ON THE AGENDA: City Council, January 9, 2024
29 Palms City Council starts the new year with consideration of litigation, a new Polaris RZR Pro and a Youth Council
Do you have an issue to address at City Council but dread waiting 90 minutes for public comment while Council wades through a crowded agenda? Then the first Council meeting of 2024 is your chance to be heard! At just 38 pages the first agenda of the year is feather light. We suspect our new Mayor Steve Bilderain will breeze right through it, leaving ample time for public comment at the end of the meeting.
This first meeting of 2024 kicks off with a closed session at 5:30 pm. The public session starts at 6 pm.
CLOSED SESSION
CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL—ANTICIPATED LITIGATION : Initiation of litigation pursuant to Government Code Section §54956.9 (d) (4) (One Case).
Our readers have inquired about the numerous closed sessions held by Council. Per the helpful guide prepared by the League of California Cities, “the most common purpose of a closed session is to avoid revealing confidential information that may, in specified circumstances, prejudice the legal or negotiating position of the agency or compromise the privacy interests of employees.”
In this case, per the guide, “A closed session may be held under the exception for the anticipated initiation of litigation when the legislative body seeks legal advice on whether to protect the agency’s rights and interests by initiating litigation.” In plain English, Council is talking with the City Attorney about taking a matter to court.
Once Council is in public session again, they are obligated to report on the closed session. In this meeting, that report is taking place after the Council roll call.
For anticipated litigation, the public report should identify the opposing party, the substance of the litigation, and the details of the Council vote. If that information is not yet known, or if revealing that information at a public meeting would jeopardize serving papers or settlement negotiations, then the report consists only of the direction given by Council to the Attorney, that is, whether or not to proceed with court action. However, the specific details must be disclosed upon inquiry, once the action has commenced.1
However, the League of California Cities guide also discourages the use of closed sessions as they are usually optional:
Some problems over closed sessions arise because secrecy itself breeds distrust. The Brown Act does not require closed sessions and legislative bodies may do well to resist the tendency to call a closed session simply because it may be permitted. A better practice is to go into closed session only when necessary.2
INVOCATION
The invocation is scheduled to be given by Rev Don Thursby from Little Church of the Desert.
AWARDS, PRESENTATIONS, APPOINTMENTS AND PROCLAMATIONS
Presentation by Fire Chief Daniel Munsey, San Bernardino County Fire Department, on FP-5.
FP-5 refers to Fire Protection District Service Zone 5, which covers a large swath of San Bernardino County, including Twentynine Palms. Every parcel in the zone is assessed a fee for fire services—in 29, this is listed as “SBCOFIREFP-5 29 PALMS” for $171.85 on resident property owner’s 2023 property tax bill.
The timing of Munsey’s presentation may be due in part to continuing attempts to repeal the FP-5 tax. Opponents of the tax are taking a third swing on the March 2024 ballot.
CONSENT CALENDAR
The Consent Calendar usually consists of routine items approved with single vote, such a meeting minutes and City expenses. Residents dealing with ORVs trespassing on their property may be interested in item 5 — $46,000 to purchase a Polaris RZR Pro to be used for “frontline law enforcement services, specifically for off-road enforcement and public gathering events within the City of Twentynine Palms’ jurisdiction.”
DISCUSSION AND POTENTIAL ACTION ITEMS
Public Arts Advisory Appointment of Sara M. Lyons as a standing member of the Public Arts Advisory Committee. Lyons, an illustrator and graphic designer who is also co-owner of Scorpion Lollipop, is replacing choreographer Ryan Heffington.
Creation of a Twentynine Palms Youth Council. The creation of a Youth Council has been lingering on the Future Council Initiated Items list for several months. At the November 14 meeting Thomas Elkins and Izzy Hargrove both used public comment to encourage the Council to address the request. In a PowerPoint deck assembled by staff, the Youth Council is described as “An advisory body of local youth (typically comprised of middle and high school aged students) that provide input and ideas to the local governing body regarding events, community service projects, programs and youth-identified community initiatives.”
City Council Regional Organizational Assignments. This item formalizes appointments of Council members to various regional bodies such as the Morongo Basin Transit Authority (MBTA) and the Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District (MDAQMD). Also addressed are appointments to the standing subcommittees of City Council: Economic Development, Personnel, Community Block Grant, Wastewater, Legislative, Budget / Audit and Planning Commission.
PUBLIC COMMENT
You have an opportunity to comment on agenda items and issues important to you at every City Council meeting. Please use the opportunity to question your City Council members on the issues affecting our City. Comments on agenda items take place during the discussion of that item. Comments on non-agenda items take place near the end of the meeting. Comments are limited to three minutes. The Brown Act prevents Council from commenting on non-agenda items.
To comment, pick up a green (or occasionally gold) form at the entry desk, fill it out, and hand it to the Clerk, who is usually sitting in front of the Council bench on the right side. The public can also send comments via email to City Council Members and the cc Cindy Vasquez, the Council secretary. We suggest requesting that emailed comments be read at the meeting.
Permissible Closed Sessions, The California Association of Clerks and Elected Officials, December 2013, accessed January 5, 2023.
Open and Public V: A Guide to the Ralph M. Brown Act, League of California Cities,
Rev. April 2016, p. 42
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