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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda Packet - EVWD Board of Directors - 04/01/2010East Valley Water District SPECIAL MEETING APRIL 1, 2010 -1:00 PM EAST VALLEY WATER DISTRICT 3654 HIGHLAND AVE #12, HIGHLAND, CA. AGENDA CALL TO ORDER PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 1. PUBLIC COMMENTS 2. Discussion and possible action regarding Board Norms and Procedures 3. ADJOURN Pursuant to Government Code Section 54954.2(a), any request for a disability- related modification or accommodation, including auxiliary aids or services, that is sought in order to participate in the above agendized public meeting should be directed to the District's Administrative Manager at (909) 885 -4900. Orqftfor Review and Discussio �1 / IRATLM1011W GENERAL i. To take courageous action when necessary to keep the EV WD a progressive, well managed, innovative District. 2. Board of Directors provides leadership and participates in regional, state and national programs and meetings. 3. Board of Directors looks to Constituents and other elected officials for independent advice. 4. other community leaders are consulted in the decision- making process when appropriate. S. There can be extensive citizen participation and work on District programs. 6. There are numerous meetings, other than regular Board of Directors meetings. 7. We stress training for staff and Board of Directors. 8. Board of Directors will inform the General Manager's Executive Assistant when they will be out of town as early as possible and it will be put on the Board Calendar. 9. Board of Directors get the same information as much as possible: citizen complaints, letters, background, etc., in a timely manner. io. Board of Directors members will each determine specific routine information they want to receive such as Committee or City Agendas. ii. Return unwanted reports and documents to staff for distributing to the public or for recycling. 12. The Board of Directors may ask staff for information, providing such information requests can be reasonably accommodated without significant interruption in staff work load. The General Manager shall be notified of any information requests requiring more than two hours of staff time in order to prioritize work. evwu -Q= room e! UMCIM norms ono FMCVNFa The General Manager shall not be required to copy all Board Members with information obtained by other Board Members. 13. All project assignments requested by Board Members shall be directed through the General Manager. The General Manager may place project items on the agenda if the project requires Board policy direction or approval to be implemented. 14. Items of significant expenditure of time /energy or financial impact must go to Board of Directors /General Manager to be agendized. 15. The General Manager receives formal work direction from the Board of Directors at public meetings or in closed session. Individual Board Members may not delegate formal work direction to the General Manager without approval by the rest of the Board of Directors. 16. Any Board Member can request an item be placed on the agenda. 17. Read Committee Minutes in order to find out what is being worked on. 18. General Manager will discuss significant future Agenda topics with Board Members. 19. General Manager will meet regularly with Chair and Vice Chair on Agenda preparation. 2o.Board of Directors (minority side on vote) can not bring item back for one year; majority can bring it back at will. 21. Board Members will do their homework (i.e., Read packets, complete committee work, etc.). 22. General Manager to give routine updates to Board of Directors. ;_ ._1 L 23, The Board of Directors and General Manager are a participatory team. 24. Board of Directors values high energy, open mindedness, and is achievement - oriented. 25. Board of Directors will care and have respect for each other. 26. Board of Directors will be straightforward, with no hidden agendas. 27. District Board of Directors values humor. 28.Traditions are respected. 2of8 [VWD -gyQ 80"OfDbwWs Name and Irorada s 29. Individuals are responsible to initiate resolution of problems A. SAP. and not let them fester. 3o. Board of Directors will not direct personal attacks at each other during public meetings, in the press, or any other place /time. 3i. Relationships are informal, but not casual in public. Business attire at Board meetings is appropriate. 32. Board of Directors will be cooperative in covering for each other. 33• Substantive Board of Directors /General Manager items are to receive advance notice and public notification. 34• Committee areas belong to the whole Board; they are not seen as territorial. 35• Committees are responsible to keep the rest of the Board Members informed; and other members are responsible for letting the Committee know if they want more information or to give input. 36. Before Elected officials start moving in a new direction, they will get direction from the rest of the Board Members. 