pages: OpenGovernmentCommission/2021-04-05.pdf, 18
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OpenGovernmentCommission | 2021-04-05 | 18 | Mr. Garfinkle stated the only interested citizen was the lobbyist who created the resolution and lobbied Council; the general public was not aware it was on the agenda which did not allow them to weigh in on a very contentious piece of legislation. Vice Chair Shabazz stated that he believes Mr. Garfinkle is out of order in discussing the specific merits of the legislation. Mr. Garfinkle stated he did not want to debate every issue, but would respond if people have questions; the bottom line is that whether or not a legitimate process or resulted in instruction being given to lobbyists to say that the citizens of Alameda do not want to require previous law enforcement experience for Sheriffs; it is not an affirmative action issue; the question is how to go about getting the most qualified people to be Sheriffs; he believes that if Alameda citizens had the opportunity to weigh in on it, they would have opposed the resolution; they were not even given the opportunity, which is the violation. Vice Chair Shabazz inquired whether there is a specific practice for legislation to be adopted and lobbied by the City. The City Clerk responded most typically, specific legislation that goes to Council goes because it is considered outside the scope of the legislative agenda; the vast majority of stances on bills are done under the umbrella of the legislative agenda. Commissioner Reid stated that she did not see that it was common practice for other cities to include specific bills on their legislative agendas; inquired if that is correct. The City Clerk responded that she has not done a review of other cities and would not be able to comment on it; she would say that Alameda has done various iterations in the past and quite frequently specific Councilmembers raise specific bills under the umbrella. Commissioner Reid inquired whether specific bills appear in the legislative agenda, to which the City Clerk responded generally it there are just larger topic. Commissioner Reid inquired who decides which State bills the City supports, to which the City Clerk responded the City Manager's office. In response to Commissioner Reid's inquiry, the City Clerk stated the support letters are sent out under the umbrella of the legislative agenda. Commissioner Reid stated that she reviewed the video from the February 16th meeting and noticed a speaker was actually a lobbyist for the legislation and was noted in the staff report as a community member; she does not think that a lobbyist who is involved in the production of the legislation or supportive of a bill qualifies as what an Alameda resident would expect as a community member. Vice Chair Shabazz inquired of Chair Tilos if the Commission is asking clarifying questions or stating opinions about members of the community. Meeting of the Open Government Commission April 5, 2021 18 | OpenGovernmentCommission/2021-04-05.pdf |