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03-09-1976 - Regular Meeting - Minutes• CJ MINUTES OF THE ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL CITY OF WEST COVINA, CALIFORNIA MARCH 9, 1976 The adjourned regular meeting of the City Council was called to order at 7:35 P.M. in the Council Chambers by Mayor Pro Tem Nevin Browne; the Pledge of Allegiance was given. Mayor Pro Tem Browne advised that Mayor Chappell was sorry that he was unable to attend tonight's meeting but due to a previous important meeting he could not attend and would be sworn in by The City Clerk on Wednesday morning. ROLL CALL Present: Absent: Mayor Pro Tem Browne; Councilmen: Shearer, Miller, Tice Mayor Chappell Others Present: Leonard Eliot, Acting City Manager Lela W. Preston, City Clerk George Wakefield, City Attorney Gloria Davidson, Deputy City Clerk CERTIFICATION OF RESULTS OF GENERAL MUNICIPAL ELECTION March 2, 1976 Mayor Pro Tem Browne: Madam City Clerk, do you have the Certificate of Canvass of the results of the General Municipal Election on March 2, 1976. Madam City Clerk: Yes, I do. (Council presented with copies) Motion by Councilman Shearer, seconded by Councilman Miller and carried, to receive and file Certificate of Canvass, and said Certificate to be made a part of these minutes. RESOLUTION NO. 5203 Mayor Pro Tem Browne presented: ADOPTED A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WEST COVINA, CALIFORNIA, RECITING THE FACT OF THE GENERAL MUNICIPAL ELECTION HELD IN SAID CITY OF WEST COVINA ON THE 2ND DAY OF MARCH, 1976, DECLARING THE RESULT THEREOF AND SUCH OTHER MATTERS AS ARE PROVIDED BY LAW. Motion by Councilman Tice to waive full reading of said resolution; seconded by Councilman Shearer and carried. Motion by Councilman Tice to adopt said resolution; seconded by Councilman Shearer and carried on roll call vote as follows: AYES: Shearer, Miller, Tice, Browne NOES: None ABSENT: Chappell ADMINISTRATION OF OATHS OF Mayor Pro Tem Browne administered the Oath of OFFICE AND SEATING OF Office to the re-elected City Clerk Lela Preston, RE-ELECTED COUNCIL MEMBERS and delivered to her the Certificate of Election. Mayor Pro Tem Browne then called to the podium the re-elected members of the City Council. The City Clerk administered the Oaths of Office to the re-elected Councilmen Tice and Miller and delivered Certificates of Election to the re-elected members of the City Council. They were congratulated by Mayor Pro Tem Browne. The City Clerk administered the Oath of Office to the re-elected City Treasurer Yvonne Calmes and delivered Certificate of Election to her. -1- CITY COUNCIL ADJ. REG. MEETING Page Two ADITTN`I'SlTRAT`ION "OF 'OATHS OF OFFICE 3/9/76 Mayor Pro Tem Browne: As I stated earlier, Councilman Chappell will be sworn in by the City Clerk sometime tomorrow morning. The Mayor asked me to offer his regrets in his not being here, he was very sorry he could not. Last night we gave the Mayor a send—off • and the accolades that go along with the job. As you all know, Mayor Chappell has done an out'standin'g job for our community. He is always out there selling West Covina and talking West -Covina and doing everything in his power to make West Covina a better place to live in. I think everyone of us sitting up here tonight have that same feeling, we may show it in different ways, but we are duly elected by the people of West Covina to represent them acid in our efforts we hope we rightfully do so. My pleasure in working with this Council over the last two years has been an extremely easy one and when I say "easy" I mean in the manner in which the gentlemen i sit with up here conduct themselves. We work hard and we have pretty rough decisions to make'. We might not always think alike but we certainly get the job done. We resolve what differences of opinion we may have in.a gentlemanly manner and that is the way I hope the. City will continue to function through their representatives. At this time I will turn the meeting over to the City Clerk for the purpose of selecting a new -Mayor. Hopefully who ever is chosen will follow in the footsteps, of our present Mayor. `I made the remark last night "I hope the guy that succeeds you will do half as good a job." City Clerk: Gentlemen, this is the time when I open the nominations for Mayor. Councilman Shearer: I would like to make a nomination. • As Mayor Pro Ten Browne has indicated, anyone who is elected to follow in the steps of outgoing