HomeMy Public PortalAbout20050727 - Minutes - Board of Directors (BOD) Regional Open Space
MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT
Meeting 05-17
SPECIAL AND REGULAR MEETINGS
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
July 27, 2005
MINUTES
SPECIAL MEETING
I. ROLL CALL
President Larry Hassett called the meeting to order at 6:33 p.m.
Members Present: Jed Cyr, Mary Davey, Nonette Hanko, Deane Little
(arrived at 7:00 p.m.), Ken Nitz (arrived at 6:35 p.m.), Pete Siemens and Larry
Hassett.
Members Absent: None
Staff Present: Craig Britton, Sue Schectman, Sally Thielfoldt and John
Maciel.
II. CLOSED SESSION
L. Hassett stated that the Board would adjourn to Closed Session to discuss
Closed Session Agenda Items 1, 2 and 3.
The Board reces
sed to Closed Session at 6:35 p.m. and the Closed Session
commenced at 6:35 p.m. The Board concluded the Closed Session at 7:30 p.m.
REGU
LAR MEETING
III. L. Hassett called the Regular Meeting to order at 7:33 p.m. He announced that
the Board had discussed Closed Session Agenda Item 2 in Closed Session and
that no reportable actions had taken place. The Board would adjourn to Closed
Session following the Regular Meeting to discuss Closed Session Agenda Items 1
and 3.
Additional Staff Present: Rudy Jurgensen
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IV. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS—There were none.
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Meeting 05-17 Page 2
Motion: J. Cyr moved that the Board adopt the agenda. K. Nitz seconded
and the motion passed 7 to 0.
VI. ADOPTION OF CONSENT CALENDAR
Motion: J. Cyr moved that the Board adopt the Consent Calendar, including
minutes of the April 27, 2005; May 11, 2005; and June 22, 2005
Special and Regular Meetings; Agenda Item 4, Authorize
Additional Legal Fees in the Matter of Fogarty vs. MROSD and
MROSD v. Fogarty for the Law Firm of Miller, Starr & Reaalia i
an Amount Not to Exceed $25,000, for a total of $35,000;
Authorize and Appropriate Additional Funds in the Amount of
$20,000 from the New Land Purchases Account and Include This
Appropriation at Mid-Year Budget Review and Amendment; and
Revised Claims 05-13. M. Davey seconded the motion.
Discussion: N. Hanko noted that she was not present at the time the Consent
Calendar was approved at the June 22, 2005, meeting.
Vote: The motion passed 7 to 0. N. Hanko abstained on Claim#3171R.
VII. BOARD BUSINESS
A. Agenda Item No. I — Adoption of Electronic Communications Policy
Applicable to Communications To and From the Board of Directors —
(Report R-05-17).
L. Hassett commended the Committee for its incredible work over a long
period of time and many meetings.
N. Hanko, Committee chair, presented the Committee's report. She
recognized S. Schectman for capturing the language to convey the
Committee's vision of the policy and staff member, Minh Tran, for his
assistance.
K. Nitz, Committee member, said he found it enjoyable and said staff was
great. He said he thinks they have the best policy that exists.
J. Cyr, Committee member, said he appreciated staff s patience and
thought the end result would work well.
N. Hanko said the report was beautifully written and spoke for itself. She
asked for Board Members' input.
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P. Siemens said he thought the policy should be added to the general Rules
of Procedure instead of being a separate document. He suggested the
following changes to the proposed policy:
• Page 2, Paragraph 111, D — Need to include a list of what is within
each committee's jurisdiction or say "on the committee's agenda"
instead of "within the Committee's jurisdiction." S. Schectman
recommended keeping "within the Committee's jurisdiction." She
thought this related to the next agenda item. She said there are
several Board policies that are not in the Rules of Procedure.
• Paragraph 111, E — When the District prints new business cards,
include the infogopenspace.org address.
