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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes 2008-07-21SRCC Minutes (Regular) 07/21/2008 Page 1 IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER OF THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL, MONDAY, JULY 21, 2008 AT 8:00 P.M. Regular Meeting: Present: Albert J. Boro, Mayor Cyr N. Miller, Vice -Mayor San Rafael City Council Greg Brockbank, Councilmember Damon Connolly, Councilmember Absent: Barbara Heller, Councilmember Also Present: Ken Nordhoff, City Manager Robert F. Epstein, City Attorney Esther C. Beirne, City Clerk OPEN SESSION — COUNCIL CHAMBER — 7:30 PM Mayor Boro announced Closed Session items. CLOSED SESSION — CONFERENCE ROOM 201 — 6:00 PM 1. a) Conference with Legal Counsel — Existing Litigation Government Code Section 54956.9 (a) Case Name: Wheeler, Linda v. Citv of San Rafael Marin County Superior Court Case #CV072354 City Attorney Robert Epstein announced that no reportable action was taken. CLOSED SESSION — CONFERENCE ROOM 201 — 8:30 PM 1. b) Conference with Labor Negotiators — Government Code Section 54957.6(a) Negotiators: Jim Schutz, Leslie Loomis, Cindy Mosser, Ken Nordhoff, Chris Gray Employee Organization(s): San Rafael Fire Chief Officers' Association San Rafael Firefighters' Association Mayor Boro announced that Closed Session 1.b) would resume at the conclusion of the City Council meeting. Closed Session resumed at 8:30 p.m. Mayor Boro announced at 9:35 p.m. that no reportable action was taken. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS OF AN URGENCY NATURE: Sobrietv Checkpoints: - File 9-1 x 9-3-30 8:00 PM John Weslev Weir, San Rafael, commented that recently bacterial contaminated foods had caused illness; however, the USDA/FDA had not ceased inspections. Likewise, the results of traffic checkpoints proved the need for sustaining checkpoints for public safety sake. Fielding Greaves, San Rafael, speaking in support of the police and their efforts on the checkpoints system, stated that one just had to study the diagrams/charts referred to in the Sobriety Checkpoint report to realize that the Canal Area had by far the largest offenses, including hit and run, suspended licenses, no licenses, and drunken driving. It was extremely important to maintain that area as one of the central checkpoint sites whenever checkpoints are conducted for DUI or other purposes. David Rubinson, San Rafael, submitted material for the City Council and stated that there were two issues everyone could agree on: First, drunk driving was a horrible curse and all should work together to stop it. Second, the law is the law, and all must follow the law as it is written. The California Supreme Court provided laws under which the police must operate and the police have ignored them. Referring to the material he submitted, Mr. Rubinson quoted the exact wording by the California Supreme Court: "Each motorist stopped should be detained only long enough for the officer to question the driver briefly and to look for signs of intoxication. If the driver does not display signs of impairment, he/she should be permitted to drive on without further delay." He noted that Matthew Odetto, Chief of Police, repeated that very clearly in his guidelines to the SRCC Minutes (Regular) 07/21/2008 Page 1 SRCC Minutes (Regular) 07/21/2008 Page 2 Police Force; however, guidelines given to the Police Force, contained clearly in Captain Franzini's outline, completely omitted what the California Supreme Court stated and what Chief Odetto stated; therefore, the police were operating illegally. Mr. Rubinson stated that while they wanted to stop drunk driving and support the sobriety checkpoints, all must follow the law and the police were not. Mr. Rubinson quoted from the guidelines: "Minimizing the average time each motorist is detained is critical, both to reducing the intrusiveness of the stop on the individual driver and to maintaining safety." He requested the Council to call upon the San Rafael police to follow the law and he offered assistance with the community to stop drunk driving and make the program work. On behalf of the Canal Community Council, Alexis Rodriquez expressed support and appreciation for the SRPD's (San Rafael Police Department) efforts to reduce drunk driving in San Rafael. She indicated that her group had been concerned about driver's license checkpoints and the 30 -day impound of community vehicles. She stated that during community forums with the SRPD held in April 2008, and October 2007, Canal residents expressed their financial and emotional hardship resulting from the towing and the 30 -day impound of cars. As a result of towing