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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1996-12-10 - AGENDA REPORTS - PROGRESS RPT EVALUATION TRANS (2)Me �1 R �ll]sllll NEW BUSINESS DATE: December 10, 1996 City Manager Approv Item to be presented George A. Caravalho SUBJECT: PROGRESS REPORT AND EVALUATION OF THE CITIZENS TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE DEPARTMENT: Building and Engineering Services The Citizens Transportation Advisory Committee (CTAC) was formed in June 1992. All members are appointed to the Committee by the City Manager. A maximum of 11 members have been appointed to the Committee in a given year. During the past 3-1/2 years, there has been some turnover in the membership, which has resulted in new members being appointed to the Committee. The highlights of the Committee's functions, shown on the attached Exhibit 1, were established based on general direction from the City Council. Some of the major issues addressed by the Committee in the past include the east/west corridor topic, selection of the new road, relationships between land use and transit planning, and the bikeway planning issue which is currently under review. During fiscal year 1994-95, attendance of CTAC members at meetings started to decline. Several meetings, including one in which crucial decisions were made regarding CTAC's recommendation for selection of a new road, were attended by only five to six members. At least two meetings when the Citywide bikeway planning issues were scheduled were canceled due to low attendance. Several members of the public and the City Council expressed concerns about the effectiveness of CTAC in the decision-making process, especially since the recommendations from CTAC would typically need to go through the public hearing process at the Planning Commission and City Council levels. Another concern raised was the frequency of meetings and whether the Committee should meet every month or only on an as -needed basis. Finally, there was a concern that CTAC may be duplicating some issues which are normally addressed by the Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce's Transportation Committee, which City staff attends. The City Council requested a progress report and an evaluation of the effectiveness of this Committee, which is the subject of this report. Discussion: Staff conducted a telephone survey of the majority of CTAC members and sought their input regarding how they see their roles, how they view the reasons for, declining attendance, how they view the structure and reporting relationship of the Committee, and what they think the meeting frequency should be. Several members also provided written comments on how to structure and improve the operation of the Committee. -- Continued To: i - I¢ -r 7 Agenda item:_ PROGRESS REPORT AND EVALUATION OF CTAC December 10, 1996 - Page 2 In September 1995, members were invited to attend a meeting to discuss the above issues in more detail. Each member expressed concerns about the current structure and provided suggestions to improve the attendance commitment and quality of the meetings. Suggestions are listed below: 1. All members felt that transportation issues are of paramount importance to the community, and CTAC should continue its functions. 2. A majority of members felt that the size of the Committee is too large. Suggestions regarding the membership number varied from five to eight, with the majority preferring reducing the membership to seven people through attrition. 3. Members strongly voiced their concern about repeated absenteeism from meetings. Several felt that no. more than two to three absenteeisms should be allowed in a year. Some felt occasional excused absences should be allowed. Overall, the majority felt that more than three absences, excused or not, should result in resignation of the Committee member. 4. Members suggested that there should be term limitations for Committee members, to allow new members to join and strengthen the Committee's role by bringing in new and diverse ideas from different sections of the community. 5. The Committee members selected only two officers for this current year (Chair and Vice -Chair, with no Secretary), and also suggested term limitations for those officers. 6. Members were divided on the reporting relationship. Some suggested that all CTAC members should be selected by the City Council, the meetings should follow Brown Act rules, and the Committee should directly report to the City Council. Othermembers, however, felt that the existing reporting to the City Manager is more effective and that the advisory status of the Committee should continue. 7. Some members expressed concern that at times their recommendations may not have been correctly reported to the Planning. Commission or City Council. They suggested that staff inform Committee members in advance if staffs recommendations on an issue are different from those of the Committee. 8. Some members suggested that meetings should occasionally take place during the evening (currently the Committee meets at 4:00 p.m.) to facilitate attendance by all members and encourage public participation at the meetings. 