12-19-1973 - Regular Meeting - MinutesMINUTES OF THE ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL
CITY OF WEST COVINA, CALIFORNIA
DECEMBER 19, 1973.
The adjourned regular meeting of the City Council called to order at
4:30 P.M. in the West Covina Council Chambers by Mayor Jim Lloyd.
The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Councilman Ken Chappell.
ROLL CALL -
Present: Mayor Lloyd; Councilmen: ,Young, Shearer,
Chappell
Absent: Councilman Russ Nichols
Others Present: George Aiassa, City Manager
Lela Preston, City Clerk,
George Wakefield, City Attorney
Ken Larson, Administrative Analyst, Jr.
Mark Volmert, Administrative Analyst, Jr.
Mike McDonnell, Staff Reporter - S.G.V.D.T.
George Zimmerman, Public Service Director
Leonard Eliot, Controller
Mieh'ael' Miller, Plannhg Director
CONSENT CALENDAR
Mayor Lloyd explained the procedure of the Consent Calendar and asked
if there were comments on any of the following items:
1. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS
a) JOSEPH S. PROVENZA Re when Vincent Avenue will be repaired.
1053 N. Marbury St., (Refer to staff for follow-up)
WestCovina
b) WEST COVINA CITY Re rescheduling of Open Examination for
EMPLOYEES ASSOC., Tree Trimmer Leadman to Promotional only.
(Refer to staff and City Attorney)
2. CLAIM FOR DAMAGES FILED WITH CITY CLERK:,
Robert I.Kronick on behalf of Anthony L. and Christopher S. Finch,
minors, in connection with death of father, Merritt Donald Finch,
on or about 9/14/73. (Deny and.,.refer to City Attorney and
Insurance Carrier)
3. ACCEPTANCE OF SIDEWALK
IMPROVEMENTS & RELEASE
OF BOND
PRECISE PLAN OF DESIGN LOCATION: Northwest corner Glendora
#k640 Avenue and West Covina Parkway
ACCEPT sidewalk, driveway approach and
curb and gutter improvements and
authorize release of cash deposit in
the amount of $2,000. (Staff recommends
acceptance and release)
4. ABC APPLICATIONS Chief of Police recommends NO PROTEST.
Francis A. Hubert dba Woodland Ranch Market
1838 Valinda, 522 E. Vine Avenue
La Puente
Mr. Joe Woodford, Staff Representative of the California League of
Cities, Employee Associations, here representing the W.C.C.E.A.,
stated he was interested in Item l(b); Mayor Lloyd suggested Item ..;'
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CITY COUNCIL
CONSENT CALENDAR
Page Two
12/19/73
1(b) be discussed after the approval of the Consent Calendar items.
Motion by Councilman Shearer, seconded by Councilman Young, that the
Consent Calendar items be approved with the exception of Item 1 (b).
Motion passed on roll call vote as follows:
AYES: Young, Shearer, Chappell, Lloyd
NOES:. None
ABSENT: Nichols
Mr. Woodford Mr. Mayor and members of Council. I
CLOCEA trust you all have copies of the
letter sent to you. (Mayor advised
they had.) Essentially what this relates to is that an examination
has been scheduled for the position of Tree Trimmer Leadman and the
examination is scheduled as an Open/Competitive examination and we
feel the City should conduct a closed Promotional examination. We
feel that this item, as provided for in the Municipal Code, should
properly go back to the Personnel Board for approval and while this
is taking place the examination should be held in somewhat of a
limbo state until it is decided whether it should be an Open/Competitive
or a closed Promotional, or the two combined examinations, which are
the three types provided for in the Municipal Code.
The real contention here is the
examination. The code provides examinations may be specified by the
Personnel Officer with the approval of the Personnel Board as
Promotional Only or as Open only, or as both Open/Promotional. At the
present time we are not aware that this thing has ever gone to the
Board for consideration. It is our understanding it did not and we
feel the Personnel Board should have an opportunity to rule on this
and at the same time have the people present at the meeting present
their feelings on it. In order to prevent any undue hardships we
feel that the rest of the examination process should be held up until
this matter is resolved. Thank you.
