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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1978-04-04; City Council; 5402; CETA Assistant City AttorneyN CITY _OF CARLSBAD AGENDA BILL NO. ��� Initial: Dept.Hd. DATE: April 4, 1978 C. Atty.V M_ DEPARTMENT: Personnel C. Mgr. -Subject: - CETA ASSISTANT - CITY ATTORNEY Statement of the Matter The City has authorization and funding for nine CETA positions. There are currently two vacancies for CETA employees. It would be desirable to fill one vacancy with a professional level employee, an assistant for. the City Attorney. The maximum monthly salary for a CETA employee is $833..00. This amount would not be sufficient to recruit a p-rofessiona:l. employee. It is requested that additional funds be provided to the City Attorney to support a salary of $1,100.00 per month. For '.,ne last quarter of the present fa.scal year this total would be $-800.00 fcr salary, plus approximately $500.00 for Office equipment. Funds could be transferred from the General Fund to the City Attorney Department Salary Fund. 'i Exhibit Resolution No.�3� Men=andun frccn City Attorney to City Manager dated March 22, 1978. Recommendation If. Council concurs, authorize the transfer of funds by adopting Resolution No. Council action 4-4-78 Resolution #5367 was adopted, authorizing transfer of funds from General Fund to the City Attorney's Department Salary Fund. 11 MEMORANDUM DATE: March 22, 1978 TO: City Manager FROM: City Attorney SUBJECT: CETA VACANCIES You have asked for my comment on the memorandum to you from the Personnel Director, dated March 3, 1978, regarding CETA vacancies. The memorandum indicates that there are two CETA vacancies in the City at this time. He recommends that you consider filling one of the position6 with a trainee or entry level position in the City Attorney's office. I appreciate the Personnel Director's interest in my office. I would like to request that you undertake the steps necessary to fill one of the CETA vacancies with a City Attorney Trainee. Early in 1977, while preparing my budget for the 1977-78 fiscal year, I gave serious consideration to asking the City Council to establish a Deputy's position in my office. At that time there was no doubt in my mind that some assistance was necessary if we were going to meet all of the demands for service which we were receiving. Nevertheless, for a number of reasons, I determined that we could continue to operate with the addition of help from outside counsel on selected matters of litigation. It has been obvious to me for some months that that judgment .aas in error. I simply have not been able to keep up with all of the demands on my time and am falling further behind. As you know, when I came to Carlsbad in 1972 as its first full- time City Attorney, we had approximately 140 employees and a population of 15,000. Our population has doubled, the number of employees has almost doubled and we have added a number of new departments and functions. There has been an even greater increase in,.,.vi��.: n, wny of mmmparison Vista has had ... +��+vM� a full-time CETA. vDeputy�inrthe-City Attorney's office for the last three years. I believe our City, which is full service, has a greater volume of activity. When I was in Escondido in 1971 they were utilizing three full-time attorneys for a population of 35,000. Oceanside added its third full-time attorney when they reached approximately 45,000. All three of those cities also make extensive use of outside counsel. -•. 9 City Manager -2- March 22, 1978 We've kept some statistical records on the categories of work performed. Some comparisons may be of interest. 1975 1976 1977 Memorandums of advice 155 255 288 Letters 133 142 173 Correspondence relating to litigation - 66 112 Agenda Bills prepared 76 83 96 Agenda Bills approved 252 3C7 392 Resolutions 323 331 377 Agreements 76 96 149 Bonds 66 78 95 Misdemeanor prosecutions 6 9 10 The above statistics are only a general guide but they show a trend of an increased level of activity in m} office. The first three months of 1978 indicate a continuing increase at a faster rate in all categories. one category of work which deserves special mention is claims and litigation. The increase in the level of activity in this area is probably the biggest, single contributor to the increase in my workload. In 1975 we had sixteen claims, 1976 - seventeen and 1977 - twenty-three. This year, through March, we have already had sixteen (even discounting this number for the seven or eight attributable solely to the unusual rains, the rate of increase is a cause for concern). Not only has the number of claims increased but the number resulting in litigation as well. In 1975 only one of the claims actually resulted in 1A tin=Finn In 1977 six of the claims were in active litigation. Several of those under full