Briefing from The June 26, 2008 CCSD Meeting
Thursday’s CCSD meeting was one of the shortest in 2008 - partially because the CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) Presentation by Dennis Offerman, Assistant Manager Cambria CERT and the Emergency Preparedness and Evacuation Plan Presentation by Fire Chief Putney were postponed and partially because President Cobin kept a tight reign on the 3 minute per person public comments. It was only 4:20 when the Board went into closed session.
In case you haven’t caught the meeting on channel 21 (or don’t have 4 hours to sit and watch it), here is a brief rundown of the interesting points of the meeting:
During her report, General Manager Tammy Rudock announced that beginning on July 1, the CCSD office would only be open from 9am to 4pm, instead of 8am to 5pm, because two staff members are on medical leave and hiring a temp isn’t possible. Creating a backlog and routine duties into overtime. Getting through billing without a billing clerk. On July 15, the hours will be further reduced to 10-3pm.
She also tried to clarify that the CCSD sent out an official 218 notice, but that another mailing went out that contained protest forms that was not CCSD generated, but done by CFR. She said that the protest forms should be sent to the CCSD directly at P.O. Box 65, or be brought into the office or dropped in the CCSD’s Bill drop box. She said they are accepting the forms the CFR sent out. Director Chaldecott asked about forms returned in a CFR envelope. Ms. Rudock explained, saying “I would assume that there would be some contact with the CFR saying we got some of their mail….The process is clearly the CCSD’s…. and the CCSD is the official repository of the protest statements including up until the conclusion of the hearing on July 14.” Director Clift asked for clarification on whether the protest had to be postmarked or actually recieved by the deadline. The answer is: it must be in the hands of the CCSD by the close of the July 14 hearing, postmarks are not accepted. She said she hadn’t counted the number of protests so couldn’t give an idea about how it was going.
The biggest news from the General Manager’s report was the impending retirement of Fire Chief Bob Putney, effective December 31, 2008. Ms. Rudock praised him, calling him “the most loyal employee of anyone she’s worked with in my 20 year public service career” and saying he always has the community’s best interests at heart. Ms. Rudock then told everyone she had decided to appoint Assistant Chief Mark Miller succeed Bob Putney. The contract terms still need to be negotiated. He’s been with the Cambria Fire Department as assistant chief for two years and has 30 years of service, including 20 years as a line suppression captain, emergency medical services coordinator and deputy fire marshal and certified paramedic and currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in advanced fire administration.
The Board approved the consent agenda Which included adopting Resolution 20-2008 Ratifying the Memorandum of Understanding with Local 4635 IAFF (International Association Fire Fighters) without discussion or public comment. It makes me a bit uneasy, personally, that they would approve a contract without public discussion and no one from the public (including me) commented. I’m curious how Chief Putney’s retirement might necessitate changes to the contract, with Mark Miller taking the position and Ms. Rudock indicating they will not be filling the assistant chief position. A little discussion that at least showed the Directors had read the contract would have been nice. Director Funke-Bilu abstained from the vote without explanation.
Coming tomorrow (time allowing): The rest of the meeting including the LAFCO (Local Agency Formation Commission) presentation of DRAFT CCSD Municipal Service Review (MSR), the Review progress on 2008 CCSD Board Goals/Objectives and the public hearing on trash rates and Fire Suppression Benefit assessment and the fun that happened during public comment. If you get channel 21, I recommend checking it out. The audio recording of the meeting doesn’t do the actions justice.
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Last 5 posts by Amanda Rice
- Cambria's Water History
- What is a CSD anyway?
- League of California Cities Offers Insight: Ethics in Public Service
- CCSD Board Discussion On Rates
- Looking Forward with Clarity (aka: What's Next?)
June 29th, 2008 at 11:22 am
1. CCSD offices reducing their hours because of 2 medical leaves is unacceptable. The CCSD operates with “functional silos”. That means that people are not cross trained to do other people’s jobs when they are not there. It is another example of stupid office management. YOu need to cross train people so this very problem does not happen.
I think Tammy needs to work the counter during the hours her staff can’t and keep the office open for the public with EXPANDED hours. Or maybe the new Asst. Manager can work the counter.
Who do these people think they are? Overstaffed and beneath them to work the counter to keep public access hours like they have been.
2. And two rate increases without a public vote? Trash and Fire ???
Are we going to have to have 2 more 2128 protests? Who can shed more light on this?
3. And I happened to see the end of the June 26 meeting on channel 21. I was shocked at the way Tammy treated Tina and the two other women involved in the CCSD rejecting the 218 protest form. And then Joan Cobern and Art Mantano…..geez!
All Tammy had to say was ” I am sorry. It will not happen again”.
And don’t get me started on Joan Cobern!!!!!!!!
June 29th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Anne,
The directors did not approve the fire assessment CPI increase. Director Funke-Bilu asked for supporting documentation showing the need. A CPI increase MAY be added each year, if needed - this detail was in the original assessment, which was put to a vote of the people (with over 2/3 approving).
The trash increase was likely subject to a 218, though the district’s legal council said that because it was a private contractor that provided the service, it was not. I will be elaborating on this in my next post. The directors did approve the increase, since it was small and such a large portion of the budget for trash is in fuel and Cambria is remote. For all those reasons, a successful 218 protest on the trash increase would be very unlikely. That is not to say they shouldn’t have followed the procedure, just that the outcome is the same. While this action won’t be forgotten, I think our energy is better spent on issues where the outcome is not the one we’d want to see.
June 30th, 2008 at 9:57 am
I have to differ with Amanda’s last comment to the legality of a 218 notice and protest to the waste company cola. The rule of law is the rule of law. When is it proper procedure to look the other way on a law for convenience sake …never.
the point is not the likely outcome of a 218 but that the public is entitled to proper notice so THEY can make the decision of whether or not they want to pay more money. that is the LAW. My right and your rigth to make that decision has been co-opted by the CCSD.
June 30th, 2008 at 10:30 am
I agree that the waste company’s request for an increase is subject to a 218 process. The waste company clearly expected it would be, since they raised rates in Cayucos last year in compliance with 218 and they provided the information CCSD would need to write up a notice.
My point was not that the CCSD had made the right choice, but that when picking our battles, this one wasn’t worth the energy of a full scale attack. This is but another example of CCSD disrespecting the rights of the community - rights guaranteed by the state constitution.