Councilman Shearer: Mr. Mayor, I have a question. Item
No. 3 in the letter signed by Mr. Mayer,
stated there are a sufficient number of
fully qualified candidates. Can someone tell me, based on the job
classification we have attached here how many candidates would qualify
presently employed by'the City - approximately?
Mr. Woodford: At the present time the only ones I am
aware of are five candidates. That
indication was given to me by some of
the people out in the yards and they hadn't had an opportunity to find
out how many exactly would be qualified at this time. As you know
from the date of the letter we had to move very rapidly to get this
matter before the Council.
Councilman Shearer: That is close enough. Mr. Aiassa, with
regards to the personnel procedure - I
am not entirely familiar with the City's.
If you have an examination that is both Open/Promotional is there a
priority given to the Promotional list over the Open list?
Mr. Aiassa: This is the matter„the City Attorney
and I were discuss- ng° prior to the
Council meeting and this was the
suggestion of the City Attorney that we have an Open/Promotional
examination but we would have to value them both the same....
Councilman Shearer- I don't believe you have to, Mr. Aiassa,
because I am familiar with the State
ruling on this and the Promotional
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CITY COUNCIL Page Three
CONSENT CALENDAR 12/19/73
list always takes priority over the Open list and it apparently is
legal because we have been doing it for years. I don't know if that
is the City's ruling or notb.,at the.Promotional list has to be
cleared first even if the guy on the Open list has a score of 110
and a guy on the Promotional list has a score of 78, the 78 comes
first. What does the City Ordinance provide for?
41 Mr. Wakefield: Mr. Mayor and members of City Council,
the City's Ordinance generally accords
preference to the Promotional list in
the sense that list must be exhausted before the appointing authority
has the right to go to the Open list. It is the same as the State
rule; however under the provisions of the Municipal Code I think it is
possible as the Ordinance now stands with the approval of the
Personnel Board to have both an Open and Competitive examination and
a Promotional examination and in effect combine the lists. The other
way is also possible.
Councilman Shearer: Did the Personnel Board review and
approve this?
Mr. Wakefield: Councilman Shearer, it is my understand-
ing that they did not.
Councilman Shearer: Would that in your opinion then be a
violation of Section 2418 of the
Municipal Code?
Mr. Wakefield: Yes, at least as a minimum in'connection
with this particular examination that the
matter needs to go back to the Personnel
Board for review and consideration.
Motion by Councilman Shearer that this matter go back to the Personnel
Board and that the examination filing date be held open until such
time as the Personnel Board makes their ruling. Seconded by
Councilman Young.
Mayor Lloyd: Any discussion? I have a question.
Actually then what you are saying,
Mr. Wakefield, is that this is not a
debatable issue, what they are asking for is what they should have
gotten in the first place?
Mr. Wakefield: Insofar as the approval of the
Personnel Board as to whether the
examination should be Promotional, or
Open/Promotional, the Personnel Board should have considered the
matter and either approved or disapproved the staff recommendation.
Mayor Lloyd: And even though the Personnel Board
may hold a recruitment examination
and they find someone that scores
higher than the one already hired the person hired takes precedence?
The way I interpret this is that they have asked that consideration
be given primarily or first to those eligible already hired by the
• City prior to going to an Open recruitment?
Mr. Wakefield: Yes, that is correct.
Mayor Lloyd: And according to what you said and the
way I understood what you said, that is
what we have to do anyhow under our
Ordinance - is that true?
