HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-07-06; Leo Carrillo Ranch Historic Park Resident Caretaker Program (District 3); Barberio, GaryTo the members of the:
CITY COUNCIL
Dat~ ~ ( 23<:.A ✓ cc/
CM _ACM ~M (3) V
July 6, 2023
Council Me morandum
To:
From:
Via:
Honorable Mayor Blackburn and Members of the City Council
Gary Barberio, Deputy City Manager, Community Services
Kyle Lancaster, Parks & Recreation Direc~
Geoff Patnoe, Assistant City Manager ~~
{_city of
Carlsbad
Memo ID #2023068
Re: Leo Carrillo Ranch Historic Park Resident Caretaker Program (District 3)
This memorandum provides information related to the Parks & Recreation Department Leo
Ca rrillo Ranch Historic Park resident caretaker program. Specifically, staff will be updating the
agreement with the current onsite (live in) resident caretaker at Leo Carrillo Ranch Historic Park
to convert the role from a contract position to a volunteer position.
Background
The City of Carlsbad established a resident caretaker program at Leo Carrillo Ranch in 1978,
where a full-time city employee was provided occupancy and use of an onsite residence located
at 6200 Flying Leo Carrillo Lane, with paid utilities in exchange for work performance at the park.
In 2007, a vacancy occurred in the resident caretaker position. After consideration and review of
the existing staff resident caretaker program with the Assistant City Manager, Finance Director,
Parks & Recreation Director, City Attorney, Human Resources Manager, and Carlsbad City
Employee Association representatives, the city decided to fill the vacancy with an independent
contractor rather than a full-time city employee -to maximize work performance and realize
cost savings at the park.
In exchange for an estimated 25-30 hours of site-specific park maintenance and "eyes and ears"
security work each week, the city elected to compensate the independent contract or by
permitting the conditional use and occupancy of the residence located at the park, in addition to
a $5000 annual stipend to offset potential tax implications as the result of the city's required
reporting of the appraised value of lodging to the IRS and State Franchise Tax Board.
Since 2007, there have been t hree couples, each independent contractors, that have served the
city as resident caretakers at Leo Carrillo Ranch Historic Park. Peter and Nora Whitley have
served as resident caretakers since May 3, 2017, and currently reside onsite.
Community Services
Parks & Recreation
799 Pine Ave, Suite 200 I Carlsbad, CA 92008 I 442-339-2826 t
Council Memo -Leo Carrillo Ranch Historic Park Resident Caretaker Program (District 3)
July 6, 2023
Page 2
Discussion
The agreement for independent contractor resident caretaker services expired on May 3, 2022.
Since that time, Peter and Nora Whitley have served as volunteer resident caretakers while the
city evaluated changes in state law regarding independent contractors.
Staff worked with the City Attorney's Office to research the history of the program and the
current best practices, and to ultimately update the existing resident caretaker agreement. The
updated agreement will also include an acknowledgement of volunteer status and a volunteer
waiver and release.
Next Steps
The city and the current caretakers will execute the updated agreement for provision of onsite
(live in) resident volunteer caretaker services at Leo Carrillo Ranch Historic Park. The current
services providers, Peter and Nora Whitley, will not be changing.
cc: Scott Chadwick, City Manager
Cindie McMahon, City Attorney
Allegra Frost, Assistant City Attorney
Mick Calarco, Recreation Services Manager
Todd Reese, Parks Services Manager
Bonnie Elliott, Senior Management Analyst
Majka Penner, Senior Program Manager