reservation of rights which requires sub- stantial amounts of my time. I City Manager -3- March 22, 1978 Since the first of the year I have had to give priority to several important matters; i.e., the AE Realty lawsuit; the Grove, Priestly, Bristol Cove, Pulido and Dautrich litigation; the sewer moratorium, with its many attendent subsidiary problems; and the May Company. I have currently pending in my office a number of substantial projects most of which are already overdue. They include: 1. There are twelve bills from 1976 and seven from 1977 which have not been incorporated into our Subdivision Ordinance. It has been possible to put off the major revision of our ordinance, which is required, due to the sewer moratorium, but that should be attended to in the near future. 2. Extensive revisions are necessary in our parcel map procedures. 3. We are obligated to adopt a Local Conflict of Interest Code for all our departments. The Fair Political Practices Commission has inquired several times when we might expect to adopt our code. 4. My most pressing project is the need to completely revise our Environmental Ordinance. Recent litigation has pointed up the need for some improvements in the ordinance and its administration. In addition, we have two extensive sets of guideline revisions which need to be incorporated into our ordinance and implementing resolutions. 5. We are under a condominium moratorium and the Council has directed that a condominium ordinance and curb -cut standards be prepared as soon as possible. 6. Our Zoning -General Plan consistency program is behind. In particular, I need to spend considerable time with the Planning Department dealing with the problem of the multiple zones and the density ranges. 7. We have been involved with Occidental -Ayres in developing a set of reimbursement agreements and implementing ordinances to reimbur,a the developers in excess of one million dollars in ;.swer construction expenses. The Public Works Administrator City Manager -4- March 22, 1978 1 has drafts in my office pending review. We also need to revise the agreement for the Poinsettia overcrossing. 8. The Legislature has adopted a new Municipal Reorganization Act. That needs to be reviewed, analyzed and compared to the District Reorganization Act and advice prepared for the Council Committee and the affected departments in regards to their ongoing efforts vis-a-vis CMWD. 9. The Council has directed the implementation of a new septic tank policy which necessitates the adoption of various portions of the County Code, plus the revisions of a number of our ordinances. The process has not yet begun. The above are only some of the projects in my office. In addition, there are two matters of new legislation which are important. The first is the new school fee law (SB-201), which I must bring to the Council's attention in the near future. This will necessitate adoption of an ordinance, pgotiation with the school districts in regards to fees, and the development of a new system for meeting the problems inherent in the City -Developer -School District equation. The second is AB=884, which imposes a new one-year scheme for the processing of developments. Implementing this new law is going to require extensive amendments to our. Planning and Zoning ordinances and our Planning procedures. Failure to comply with it will result in the automatic approval of projects. It affects not only new applications but all those in process. Finally, as you know; the City has added a zoning enforcement officer. I appreciate the fact that you have been directing his activities in other areas for the time being. The simple fact is, that unless it is a matter of priority to the Council, I simply do not have the resources available to undertake any additional misdemeanor prosecutions now, or in the foreseeable future. In prosecuting cases of that type, we come after the District Attorney's cases and often must spend a full day, in court just waiting for a chance to be heard. Those kinds of absences from the office take such a substantial block of my time that it simply is not feasible to undertake them.. As indicated above, during the last six months,most of my time has been devoted to litigation, City Council matters and certain priority projects. As a result, a number of requests for , assistance from departments have simply gone unanswered. There are a number of things which the departments have been involved with, such as the Calavera Hills Master Plan -Sewer Proposal, r�. City Manager -5- March 22, 1978 Phase II Sewer Allocation System, Agua Hedionda Lagoon Plan and Encina 5 Coastal Commission approval, where my assistance should have been available but there was not sufficient time. Many of our agreements, bonds, resolutions and ordinances are being prepared directly by the Departments. In addition, I