TO: Mayor Collins and Town Council Members
FROM: Kevin Burke, Town Manager
DATE: November 16, 2017
DEPARTMENT: Town Manager
Staff Contact Kevin Burke, Town Manager
End
AGENDA TITLE:
Title
Governance - Discussion #6 60 minutes
Body
Town Value(s):
☐ Primarily one-acre, residential community
☒ Limited government
☐ Creating a sense of community
☐ Partnerships with existing schools and resorts to enhance recreational opportunities
☐ Improving aesthetics/creating a brand
☐ Preserving natural open space
In order to more effectively and efficiently manage the limited municipal government of Paradise Valley, the Town Council has embarked upon a review of numerous policies and procedures.
Council Goals or Statutory Requirements:
Governance - Review and seek improvement to processes and procedures for our community.
RECOMMENDATION:
Review topics and provide direction.
SUMMARY STATEMENT:
Mayor and Council have identified 13 Governance topics to be discussed this term. They have prioritized the first six as:
1. Use of Consultants
2. Transparency
3. Cost Estimating
4. Defining Limited Government
5. Rules of Procedure; and,
6. Appointment Process.
The Governance topic has been scheduled as a study session item to last not more than one hour each Council meeting in order to accomplish as much of the list as possible each meeting. The following represents staff material on each topic, but as this is a Council initiated topic, the agenda provides flexibility to allow the Members to more fully explain intent, introduce concepts or solutions, and provide overall guidance on outcomes. It is anticipated that this one hour study session will resolve no more than the items addressed below:.
Rules of Procedure
During the October 26 and November 2 study sessions, Council discussed amendments to the Rules of Procedure. Those proposed changes are on the November 16, 2017 agenda for action and are also attached to this agenda item.
The rules regarding submittal requirements was agreed to be delegated to a Town Manager Work Group including Vice Mayor Bien Willner and Councilmember Moore to flesh out a possible proposal and bring it back to the full Council for deliberation. Council also gave permission to the Town Attorney to draft amendments to the Rules of Procedure for the Planning Commission and Board of Adjustments and to draft Rules for the Hillside Building Committee.
Appointments
Mayor and Council have had several conversations regarding the appointment process. These could be appointments to boards and commissions, council liaison appointments, or representatives to member agencies. Because there is no consistent process across all of these appointments, there has been at times confusion and at times disagreement over the process. Staff proposes breaking this conversation into four types of appointments in order to seek Mayor and Council direction on the preferred process.
Boards and Commissions - Below is a summary matrix the Town Clerk created of what is often referred to as the Boards and Commissions.
Attached please find a compilation of the legal authorization documents compiled by the Town Attorney for each of these boards or commissions.
One confusing element of this process is terminology. The Town Code often uses the phrase “Mayor appoints and Council confirms.” This can be confusing as typically the term “appoints” has finality to it but then the code says the Council “confirms.” Staff proposes that in any place the term “appoints” occurs we substitute “nominate” if there are any amendments to the enabling document.
Second, there have been occurrences where the Mayor has voluntarily deferred his or her mayoral power to appoint/nominate to the full Council (similar to the Planning Commission process) or to the committee itself (similar to the MPC process when there is a mid-term vacancy). This agenda items seeks guidance from the Council regarding how Council would like to conduct this process when it is set forth in the Town Code.
While most of the appointment processes for Boards and Commissions are governed by the Town Code, there are a few exceptions. State statute governs the appointment process for Public Safety Personnel Retirement System (PSPRS). In this occurrence, the Mayor is the statutory chair of the local PSPRS board. However, the Mayor may designate someone else to be the chair but that person must be confirmed by the Council. Further, the Mayor is to appoint (or nominate) two citizen members to the board upon confirmation of the Council. If Council desires to change this process, it would need to seek a statutory change.
Similarly, a different process would need to be undertaken for a change in appointment process for Mummy Mountain Trust and Municipal Property Corporation (MPC). In both of these instances, there would need to be an amendment to the Articles of Incorporation. If the Council is looking to expand the Mummy Mountain Trust from 5 members to 7, that revisions could also be incorporated into the appointment process revision.
Special Committees
In the same vein as “Mayor appoint/Council confirm,” Section XVII of the Town Council Rules and Procedures outlines how any “Special Committee” should be appointed (see attached). In this scenario, the Mayor nominates members. Those nominations must be submitted to the Town Council at least seven days prior to the meeting at which the nominations will be confirmed. Council Members may suggest alternate nominations during the meeting. Again, staff will ask for direction on this appointment process.
Council Liaison Positions
Staff is unaware of any written policy, rule or ordinance, but the practice is well established that the Mayor has the power to designate a Member of Council as a liaison to a standing board or commission. The one exception to this practice is the Vice Mayor being the designated liaison to the Planning Commission. This is codified in Town Code 2-2-7. Understanding that the Hillside Building Committee(HBC) is a subcommittee to the Planning Commission, it might be assumed that the Vice Mayor is also the liaison to the HBC. Currently, the Mayor has designated a liaison to the Historical Advisory Committee, the Arts Advisory Committee, and the Advisory Committee on Public Safety.
No liaison is appointed to the Board of Adjustment as it serves in a quasi judicial capacity whose appeals go to superior court rather than the Town Council. The Personnel Appeals Board is similar in that it hears appeals of disciplinary matters and their decision is final. A liaison to the Personnel Appeals Board would also complicate the separation of powers between the elected officials and town manager.
There has been no liaison appointed to the PSPRS, MPC or Mummy Mountain Trust. This could be due to their unique governance documents. For PSPRS, the Mayor by state statute could be the chair and therefore serve as the liaison.
In its own category is Mayoral advisory groups. The only standing advisory group is the Home Owners Association Forum. Councilmember Stanton currently serves as the liaison to this group although other councilmembers come as representatives of their HOA.
Staff seeks direction on memorializing this practice.
Lastly, the voting ability or inability of the liaison is not codified. Generally a liaison is an ex-officio member of a board and has the right to be recognized and participate in all conversations of the board but does not hold a vote. This would typically throw-off the odd-numbered foundation of the membership. This distinction may not need to be memorialized but thought appropriate to state.
Representative to Member Agencies
Again, staff is unaware of any policy, rule, or ordinance, but the practice has been well established that the Mayor appoints himself/herself or a Member of the Council as the representative to boards in which the Town is a member and is afforded a seat on their board or committee. These include:
• Experience Scottsdale (formerly the Scottsdale CVB)
• MAG Regional Committee
• League Resolutions Committee
Staff seeks direction on memorializing this practice.
Further, staff suggests that Members of the Council, including the Mayor and staff (excluding professional associations), who wish to run for election to another board (e.g. League Executive Board, AMRRP Board of Directors, etc.) secure a majority vote from the Town Council for that Member’s candidacy. It’s good politics as it shows the other municipalities that the candidate has the support of the home jurisdiction and its good policy as the candidate is considered a representative of the Town.
At this meeting, staff seeks general direction on the appointment process from Mayor and Town Council. Once established, staff will draft the necessary amendments to the governing documents to accomplish the policy direction.
BUDGETARY IMPACT:
No budgetary impact associated with conducting these discussions.
ATTACHMENT(S):
Resolution Amending the Town Council Rules and Procedures
Boards and Commission Appointment Codes etc.
Copy of Section XVII Special Committees from Town Council Rule and Procedures