policies in the Canal and weekly street sweeping, in addition to the 30 -day impound policy, Canal residents were disproportionately affected by excessive and predatory fees charged by local towing companies. She stated that many working families had to purchase multiple vehicles and sacrifice valuable work time as a direct result of these policies. Ms. Rodriquez believed that no hard-working resident of San Rafael should have to experience this type of hardship and because of this requested the City Council to begin a meaningful dialogue about the impact of the 30 -day impound in cases of driving without a license, specifically considering the possibility of not impounding these cars, like the cities of Bell Gardens and Huntington Park, California. She also requested that as a sign of solidarity and good faith with the community, the Council speak with the Police Chief concerning no longer applying for funds that obligated the SRPD to conduct driver's license checkpoints. Ms. Rodriquez offered their support and assistance in making San Rafael a safe and respectful community for all its residents. Francisco Diaz, San Rafael, stated that according to the California Supreme Court one of its guidelines states: "A neutral formula must be used to select vehicles to be stopped," Elaborating, he stated that police must use a neutral mathematical formula, such as every driver or every other driver, ever third, fifth or tenth driver. The reason for this was that it took away the discretion of the individual officer to choose to stop individual drivers without any legitimate basis. Captain Franzini's report specifically stated that there were occasions when there were not enough officers available to safely check every vehicle and at such times, the officers waived vehicles through the checkpoint without requiring that they stop. Mr. Diaz stated that the variants of screened versus unscreened checkpoints across the various City checkpoint locations were impacted by differences in traffic flows and in the number of personnel assigned to checkpoints on particular occasions, which he guessed was at the discretion of the SRPD. In other words, individual officers made individual decisions to vary from the neutral guidelines set out by the court, in violation of the court's legal decision and clear instructions. Mr. Diaz stated that he was not for drunk driving, rather he was concerned about the legality of how checkpoints were being applied. Flor Emert, San Rafael, stated that she was a victim of a drunk driver and spent eight months in bed. She would like to help with preventing drunk drivers from being on the road; however, she requested that the City Council consider whether this was the most effective way to stop drunk driving. She inquired how all could work together to solve the problem and the consequences of the checkpoints. Ms. Emert reported having witnessed at one recent checkpoint, subsequent to cars being impounded, mothers carrying little babies being required to walk because cars were taken away. Believing it ridiculous that a country that valued freedom would do this, she suggested that someone else with a license should be allowed to drive the car instead of making people walk at 10:00 p.m. While she was in favor of stopping drunk drivers, Ms. Emert requested that people be treated with fairness, without humiliation, and with respect. Dannean Farris, Tiburon, inquired as to what happened to the 80 cars that were impounded. Mayor Boro stated that at the appropriate time he would request an answer to her question Norman Carlin, Sausalito, reiterated Mr. Rubinson's concern about the Supreme Court's guideline which stated that if the driver did not display signs of impairment, he/she should be permitted to drive on without further delay. Noting only four people were found to have signs of impairment, he inquired as to the probable cause, or any cause, why the other people were cited, arrested, or had their cars impounded. Hoa Lona Tam, Terra Linda, stated that he didn't know many people in the Canal or spend much time there. His interest was in the efficient expenditure of public funds as establishing and running sobriety checkpoints cost quite a bit of money. As an economist and mathematician, he expressed concern with the SRPD's focus on nominal arrest rates in determining checkpoint locations as outlined in the Sobriety Checkpoint report. He offered his strictly -by -the -numbers analysis of the following: In terms of drivers screened who were actually arrested for DUI, Irwin and Fifth Street had the highest arrest rate at .7% of drivers screened. The Canal was less than half of that, at .3%. In terms of efficient enforcement