37. The Board of Directors will use the draft system for selecting Committees. 38-Committee reports will be made under Board Reports, when appropriate. 39• Committee summaries will be sent on an interim basis to update other Board members on: • Issues being discussed • Options being considered • Progress 40. Board of Directors and Committees will give clear and focused communication promptly. 41. If Committee and Staff disagree, it is the practice to bring the issue to full Board of Directors. BOARS INTERACTION AND COMMUNICATION WrrH STAFF General Manager 42. Board of Directors will provide annual goals to provide direction to the General Manager, 43. Board Members should always feel free to go to the General Manager and vice versa. 3 of 8 44. When a Board Member is unhappy about a department, he /she should always talk it over with the General Manager not the Department Head. 45• Concerns about a Department Head must be taken to the General Manager or Board Attorney only. 46. Critical information will be passed to all Board Members by appropriate personnel. 47. The General Manager will provide ongoing feedback, information, and perceptions to the Board of Directors, including some response to written communications requesting feedback. 48. The General Manager deals with issues that cross department boundaries. 49• Board of Directors will provide the General Manager with a written evaluation annually and provide some General Manager goals. Staff in General 50. Board of Directors will always be informed by staff when an unusual event occurs that the public would be concerned about, i.e., Health Department notice, big Water breaks, etc, in a timely manner (if press or media is involved). 51. Extreme emergencies (i.e., fatalities) are immediately communicated to Board Members by General Manager or staff. 52. The Board of Directors and staff will not blind side each other in public. Consideration for each other is our practice. 53• If a Board Member has a question on an agenda item, that member will make every effort to contact the General Manager and /or staff prior to the meeting. Board Attorney 54• Board Attorney shall partner with Board of Directors, General Manager and Staff when and where appropriate. 55• Board Attorney goes through the General Manager on routine areas. 56. Board Attorney to regularly consult with Board Members on items of concern on the upcoming agenda at the earliest time possible. 57. Board Attorney can consult directly with General Manager as needed. 58. Board Attorney will track Committee's actions, and relevant agendas of Board of Directors for needed input. 59• Board Attorney must oversee specialist attorneys; they are paid through the General Manager. 4of8 EVWD -Pfd S&Wd 01DINemrr Nomu and lranduni 6o. Board Attorney to pro - actively inform and protect the Board of Directors from potential violations and conflicts. 62. Annual Board of Directors evaluation of the Board Attorney's contract will be conducted and annual goals established or discussed. CHAIR SELECTION 62. Chair's succession is governed by the Board practices. 63. The Chair is selected by the Board of Directors (see written 12oliQ2) following the normal Board elections and annually thereafter for a one (x) year term. The Chair remains as one member of the Board and has no rights or authority different from any member of the Board. 64. The order of Chair succession shall be determined by the length of the current term of incumbency, as defined by the date of election. When two (2) or more Board Members have equal terms of incumbency, the order shall be determined by the highest number of votes received at their election to the Board of Directors. 65. In the event of an early vacancy in the position of Chair, the Vice Chair shall become Chair for the remaining portion of the outgoing Chair's term as Chair. CHAIR'S ROLE 66. Each Chair is unique; the role is defined by the person, based on that person's style. 67. The Chair acts as the ceremonial head or representative of the District at various civic affairs. 68. The Chair is the spokesperson for the Board of Directors when appropriate media or external organization requests are made. 69. The Chair acts as signatory to all documents requiring Board's execution. 70. The Chair makes appointments to Ad Hoc and special advisory Committees that do not have official advisory capacity. 71. The Chair makes declarations, extends official recognition of groups or events. 72. The Chair will inform the Board of any informal correspondence sent out to anyone in relation to District business. 73. The Chair regularly communicates with the General Manager and keeps the Vice Chair and the Board of Directors fully informed. 74. The Chair communicates with all Committees. 5 of 8 e vww—UWp uru W wr"Ian nwr wq rMcaum CITIZEN COMPLAINTS 75. Staff will attach their response to the copy of the letter received when sending to Board of Directors. 