The June 28, 2011 Fillmore City Council Meeting ended close to 1:00am as Council addressed the task of finalizing the deep budget cuts. From employee layoffs and furloughs to proposals of sales tax increase and special assessments the they took action.

But Council saved the best—or worst—for last; the Council’s disagreement with the Planning Commission’s approval of a 65-foot in height cellular tower Verizon is planning to place on the Super Seal & Stripe business property. At the opening of the meeting Super Seal and Stripe owner Brenda Hampton-Ortiz asked the Council why they had waited until now to protest the Commission’s decision. The submission period is approaching and Hampton-Ortiz question why Council is just now showing concern about the tower.

Ortiz was referring to last week’s Council and Planning Commission meetings, June 21 and 22, which launched a serious of disagreements between the two bodies.

At the Council meeting Mayor Gayle Washburn protested the tower, stating she would appeal the Planning Commission’s decision to approve it, a decision that had not yet been made. She was supported by Council Members Jamey Brooks and Brian Sipes.

The next night, at Planning Commission, Commissioner Vance Johnson had this to say, “Last night’s comments by the Mayor with regard to appealing a decision that hadn’t even been made yet is amazing…it was supported by two other council people [Brooks and Sipes]. The other two council people [Walker and Conaway] obviously well versed in the law, and well versed in the processes, they’re well informed and think along the lines of the correctness of actions. But to question the planning commission even before we made a decision is ludicrous and I’m being gentle.”

He went on to say that although the two bodies may not always agree on every decision, “I’m beginning to see something happening here that I’m not comfortable with.”

Commissioner Douglas Tucker said that there has to be a trust between the two bodies. “The Planning Commission is appointed, City Council is elected”, a comment that was repeated by the Mayor at last night’s Council meeting. “Working with my fellow Commissioners I know we take this job extremely seriously. To have a decision that I haven’t even made, that I haven’t even discussed appealed, again to use your word is ludicrous [quoting Johnson]; it’s inappropriate and it’s extremely unprofessional.”

Commissioner Mark Austin was next to speak. With controlled annoyance he said, “I would like to say something. I hope the city of Fillmore in this next election wakes up and see’s what’s going on with city instead of sitting in the back and bitching about what’s going on in this community; they step forward and remove some of these council members who are causing some of this. There’s a chance in November to do it so wake up Fillmore.”

The exchange was interrupted by a phone call from Mayor Washburn to Schneider, who was in attendance at the Commission’s meeting. She defended her remarks that she did not have an intention to appeal their decision, and that it was not an issue of trust or mistrust.

She said, through Schneider, that because of the prominence of this particular project she wanted the public to have a full opportunity to be able to review and comment on the project before council.

Johnson reacted to her comment with his hand sweeping towards the almost empty chamber. “The place is filled up. Oh my gosh, they’re coming down in groves. If it were that important she [Washburn] would have been here.”
“I don’t get the impression that this is a hot-brain subject in this town. We’ve approved a number of cell towers here. What’s so different about this one? With exasperation he said, “We’ve got one on the hill if you’re going to get so excited about it.”

Tucker added, “Due process is that there is a public hearing here now, and I know that she is not intending to make the situation worst but the way I am taking this is that the City Council public hearings are more important than ours? It just doesn’t make sense. There is a public hearing, there is a process, the public has the opportunity, it is noted in the newspaper, there’s an agenda on the city website; there’s more opportunities for the public to come down and attend a public hearing here. It’s the same opportunity that is at the City Council level.”

Tucker ended his point with, “We are a sub-committee. It’s important to understand what our roles are and if our role is to be appealed up to the City Council level before we make a decision, like Vance echoed, what’s the point of the Planning Commission? To me that’s the bigger issue. Why are we here taking this seriously, working hard to make educated, informed decisions, only to go up to the City Council level, to have it held up with no regard to the work we’ve already put into it?”

The Commission meeting ended with a motion for Tucker to communicate to City Manager Yvonne Quiring in a meeting their concerns with regards to the Mayor’s mishandling of the Commission’s recommendation. Tucker said he will try and get the Mayor to attend that meeting.

At last night’s Council meeting, City Attorney Ted Schneider advised the Council that if they appeal the Planning Commission approval of the cellular tower, the delay will violate FCC law and be just grounds for Verizon to sue the city. Undeterred, Council directed to post a Notice of Public Hearing in this week’s Gazette, page 9—“City Council appeal of Planning Commission decision to approve a 65’ in height cellular tower.”

In other Council business, the assessment rates of specific areas of the City’s storm drains started off the meeting with a detailed legal definition of what is considered a Special Benefit and a General Benefit according to California Prop 218. Some of the drains are for specific developments and are considered a Special Benefit and others are added to be developed later and are considered a General Benefit when serving a larger area.
Council Member Patti Walker, who lives in one of the tracks, recused herself but then addressed the Council stating, “I don’t think the public knows how many areas the City maintains that are considered a General Benefit.”

This description of benefits is also how the Landscaping and Lighting is assessed to some degree. City Engineer Tom Scott informed the Council that only 10% of the residents who live in the special assessment tracks attended a meeting he had arranged to discuss the issues of maintenance. Special ballots were mailed out asking if those residents would agree to an added assessment tax to cover the cost of service to those areas.