9. There was no consensus regarding the frequency of meetings. The members agree in general; however, depending on the scope and complexity of assignments at a given time, the Committee may need to meet more than once a month, or perhaps less frequently when there is less need. 10. Members suggested that the existing rules of the Committee be revised so.that they would not restrict members to reside in the City as an eligibility requirement. Conclusion: From the review and evaluation of the various comments provided by CTAC members, staff has modified the Standard Operating Procedure to incorporate many suggestions. A copy of the new procedure is attached as Exhibit 2. A draft copy was sent to all PROGRESS REPORT AND EVALUATION OF CTAC December 10, 1996 - Page 3 CTAC members and was also discussed in the March 1996 meeting. All members attending the meeting concurred with the contents of the report to be presented to the City Council. The recommended major new changes include: 1. The official membership number for the Committee shall be seven. The existing nine members will be reduced to seven through attrition. The City Manager shall have the authority, however, to appoint additional members if desired. 2. No more than three excused or non -excused absenteeisms shall be allowed in a fiscal year. Members missing more than three meetings shall be requested to resign from the Committee. 3. Members shall serve on the Committee no more than four years. The original members who joined the Committee in 1992, however, may serve on the Committee until June 1997. Members who resign from the Committee may be reappointed after a minimum of one year. 4. Except for the City Manager or designee, the Committee officers shall be Chairperson and Vice -Chairperson and shall serve for one year. Those individuals, however, may be again selected to any of those positions after a minimum of one year. 5. In the event the Chairperson resigns from the Committee, the Vice -Chairperson shall assume those responsibilities for the remainder of the fiscal year and may be selected again to the Chairperson position in the following year. Another member will be selected to the Vice -Chairperson position and may be again selected in the following year. 6. The meeting frequency will be generally once a month at the previously established times. Some meetings may be arranged in the evenings to allow the meeting's topic to benefit from larger public participation. Staff, however, reserves the right to schedule additional meetings to address a topic or cancel certain monthly meetings when no urgent topics need to be addressed by the Committee. 7. No City residency shall be required for membership. -In order to be eligible to serve on the Committee, however, individuals must live in the Santa Clarita Valley. 8. The Committee members shall continue to report to the City Manager and the Committee shall continue to operate in its advisory capacity. City Council review the attached revised Standard Operating Procedure for the Citizens Transportation Advisory Committee and provide. direction if desired. ATTACHMENTS Exhibit 1: Highlights of the Committee's Functions Exhibit 2: Standard Operating Procedure BJ:lkl.dis .WiAarMf .bj EXHIBIT 1 CITIZENS TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE HIGHLIGHTS OF THE COMMITTEE'S FUNCTIONS (Excerpts from Original Guidelines) 1. COMMITTEE'S MAIN PURPOSE • Provide a public forum for exchange of information between City staff and residents. • Advise the City Manager and key staff on policy recommendations to the City Council and Planning Commission. 2. COMMITTEE'S STRUCTURE • City Manager or designee as Executive Officer of the Committee. • Other officers (Chairperson, Vice -Chairperson, Secretary) to be selected by a majority vote of the Committee. • City Traffic Engineer and Senior Planner to be the "regular" staff to the Committee. City Manager to assign other staff as needed. 3. COMMITTEE'S SCOPE • Intended not to duplicate issues normally addressed by the City Council or Planning Commission. • Not a Brown Act meeting. • Advisory Committee to the City Manager. • A Single -Purpose Committee: Focus merely on transportation issues. • No formal published agendas or minutes. 4. REFERRAL OF ISSUES TO THE COMMITTEE • Issues referred by the City Council. • Issues referred by the Planning Commission. • Issues referred by City staff. • Issues referred as a result of a majority vote of the Committee members. BJ:lkl.dis m naAarry tae.bl EXHIBIT 2 CITIZENS TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE 1. PREAMBLE One of the purposes of government is to provide an environment for the benefit and enjoyment of the citizens it is empowered to serve. In order to provide this environment, it becomes necessary for the City to establish policies and to make decisions which it believes will encourage the development and nurturing of this environment. Oftentimes, the City must make these decisions based on its best judgment of what its citizens desire. At times, it is difficult to determine its citizens' desires because of the limited time for input and the lack of organizational structure for input. The City hopes to improve on public participation by providing a forum and an organizational structure to assist the City Manager and staff in developing and promoting recommendations which balance professional judgment with citizen wants and needs. In this way, the Council will be better equipped to make decisions which will clearly represent the wants and needs of its citizens. 