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Home My WebLink AboutTC Agd Pkt 2013-05-15 (3)TOWN OF TIBURON 1505 Tiburon Boulevard Tiburon, CA 94920 To: From: Subject: Reviewed By: BACKGROUND Mayor and Members of the Town Council Town Attorney Town Council Meeting May 15, 2013 Agenda Item: Recommendation to Add Urgency Item to Council Agenda and Select a Process to Fill Council Vacancy The late Council member Richard Collins is deeply mourned by all of us who were privileged to work with him. However, we must continue to pursue the Town's business even with our grief so fresh (Dick would have demanded no less). Filling the Council vacancy is a pressing matter, both for parliamentary and legal reasons. Under the California Government Code, the Council must either appoint a new member or call a special election within 60 days of the beginning of a vacancy. If the Council decides to call a special election, it would be held in conjunction with the next regular election, on November 5th However, if the Council wishes to appoint the new member, staff must begin the process of soliciting candidates very soon. Whichever method the Council selects, the new Council member will serve out the remainder of Council member Collins' term, that is, until November of 2015. I note that this issue is not on the May 15th Council agenda. Accordingly, the Council can only discuss this new item if two-thirds of the Council makes the following findings: 1. There is a need for immediate action that cannot wait until the Council's next regularly scheduled meeting. 2. The need for immediate action did not come to the Town's attention until after staff posted the agenda for the May 15th meeting. ANALYSIS 1. Adding the Vacancy Question to the Agenda as an Urgency Item. The Council must act promptly to preserve its ability to appoint a replacement because of the interplay between the statutory deadlines and the requirements of the Town's appointment process. Last revised in 2007, the Town's process requires the following: • Announcing the vacancy at the earliest possible meeting. • Posting and publishing the vacancy within 20 days after it occurs. • Holding at least one interview of each candidate (with the exception that the Council may elect to waive the interview of any candidate that it has interviewed within the past year). • Appoint the new member not less than ten working days after posting and publishing the vacancy. The Council's last regular meeting before the end of the Government Code's 60-day limit is July 3, 2013. Typically, staff requires several weeks to arrange times and dates for the Council to interview candidates for appointments. This is a particularly important appointment, thus it is possible that the Council may wish to interview candidates more than once. If the Council waits until its next regular meeting on June 5th, the Council will have less than a month to complete interviews and make an appointment. I believe that the Council could reasonably find that this schedule would be unacceptably constrained and that they therefore must decide whether to proceed by appointment or election at the May 15th meeting. I also note that this problem did not come to staff's attention until after posting the May 15th agenda. Council member Collins passed away on the night of May Sth. Although staff did not actually post the agenda until the 9th, staff did not have the opportunity to address the vacancy issue on that day. Accordingly, the matter did not come to the Town's attention until after staff posted the agenda. 2. Appointment versus Special Election This is a pure policy question. The special election option has the virtue of allowing Town residents to select the next Council person. However, in that event, the Council would not return to full strength until the election is certified in early December, over six months from now. In the interim, a four-member Council is inherently less robust and runs the risk of tie votes on Council decisions. In contrast, the Council could make an appointment by the end of June if it decides to pursue that avenue at tonight's meeting. I note that the Council does have a third option. The Government Code allows the Town to adopt an ordinance authorizing the appointment of an interim Council member pending the outcome of the special election. Prior Councils have always rejected this alternative as unduly cumbersome. However, it is technically feasible. The Council would have to hold two public hearings at least five days apart and adopt the ordinance at either a regular meeting or an adjourned regular meeting. The Council could hold the first hearing on June 5th and the second on June 19th. In the meantime, staff would solicit applications and schedule interviews. Election ordinances take effect immediately upon passage, thus the Council could make the appointment on the 19th, well within the 60-day deadline. FINANCIAL IMPACT None. If the Council decides to hold a special election, it would be consolidated with the regular election already scheduled for November 5th RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that the Town Council: 1. Make the following findings. a. There is a need for immediate action that cannot wait until the Council's next regularly scheduled meeting; and b. The need for immediate action did not come to the Town's attention until after staff posted the agenda for the May 15th meeting. 2. Add the question of how to fill the Council vacancy to the agenda of May 15, 2013. 3. Determine whether to fill said vacancy by appointment or special election or pursuant to a new ordinance to be brought forward in June. 4. If the Council determines to fill the vacancy by appointment (with or without a new ordinance), it should announce the vacancy and direct staff to begin the process of appointing to fill an unscheduled vacancy. Prepared By: Ann R. Danforth, Town Attorney