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CITY COUNCIL Page Four
CONSENT CALENDAR 12/19/73
Mr. Wakefield: Under our Ordinance ass.it now stands the
Personnel Of.fider:may recommend either a
Promotional examination exclusively, an
Open/Promotional or an ,;Open competitive examination, as an appropriate
procedure with reference :to trrc'~-':-- ',ling of a. particular class of
vacancies. The Personnel Board has the opportunity to review that
recommendation and to either approve or disapprove before the
examination is actually given. Now what has happened thus far is the
examination has been scheduled as an Open/Competitive examination on
the basis apparently that there are not sufficient qualified candidates
within the existing City service to obtain a suitable eligible list on
a promotional basis. However, under our Ordinance this matter should
have been reviewed by the Personnel Board and either approved or
disapproved before the examination was actually scheduled. The motion
that has been proposed comports to the requirements of our existing
Ordinance.
Mr. Aiassa: Mr. Mayor, may I add a word? I think the
important thing in this matter when it
goes to the Personnel Board is that at the
NAACP meeting we had minority representation, and as Council recalls
we discussed this matter and that this is part of our Personnel Rules
and Regulations, so when the times came for competitive examinations
the minority people would have an opportunity to apply and this is one
of the elements that brought about the Open/Competitive examination.
I would like the record to show that this is one of the areas that I
think we could be criticized on, having a closed examination, if one
minority race is not represented.
Councilman Shearer: That is a point well taken, Mr. Aiassa;
however, the code still says that
decision is left up to the Personnel
Board, and I think that is the contention right here, the Board didn't
make that decision someone else did and the code doesn't provide for
that someone else to make it. .If the Personnel Board comes to the
same conclusion based; -on the staff report, which may very well include
your suggestion and I am sure Mr. Woodford will be present to present
the other side of the picture, and if they still make the same
decision at least the due process has fully taken place and that
really is all my motion was intended to do. If we change the
Ordinance - fine, then maybe next time around the matter won't have
to go to the Board if we make that change.
Mayor Lloyd: As I understand it, we must now consider
these five people, if there are indeed
five, prior to anyone else, so long as
all qualify and if that being the case then there would be a vacancy
which if we are talking about minority groups would be afforded to
them also. I don't know - I am actually just speculating and I guess
I shouldn't be doing that.
Motion carried'on roll call vote as follows:
AYES: Young, Shearer, Chappell, Lloyd
NOES: None
ABSENT: 'Nichols
iCITY ATTORNEY
RESOLUTION NO. 4817 The City Attorney presented:
ADOPTED "A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF WEST COVINA AUTHORIZING THE
EXECUTION OF CRIME LAB LEASE OF SPACE
BETWEEN THE CITY OF WEST COVINA AND THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE."
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CITY COUNCIL Page Five
City Attorney - Cont'd. 12/19/73
Mr. Wakefield: Mr. Mayor, and members of the Council,
the City Council approved the lease with
the State Department of Justice some
months ago and it now turns out the State requires an adoption of
a Resolution approving the leasing.
• Motion by Councilman Shearer, seconded by Councilman Chappell and
carried, to waive further reading of said Resolution.
Motion by Councilman Shearer, seconded by Councilman Chappell, to
adopt said Resolution and carried on roll call vote as follows:
AYES: Young, Shearer, Chappell, Lloyd
NOES: None
ABSENT: Nichols
MAYOR'S REPORTS
Mayor Lloyd: The only item I have is with regard to
the Youth Advisory Commission. We are
ready to go with our Youth Commission.
As you know we made certain changes which are being incorporated with
regard to Juniors and 'Seniors, etc., and now we need to readvertise
and will be ready to consider applicants by mid -January. We will have
the new Ordinance ready for submission and resolution on the 14th of
January. I think we ought to make preparation at this time for
interviews with the candidates. What is your pleasure gentlemen,
assuming we will adopt the Resolution on the 14th.
(Council discussed further; Mayor Lloyd asked if it were necessary
to pass the Resolution prior to interviewing the candidates.)
is Mr. Wakefield: The resolution will be effective upon
its adoption; so if it is adopted on the
meeting of the 14th of January then anytime thereafter
or even that meeting you could go ahead and make the
appointments.
(Council discussed manner of interviewing and date; at present there
are 17 to be interviewed with the list possibly increasing; Mr. Aiassa
suggested the interviews might be handled on Monday, January 21 and the
appointments made on January 28th. Councilmen were not all available
for January 21; decided on January 16 and 17th starting at 4:30 P.M.)
