pages: CityCouncil/2020-06-29.pdf, 17
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CityCouncil | 2020-06-29 | 17 | community-led and that Council should not be a part of it; Councilmembers sitting in on a task force takes it in a different direction; the preferable way is for members of the community to meet with staff; there are some concerns with Brown Act issues that come into play when Councilmembers sit on subcommittees; she is happy to work with another Councilmember to work with staff on how to move forward; she would like to give staff direction and come out with a work plan and timeline; it would be helpful to have a Council subcommittee; she would be happy to work with Councilmember Vella on a subcommittee, subject to the approval of her colleagues. Vice Mayor Knox White stated he would absolutely support a collaboration with Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft and Councilmember Vella; he is less interested in task forces; he prefers a steering committee, which does not make the decisions, but develops the process and figures out ways to bring in the community; he hopes to move forward tonight with the subcommittee as well as have a solid plan to have things come back; he would like a subcommittee that is actually an ex-officio, non-voting committee that comes back with a proposed process and goals and objectives by the end of month. Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft concurred with Vice Mayor Knox White; stated that she would like the decision for a proposal and other considerations to be brought back to the Council through the subcommittee; she does not want to take an inordinate amount of time, just enough time to think it through well; Council also has to consider meetings will all have to take place virtually during this time of COVID. Councilmember Oddie stated Council had an ad hoc committee for the America's Cup that held public meetings; he likes the idea of Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft and Councilmember Vella working together; guiding principles going forward can include basic categories and goals, geographic diversity, gender diversity, members of the Black community, community interest groups, business high impact, and centering Black and youth voices; as long as the proposal comes back quickly and is open and the community can be part of it; he agrees with Vice Mayor Knox White that Council can come up with the goals and objectives by the end of the month; the issue of accountability and the possibility of a citizens board has not been fleshed out, but ballot language would need to be considered. In response to Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft's inquiry regarding how a citizen's oversight committee might be formed, the City Attorney stated the Council has wide-ranging discretion on how to ultimately form a committee and how it would function; depending on the function assigned to the committee, there may or may not need to be ballot action; for example, the Charter assigns administrative functions to the City Manager, and policy-making duties to the Council; if enough decision-making authority is assigned to the body, it could begin to infringe on the City Manager's authority to administer the Police Department; at that point, it would need voter consent; on the other hand, if a committee is established that gives Council and the City Manager recommendations about policy changes, ballot approval is clearly not needed as it would be an advisory committee. Special Meeting Alameda City Council 17 June 29, 2020 | CityCouncil/2020-06-29.pdf |