methods, in the Canal, only 4.3% of total DUI arrests occurred at checkpoints; the rest were at other times. He compared that to Downtown where 10.4% of arrests for DUI occurred at a checkpoint. Finally, as checkpoints were established to check sobriety, he was surprised to learn that less than 9% of Canal checkpoint arrests were actually for DUI. Freitas and Las Gallinas, however, yielded 56% arrests for actual DUI. SRCC Minutes (Regular) 07/21/2008 Page 2 SRCC Minutes (Regular) 07/21/2008 Page 3 Griff McClellan, San Rafael, supporting the checkpoints, especially in the Canal, stated that checkpoints were popular in the community. He pointed out that in today's Marin Independent Journal, in their admittedly unscientific poll, 70% of respondents did support them, and he noted that articles in the Marin IJ also showed overwhelming support for them. His second point was that they were effective, especially in the Canal district. Referring to page 13 of the Sobriety Checkpoint Report, he noted categories for suspended license, no license, and DUI, and in each case, the pale yellow bar, the highest in each case, represented the Canal. He assumed that the time spent in the Canal was time well spent just because of the amount of illegal activity the police were able to apprehend, as evidenced on page 13. Kellv Allen, San Rafael, stated that while all wanted to work together to stop drunk driving, the FBI and national statistics showed that sobriety checkpoints were not the best method for stopping DUI The best method was saturation patrols, and she suggested doing more of these and less of the unsuccessful checkpoints. Alan Barnett, following up on Mr. Rubinson's comment with regard to following the law, stated that from the Sobriety Checkpoint Report there appeared to be a conflict between the court order, which stated that it is only sobriety that should be checked at these checkpoints, and the grant that the City receives to operate the checkpoints from the Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), which requires vehicle license checks as well as suspension of drivers' licenses. He believed there was a conflict that needed to be sorted out as it appeared the police and City were operating based on the money received from the OTS rather than the court order, and these matters could only be sorted out in a public hearing. He hoped that at least three City Councilmembers could agree to agendize the issue. Mayor Boro invited City Attorney Robert Epstein to address the question raised about where vehicles go once they are impounded. Mr. Epstein invited Captain Mike Keller to respond to the question. Captain Keller stated that when cars are towed, they go to a tow yard. Specifically, in any operation they are taken by random and contracted tow companies to a particular tow yard. Mayor Boro stated that the City Council requested the Sobriety Checkpoint Report be put together for them as well as for members of the community. The report had been received and reviewed by the City Council and by the public who had again spoken in Open Time. He suggested that if a Councilmember wished to introduce a motion to hold further hearings on this matter that this be done at the end of the meeting under Councilmember Reports. Having spoken with Chief of Police Odetto and his staff, Mayor Boro reported that they were more than willing to meet with anyone wishing to discuss the subject. He stated that Chief of Police Odetto did have community meetings in the past with residents in the Canal and Canal Community Alliance, as well as other City residents, and that offer was also on the table. CONSENT CALENDAR: Councilmember Miller moved and Councilmember Connolly seconded, to approve the Consent Calendar as follows. ITEM Approval of Minutes of Special Meeting of June 24, 2008, and Special and Regular City Council Meetings of July 7, 2008 (CC) Designation of Voting Delegate and Alternate to the League of California Cities Annual Conference on September 24-27, 2008, in Long Beach (CC) — File 9-11-1 x 9-1 4. Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Execute a Professional Services Agreement with Royston Hanamoto Alley & Abey for Preparation of the Canalfront Conceptual Design Plan (P06-005) (CD) - File 4-3-494 x 272 Summary of Legislation Affecting San Rafael (CM) — File 116 x 9-1 Resolution re: Sun Valley School Childcare Lease (CS) RECOMMENDED ACTION Minutes approved as submitted. Approved staff recommendation: Councilmember Heller designated Voting Delegate and Councilmember Brockbank Alternate to the League of California Cities Annual Conference on September 24-27, 2008. RESOLUTION NO. 12536 — RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO SIGN A PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH ROYSTON HANAMOTO ALLEY & ABEY FOR PREPARATION OF THE CANALFRONT CONCEPTUAL DESIGN PLAN (P06-005). Approved staff recommendation. Removed from agenda at request of staff. SRCC Minutes (Regular) 07/21/2008 Page 3 Resolution Authorizing the Closure of Mission Avenue between C and E Streets on Saturday, August 16, 2008, from 4:00 a.m. — 10:00 p.m. to Accommodate Pedestrian Traffic to the San Rafael Food and Wine Festival at Falkirk Cultural Center (CS) — File 11-19 Monthly Investment Report for June, 2008 (Fin) — File 8-18 x 8-9 Second Readinq and Final Adoption of Ordinance No. 1867: "AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL SETTING THE PARAMEDIC TAX RATE, COMMENCING WITH FISCAL YEAR 2008-2009, AT THE RATES ALLOWED IN ORDINANCE NO. 1846 FOR RESIDENTIAL AND NON-RESIDENTIAL PROPERTIES IN THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL; AND FURTHER CONFIRMING THE PARAMEDIC TAX RATES, COMMENCING WITH FISCAL YEAR 2008- 2009, FOR RESIDENTIAL AND NON-RESIDENTIAL PROPERTIES IN THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL, THE MARINWOOD COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT, COUNTY SERVICE AREA NO. 13, AND COUNTY SERVICE AREA NO. 19. ($77.00 FOR RESIDENTIAL AND $.0960 PER SQUARE FOOT FOR NON-RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY)" (Fin) — File 9-12-1 x 9-3-31 x 8-5 SRCC Minutes (Regular) 07/21/2008 Page 4 RESOLUTION NO. 12537 — RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE TEMPORARY CLOSURE OF MISSION AVENUE BETWEEN C STREET AND E STREET FOR THE SAN RAFAEL FOOD AND WINE FESTIVAL. Accepted Monthly Investment Report for June, 2008, as presented. Approved final adoption of ordinance No. 1867. 10. Baypoint Lagoon Landscaping and Lighting District a) RESOLUTION NO. 12538 - Annual Report: (PW) — File 6-48 #9 RESOLUTION DIRECTING FILING OF a) Resolution Directing Filing of Engineer's ENGINEER'S ANNUAL REPORT FOR Annual Report; BAYPOINT LAGOONS LANDSCAPING AND b) Engineer's Annual Report 2008-2009; LIGHTING DISTRICT. c) Resolution Approving Engineer's Annual Report; b) ENGINEER'S ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2008- d) Resolution of Intention to Order 2009 — FILED Improvements (and Setting Public Hearing for Meeting of August 4, 2008) c) RESOLUTION NO. 12539 — RESOLUTION APPROVING ENGINEER'S ANNUAL REPORT FOR BAYPOINT LAGOONS LANDSCAPING AND LIGHTING DISTRICT. d) RESOLUTION NO. 12540 — RESOLUTION OF INTENTION TO ORDER IMPROVEMENTS FOR BAYPOINT LAGOONS LANDSCAPING AND LIGHTING DISTRICT (and set Public Hearing for August 4, 2008). AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: Brockbank, Connolly, Miller & Mayor Boro NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: None ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: Heller ABSTAIN: COUNCILMEMBERS: Mayor Boro from minutes of 6/24/08 - absent from meeting due to potential conflict of interest CITY MANGER'S REPORT: 11. None. SRCC Minutes (Regular) 07/21/2008 Page 4 SRCC Minutes (Regular) 07/21/2008 Page 5 COUNCILMEMBER REPORTS: (includinq AB 1234 Reports on Meetinqs and Conferences Attended at Citv Expense) 12. Sinqle-Paver Healthcare: - File 7-1-51 x 9-1 Councilmember Brockbank reported that earlier this evening at a special workshop, Single -Payer Healthcare was discussed and it was suggested that he ascertain at this time in the agenda whether there were three members of the City Council who would like to agendize this issue for a possible resolution in support of SB 840 — The Single -Payer Healthcare Bill - in the California Legislature. Councilmember Brockbank moved and Councilmember Connolly seconded, that at some future meeting, hopefully the first meeting in August, a resolution be agendized in support of SB 840, for which he would provide a sample, if the Council wished. AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: Brockbank and Connolly NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: Miller and Mayor Boro ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: Heller The motion failed. For those in attendance concerning the sobriety checkpoints issue, Mayor Boro stated that the Chief of Police, personally, and Police Department would be happy to meet with them. He invited Captain Keller to pass out his business card to those who requested it. There being no further business, Mayor Boro adjourned the City Council meeting at 8:30 p.m. and resumed Closed Session 1. b) regarding Labor Negotiations. ESTHER C. BEIRNE, City Clerk APPROVED THIS DAY OF 12008 MAYOR OF THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL SRCC Minutes (Regular) 07/21/2008 Page 5