pages: OpenGovernmentCommission/2021-05-03.pdf, 8
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OpenGovernmentCommission | 2021-05-03 | 8 | In response to Commissioner LoPilato's inquiry, the Assistant City Attorney stated that he is hesitant to speak about the intent of the revisions since he does not recall his office making the edits to the last sentence of Subsection B; it was actually an integration of the subcommittee proposal and changes that were made. Commissioner LoPilato moved approval of the Commission recommending the revisions in Section 2-93.8.b. Chair Tilos seconded the motion, which carried by the following roll call vote: Commissioners Chen: Aye; LoPilato: Aye; Reid: Aye; Shabazz: Aye; Chair Tilos: Aye. Ayes: 5. Commissioner Reid read her Subsection E proposal under Section 2-93.2: "If a complaint is determined by the OGC to be valid and sent as a recommendation to the City Council, but if they do not agree, the OGC shall then be allowed to create a temporary appeal committee comprised of one member of the OGC randomly chosen, and four members of the public chosen by each remaining member of the OGC to review the complaint. If the Appeal Committee determines that the complaint has merit, it is sent back to the City Council for a second review. The Appeal Subcommittee should adhere to the Brown Act;" as an alternative, the subcommittee members could also be chosen from a list created by the City Manager; her proposal is a good alternative to include members of the public and brings out more transparency and open government. Chair Tilos stated the Knox White proposal does enough; he is not leaning toward going beyond it to set up another channel to handle OGC rulings. Commissioner Chen stated she agrees with Commissioner Reid in the sense that she would like to involve more people in the open government process; however, there is nothing to preclude the City Council from rejecting the appeal; the Commission would be stuck in a merry-go-round of engaging people to be frustrated in a sense; the OGC has no teeth; the Commission could set up another body to just come to the same conclusion which would be twice as much no teeth; Commissioner LoPilato and John Knox White's proposal has the force of letting the community know what open government is and what can be done; there are other ways to engage the community and get them more involved, rather than frustrating them in the complaint process. Commissioner Reid stated she is fine with letting it go; she just wanted to throw it out as a possibility; her second proposal is to modify the language under Section 2-93.8.D regarding penalties; the language is quite harsh and penalizes residents who bring forth complaints; outlined her proposed language; stated citizens should not be penalized; the Commission should support that they are bringing forth complaints. Public Comment: Stated the complaint process was meant to be a low-friction way to file a complaint but not negate other remedies; the penalties were built in to just prevent abuse and wasting Meeting of the Open Government Commission May 3, 2021 8 | OpenGovernmentCommission/2021-05-03.pdf |