REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Board/Commission Resignation (Information Only)
Report
DISCUSSION
This report is to inform the Council of the following resignation from a City board.
Justin Brown, who was appointed to the Personnel Board on July 1, 2017 and serving a term to expire June 30, 2021, has submitted a letter of resignation from the Board, effective April 1, 2019.
Recruitment for the Personnel Board vacancy is currently underway.
EXISTING POLICY
Administrative Policy, Chapter 1, General Management, Article 15, Section 2, Subdivision 8 states that when a resignation letter is received, staff shall prepare an Information Only Report to Council that indicates the resignation(s) and specifies the process that staff recommends to fill the new vacancy.
Administrative Policy, Chapter 1, General Management, Article 15, Section 2, Subdivision 1 provides the following guidelines for the administrative recruitment process:
A. The Office of the City Clerk shall conduct a continuous (year-round) campaign to recruit applicants to fill vacant seats on boards and commissions. The Office of the City Clerk will accept board and commission applications from interested eligible individuals at any time during the year, regardless of whether there are current vacancies or not. These applications will be kept for 12 months and considered as vacancies occur.
B. Staff shall use the following guidelines to conduct board and commission recruitments:
(1) Applicants will be sought from all segments of the community.
(2) All applicants will be required to complete a standard application form and a supplemental questionnaire and file the application with the Office of the City Clerk. Candidates applying for the same board or commission for which they were previously a member do not need to submit a new application. Candidates who were previously a member of a different board or commission must submit a new application. If and when Council determines it wants to hold interviews (interviews are not required to appoint board and commission members), a deadline for application submittals will be set. Applications that arrive after specified deadlines but before the actual interview date will be identified as “late” but shall be submitted to Council for its consideration along with applications submitted on time and for which interviews are scheduled.
(3) Applicants will be provided information regarding the board or commission’s function and responsibility, the selection process for filling vacancies, and the general attributes that Council is looking for in a board and commission member.
C. Staff is encouraged to assist in the recruitment process by identifying potential candidates and referring them or providing their contact information to the Office of the City Clerk. However, staff shall not lobby for or otherwise attempt to influence the selection process beyond the recruitment activity. No recommendation shall be provided by staff for a candidate, with the exception of the Personnel Board as outlined in Council Policy 7.2.19.
D. A Report to Council (RTC) shall be provided when board or commission vacancies occur, outlining Council’s options relative to filling said vacancies.
E. Interviews of board and commission applicants by Council shall be conducted as determined by the City Clerk. All new applicants shall be scheduled for an interview with the City Council prior to Council making appointments if they meet the application deadline for the recruitment process and have not been interviewed within the past 12 months. All incumbent applicants shall be scheduled for an interview with Council whether or not they were previously interviewed in the last 12 months. It shall be the prerogative of the Council to consider and/or appoint applicants who fail to meet application deadlines and/or are not interviewed in advance of scheduled appointments.
Council Policy 7.2.19 Section 2. B. (III)(b) provides the following specific membership requirements for the Charter-created Personnel Board:
To be eligible for appointment, each appointee shall neither hold public office or employment nor be a candidate for any other public office or position, nor be a former City employee. (Source: City Charter Section 1007)
No individual shall be eligible to or continue to serve on the Personnel Board who has a spouse, household member, or designated relative (parent, step-parent, grandparent, child, sister, brother, niece, nephew, uncle, or aunt of the individual or of the individual's spouse), employed by the City of Sunnyvale in a position which has the right to have a disciplinary matter heard before the Personnel Board.
Two of the five members shall be appointed by the City Council from a list of five persons to be nominated by election of the employees in the classified service. (Source: City Charter Section 1007)
PUBLIC CONTACT
Public contact was made by posting the Council agenda on the City's official-notice bulletin board outside City Hall, at the Sunnyvale Senior Center, Community Center and Department of Public Safety; and by making the agenda and report available at the Sunnyvale Public Library, the Office of the City Clerk and on the City's website.
Staff
Prepared by: Kathleen Franco Simmons, City Clerk
Reviewed by: Teri Silva, Assistant City Manager
Approved by: Kent Steffens, City Manager