Regional
Nevada City Voters' Right to Choose Respected by City Council
Author: YubaNet
Published on Mar 26, 2008 - 10:06:37 PM

NEVADA CITY Calif. March 26, 2008 - The four remaining members on Nevada City's City Council decided to let voters pick the replacement for Councilwoman Sheila Stein in the November election. The decision seems logical, but a candidate for one of the three other seats up in June loudly voiced his displeasure. If Gene Downing's angry accusations of "back-door crap" are any indication of future conduct, black helicopters will soon be spotted in the skies over Nevada City...

The Question

Council had to decide how to handle the vacancy caused by the resignation of Sheila Stein. The term for her seat expires in 2010.

City Attorney Jim Anderson explained the available options: appoint a person to the unexpired term or pass an ordinance to have a special election and appoint an interim council member until the election results are certified.

He pointed out that, by law, the council needs to start the proceedings for filling the vacancy within 30 days of the resignation. This can be accomplished by either appointing or calling a special election, Anderson said.

As to the cost of the election, Anderson said that it would be approximately $7 per voter, less if the election was combined with the November general election. Nevada City has 1,930 registered voters.

The Comments

Roger Savage stated his preference to fill the four seats with the candidates on the June ballot.

Jim McConnaughay was slightly confused about the process and thought it would be best to appoint for the full remainder of Stein's term. He suggested that the four candidates on the June ballot debate issues in a public forum so that the public and the council would get a better understanding of their positions.

Kim Milligan suggested the council go ahead with calling an election. In her opinion, a competitive campaign season is an opportunity for the candidates to get to know voters and their issues.

John Vodonick reminded the council of a simple principle. The virtue of good government is open government. The only open, virtuous way is to have a special election, Vodonick said.

Former councilman Conley Weaver said, "You're talking about $13-14,000 and two years of the future of Nevada City. It is worth the expenditure to get it right. To circumvent the will of the voters would be a disservice."

The Outburst

Mayor Sally Harris invited further comments from the public. Former councilman and now-candidate Gene Downing took ten seconds and then marched to the microphone. "You are doing all this stuff, prepared speeches, to do one thing: You don't want me on the city council. You don't want somebody who represents the neighborhood, you don't want my honesty and my integrity on the council and you're trying to stop me by all these back-door things. Pick one the four candidates, appoint and get on with it. We need city government that's honest and straight-forward and not this back-door crap you're trying to pull."

While Downing was walking back to his seat, sparse applause began. Harris reminded everyone that applause or expressing negative opinions about a speaker was a no-no during council meetings. "We want to hear from everybody and..." Harris said, before being interrupted by Downing shouting from his seat. "I'll express the opinion I want, it's a free country."

"We want to hear from everyone. That is the job, when you are elected as a council person, you have...," Harris tried once more to complete her sentence.

Downing cut her off again, shouting, "I have been longer on the council than you have."

Harris used two raps of the gavel to restore order, continuing "...and to take all of this into consideration. By law, that is what we must do here. I ask you to please be respectful of each other so that we can hear what everyone has to say and that no one feels intimidated."

When Downing was a council member, the city council didn't have a code of conduct or a civility policy.

The Decision

Councilman David McKay clarified he had spoken to the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) and to attorney Scott Browne regarding his participation in a vote on the issue, since he is also a candidate for the June election. Both the FPPC and Browne told McKay that his candidacy and the vacancy created by Stein are two separate issues. "I'm elected to make decisions, I wanted to clarify that," McKay said. He took offense at Downing's allegations and stated that people in Nevada City really care who sits on the city council and the planning commission.

Councilwoman Barbara Coffman agreed with McKay on the need to have the June election go forward as planned. "I think it is critical that the campaigns go forward. As a side note, the person that gets the most votes will be the mayor in the following year," Coffman added.

Councilman Steve Cottrell said his recommendation was already in the council packet and he had nothing further to add. Cottrell's memo, dated one day after Stein's resignation, suggested appointing Robert Bergman for the remainder of Stein's term. He indicated that both Stein and he had talked to Bergman who was willing to accept the shorter term. Cottrell also stated he had discussed the matter with the city attorney "in anticipation of Sheila's resignation."