• Paragraph 111, F — Add the words, "individually or as a whole"
following the words "communicate with the Board" in the second
line. Delete the last two sentences of the second paragraph. Board
Members discussed this option at length. P. Siemens said he
considered it a discussion when a Board Member sends a copy of
his or her response to a constituent to other Board Members.
Board Members and staff expressed their opinions on this matter.
D. Little agreed with P. Siemens. N. Hanko said she thought it
was appropriate to let other members know what their responses to
constituents were. S. Schectman said this policy was patterned
after the policy on written communications. L. Hassett said he had
similar concerns regarding possible violations of the Brown Act.
Following a lengthy discussion, L. Hassett spelled out two options: (1)
the Board could vote on each proposed amendment, or (2) the Board
could send the changes back to the Committee.
S. Schectman noted that it was an individual Board Member's
responsibility to avoid violations of the Brown Act.
• Paragraph 111, G — Change to read, "Board members and staff shall
communicate with each other on District business solely via their
designated District E-mail addresses."
• Paragraph 111, H — The second and third paragraphs of this policy
should be separate policies. Change the first sentence of the
second paragraph to read, "The District will not generally answer
questions or respond to comments made in Internet forums."
Change the second sentence to read, " . . . an interim response to
the questioner and commenter will be sent as soon as possible . .
• Page 4, Section VI—replace "they are" with "he or she is."
Meeting 05-17 Page 4
S. Schectman said elected officials who participate in unintentional
violations of the Brown Act could be responsible; however, a violation
must be intentional to incur criminal liability. This is a rare occurrence.
Board Members conducted a straw vote on the proposed changes as
follows:
Paragraph 111, F — Add the words, "individually or as a whole" following
the words "communicate with the Board" in the second line— 7 to 0.
Delete the last two sentences of the second paragraph — 2 to 5; 7 to 0 that
it should be looked at again. Not eliminate—4 to 3.
Paragraph 111, G — Change to read, "Board members and staff shall
communicate with each other on District business solely via their
designated District E-mail addresses."— 7 to 0.
Paragraph 111, H — Change the first sentence of the second paragraph to
read, "The District will not generally answer questions or respond to
comments made in Internet forums." — 4 to 3. Have Committee look at it
—7 to 0.
Change the second sentence to read, an interim response to the
questioner and commenter will be sent as soon as possible . . ....—7 to 0.
Page 4, Section VI —replace "they are" with "he or she is."—7 to 0.
Motion: J. Cyr moved that the Board send the policy back to the
Legislative, Finance and Public Affairs Committee with
information on the amendments proposed by Board
Members and the results of the straw vote. K. Nitz
seconded the motion. The motion passed 7 to 0.
B. Agenda Item No. 2 - Procedural Recommendation for Assignment of
Agenda Topics to a Board Standing Committee• Discuss and Direct
Legislative, Finance and Public Affairs Committee to Draft Proposed
Amendment to the District's Rules of Procedure for Assignment of
Agenda Topics to Board Standing Committees—(Report R-05-83).
N. Hanko noted that Page 27 of the Coastside Plan included information
on the jurisdiction of each standing committee.
P. Siemens suggested that they make it clear under what conditions staff
refers things directly to standing committees. C. Britton said that most
committee assignments come from work plans.
Meeting 05-17 Page 5
K. Nitz said he would like to have a date by which the Board would like
the item completed. N. Hanko said they would like to have it done by the
end of September.
Motion: P. Siemens moved that the Board direct the Legislative,
Finance and Public Affairs Committee to draft a proposed
amendment to the District's Rules of Procedure for
assignment of agenda topics to Board Standing
Committees; and change the charge to the Committee to
define the jurisdiction of each standing committee. J. Cyr
seconded the motion. The motion passed 7 to 0.
D. Little said there is a Use and Management Committee meeting
scheduled for August 11, and one of the items is the timing for Windy
Hill. S. Schectman reminded them that under the Brown Act, Board
Members can attend a meeting of a standing committee as an observer
only and cannot participate.