have received exceptionally fine assistance iiummy secretary who, in effect, has been working not only as a secretary, but as a legal assistant as well. For instance, requests for unlawful detainer actions from the Housing Authority have been handled exclusively by her, including the drafting and filing of the complaints. Personally, I have been working in excess of sixty hours a week for sometime, which would cause me some concern if it proves to be a permanent condition. I have also been unable to carry on the amount of outside reading and seminars necessary to remain fully professionally competent. These are all stop- gap measures which will become counterproductive if continued for any length of time. In my opinion there is an immediate n::ed for assistance in my office. I have considered whether or not it would be in the City's best interests to add a Deputy City Attorney position rather than the CETA clerk. A Deputy pos-4'tion, filled by someone with a year's experience, would be able to undertake a greater portion of the workload and would require less training. We t could also expect to retain him for a longer period of time. However, we do have severe space limitations, it would involve the creation of a permanent position, added costs and it would take a substantial period of time to get the person on board. The CETA position would involve more training and we could i expect when the individual acquired a certain level of experience they would leave for a better job. However, it could be filled almost immediately, which is important. It would involve less cost and a person filling that position would be amenable to sharing space in the cramped conditions here. Based on inquiries I have made, the indications ars that we can obtain a qualified attorney, who has been admitted to the Bar, to fill a Trainee - Law Clerk CETA position. I think we should try that option. E:c.^.•:ith�•wi the Avnariance, the person filling the CETA position would be able immediately to take over the simpler misdemeanor prosecutions and a number of routine functions, such as reviewing bonds and approving agreements and, of course, thev could provide research support on a number of matters. City Manager QC March 22, 1978 My inquiries indicate we would get a good response by advertising for the CETA position at a range between $900.00 and $1100.00 per month. That would necessitate expenditure of a certain amount of City funds to supplement the CETA salary. I understand a similar arrangement has been utilized in the past for administrative assistants. I would anticipate the necessity to supplement the City Attorney's budget to cover the added salary and other matters in an amount of approximately $400.00 per month. I understand it is preferable to wait until the regular budget process to request a new position. However, assuming the budget would be approved in July, and the two or three months to fill the position, my office will remain without assistance approxi- mately six months. I don't think the workload will allow that., The CETA vacancy eNists now and I would like to request it be filled as soon as possible. I would appreciate yc,. undertaking the steps necessary to place whatever approvals are required before the City Council for action as soon as possible. Please let me )now if you need any additional information. VINCENT F. BIONDO, JR. City Attorney VFB/mla r 3.' 2 3 ' 4 5 61 7 n 1f 15 2C 27 2� 21, 24 2° V 27 2E 25 RESOLUTION NO. 55367 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARLSBAD,, CALIFORNIA, AUTHORIZING THE TRANSFER OF $1,300.00 FROM THE GENERAL FUND TO BUDGET ACCOUNT NUMBER 01-105 FOR THE PURPOSE OF HIRING A CITY ATTORNEY TRAINEE. WHEREAS, the City Council desires to appoint a Comprehensive Training and Employment Act employee as an assistant to the City Attorney; and WHEREAS, such an appointment would require supplemented funds for Budget Account Numbers 01-105-1110 (Regular Salaries) 'and 01-105-3903 (Equipment); NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Carlsbad, California, as follows: 1. That the above recitations are true and correct. 2. That the City Council hereby authorizes and directs the City Manager to transfer the sum of $1,306.00 frcm the General -Fund to Budget Account Number 01-105 for the purpose of hiring a CETA employee as an assistant to the City Attorney. 3. That Department of Finance Fund Transfer No. 41 Ion file in said department and incorporated by reference herein is approved. 1 i• a n G N Z wC 0 U i J 2La Z U O Z f J 4 cz v I 1 2 3 4 5 A I-- PAggp:D, APPROVED AND ADOPTED by the C'_ty Council of the City of Carlsbad, California, at a regular meeting held on the 4th day of April , 1978, by the following vote, to wit: x AYES: Councilmen Packard, Skotnicki, Anear and Councilwoman Casler NOES: None .2— /al RONALD C. PACKARD, Mayor