Heads Ups for City Council Meeting
on Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2011
1. The Council Meeting for Dec. 27 has been cancelled so this will be the last council meeting this year.
2. The New Mayor and new Mayor Pro-Tem will be elected by vote of the City Council Members.
3. Mayor Songstad will receive an plaque for being Mayor in 2011and council members will congratulate him and each other for the jobs they have all done in 2011.
4. The City Manager will give his Year End Report.
5. Council Member Kogerman has authored a PROPOSED REVISION OF THE CONSTITUTION AND TIMING OF MEETINGS OF PLANNING AGENCY/COMMISSION. that will be presented at the end of the meeting.
Council Member Kogerman's RECOMMENDATION IS THAT THE CITY COUNCIL DIRECT STAFF TO RETURN WITH PROPOSALS FOR: (1) ABOLISHING THE CURRENT "PLANNING AGENCY" WHOSE MEMBERS COMPRISE THE SITTING MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL; INSTEAD (2) ESTABLISHING IN ITS PLACE A "PLANNING COMMISSION" COMPRISING QUALIFIED RESIDENTS APPOINTED BY THE CITY COUNCIL AND OUTLINING VARIOUS OPTIONS FOR SELECTION OF PLANNING COMMISSIONERS, THEIR NUMBER, DUTIES, RESPONSIBILITIES, TERMS OF OFFICE AND SCOPE OF POWERS; (3) ESTABLISHING A MEETING TIME OF THE PROPOSED PLANNING COMMISSION SEPARATE FROM THE TIME OF CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS; AND (4) ESTIMATING THE ASSOCIATED COSTS IF ANY, OF ESTABLISHING AND MAINTAINING A PLANNING COMMISSION TO REPLACE THE EXISTING PLANNING AGENCY
Council Member Kogerman's Reasoning for this proposal is: The Planning Agency was intended to be temporary, not permanent. When the City was incorporated on December 20, 1991, the following item was approved: Consent Calendar, Item 18: “Urgency Ordinance No. 9, establishing an Interim Planning Agency and appointing the City Council Members as the members thereof.” “Interim” means “temporary, provisional, acting, short-term, pro tem, or intervening.” Its antonym is “permanent.” Yet this “interim” Planning Agency has been in place for the past 20 years.
An Independent Planning Commission is by far the most common planning decision-making body among Orange County cities. Of Orange County’s 34 cities, only Aliso Viejo, Cypress, Laguna Hills, Laguna Woods, La Palma and Villa Park do not currently have a Planning Commission. Aliso Viejo suspended its Planning Commission in 2009 because of minimal planning needs in the foreseeable future and currently follows the Laguna Hills model of planning issues coming before the City Council acting as Planning Agency. The City of Laguna Woods has no commissions but does have a Land Use and Design Review Committee. Its duties appear to be similar to those of a typical Planning Commission; it makes recommendations to the City Council Planning Commission comprising City Council Members. The City of La Palma has a Planning Committee similar to that in Laguna Woods. It makes recommendations to the City Council, which acts as a Planning Commission.
The remaining 28 Orange County Cities, regardless of size, have independent Planning Commissions. City Council members in these cities, while retaining ultimate authority over planning issues when Commission decisions go through an appeals process, are willing to share their authority with qualified Planning Commissioners appointed by the City Council. Foreseeable planning needs will require increased focus on planning issues beyond those the City has dealt with in the past. Laguna Hills is faced with aging commercial centers with increasing needs for refurbishing. Local “strip centers” have completed or begun efforts at modernization.Plans are already forming for major revisions to the Laguna Hills Mall, Oakbrook Village, and the Urban Village area. Centers at Cabot Road and at La Paz/Moulton have considerable needs for upgrading and modernization, among others. It is no longer true that there is no need for an independent Planning Commission based on lack of future projects.
Now that Term Limits have been established in the City, a “succession plan” is needed to provide a proving ground and training process for future City Council members. In other cities, a Planning Commission often fulfills this role. Planning Commissioners typically become familiar with major issues affecting a city’s economic
and aesthetic development. While the Parks and Recreation Commission and Traffic Commission also grapple with important matters, they are low-profile, strictly advisory,
and deal with issues that are generally amenable to short-range solutions. Planning Commissions help create the future city and thereby become more prepared to serve in
an elected capacity and provide continuity to city governance.
1. The Council Meeting for Dec. 27 has been cancelled so this will be the last council meeting this year.
2. The New Mayor and new Mayor Pro-Tem will be elected by vote of the City Council Members.
3. Mayor Songstad will receive an plaque for being Mayor in 2011and council members will congratulate him and each other for the jobs they have all done in 2011.
4. The City Manager will give his Year End Report.
5. Council Member Kogerman has authored a PROPOSED REVISION OF THE CONSTITUTION AND TIMING OF MEETINGS OF PLANNING AGENCY/COMMISSION. that will be presented at the end of the meeting.
