Retreat offers members chance to consider topics and create
agenda for the year
Gilroy – One of the biggest scandals in Gilroy history spawned a process that continues today – the policy summit, where city leaders shape ideas that guide the local economy, landscape, public safety – a myriad of issues that touch the daily lives of residents.
City leaders held the first council retreat outside of their City Hall chambers in the summer of 1984, when council members gathered with city managers to find ways to clean up the mess – figuratively and literally – left in the wake of Sewergate.
The scandal, which involved the covert dumping of sewage into the Pajaro River, cost the jobs of two city managers and a pair of council members and led to a two-year moratorium on construction throughout the city.
At the time, City Administrator Jay Baksa was new on the job.
“There was some animosity toward past council members,” recalled Baksa, who was hired in 1983. “Council members had to let that go. We had to solve the problem. It was at the retreat where they could talk about issues and get rid of the past. It took a retreat to do that – you couldn’t do that on the dais.”
Today, council retreats are far less stormy and relations between council members less acrimonious, Baksa said, but leaders continue grappling with tough issues. The meetings represent a cutting-room floor for policy ideas – where priorities are set, ideas are fleshed out and given direction or simply discarded. The ideas that emerge form the substance of the council’s agenda for the next year.
While times are less contentious than during Sewergate, Baksa said council members continue to grapple with “tough issues, as they will be doing tomorrow, such as binding arbitration.”
The use of an outside arbitrator to sort out labor disputes has emerged as one of the most contentious issues in the last year.
Mayor Al Pinheiro used a one-day mini-retreat in July 2005 to rally council members behind a ballot measure to uproot binding arbitration, the strongest bargaining chip for public safety workers who are barred from going on strike.
The mayor and other officials have criticized the dispute-resolution procedure, first approved by voters in 1988, as handing control over city finances to an outsider. But Pinheiro’s push for a ballot measure withered in the run-up to the November election, when fire and police unions complained about due process and threatened political retribution.
Three months later, as an arbitrator sorts out differences between the city and Fire Local #2805 for the second time in five years, the mayor will once again gauge council members on their willingness to support a ballot measure to repeal binding arbitration.
Councilman Craig Gartman was re-elected in November after receiving the endorsement of both public safety unions.
“My opinion on (repealing binding arbitration) has not changed,” he said. “If the public wants it, I will accept it. But as a councilman, I will not vote in favor of putting a measure on the ballot. If someone can find 2,000 people (to sign a petition and) put it on the ballot, go for it.”
Council members will discuss a potential ballot measure at 10:45am today.
While binding arbitration has been among the more contentious subjects in recent months, the topic with the greatest potential to influence the city’s future involves the growth control ordinance. Starting at 1pm, officials will discuss ways to retool the Residential Development Ordinance, which lays out a competitive process for doling out building permits for a 10-year period.
Officials plan to change the scoring system to encourage more affordable housing and environmentally conscious construction. They also will tackle the issue of allocating new building permits for downtown construction – a key issue in stoking renewal efforts in the area.
On Saturday, council members will discuss cracked and uprooted sidewalks, a perennial campaign issue. During their fall election bids, council members Peter Arellano, Dion Bracco and Gartman all backed the idea of an internal revenue bond to finance citywide repairs. While the city has formed a sidewalk task force to examine financing and repair solutions, council members are expected to hash out ideas once again.
In years past, few if any residents attended the informal policy meetings, which are open to the public.
“We tried to get the citizens more involved and it was one of the issues that I ran on for mayor,” said Mike Gilroy, who served on council from 1991 to 1999, the last two of them as mayor. Gilroy said he was surprised to see that fewer residents showed up when the meetings moved from Monterey back to Gilroy. While the public has yet to take interest, the former mayor said the policy summits remain central to the functioning of city government.
“For the council,” he said, “it was really about rolling up your sleeves to come up with solutions we could all agree on, whatever our political leanings were.”
The policy summit, which is open to the public, will be held at Bonfante Gardens, in the Lodge Meeting Room, 3050 Hecker Pass Highway. The agenda includes:
Items on the Agenda
The policy summit, which is open to the public, will be held at Bonfante Gardens, in the Lodge Meeting Room, 3050 Hecker Pass Highway. The agenda includes:
– 10:15am: Bonfante Garden Conflict – Mayor will address concerns about his dual role as a council member and member of the park’s board.
– 10:45am: Binding arbitration – Mayor will gauge support for a measure to uproot binding arbitration
– 1pm: Growth Control – How to retool growth control measure to encourage environmentally friendly homes; debate on new permits for construction
– 2pm: Earthquake buildings – Efforts to rehabilitate buildings that could crumble in an earthquake
– 3pm: Camino Arroyo bridge – Bridge will connect northern outlets with new shopping centers off 152
– 4pm: Downtown parking – Plans for downtown area
Saturday, Jan. 28
– 8:30am: Sidewalk task force
– 9am: Green technology – environmentally friendly buildings
– 10am: BART extension to San Jose
