "Seats A, F, and G"; minutes: "Seat F").
- Item 3 – Parks and Community Enrichment Commission, Seat L (File ID 2023-01310): One applicant, Halia Rose Salinas-Collins of District 2, met the requirement of being between ages 14 and 22. Councilmember Loloee moved to recommend her appointment, seconded by Vice Chair Maple, who praised her resume and work with the LGBT Center. The committee unanimously recommended Salinas-Collins to the Mayor and Council.
- Item 4 – Sacramento Environmental Commission, Seats A, B, and C (File ID 2023-01309): Six applications were received. The item was continued to a future special meeting because applicants were not invited to present.
- Item 5 – Utilities Rate Advisory Commission, Seat D (File ID 2023-01312): Applicant Nicolai Dimitry Ellis attended and introduced himself, describing his chemical engineering degree from UCSD, work as a utilities/production engineer, and experience authoring a stormwater discharge permit. Councilmember Valenzuela moved to appoint Ellis, seconded by Vice Chair Maple. The committee unanimously recommended Ellis to the Mayor and Council.
- Item 6 – Councilmember Proposal: Consider Adoption of 2018 Sacramento Ethics Commission Recommendations (File ID 2023-01353): Councilmember Valenzuela presented the proposal, explaining it stemmed from the Ethics Commission annual report. She requested a fuller staff analysis, including costs and legal implications. After discussion, the committee voted unanimously to direct the appropriate council appointive officer to commence work and bring the proposal back to the committee for review and consideration, with an update targeted for January 2024 if possible. The direction included cost analysis, legal analysis on subpoena power (including whether the city attorney's office could provide it), and stakeholder input.
Key Outcomes
- Approved the September 19, 2023, meeting minutes unanimously.
- Continued Items 2 and 4 (trust fund committee and environmental commission appointments) to a future special meeting.
- Recommended Halia Rose Salinas-Collins for Parks and Community Enrichment Commission Seat L (unanimous, 4-0).
- Recommended Nicolai Dimitry Ellis for Utilities Rate Advisory Commission Seat D (unanimous, 4-0).
- Passed a motion (unanimous, 4-0) to direct staff to work on the 2018 Ethics Commission recommendations and bring them back to the committee with detailed analysis before any forwarding to the City Council.
Meeting Transcript
All right, good good afternoon, colleagues. Good afternoon. I'd like to welcome the personnel and public employee committee to uh call it to order. Uh will the clerk please establish a quorum. Thank you, Chair. Councilmember Lowy. Here. Councilmember Valenzuela. Here. Councilmember Maple? Here. And Chair Kaplan. Here. Uh we have a quorum and then four members of the public in the chamber. If you wish to speak on an item, please make sure you uh put in a public speaker's request. If you are up for interview with one of the items, uh we will call your name at this time. Uh before we proceed, I would um we'll start with a land acknowledgement and the pledge, and then I'll ask uh our clerk to uh make a quick statement. So councilmember Loloe, can you do the land acknowledgement and the pledge, please? Please write for open and all of them in uh Sacramento's indigenous people and private. So the original people of Island. Denise uh people, the Southern Raidu, Valley and Plains, Mi Walk, Pat Went, Winton, Peoples, and the people of Wilton Rancheria, Sacramento's only federally recognized trial. 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 together today in an active practice of acknowledgement and appreciation for Sacramento's indigenous people's history contribution and life. Thank you. One nation, under God and indivisible. Thank you, Councilmember. Um, I know there's uh gonna be a quick statement by the clerk. No, uh-huh. I was gonna ask if you wanted to do the consent calendar first, but I would be happy to make my presentation. It's in regards to discussion calendar. My name is Mindy Cuppy, your city clerk, and I have to apologize, but I failed to invite any of the applicants to make a presentation this afternoon. So we do have one applicant here who by osmosis understood that he needed to be here. Um but I'm recommending so for discussion item number two. You have one seat available in eight applications. For discussion item number three, you have one seat and one application. For discussion item number four, you have three seats and six applications. For item number five, you have one application and one seat, and that applicant is here to present to present. So I would recommend that you continue items two and four so that we may invite the applicants so they can make a presentation. However, should the committee choose items number three and five um could be heard and voted on. So thank you for your time. Absolutely. Um, just uh before we get to that, uh consent item is just our minutes. Any so moved. All right, move my vice chair maple, second by councilmember Loloe. All in favor, aye. Aye. Aye. Uh thank you. And then uh are we good with continuing item two and four and looking at a quick special meeting on the 31st. All right. So the uh agenda is amended to continue items two and four to a special meeting.
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