Waiting for a Payoff
“We send out a million postcards a year, at a cost of $80,000, without anyone showing up for Council meetings,” Mr. Rose will argue. He and the Mayor are veterans at debating each other on this subject. Mr. Silbiger has said in the past that the notion of City Hall staying in touch with residents out in the neighborhoods surpasses almost every other democratic value in degree of importance. From the dais, both gentlemen share the same view of the seats in Council Chambers. If the room is largely empty, they can concur most seats are unoccupied. Their dispute centers on their political perspectives. The Mayor maintains that invitations matter more than whether the invitations are massively ignored on a weekly basis. Mr. Rose may have enough allies to prevail on a reduction in the volume of notification.
Declaiming About Proclaiming
Cheap. That is what Mr. Rose thinks of the perceived free flow of proclamations that the City Council distributes on Monday nights. “They are a dime a dozen,” said Mr, Rose, coining a phrase that may not be original. “If the federal government designates next month as National Diabetes Awareness Month, why do we have to present a proclamation for that? Wouldn’t it be just as effective, or more effect, to encourage people from the dais to become involved? We have overlap and excess. Why do we have to get government involved in every area of peoples’ lives? Giving out all of these proclamations is not only cheapening, it is an archaic practice.” If he succeeds in getting the number of proclamations significant reduced, Mr. Rose said, “the financial saving on paper won’t be much. But the value will come in saving staff time so that staff can better serve the public.” Since Council members have favorite organizations and individuals, this proposal may face stiff resistance.
Getting Up to Date in Culver City
The suggestion that Mr. Rose has reserved for the meeting appears to be benign. But predicting City Council responses has been a dangerous, and often losing, proposition for the past six years. In the name of entering the present century, Mr. Rose is proposing each Council member be presented with a laptop for Council business. Mr. Rose is a gadget-type person. So is Vice Mayor Alan Corlin. First-year Councilmember Scott Malsin spends much of his professional life computerly engaged. That should be sufficient for Mr. Rose to proclaim not only victory but a sweep at the suggestion box.
Monday night’s Council Agenda Action Items
A- 1. Consideration of Renewal of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Homeless.
Discuss item and direct staff as deemed appropriate.
A- 2. Discussion of Los Angeles County Ordinance Amending Title 10 – Animals, of the Los Angeles County Code, Establishing a Mandatory Spay and Neuter Program for Dogs and Requiring that all Dogs over the Age of Four Months be Implanted with an Identifying Microchip.
Discuss the Los Angeles County Ordinance Amending Title 10 – Animals and direct staff as deemed appropriate.
A- 3. Discussion of Council Policy Statement #3402 (Council Recognition).
Receive and file this report and direct staff as deemed appropriate.
A- 4. Discussion of Costs of Public Notification.
Receive and file this report and direct staff as deemed appropriate.
A- 5. Discussion of City Council Agenda Pending List.
Discuss the City Council Agenda Pending List and direct staff as deemed appropriate.
A- 6. Consideration of an Extension to a Professional Services Agreement with Colen & Lee, Inc. to Provide Workers’ Compensation Claims Administration Services.
Authorize the fourth amendment to the professional services agreement with Colen & Lee, extending the terms of the contract through 12/31/06 and increasing the monthly contract amount from $15,500 to $16,120 effective 7/1/06, Authorize the Chief Administrative Officer to extend the terms of the agreement until 6/30/07, if necessary, Authorize the City Attorney to prepare the amendment, and Authorize the Chief Administrative Officer to sign the amendment on behalf of the City.
A- 7. Discussion of Purchase of Laptops for Use by the City Council.
Discuss the purchase of laptops for use by the City Council and direct staff as deemed appropriate.
A- 8. Approval of the Final Plans and Specifications and Authorize Advertising for Bids for the Washington Boulevard Streetlight Improvement Project between Glencoe Avenue and Beethoven Avenue.
Approve the final plans and specifications and authorize advertising for bids for the Washington Boulevard Streetlight Improvement Project, P-856.
A- 9. Authorization to Enter Into an Agreement with AEI Consultants to Conduct a Facilities Assessment/Condition Study on City-Owned Facilities.
Authorize entering into an agreement with AEI Consultants to conduct a facilities condition study on City-owned facilities in conjunction with the City-wide Facilities Assessment Project (P-858) for an amount not to exceed $103,000 and Authorize the City Attorney to prepare the necessary documents and authorize the Chief Administrative Officer to approve the documents.
A- 10. Consideration to Award a Professional Services Contract to CDM (Camp Dresser & McKee Inc.), for the Marina del Rey Harbor Mothers’ Beach and Back Basins Bacterial Total Maximum Daily Load Quantitative Analysis Project. (P-497).
Direct staff to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the other jurisdictions, and with a condition that reimbursement of $49,000 be completed no later than 120 days after the completion of the project; and approve the budget amendment of additional revenue ($49,000 – Account #42000497.386100) for this project, and Award a professional services contract to Camp Dresser & McKee Inc. (CDM), for preparing a quantitative analysis report for the Marina del Rey Harbor Mothers’ Beach and Back Basins Bacteria TMDL for a not-to-exceed amount of $50,000.00, and Authorize the City Attorney to prepare the necessary documents and authorize the Chief Administrative Officer to execute the documents. This item requires a 4/5th vote.