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<\/a><\/p>\nCommittee member Eric Crutchlow summed up the central challenge of this project.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe entire charter is a cobweb of things that were put together [in such a way] that it\u2019s very hard to ensure that you cover all your bases,\u201d said Crutchlow.<\/p>\n
Subcommittee 1 \u2013 Powers and Structure of City Government: Reorganize Charter<\/p>\n
No members of the subcommittee were present, so City Attorney Glen Googins gave the report. The subcommittee is proposing a reorganization of the city charter that would organize things\u00a0 functionally. For example, rules for all elections would be in the same section, instead of in sections pertaining to individual offices.<\/p>\n
The committee also discussed: having fewer details in the charter and enacting more policy by ordinance, distinguishing city utility property from city property and clarifying the definition of who\u2019s a \u201cqualified elector\u201d in Santa Clara \u2014including whether to keep that term or replace it with the plain English \u201cregistered voter.\u201d (Three subcommittees discussed the definition of \u201cqualified elector,\u201d reflecting a 2022 situation when someone who asserted he was living at his business in Santa Clara was briefly appointed to the planning commission<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Googins also noted the \u201cold-fashioned nature of how ordinances are published \u2026 in a newspaper\u201d and\u00a0 suggested \u201caugment[ing] that with providing some appropriate digital or electronic notice.\u201d By law, California legal notices must be published in a \u201cnewspaper of record.\u201d<\/p>\n Subcommittee 2 \u2014\u00a0City Council, Elections, Powers, and Conduct of Meetings: Council Conduct<\/p>\n For its first meetings, the subcommittee focused on the city council section of the charter.<\/p>\n They discussed whether council salaries were adequate, given the duties of the job and changing the meeting requirement to 24\/year instead of 2\/month. They also discussed the need for clearer definitions of quorums, proper and improper council member conduct, and councilmanic interference \u2014 council members giving directions to city staff directly, instead of the city manager.<\/p>\n They also recommended adding a description of Strong City Manager\/Weak Mayor form of municipal government to the charter.<\/p>\n Subcommittee 3 \u2014 Senior Officials, Duties, Qualifications:\u00a0Facing the City Clerk Problem<\/p>\n This group is currently grappling with Santa Clara\u2019s own peculiar institution: a city clerk with the title and an assistant clerk who does the job.<\/p>\n The city clerk is elected and their tasks are limited to overseeing the city seal and swearing in city officials. No professional qualifications are required, and the clerk reports to no one. All the other duties are performed by the assistant city clerk, who reports to the city manager and must have professional\u00a0 qualifications.<\/p>\n This arrangement isn\u2019t what\u2019s described in the city charter, however. The present system evolved i<\/a>n 2018, when longtime city clerk Rod Diridon Jr. resigned. At that time, the council took advantage of a charter provision<\/a> that allowed the city clerk\u2019s duties to be assigned to another employee in the event of an absence or vacancy.<\/p>\n The subcommittee discussed clarifying, in the charter, the roles of the elected city clerk and the appointed assistant city clerk; as well as \u201ccleanup\u201d and \u201cbest practices\u201d for the city manager and city attorney positions.<\/p>\n Subcommittee 4 \u2014 Boards and Commissions: Definitions and Members<\/p>\n Santa Clara has boards, commissions and committees, but no definition of what distinguishes these bodies. One task of this subcommittee is to define what these should be and their responsibilities.<\/p>\n For example, there\u2019s a Senior Advisory Commission, a Board of Library Trustees and a Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee. All of these are standing committees that meet monthly. Their membership doesn\u2019t include city council members. Some are specified in the charter. But nowhere is there a definition of \u201cboard,\u201d \u201ccommission,\u201d or \u201ccommittee.\u201d<\/p>\n Further, the roles of these committees are vague at best, with the role of the Board of Library Trustees coming in for extensive discussion.<\/p>\n The group also discussed transparency in closed sessions, residency requirements for appointees, whether an ethics commission should be established in the charter and causes for removal from committees.<\/p>\n Subcommittee 5 \u2014\u00a0Civil Service: Modernizing and Clarifying<\/p>\n The civil service subcommittee has met twice, and focused on modernizing and clarifying rules \u00a0governing the Civil Service Commission and employees covered by California civil service rules \u2014 \u201cclassified.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0The group is recommending that the commission identify exactly what jobs are classified and which aren\u2019t, requiring Civil Service Commission members to comply with conflict of interest rules, and adding a procedure for changing job classifications.<\/p>\n This subcommittee, too, wants to replace \u201cqualified elector\u201d with clearer language and proposed a glossary of terms to improve public understanding. In addition, the group noted that the city\u2019s Salary-Setting Committee \u2014 which sets salaries for elected officials, and was created eight years ago \u2014 is not included in the existing charter.<\/p>\n City Attorney Googins kept the members of Subcommittee 6 \u2014\u00a0Fiscal Administration & Procurement \u2014 late to see if they could \u201cget a meeting on the calendar.\u201d<\/p>\n The next meeting of the Charter Review committee is Wednesday, Feb. 18, at 6 p.m. in council chambers. Zoom link: https:\/\/santaclaraca.zoom.us\/j\/86127408402<\/a><\/p>\n For more information about the committee, visit https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/sccharterreview26<\/a>. The page also has links to other CA cities\u2019 charters. Find the agenda reports for the Jan. 21 meeting at https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/sccharterreview26ppts.<\/a><\/p>\n Carolyn Schuk can be reached at carolyn@santaclaraweekly.com.<\/p>\n For more details on the Charter Review Committee: SPONSORED<\/p>\n
Charter Review Subcommittees Raise Transparency Concerns<\/a>
Santa Clara 2025 Charter Review Committee Gets to Work<\/a>
2025 Charter Review Committee Set<\/a><\/p>\n
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