76. Board of Directors will be informed of significant, urgent and repetitive telephone complaints. Staff will respond immediately. 77. Staff will draft a copy of responses (letters) which Board Members may use. 78. Board of Directors should not attempt to fix Citizens' problems on their own; it will be referred to the General Manager. 79. Responses to Citizens are customized. 80. Copies of responses to be included in individual packets or in Board Member's mail box. 81. If a Board Member wants action based on citizen complaint, they should go through the General Manager's office. 82.The level of detail in written responses will be selective. 83. Generally, communications are acknowledged with discretion. PUBLIC MEETINGS 84. General Manager sets the Agenda for regular Board of Directors meetings — per the Ordinance. 85. Public comment shall be received on all action items. 86. Board of Directors members will treat everyone with courtesy. 87. Corrections to minutes are passed to the Board Clerk as soon as possible. 88.Each member may share his /her views about the issue and the reasons for his /her vote. Consent Calendar 89. There is judicious use of the Consent Calendar, such as minutes, routine District business, some appeals, things already approved in the budget. go. If a Board Member has a question on a Consent Calendar item for their information only, they are to ask staff ahead of time, rather than having it pulled off for discussion during the meeting. 9t. Staff is prepared to report on every agenda item. Public Input on Individual fgenda Items «in emo -2 aft bard oJolrectort Norms and haeeduns 92. Procedure will include: Staff Report, questions from Board of Directors, Public Hearing, Public Input, any staff response, and bring item back to Board Members for discussion. 93. Once public input is closed, further public input will not be allowed unless re- opened by Chair. 94• Citizen's, Chair's and invited guests' comments will be limited to a reasonable time. 95• Chair will allow other Board Members to speak first and then give his/her views and summarizes. Public Comment Section of the Agenda 96. Public comments shall be limited to 3 minutes per speaker. 97. Each speaker will be thanked. 98. Generally, Board Members will not respond to Public Comments except for the Chair referring matters to the General Manager for follow up. Occasionally, a quick informational response is appropriate when an obvious answer is available. The Board of Directors will not debate or make decisions in response to public comments as they are not agenda matters under consideration. VotinE 99• Everyone may speak before a motion. ioo.Attempts will be made to get consensus on significant policy issues. ioi.There will be roll call votes on request when a divided Board is obvious. 102.Department beads will generally attend every meeting if they have a scheduled item; other staff attendance at Board meetings is at the General Manager's discretion. 103. Board of Directors member discussions will not be redundant if they concur with what has already been said. Closed Session 104. Closed Session materials and conversations are confidential; Board Members may retain Closed Session paper documents for analysis; documents must be destroyed when no longer needed /used; electronic copies of Closed Session documents will not be provided. Board Members will get written reports for Closed Session items as much as possible; these reports are to be turned in at the end of the meeting. 1o5. General Manager may ask for morning Closed Sessions to be held at the convenience of the Board. 7of8 c •.•r — uran vw.• uI waaavla nunlVr vvv nvicepW Vs io6.No violation of Closed Session confidentiality; Board Members will not talk to affected / opposing parties or anyone else (press, etc.) per the Brown Act at specific Closed Session meetings. 107.Confidentiality relates to any non - public discussion items. 3necial Meetings io8. Special meetings may be called by Chair pursuant to the Brown Act. :log 131'.191FAA 1 iog.lndividuals appointed to serve on Board appointed Committees or Ad hoc task forces are appointed for a two -year term. At the end of any two -year term, the appointee may apply for reappointment and will be considered along with any other applicant (subject to any term limit provisions adopted by the District). ixo.Problem solving issues with Committees will be done as much as possible with Chairs. iii. Committees meet quarterly with the Chair to provide feedback and be kept informed. 112.All Committees of Board of Directors should know Board's needs: •To know Board's vision /mission. •Encouraged to participate in Board- sponsored events. .Understanding of their roles /authority / "no- no's." *To know annual priorities /goals. .Process /parameters within which to work, i.e., citizen involvement. *Board of Directors reserves the right to make its own decisions. 113.Chair and Vice Chair are encouraged to receive annual support training. 114.All Board Members will receive annual training. 8of8