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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1974-11-06; City Council; 3223-1; City CharterTHE CITY O F CARLSBAD,CALIFORNIA Agenda Bill No. 3223 - Supplement No. 1 Referred To: Date: November 6, 1974 Subject: CITY CHARTER Submitted By.- Paul D. Bussey City Manager Statement of the Matter The City Council, at its October 15, 1974/ meeting, directed the staff to prepare a short report concerning the various methods of approaching the preparation of a City Charter. The staff has pre- pared a memo to the City Council dated October 31, 1974, which pro- vides this information. Exhibit Memo from City Manager to City Council dated October 31, 1974, Staff Recommendations to the City Manager See memo from City Manager to City Council dated October 31, 1974, AS No.Date- November 6' 1974 City Manager's Recommendation See memo dated October 31, 1974, Council Action 11-6-74 It was agreed that this matter be discussed at a meeting other than a regular meeting.. later in the month -2- DATE: OCTOBER 31, 1974 TO: CITY COUNCIL FROM: CITY MANAGER SUBJECT: PROCEDURE FOR ADOPTION OF THE CITY CHARTER The City Council at your meeting of October 15 directed the City Manager to prepare a report on the various procedures available to the City Council in adopting a charter for the City of Carlsbad. The Council has already been furnished with the League of California Cities publication "Charter or General Law City?" and has received memorandums from Councilman McComas, myself and the City Attorney on the sub- ject. Those materials taken as a whole contain some discus- sion of the advantages and disadvantages of the charter form of city government and outline the two alternative procedures for the adoption of a city charter. In attempting to analyze the alternatives available to Carlsbad for the preparation and adoption of a charter in order to recommend a course of action to the Council, it became apparent that such an analysis and recommendation was difficult to do in the abstract. The procedure for the preparation and adoption of a charter can vary greatly and depends to a great extent on what kind of charter is con- sidered in order for a city. Before a general law city embarks on a reorganization as a charter city, a specific analysis of the advantages and dis- advantages of that course of action should be made, taking into consideration the unique factors which go to make up the City of Carlsbad. A necessary part of such an analysis is a thorough inquiry as to those things which would be appro- priate to include in a charter for the City of Carlsbad. The discussion in the League of California Cities publication in regard to this issue concludes as follows: "Therefore, when considering reorganization as a charter city, a general law city should consider carefully the question, 'Is there something we want to do in our city which we cannot now do under the general law? * * I agree with the author of the League publication that before the City deals with the question of which mechanism to use in adopting a charter, careful study must be given to that ques- tion. There are a number of ways in which the study of the application of that question to Carlsbad can be accomplished: - 2 - 1. The City Council could itself schedule a series of workshop meetings to examine various facets of the City of Carlsbad's organization and operation. 2. The City Council could direct the staff to develop a series of specific studies on the question for review by the Council. 3. One or more Council committees could be utilized. 4. A committee of citizens or a group of citizens' committees could be appointed by the Council to consider all or part of the question in a manner similar to that utilized for the de- velopment of the land use element of the general plan, or 5. A consultant could be retained to conduct the study. 6. Some combination of one or more of the above. If a preliminary study indicates that a charter may be in the best interests of the City, it seems to me it is not enough to simply agree in the abstract that a charter may have value. We should adopt some method by which we can methodically step- by-step develop the rationale which will help indicate whether a charter is or is not of benefit to the City of Carlsbad. This step-by-step approach will provide the greatest opportun- ity for direction by the City Council. This direction by the Council is particularly important in the early stages of in- vestigation until a more complete picture of the total direction we wish to go can be developed. If the Council wishes to proceed, it is my recommendation that the Council use the method of appointing a citizens' committee. If you agree with this recommendation, your action would be to refer the matter back to the staff for preparation of a resolu- tion appointing the Citizens' Charter Investigation Committee. The resolution should include a fairly explicit statement of the committee's responsibilities and provide a feedback system so that the Council can provide direction at key points. Assuming as a result of the above-described study it is deter- mined that there are advantages to the City to be gained from the adoption of a charter, it will be necessary at some point to incorporate the results of the studies into a draft charter. In that regard I would like to offer for your consideration another recommendation from the League of California Cities publication on charter cities. Under the heading, "Charter Drafting," the author states: - 3 - "Because of the many pitfalls in charter drafting it is recom- mended that the charter commissioners or the city council, as the case may be, consider employing a charter consultant at an early stage in the charter drafting process." If the Council contemplates an extensive review of the func- tioning and organization of the City government, it will be necessary to assume that a considerable amount of staff support will be necessary. Given the limited number of available staff and the range of scope of their responsibilities, I would ex- pect that the City Council will find it necessary to employ a charter consultant. PAUL D. City Manager PDB:dp