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DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION RELATED TO UPDATES TO THE STRUCTURE OF CITY BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS, INCLUDING POTENTIAL ELIMINATION OF THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION AND ADJUSTMENTS TO THE COMPOSITION OF THE YOUTH COMMISSION
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
On April 23, 2024, the Mayor and Council initiated discussions to update the City’s Boards and Commissions to make them more engaging for participants and responsive to City and community needs, while recognizing the operational realities and legal constraints governing sworn personnel. Later the City Council made a referral to staff (with the Mayor volunteering to assist) to review and prepare updates to the City’s code of conduct policy for Council and Commission meetings.
As part of this review, both the Fire Chief and Police Chief provided input, emphasizing concerns related to state laws on department operations, investigative confidentiality, patient privacy, and employee personnel matters specific to uniformed police officers and firefighters which, if discussed during public meetings, could have unintended consequences. This item provides an opportunity for the City Council to continue the review of the City’s Commissions and to specifically consider updates to the structure and composition of the Public Safety and Youth Commissions, to ensure they remain responsive, effective, and compliant with all applicable legal requirements.
BACKGROUND
The City of Redondo Beach continually evaluates the structure and effectiveness of its Boards and Commissions to ensure alignment with current policy priorities, community engagement goals, and organizational efficiency.
Throughout 2024, the Mayor developed recommendations to streamline advisory functions and increase youth engagement in City government. These changes were approved by Council and resulted in the consolidation, elimination, and/or update of a number of the City’s Boards and Commissions. These changes were codified in the Redondo Beach Municipal Code (RBMC) and have provided a more efficient and engaging experience for a number of individuals volunteering their time to serve in an appointed advisory role.
The initial round of changes was designed to serve as a starting point for improvements and are tied to a number of other efforts being undertaken by the Mayor and City Council. This includes discussions to improve the Code of Conduct for all public meetings to clarify the roles, responsibilities, and expectations for meeting participants and the appointed and elected officials that conduct City business. Proposed updates are expected to be presented to Council in the upcoming months and will be designed to further improve the manner in which public meetings are conducted. It has also become clear that there are additional opportunities to adjust the roster and composition of select Commissions to further streamline the City’s offerings and bring them in line with the needs of City Departments and the community.
Public Safety Commission
The Public Safety Commission was founded in 1996 to, “help serve as the citizens' voice in public safety affairs, provide suggestions for ensuring responsive and efficient public safety services, review public safety legislation when appropriate and directed by City Council, collaborate on, promote, and support community policing programs, and perform such other duties as directed by the City Council.” Since that time, oversight at the state level has become more prescriptive, requiring the City’s Police and Fire Departments to dedicate more time and energy to comply with an evolving set of regulations designed to promote accountability and transparency in public safety operations. Additionally, the City’s public safety departments have implemented a number of proactive community engagement programs that routinely facilitate public dialogue and feedback.
As part of the mayoral and council review of commissions, the Fire and Police Chiefs engaged in discussions regarding the legal framework governing public safety personnel, including laws related to confidentiality, patient privacy, and the rights of sworn employees. These discussions included, but were not limited to, the potential to compromise active investigations, California Peace Officers Bill of Rights, the Firefighters Procedural Bill of Rights, and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
Both Chiefs expressed concerns that substantive discussion of operational issues during Public Safety Commissions could inadvertently place the City at risk of violating these state and federal laws. Due to the sensitive and legally protected nature of many public safety matters, there are strict limitations on what can be publicly discussed in an open setting.
Given these constraints, the Fire and Police Chiefs approached the Mayor to discuss the possibility of eliminating the Public Safety Commission and exploring alternative structures that would 1) maintain transparency, while also respecting the legal rights and confidentiality requirements of operations, investigations and public safety personnel, and 2) provide other opportunities for current Commissioners to serve in more efficient and productive ways.
Youth Commission
The Youth Commission has seen a great resurgence in the past year and has been conducting regular meetings that have produced a number of recommendations to enhance the availability and diversity of programs and resources available to teens in the City. Currently, the Youth Commission has 15 seats, with up to 3 adult members with an additional ad hoc subcommittee of non-voting members. After collecting feedback from the Mayor, the Staff Liaison, along with the adult and youth members of the Commission, a number of changes are being considered for the Youth Commission:
• Refine the duties and purpose of the Commission
• Reduce the adult members to one non-voting advisory/liaison School Board member to help in student selection and to provide advise as needed.
• Increase the number of voting youth Commissioners to 15, with the goal of having:
o 5 total from students in Grades 7 or 8
o 5 total from students in Grades 9 or 10
o 5 total from students in Grades 11 or 12
• Eliminate the non-voting, ad hoc Committee
• Lower the age of candidacy from 13 to 12
• Increase the length of each term from 1 to 2 years and allow students to serve until they graduate (with no limit on the number of terms served)
• Provide more definition regarding the selection process
Any desired changes to the Public Safety and Youth Commissions can be directed to staff ahead of the scheduled Board and Commission applicant interviews, which are scheduled for the July 8 City Council meeting. Any directed updates to the RBMC would then be introduced by ordinance for first reading on July 15, and, if approved, the ordinances could be presented for second reading and adoption on August 5. The adopted ordinances, if approved, would take effect 30 days following the August 5 meeting.
ATTACHMENTS
• RBMC Title 2, Chapter 9, Article 8, Section 2-9-801 - Public Safety Commission
• RBMC Title 2, Chapter 9, Article 6, Section 2-9-601 - Youth Commission