Mayor Chappell will have a tough job; however he Will grow very rapidly I know. I don't think there will be any appreciable letdown between the two gentlemen. I reflect .back to a.couple off' years ago when Nevin and I were down there stumbling through the oath of,office trying to keep all those big words straight and wishing there was some simpler way, and in the past two years together we have made great progress, grown, learned and I think this gentleman is more than capable. He is ready, willing and .1 know, able to step into Ken's shoes and lead this. C.ou.nci`l".for. the next year. It is my pleasure to nominate for _May.or for -th.e next year Mayor Pro Tem Browne. Seconded .by Councilman Tice. As there were no more nominations,-for'Mayor>;.the'City-Clerk. closed' nominations for Mayor,. -- Motion by Councilman Shearer to accept the nomination for Mayor by acclamation; seconded by Councilman Tice and,carried on roll call vote as follows: AYES: Shearer, Miller, Tice, Browne NOES: None A.8.SE-NT: Chappell • Mayor Browne: I would like to thank my colleagues for placing their trust in me as their representative but I still bear in mind -we are all equals as City Councilmen. The Mayor represents the City Council and the City at City functions. The Mayor is the front line on many occasions but he still receives direction from the Council and that is what makes it a good working body. - 2 — CITY COUNCIL Page Three CITY COUNCIL NOMINATIONS 3/9/76 Again, gentlemen, I hope I do well and do a job that will justify my City. At this time we will go through the due. -process of e-lecting a new Mayor Pro Tem I will open the agenda f.or nominations for Mayor Pro Tem. • Councilman Tice: Mr. Mayor, I would like to nominate an individual that I have served with on Council for the past sixteen months and one I have known for quite sometime and a very dedicated and outstanding individual - Chet Shearer. Seconded by Mayor Browne. Mayor Browne: If there are no other nominations may, I have a motion for election by acclamation. Seconded by Councilman Miller and carried on roll call vote as follows: AYES: Shearer, Miller, Tice, Browne NOES: None ABSENT: Chappell Councilman Shearer: Mr. Mayor - first I would like to congratulate all of the winners of a week ago - Mrs. Preston, Mrs. Calmes, former Mayor Chappell, Councilman Miller and Councilman Tice. I would also like to congratulate the non,. winners who took time and effort to participate in our form of government. I think in this Bicentennial year it is important that we reflect over the past two hundred years and realize that perhaps the singular most important thing that has produced the strength and founda- tion that this Country is blessed with today is our system and not the least part of that system is our election process, the method in which we elect our leaders. Obviously when you have winners and non -winners there are some that are unhappy with the results but the system has seemed to work for the past two hundred years and whatever shortcomings inherent in any system it has still produced a great Country. So all participants, even those not here this evening sharing the spotlight, have contributed .a great deal to the great success.of this Country. I would also like to offer my best wishes and congratulations to Mayor Browne. I know he has all of our support for the coming year and I think the job that I have been selected -.for will be very simple primarily,because of the efforts of the.Mayor. I would like to thank my colleagues on the Council for affording me this honor. I think I would be less than honest if I claimed to be the most qualified individual for the job, I think there are others that are equally q-ual"f.ied,and perhaps in'some criteria more deserving of the honor. I.am appreciative that at least.one more time before my second term expires I will be afforded the honor of serving in this position. So once again torigra.tUAA_ions- to -the winners and non -winners alike. Councilman Miller: Mr. Mayor - it is truly an honor to • be sitting here this evening and I appreciate again the opportunity that the people of West Covina have afforded me. My personal congrattilatio.ns- on. your being the Mayor and also congratulations to, the mayor Pro Tem and to our former Mayor - Ken Chappell - on the fine job he has done. I am looking forward to an exciting four years on this Council as we move forward and meet o.ur challenges - 3 - CITY COUNCIL 