Coffman made the motion not to appoint anyone to fill Stein's term and the motion passed 3-1 with Cottrell voting No.

After further discussion about the cost of the election, Mayor Harris called on Finance Manager Catrina Andes to confirm the city could afford the cost of a special election. Andes responded with a, "yes, that is correct."

"My own sense on this is that the expense is worth it," Harris said.

Coffman made a motion to call a special election on November 3 and to direct the city attorney to prepare an ordinance "to seat an interim council member until we seat a council member elected by the people."

Cottrell said he had reviewed every election since 1851. "In 157 years, I will verify it again, there has never been a special election. This city has never spent taxpayer money for a special election. They appointed. We've never done this before."

Coffman's motion to let the voters decide passed by a 3-1 vote, with Cottrell voting No.

Harris summarized the proceedings as follows: "We decided not to interfere with the June election, where there are four candidates already signed up and running for the three seats available. We're going to leave that as it is and we're not going to consider appointing any of those people. In terms of filling the Sheila Stein seat, which has another two and a quarter years to go, we've decided that it is in the best interest of the people to be able to choose. At the same time, we'd like to have a full five-person council for as long as we can, or with only four of us for as little as we can. Therefore, we are setting the special election to be when the general election is this fall, on November 3. At the same time, we will be moving an ordinance through that allows us to appoint an interim council replacement for Sheila Stein."

Public Comment or Resident Malcontent's Soapbox?

Gary Stollery, who prefers to plaster his shop's window not with products but with letters, articles and petitions generally unflattering to Nevada City, had to share his thoughts on the Downtown Association. He mentioned a request for street closure for a farmer's market every Saturday during the summer. The item had been pulled from the agenda, so he was free to comment on it.

"The request was submitted by an individual, not by the Downtown Association," Stollery admitted. Talking about "shadow groups" behind the scheme, he did not appreciate learning about the request only on Friday, "only 5 days before the resolution was scheduled to be passed." [Editor's note: The city always publishes the agenda for the Wednesday meeting on the preceding Friday.]

Stollery said he started a petition drive on Saturday. He said the first person who signed his petition contacted the chairman of the Downtown Association. The person was told the chairman had no knowledge of "who was requesting the street closure for the farmer's market."

All this didn't faze Stollery, who didn't hesitate to call the Downtown Association "devious" and alleged the association did not "have the backbone to make the request in their own name." He then railed some more against the association, calling for its abolition, and said that even Grass Valley does not "have a chamber of commerce to support their business community for events." [Editor's note: This might be news to the Grass Valley Chamber of Commerce.]

To download this map as a pdf file (417KB) click on the image.

Regular Business

PG&E's Brian Jensen gave a brief rundown of the ClimateSmart program and invited the city to join the initiative. Council thanked Jensen and will agendize the item for further discussion.

City Engineer Bill Falconi requested council's approval to award a contract for $353,812 to Tiechert Construction for the 2008 paving project. Tiechert was the lowest bidder, with a price of $83.25 per ton. Last year the contract went for approximately $100/ton.

Falconi plans to use 4,250 tons of asphalt concrete on 20 streets. The city is launching an outreach campaign to inform residents of the dates and times planned for the necessary street closures. Council approved his request unanimously.

The map on the left represents the 2008 paving locations. By clicking on the image, you can download the map as a pdf file.

Finance /Human Resources Manager Catrina Andes presented a rough draft of a proposed "disciplinary actions and procedures policy." This raised the question if city employees were "at will employees" or not. After some discussion, council decided to postpone this item until a meeting with staff clarifies the issue.

Andes also got approval for her proposed budget calendar.

City Attorney Jim Anderson is working on the Arashi mini-storage agreement. He stated Mr. Arashi requested an R-2 or R-3 (residential multi-family) pre-zoning for the two parcels to be annexed into the city. The city's general plan calls for R-1 (single family) zoning. Anderson will bring a draft agreement to the council at their next meeting.

A request for a street closure by KVMR was tabled since no representative from KVMR was present in the audience.

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