Council Member Kogerman's RECOMMENDATION IS THAT THE CITY COUNCIL DIRECT STAFF TO RETURN WITH PROPOSALS FOR: (1) ABOLISHING THE CURRENT "PLANNING AGENCY" WHOSE MEMBERS COMPRISE THE SITTING MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL; INSTEAD (2) ESTABLISHING IN ITS PLACE A "PLANNING COMMISSION" COMPRISING QUALIFIED RESIDENTS APPOINTED BY THE CITY COUNCIL AND OUTLINING VARIOUS OPTIONS FOR SELECTION OF PLANNING COMMISSIONERS, THEIR NUMBER, DUTIES, RESPONSIBILITIES, TERMS OF OFFICE AND SCOPE OF POWERS; (3) ESTABLISHING A MEETING TIME OF THE PROPOSED PLANNING COMMISSION SEPARATE FROM THE TIME OF CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS; AND (4) ESTIMATING THE ASSOCIATED COSTS IF ANY, OF ESTABLISHING AND MAINTAINING A PLANNING COMMISSION TO REPLACE THE EXISTING PLANNING AGENCY
Council Member Kogerman's Reasoning for this proposal is: The Planning Agency was intended to be temporary, not permanent. When the City was incorporated on December 20, 1991, the following item was approved: Consent Calendar, Item 18: “Urgency Ordinance No. 9, establishing an Interim Planning Agency and appointing the City Council Members as the members thereof.” “Interim” means “temporary, provisional, acting, short-term, pro tem, or intervening.” Its antonym is “permanent.” Yet this “interim” Planning Agency has been in place for the past 20 years.
An Independent Planning Commission is by far the most common planning decision-making body among Orange County cities. Of Orange County’s 34 cities, only Aliso Viejo, Cypress, Laguna Hills, Laguna Woods, La Palma and Villa Park do not currently have a Planning Commission. Aliso Viejo suspended its Planning Commission in 2009 because of minimal planning needs in the foreseeable future and currently follows the Laguna Hills model of planning issues coming before the City Council acting as Planning Agency. The City of Laguna Woods has no commissions but does have a Land Use and Design Review Committee. Its duties appear to be similar to those of a typical Planning Commission; it makes recommendations to the City Council Planning Commission comprising City Council Members. The City of La Palma has a Planning Committee similar to that in Laguna Woods. It makes recommendations to the City Council, which acts as a Planning Commission.
The remaining 28 Orange County Cities, regardless of size, have independent Planning Commissions. City Council members in these cities, while retaining ultimate authority over planning issues when Commission decisions go through an appeals process, are willing to share their authority with qualified Planning Commissioners appointed by the City Council. Foreseeable planning needs will require increased focus on planning issues beyond those the City has dealt with in the past. Laguna Hills is faced with aging commercial centers with increasing needs for refurbishing. Local “strip centers” have completed or begun efforts at modernization.Plans are already forming for major revisions to the Laguna Hills Mall, Oakbrook Village, and the Urban Village area. Centers at Cabot Road and at La Paz/Moulton have considerable needs for upgrading and modernization, among others. It is no longer true that there is no need for an independent Planning Commission based on lack of future projects.
Now that Term Limits have been established in the City, a “succession plan” is needed to provide a proving ground and training process for future City Council members. In other cities, a Planning Commission often fulfills this role. Planning Commissioners typically become familiar with major issues affecting a city’s economic
and aesthetic development. While the Parks and Recreation Commission and Traffic Commission also grapple with important matters, they are low-profile, strictly advisory,
and deal with issues that are generally amenable to short-range solutions. Planning Commissions help create the future city and thereby become more prepared to serve in
an elected capacity and provide continuity to city governance.
Holding Planning Commission meetings separate from City Council meetings is citizen-friendly. Residents who attend City Council Meetings usually attend to address specific issues that are non-planning related. City Council meetings are frequently bogged down in lengthy planning discussions of little interest to citizens who have attended to provide feedback on matters of greater interest to them. In the current Agenda structure, those matters are not addressed until after the Planning Agency meeting is adjourned. A separate time for Planning Commission meetings could increase attendance at City Council meetings and thereby increase both valuable citizen input to assist City Council members in their deliberations and improved citizen understanding of how and why City Council decisions are reached.
6. There will be another Closed Session with a Labor Negotiator to continue to discuss Terms and Conditions of the City Manager's Employment Agreement and the City Manager's Annual Employee Performance Evaluation that determines his bonus for the year.
6. There will be another Closed Session with a Labor Negotiator to continue to discuss Terms and Conditions of the City Manager's Employment Agreement and the City Manager's Annual Employee Performance Evaluation that determines his bonus for the year.
2 comments:
I think this is a great idea. I have never liked the current
Council/Planning situation because there is no way to appeal a planning
decision.
I was, and maybe still am, going to try and make the City Council meeting
tonight but I've been fighting a flu bug for over a week so am not sure.
Anyway, if I'm not there please feel free to share my feelings with Barbara.
I don't attend many city council meetings but can somebody answer, was I at a real City Council Meeting last night or recess at kindergarten, because the 4 old council members basically told the new one, "If you can't play like we play you can't play in our sandbox." I voted for the new one and I still remember that she got more votes than anyone running in the 2010 election but the others ignored all those votes and voters to do things their way. I couldn't believe I was hearing that!! One of them made a comment that the voters would forget what he said by the next election. I don't think so, 2012 is another election year and I won't forget this. Oh, and what was with that "celebration" before the council meeting that was supposed to celebrate 20 years of being a city with one cake and some coffee and water and no citizens? There was almost nobody there and the people I talked to didn't know it was happening so apparently the city council didn't want to share their celebration. Did they want to keep all the cake for themselves? What is going on at City Hall???
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