36ge Four as we hgve in the past fifteen/sixteen months that I have been on the Council. For myself it is truly an honor to be serving with you gentlemen. I have gained a lot of insight and under- standing and growth and it is.du.e to your depth and understanding up here that we pulled. to.gethar and_want.fo.rward and made some wise decisions.. S.o again t.h.ank:..you.. • Councilman Tice: Thi's'is my third campaign in four years. I am truly' honored and very gratified -to be`re-elected to this Council, but with this honor goes a responsibility to the voters of this community to keep our local government in tune with the needs of its residents. During the upcoming months this Council is faced with some major decisions. We must first select a new city manager and we must approve a city operating budget for the coming fiscal year. T-hese a -re not easy tasks and will take time but as in the past we will complete these issues. During the last year I think we have seen some changes and most of them have been progressive changes. The opening of the Fashion Plaza, the opening of the New Country Mart, the completion of the freeway widening, the planning for our new multi -purpose recreational facility, the Citizen Work Shops - one for the updating of the General Plan, one for Senior Citizen needs and one for the needs of the handicapped and these we will continue on with in the next few years. We also approved a five year master plan for our Park and Recreational. facilities. And with some -recent changes they maybe completed and I think we will see some of these things come true - we may have some funding. This City must keep going in a positive direction in order to survive. Changes must be made in the future that will benefit the community as a whole. Our Park and Recreational facilities must be continually.upgraded. We need to improve traffic circulation • in and around our commercial areas. We must continue our citizen participation in the planning for the needs and the future of this city. We must be able to provide the necessary services for the citizens of this city with a realistic cost and the anticipated revenues. Last but not least, 'I think one of the biggest issues we have facing us is that we may have to do some belt tightening. Some of our sources of revenue will be drying up in the next year or two. Some of these special revenue funds that we use .to repair streets, pay our CCTA employees - and the fact that revenue sharing may not be continued, which we use for capital expenditures or one time expenditures. However, we have faced these problems in the past and I am sure we will be able to resolve them as we have in the past. At this time I would like to give some special recognition to the many wonderful people that helped me in the campaign. I do have a few that were directly involved and that I would like to give a few ac.cola.des to. My wife especially who was my strong right arm advisdr and kept me out of trouble; my youngest daughter Diane for her patience and understanding the past year that I serv,ed on the Council and especially the last few months during the campaign. My oldest daughter ffla,=I..� and her husband Dennis were very • understanding and helped in so many,many ways. My Campaign Committee - John Adams, General Chairman and his wife Phyllis who were willing to devote time to my campaign. Bob Nordstrom my Finance Chairman and his wife Bernice; Lorna Brammer, Defense Co-ordinator who helped set up coffee and many other things; T.raccy'Browne who was my Sign Chairman who had able -- 4 - • CITY COUNCIL Page Five 3/9/76 help from Dan Hughes, [dusty Morgan and'Dean Creager in putting up signs. My advisory committee who helped -me in many different ways - Lou and Nevin Browne, Ui & Chris Christopher, Alma 'and Henr.y Cabot, Jim and Doris Emerson, Kathy and Ray Howard, Fred and Lela Schroeder-, Lollie and Bert Bergman, Jim.Jackson and his wife, Bob Jackson.and Tat Jacks.on... In I will do my utmost to uphold Who. re-elected .me .to CD.uncil. closing I would like to say that the trust placed in me:by those Mayor'Browne: I think Herb'brought out a few points that a"few of us often do not go public with. Anybody in politics or public office, even elected officials within a City,'if it -were not for their wives, children and families we would not be able to survive. Their understanding, love and compassion, their pats on the back when we get down in the dump, their little pep talks