Linda Nunez who has lived in the Traditions Track for seven years told the Council she didn’t know who was in charge of the maintenance until she attended the meeting. She informed the Council that for at least nine years no one has trimmed the trees or fixed the broken irrigation pipes and several times has asked City Hall who was responsible for doing the maintenance but was never told who had the contract.

Ray Dressler addressed the Council stating he was not totally opposed to an assessment but his concerns were about the uncertainty of what the residents were voting on. Dressler asked what calculations were used to determine the assessment increases, adding, “As presented, once the assessment is approved via ballot, it reads to me, we have given a carte blanch approval for all the future years of any and all increases without further approval by the property owners.”

William Burson who has lived in the Traditions Track for 10 years said he feels like the residents have been put “under the rug….then to have the City come in there and ask for more money for services never rendered…how in the world can you ask that?”

He added that he does not have a tree or light in front of his house, but “I’m paying for it.” All who addressed the Council complained the trees had not been maintained by West Coast Arborists, the company contracted with the City. Some were angry and told the Council that they already pay the highest assessments and suggested the landscaping be changed to deal with the cost of the water. Some suggested that the City’s website have the names of the businesses contracted with the City so residents could contact them directly and a grading system be put into place, allowing residents to grade the contractors on their work.

Council Member Jamey Brooks commented that the Council needs to qualify the contractors’ work and fire them if they’re not doing their job. Council Member Brian Sipes added, “We’re asking our citizens to put in more money where they’ve not seen a benefit.”

The ballots on the special assessment were then counted and the special assessment tax measures failed to pass, leaving the City with the only alternative; not doing much of the maintenance in those areas going forward.

The budget was the next item on the agenda with the approval of City Hall being closed every Friday and 1/3 of the City employees being laid off as part of the solution. City Manager Yvonne Quiring addressing the Council stating, “This is the most difficult I’ve had to do in my 25 years of service”…we will be dealing with less staff and less resources. Walker adding, “This is a big event happening in the City.”

Council Member Steve Conaway, who stated at the last Council meeting he would make his comments on the budget when all cuts were final, was not in attendance. Mayor Washburn asked if Conaway had left any comments and was told no.

Quiring pointed out the $116,000 price tag for maintenance of the City’s parks, with the skate park alone costing $6,000 annually, adding that is the reason the City increased the fees. Quiring told Council, “There are a lot of things that have to happen in the next few months.”

Brooks stated, “I feel bad for the employees…you reap what you sow….I think the town was mismanaged in the past…this started years ago” adding no one currently had much to do with this and he regrets that the City is at this point. He went on to say that the City can’t print money or put it on a credit card.

Sipes addressed the cuts by saying, “Speculation of future revenue is a failed policy and now that the bubble has burst we see the results of that.” Then adding, “City Hall is now forced to live within its means…If we eliminate the red tape, businesses will come to Fillmore.”

Jack Hoffman, a labor relations contractor, informed the Council that after 13 negotiation sessions the City’s union, employees could not agree on a contract with the City. He said they’ve been meeting in good faith and understanding the budget limitations they will try another attempt at contract resolution in March or April, adding that what both parties have now is an extension, not a contract.

Walker responded to the news from Hoffman by saying she was glad the door was still open. Hoffman told the Council that he understood the huge problems they are facing and that being an elected official in these times is as hard as it gets. Washburn added, “Hopefully in the future we can come to an agreement.”

The next item the Council addressed was the proposed ballot measure to raise the sales tax in Fillmore by either a half-cent generating $326,000 per year or by three-quarter cents saving $489,000 per year. The current sales tax rate is 8.25 percent and will be decreasing to 7.25 percent on July 1, 2011. Reversing this decrease in sales tax is one of the measures Governor Brown is trying to get on the ballot for November 2011. This has not happened yet and the City is moving ahead to place the item on the ballot for November in a special election which may cost the City up to $20,000 but cannot exceed that amount. Passage of this tax will be by simple majority vote. The added monies generated if the tax is approved will help fund the City’s operations. Without the increase the City will again be faced with making additional cuts to the fiscal year 2013.

Council Members wanted the public to know that this proposal was not something the Council wanted to do, but it is something they’re required to do. Sipes added that he wants the record to show that he is not in favor of raising taxes, but that this is a last resort.

What concerned some Council members was that they feared those voting on the measure would not read why the increase in sales tax is needed but simply see it as another tax increase. The measure can use up to 75 words on the ballot to explain why it is needed, but the Council stressed the need to get the word out on how dire the situation is and the need for new revenue to keep the City running.

The question the Council is dealing with is whether the staff furlough days are truly a benefit. With the lack of access to City Hall, an increase in the staffs’ workload and the possibility of higher cost in the future, they have to ask themselves if the choices they made the right ones.

Walker’s addressed the situation with caution and stated that the City was entering uncharted waters. She expressed her concern about the Sewer Plants $50,000 operations report and that she felt the budget report is not clear enough. Quiring told the Council, “The City has a high degree of interest in this, as they should” and went on to say that $1.9 million is too big to deal with in just one place and that the 18% cut the employees took was a big sacrifice.