CLEARLAKE ? The Clearlake City Council, sitting as the Redevelopment Agency (RDA), recently established bylaws for governing the newly formed Redevelopment Advisory Committee. The agency also made a new appointment to the committee to fill a vacancy made with the resignation of Rick Mayo.
The purpose of the committee is to assist the RDA in assessing housing and economic development strategies and to perform advisory function specifically delegated to the committee by the RDA.
Initial subjects, which the committee has been authorized to perform, include providing recommendations regarding economic development strategies, potential uses of bond proceeds (with the exception of sale of properties) and development of guidelines to carry out the planned First-Time Home Buyer program.
The committee will act as an advisory to the RDA and shall not exercise any part of the legislative authority of the RDA.
The committee”s powers and duties shall be limited to presenting written reports and recommendations to the RDA.
The committee shall consist of five regular members, which were appointed by members of the RDA in January. Each member of the agency selected one person apiece to service on the committee.
Appointments were made as follows: Joyce Overton appointee Rick Mayo; Chuck Leonard appointee Jim Scholz; Judy Thein appointee Doug Codling; Roy Simons appointee Cheryl Hutchinson; and Curt Giambruno appointee Bill Perkins. A quorum shall consist of three members.
Mayo submitted his resignation from the committee. He voiced disapproval in designating City Administrator Dale Neiman as the executive director of the committee claiming it to be “a waste of staff time.” He also questioned the conduct of the first meeting. “After the first meeting I attended, I was required to fill out 700 Forms. I questioned why there were no minutes taken,” Mayo said.
“This is one reason I resigned from the committee. If you”re not going to follow the law, I don”t need to be on it. These bylaws are garbage. In my opinion, that was an illegal meeting.” Neiman said it was his opinion that minutes were not required to be taken. “The meeting was agendized according to open meeting laws.
I”ve looked into the Brown Act and in my opinion it doesn”t require minutes,” Neiman said. Committee member Scholz expressed appreciation for Neiman”s involvement. “I don”t think we are wasting any staff time by having Dale at the meetings. He”s been a big help,” he said. “This is a critical time for Clearlake and the Redevelopment Agency. Everyone on the committee is committed to doing what is best for the City of Clearlake.”
Overton appointed Robert Riggs, who is an attorney, to fill the vacancy left by Mayo”s departure.
The action on establishing the committee”s bylaws was passed 4-1 with Simons casting the dissenting vote. Simons, who has adamantly stated his disappointment in how the RDA has been operated throughout its history, said, “Why continue something that is failing?”
The RDA Advisory Committee shall meet at 3:30 p.m. on the last Friday of each month at Clearlake City Hall. Bylaws were amended to allow for changes to the date and time without prior approval by the agency.
All meetings, whether regular or special, must be publicly noticed 72 hours prior to each meeting. Committee members are prohibited from answering questions about committee views and recommendations unless expressly authorized to do so on behalf of the majority of the committee and must advise the RDA or city council when that any views expressed by such a member are strictly those of the individual and not the committee.
Any committee member who is authorized to present committee reports must at all times support the committee”s majority report and should not represent his/her own view, nor that of the minority, even if specifically asked to do so.
Contact Denise Rockenstein at drockenstein@clearlakeobserver.com or call her directly at 994-6444, ext. 11.
