CITY OF LA HABRA HEIGHTS

 

MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING OF

 

LA HABRA HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL

 

OCTOBER 13, 2005

 

 

CLOSED SESSION

 

PERSONNEL

 

A.   PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION PER G. C. 54957

 

TITLE: All City Employees

 

OPENING CEREMONIES

 

1.              CALL MEETING TO ORDER

 

Mayor Douglas called the October 13, 2005 Special City Council Meeting to order at 7:24 p.m. at the Community Center, 1245 Hacienda Road, La Habra Heights, California. Mayor Douglas noted that they just returned from Closed Session and no reportable action was taken.

 

2.         ROLL CALL

 

            Those present: Mayor Douglas, Mayor Pro Tem Millsap, Councilmembers Bergman, Carroll and Klein. Also present: Interim City Manager James Ruth.

 

3.              FLAG SALUTE

 

Mayor Douglas led the flag salute.

 

Mayor Douglas introduced Jim Ruth, the Interim City Manager.

 

PUBLIC COMMENTS ON MATTERS ON THE AGENDA

 

            Stephen Blagden, Citron Road, commented that the City is in good shape financially and with frugal spending will stay so, however, some departments need monitoring. As an example the City Engineer stated that they do not review some plans and reports if they are signed and sealed by a licensed Engineer, as they assume they are correct. He noted that they are paid to verify. Mr. Blagden commented that the Fire Department and Sheriff Department are the two biggest items in the City Budget but there is limited oversight. In order to know if they have the right equipment and manpower, the City Manager needs to know what they do, who does it, when it gets done and how. The City Manager needs to sometimes read staff reports, look over building plans, attend Commission and Committee Meetings, spend some time at the Planning counter and the Fire Department. Everyone should be required to read, understand and follow the General Plan as a condition of employment. Mr. Blagden stated that most of our planning and engineering problems would have been avoided if Staff had followed the General Plan. The General Plan was written by residents with numerous public meeting for resident input over several years.

 

            Jerry Shipman, Dorothea Road, stated that we have to get someone who cares about the website. It had the wrong meeting starting time for tonight. Mr. Shipman stated that the road repair is six or seven months behind this year. Potholes need to be filled and it is extremely important that the berms are fixed. Please help us to get some work done.

            Mayor Douglas commented that progress is being made on the website. The new Interim City Manager has jumped into the Public Works because he knows winter is coming.

 

            Mr. Shipman invited the Interim City Manager to the Public Works Committee Meeting on Tuesday.

 

            Mike Bagwell, Dorothea Road, asked that some priority be given to the project at 707 Dorothea. He stated that this has been going on for almost three years. Mr. Bagwell noted that he had written a letter for the Council and in it he listed the sections of the Code where we didn’t meet the minimum standards in the last project review and evaluation of 707 Dorothea. Mr. Bagwell stated that the City Attorney had asked him to explicitly say what he thought was done wrong. The City asked me to come and help determine what the pre-existing condition was for that property and I did. Someone forgot to tell the City Engineer. The City Engineer knew nothing about why I’m there. The City Engineer didn’t seem to understand “pre-existing condition” or why we needed that. He thought the project was progressing fine. Mr. Bagwell stated that he would like to see the project move along with it’s new owner. He noted that all he is asking is that we do the minimal acceptable standard of Engineering and Grading so the hill doesn’t slide down. The City says they have immunity. We need to do this properly. Mr. Bagwell asked that the Interim City Manager provide this leadership.

 

            Mayor Douglas assured Mr. Bagwell that the Interim City Manager has been looking into 707 Dorothea.

 

            Davida Pearson, Alternate Commissioner for Parks and Recreation, explained that there is going to be a City sponsored event this Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. We have 26 sponsors with about 63 raffle prizes. We have 45 cars that are pre registered and that number will probably double on the day of the event. Ms. Pearson invited the City Council to come to the event and we will acknowledge you and you can give out trophies.

 

            Mayor Douglas closed the Public Comment.

 

NEW BUSINESS

 

4.         DISCUSSION AND ESTABLISHMENT OF PRIORITIES FOR INTERIM CITY MANAGER

 

            Mayor Douglas commented that the City Manager has met all of the Staff, done investigation into ongoing projects and issues and he asked that City Manager Ruth give his view of the priorities for his work here.

 

            City Manager Ruth thanked the Mayor and Council and noted that he appreciated the Public input. He commented that the Council has given him direction in many areas to address pending issues in the City and he will be working with Staff diligently to be more responsive to those issues. We will try to resolve as many issues as possible.

 

            Mr. Ruth commented that his priority will be to look at Organizational Structure of the City and how we deliver services. My priority will be Reorganization of the Structure and look at how we can deliver services particularly in Development, how we deliver those services more efficiently, effectively and responsibly. We want a long-term fix on these issues. We will be addressing issues including Planning, Engineering and Code Enforcement. Many of these items have to be addressed right away. He committed that he would do everything in his power to be responsive to those concerns and issues and at the same time to come up with a Structure that everyone would be comfortable with.

 

            Mayor Douglas noted that at the same time as he is doing this, he has to do the many every day matters of running the many parts of the City.

 

            Commissioner Carroll noted that it was a good summary.

 

            Commissioner Klein asked if they were going to discuss two applications looking for personnel.

 

            City Manager Ruth stated that they would not do that right now. He noted that he will bring it back to the Council when he looks at the impact on the Organization to make sure the work is covered and have the people in place to work, he will make the decision then.

 

5.         DISCUSSION AND ESTABLISHMENT OF FUTURE MEETING DATES

 

            Commissioner Carroll noted that we have a meeting next week and then about three weeks till our next one and suggested that we deal with this issue in the month of November about establishing future meeting dates.

 

            Mayor Douglas clarified that we will have a meeting on October 20 and then another meeting on November 10 and around Holiday time we will have had time to look at your calendars and Mr. Ruth will have time to meet with full Council regularly.

 

            Commissioner Klein stated that they could just play it by ear.

 

COUNCIL COMMENTS

 

            Commissioner Carroll commented that someone from Huff’s office has placed information on the table at the back of the room such as Child Identification Kits, West Nile Virus, Identity Theft and other pamphlets.

 

CONTINUED PUBLIC COMMENTS ON ITEMS ON THE AGENDA

 

            No Public Comments were made.

 

ADJOURNMENT

 

            Mayor Douglas adjourned the Special City Council Meeting at 7:42 p.m. to the next Meeting.

 

            ATTEST:

 

 

 

            ______________________________

            CITY CLERK, JAMES RUTH