THE CHAIR RECESSED THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING AT 4:55 P.M., FOR THE
PURPOSE OF CONDUCTING THE REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY MEETING ._
THE PARKING AUTHORITY MEETING. CITY COUNCIL RECONVENED AT 5:07 P.M.
COUNCILMEN'S REPORTS/COMMENTS
APPROVE ATTENDANCE Motion by .Councilman Shearer, seconded by
AT LABOR RELATIONS Councilman Young, to approve expenditure of
INSTITUTE $150.00 for Councilman Chappell to attend
the Labor Relations :Institute in San Diego.
Motion carried on roll call vote as follows:
AYES: Young, Shearer, Chappell, Lloyd
NOES: None
ABSENT: Nichols
• Councilman Chappell: Mr. Mayor, it has been our pleasure in the
past to recognize a Sierra League Champion
in football or other sports if it comes from the City of West Covina.
South Hills High School won the Sierra League Championship with a
9 to 0 record and I think we should prepare the appropriate resolution
and present to their team and head coach as we have done in the past,
and I so move and that it be perma plaqued.
/1`�
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CITY COUNCIL Page Six
Councilmen's Reports/Comments 12/19/73
Seconded by Councilman -Young and carried on
roll call vote as follows:
AYES: Young, Shearer, Chappell, Lloyd
NOES: None
ABSENT: Nichols
Councilman Shearer: Mr. Mayor, I have two items. Both of these
will require investigation and report back
by staff. Number 1 - a situation has been
pointed out to me and I have passed it every day for the past number
of years but actually never noticed it - at Cameron and Holly Place
a half street with a vacant piece of property next to it - waiting
for the street to be widened when the property is developed.
It creates a rather difficult situation, there is hardly room for
one car, and a problem particularly in the rainy season to get in
and out and it is rather a main access into a large residential
tract. I would like a report back from staff as to what could be
done in the way of getting that street widened. I am not concerned
at this time with Cameron, Cameron is also shy of curbs in that
location but at least it has adequate width to move traffic on.
And number two, the investigation of some
modification on our traffic signals in town. .This is with regard
to the energy crisis. My suggestion includes deletion where possible
of pedestrian signals, also the possibility of signals at certain
times operating in flash rather than constant operation which would
cut the consumption of electricity in about half. I would like a
report back on those two items.
Councilman Young:
they went on
school that
by the Mayor
Mayor Lloyd:
to win
defeated
to the
Councilman Young:
A couple of things. I think it would be
nice if the Mayor wrote a letter of
congratulations to Los Altos High School,
the CIF play off,: and South Hills is the only
Los Altos all year I think a nice letter
champions would be very appropriate.
alongthat line is being
tions open with Covina
way in all three areas
Mr. Aiassa:
Councilman Chappell:
started by now but it
our next meeting.
• ADJOURNMENT
Without objection I will take care of it.
(no objections)
I noticed an article in the Tribune about
Covina moving apparently into paramedics.
I trust that our own statement of intent
implemented and that we are keeping communica-
and Azusa hopefully to get this program under-
- is that going on, Mr. Aiassa?
Yes. I will have a progress report for you.
One further request, Mr. -Mayor. I would like
to have the information on the widening of
Citrus near Cortez. I thought it was to be
hasn't been so I would like a report on it at
Christmas Eve; and that
December 24th to declare
regular meeting would be
(The City Attorney stated it would be
appropriate to adjourn to the next regular
meeting of January 14, 1974, due to the fact
the regular meeting of December 24th fell on
the City Clerk or someone could be present on
that due to the lack of a quorum the next
January 141 1974.)
CITY COUNCIL
Adjournment
Page Seven
12/19/73
Motion by Councilman Shearer, seconded by
Councilman Chappell and carried, to adjourn this meeting at
5:15 P.M. to January 14, 1974.
•
ATTEST:
CITY CLERK
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APPROVED:
MAYOR