2. PURPOSE A Citizens Transportation Advisory Committee of a maximum of seven members appointed by the City Manager is established in the City to reviewtraffic and transportation issues in order to: A. Advise the City Manager on policy recommendations to the City Council and Planning Commission. B. Provide a public forum for exchange of information between City staff and residents. C. Develop and recommend prioritization of major improvement projects. D. Establish a new.vehicle for City participation in policy decisions. E. Formalize an organizational structure to focus and strengthen citizen input. COMMITTEE TASKS A. Review, discuss, and make recommendations to the City Manager on traffic and transportation issues. B. Review the transportation aspects of the Five -Year Capital Improvement Program and major capital projects to establish priorities. Have.i. 1:. Apd 1996 EXHIBIT 2 CITIZENS TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE Page 2 C. Review roadway alignments for major and secondary highways shown on the General Plan that are to be established and approved by the City Council. D. Establish a format for informal agendas which shall include provisions for public participation at each meeting. E. Conduct public forums generally once every month on Thursdays beginning at 4:00 p.m. and concluding at 6:00 p.m. or sooner, but some meetings may be held in the evenings. Depending on the scope of assignments, however, staff may schedule additional meetings or cancel certain meetings. F. Develop a list of agencies that would have input relative to transportation and traffic issues in the Santa Clarita Valley and provide a standing invitation to these agencies to.participate in these meetings. G. Provide liaison between this Committee and other advisory committees which address transportation and traffic issues in the Santa Clarita Valley. 4. CITY STAFF TASKS A. The City Manager shall appoint a maximum of seven members. B. The appointed members shall be residents of the Santa Clarita Valley and should represent a balance of citizens and business interests to provide a broad representation of groups impacted by transportation decisions. C. The City Manager shall endeavor to make selections which consider balanced membership from each geographic area within this Valley. D. The City Manager shall provide public notice and an application for any citizen wishing to serve on the Committee. E. The City Manager shall make appointments from the list of applicants and shall maintain a current list of applicants not selected to be used to appoint members within 90 days of a Committee vacancy. F. The City Traffic Engineer shall be regular staff, a non-voting member of the Committee. The City Manager shall assign other staff to the Committee as needed. G. The City Manager or his/her designee shall be the Executive Officer of the Committee. Revieian 1: April 1996 EXHIBIT 2 CITIZENS TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE Page 3 H. The City Manager shall consider recommendations from the Committee in staff reports prepared for the Council or the Planning Commission. I. The proceedings for the meeting may be audio taped and kept at a location designated by the City Manager for review by any interested party. 5. ORGANIZATION A. The officers of the Committee shall be composed of a Chairperson, Vice -Chairperson, and the City Manager or designee. Except for the City Manager or designee, the officers shall be selected by a majority vote of the Committee members and shall serve for one year. Members may again be selected to serve in any of those positions after a minimum of one year. Members shall serve on the Committee no more than four years and may be reappointed after a minimum of one year. B. The Vice -Chairperson will assume the Chairperson position in the event of his/her resignation and a new Vice -Chairperson will be selected. Those individuals may be again selected to any of the respective offices in the following year. C. No more than three excused or non -excused absences shall be allowed in a fiscal year. Members missing more than three meetings shall be requested to resign from the Committee. D. Notwithstanding the provisions of 5.A., above, the City Manager or designee shall serve as Chairperson of the Committee for the first six months, at which time the Committee shall select its own Chairperson. 6. COMPENSATION A. All Committee members, except City staff, shall serve without compensation. B. City staff shall be compensated in accordance with the personnel policies, rules, and regulations of the City. BJ:lkl council\arclae.�% R.vW. 1: April 1996