C. Agenda Item No. 3 - Authorize Midpeninsula Regional Open Space
District to Co-host the 2006 Special Park Districts Forum with East Bay
Regional Park District—(Report R-05-17).
C. Britton presented the staff report. He said the District cannot sponsor
this event by itself From a workload standpoint, one day is probably
about all they would want to do. He said they had been talking about this
with East Bay for about two years before they went to the Michigan
conference. He said they were proposing to focus on the coast. He passed
out the results of staff discussions, including a proposed schedule of
events for a day. Page 2 of the handout was a compilation of their
brainstorming about what was good about the Michigan conference and
what could be improved upon. He asked for input from the Board. He
discussed the idea behind designating Jed Cyr as a Board liaison. It is
really not for policy, but more for administrative input and advice.
L. Hassett said that at this time he recommended not assigning this to a
committee. He felt that it was important that there be Board liaison. He
agrees with the recommendation of appointing Jed Cyr as the Board
liaison, as stated in the report.
C. Britton said they would be sending a survey to those who attended last
year's conference. He talked about possible future events the District
might conduct.
D. Little agreed that they should do outreach to groups who have not been
attending this conference, and should avoid "dumbing down"
presentations.
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Motion: D. Little moved that the Board authorize the Midpeninsula
Regional Open Space District (MROSD) to co-host the
2006 Special Park District Forum with East Bay Regional
Park District (EBRPD). N. Hanko seconded the motion.
The motion passed 7 to 0.
VIII. INFORMATIONAL REPORTS
N. Hanko drew the Board's attention to the District Web site which has a number
of new things. She thanked staff for their work on the site.
M. Davey: (1) A Bay Area Open Space Council staff person did an analysis of
Websites, and the District's was among the top four. (2) She received a call from
a reporter from the Town Crier regarding the District's position on the De Anza
Trail on District land. She referred her to C. Britton.
L. Hassett said he and C. Britton had attended the JPIA annual meeting.
D. Little: (1) A representative from the Santa Clara Department of Agriculture
and a ranger from Palo Alto Parks had checked the sites where they inoculated
star thistle with rust. He showed pictures of the results. (2) He had hiked some
sites at Bear Creek Redwoods with people from the stables. They showed him a
site where there were rocks with grind holes. He had photographs of them. He
said they should take a close look at that site. (3) He had entered five
photographs in the Committee on Green Foothills' annual art and photography
contest, and he won the competition. There will be an auction of the art and
photographs on October 2, 2005.
J. Cyr: (1) He commended staff on the tour of Sierra Azul. (2) He visited the
Bear Creek stables and will talk to J. Maciel about some of the issues he had
about the area. He said there was a huge amount of broom on the ridge.
C. Britton: (1) He distributed a map of the off-leash area at Pulgas. (2) He had
received an invitation to the Muir Heritage Land Trust event. (3) He had
information on POST's Under the Harvest Moon event on September 17. (4)
John Woodbury has resigned from the Bay Area Open Space Council and
recruiting will begin soon. (5) The FYls included the final letter on M. Davey's
birthday celebration, which raised $25,600.
S. Schectman: (1) The Santa Clara Open Space Authority case was appealed to
the Supreme Court. She will let the Board know if they accept it. (2) The Fogarty
litigation is proceeding. The trial date is September 13, 2005. (3) Settlement
discussions with Saratoga Country Club are moving forward.
J. Maciel reported that there had been a death on a District preserve.
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IX. ADJOURNMENT
At 9:50 p.m., the Board adjourned to Closed Session to discuss Agenda Items 1
and 3. The Special Meeting reconvened and the Board adjourned to Closed
Session to discuss Agenda Items 1 and 3. The Closed Session commenced at 9:57
p.m. and adjourned at 10:25 p.m. No reportable action was taken.
Roberta Wolfe
Recording Secretary
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