keep us going. In my estimation they are the true champions behind the thrones of us that sit up there. I would like to thank my family for supporting me and putting up with some of the things they have had to, but all in all it makes for a better performance in the making of decisions when you have the faith of your loved ones behind you it is easy to do the job. I would like to congratulate the re- elected Councilmen. In the sixteen months -I have sat with Gary I have seen him grow-:inr:stature. He learns fast. He is quiet and'I.think Lie will be.hearing more from him in the future. This Council is going to --work together. And Herb Tice has had experience on the Personnel Board and came into office as a Councilman and he learned as all of us did that'the first year is really the roughest, sitting here and learning the ways of bureaucracy, trying to smooth out the problems that are always emerging upon you and as Herb stated we have -a lot of things staring us in the face, but I have confidence that this Council will see them through and make West Covina a better place to live in. Again I congratulate you Gary and Herb. It will be a pleasure sitting with you for the next two years when my term will be up. I have an additional item here which I certainly don't want to overlook. When I came aboard the Council I sat with Chet Shearer, we campaigned together, got to know each other and I have always admired the way he conducts himself. He has the City's interest at heart and not only that of the citizens but the employees within the City structure and he has helped me to mature on the job. I thank you for your cooperation and your efforts and as Mayor Pro Tem and my right hand I will be calling upon you frequently for assistance - - bail me out. We have another matter on the agenda. Automatically the Mayor taking the seat becomes a member of the District `Goveminkr g Boards of the Sanitation Districts and he selects an alternate to attend the meetings that he is unable to attend. And this has to be done in resolution form. At this time I would like to select Mayor Pro Tem.Shearer as the.alternate member, if Council will.support that move. Seconded by Councilman Tice and carried. - 5 - a CITY COUNCIL Page Six 3/9/76 RESOLUTION NO. 5204 The Mayor Presented: ADOPTED A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WEST COVINA, CALIFORNIA, DESIGNATING AN ALTERNATE MEMBER ON THE DISTRICT .GOVERNING': BOARD OF COUNTY SANITATION DISTRICTS • NOS.. 15, 21 AND 22. Motion by Councilman Miller to waive full reading of said resolu- tion; seconded by Councilman Shearer and carried-. • • Motion by Councilman Miller to adopt said resolution; seconded by Councilman Tice and carried on roll call vote as follows: AYES: Miller, Tice, Shearer, Browne NOES: None ABSENT: Chappell (Both Councilman Shearer and Councilman Miller publicly thanked their loved ones for their support.) Mayor Browne: Now that Council has had their say I think it would be most appropriate to ask our City Treasurer who has done such an outstanding job in the past four years to step up and make a few remarks. Yvonne Calmes: I am very happy to be here and to have been re-elected again. Of course it was really easy - I had a fantastically easy campaign. I will continue to be the caretaker of the Cityls funds and hopefully will be able to earn enough interest to help balance the budget. I wish you all luck and good fortune in your endeavors and I am sure you will do an excellent job as Mayor and Mr. Shearer as Mayor Pro Tem, Mr. Miller and Mr. Tice as Council- men. Mayor Browne: Mrs. Calmes, I had an ulterior motive in asking you to speak, inasmuch as you ran a nice clean campaign and had no opposition I felt the people should get to know you in the community. Now at this time I would like to call on our City Clerk who came out first in her election and will put a few more years on in her long tenure in the City; and give her an opportunity to speak. Lela Preston: It has been a great pleasure to have worked for the City since 1949 which is a rather long time and it has been a lot of hard work but I have enjoyed it all. You get to know the people. and.it is.a very satisfying job and I am happy the citizens saw fit to vote me back in and I.will.try and do my best. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Councilman Tice to -adjourn meeting at 8:15 P.M.., seconded by Councilman Miller and carried. ATTEST: CITY CLERK APPROVED: MAYOR 6 -