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HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution No. 2023-15 Substitutew� Sponsored by: Gabriel and Baisden KENAI CITY OF KENAI RESOLUTION NO. 2023-15 (SUBSTITUTE) A RESOLUTION REPEALING CITY COUNCIL POLICY NO. 2021-01 - SELECTING AND APPOINTING A QUALIFIED PERSON TO FILL VACANCIES ON THE CITY COUNCIL AND ADOPTING CITY COUNCIL POLICY NO. 20.220 - FILLING COUNCIL VACANCIES BY APPOINTMENT. WHEREAS, the City Council Policy for Selecting and Appointing a Qualified Person or Persons to Fill Vacancies on the City Council, Policy No. 2021-01, was adopted on April 7, 2021 through Resolution No. 2021-20; and, WHEREAS, the purpose of the policy was to provide clear procedures when there is a vacancy on the City Council when the vacancy is due to a resignation or for other reasons as prescribed by the Charter or Municipal Code; and, WHEREAS, it is a best practice to review adopted policies on a regular schedule to ensure the policy remains aligned and suited to the needs of the City; and, WHEREAS, at the February 15, 2023 City Council Meeting amendments were proposed to the City Council Policy No. 2021-01 through Resolution 2023-15 at which time the City Council postponed the Resolution with direction for a more substantial review of the policy; and, WHEREAS, during the substantial review of the policy it was identified that a full repeal and replacement would be the most efficient way to make changes to the policy. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KENAI, ALASKA: Section 1. That City Council Policy No. 2021-01 - Selecting and Appointing a Qualified Person to Fill Vacancies on the City Council is hereby repealed in its entirety. Section 2. That City Council Policy No. 20.220 - Filling Council Vacancies by Appointment as attached is hereby adopted. Section 3. That this Resolution takes effect immediately upon passage. PASSED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KENAI, ALASKA, THIS 15TH DAY OF MARCH, 2023. Brian Gabriel Sr., Mayor ATTEST: Michel per, IOMC, City Clerk New Text Underlined; [DELETED TEXT BRACKETED] KFNA! City of Kenai 1 210 Fidalgo Ave, Kenai, AK 99611-7794 1907.283.7535 1 www.kenaixity MEMORANDUM TO: City Council Members FROM: Shellie Saner, City Clerk DATE: February 6, 2023 SUBJECT: Resolution No. 2023-16 (Substitute) - Repealing City Council Policy No. 2021-01 - Selecting and Appointing a Qualified Person to Fill Vacancies on the City Council and Adopting City Council Policy No. 20.220 - Filling Council Vacancies by Appointment. Policy No. 2021-01 was adopted in April of 2021 with the intent of capturing the procedures that were recently used to fill a Council Vacancy. A public hearing on Resolution 2023-15 was held at the February 15, 2023 regular City Council meeting. After the public hearing the Resolution was postponed with direction that a more substantial review of the policy was needed. The following identifies the more substantive changes in the new policy: • Purpose and scope were added to the policy. • Advertising and Application Procedures were separated into four separate sections of the new policy (Advertising, Application Period, Applicants and Scheduling Interviews). • The new Advertising section establish that the vacancy should be advertises within seven (7) days of the Council declaring a seat vacant, provided that the publication deadlines established by the newspaper can be met. It also establishes that the first publication must occur (7) days prior to opening of the application period. • The new Application Period section establishes the minimum days an application period must be open at least seven (7) days; and, reconfirms that it cannot be opened any sooner than seven (7) calendar days from the first publication. • The new Applicant section was modeled to more accurately reflect the procedures and requirements for applying for a City Council seat during the Election process; and, o Establishes that applicants complete an application and the City of Kenai Financial Disclosure statement as required by KMC Title 1.85 - Financial Disclosure and Conflict of Interest. o Candidates for office during an election cycle are not required to submit a resume or letter of interest, so the new policy removes the requirement; however, encourages that an applicant submits a letter of interest and resume. o Clarifies the Clerk's role determining an applicant's eligibility, how applicants are notified regarding their eligibility, and establishes what deficiencies will prevent the applicant from being considered. The Scheduling Interview section was expanded clarify that meetings when interviews are conducted will be noticed in accordance with Charter and Code. The Interviews section now includes the following additions: o A process for development of interview questions; and, o Provisions that applicants will be asked not to attend the interviews of other applicants; however, due to the OMA applicants may object and remain in the room; and, o Establishes the order in which applicants will be interviewed and that the order may be changed by a majority of the remaining Council. The Appointment Procedure section has been expanded to include procedures based on the number of eligible applicants. Substantial changes in the section are related to procedures when there are three or more applicants, and that the initial voting process will be a point voting system and eliminate applicants with the lowest number of points. This process will repeat until only two applicants remain. Your consideration is appreciated. Page 2 of 2 The City of Kenai I www.6nai.city K E N A I CITY COUNCIL - 20.220 FILLING COUNCIL VACANCIES BY APPOINTMENT Effective Date: See Also: PRO-20.220; TSK-20.220 Date: roved bv: POLICY - 20.220 Filling Council Vacancies by Appointment Page 1 of 4 Citv Council Purpose The purpose of this policy is to provide clear procedures when there is a vacancy on the City Council. Scope The policy is intended to ensure a fair and transparent process when appointing a person to fill a vacancy on the City Council due to a resignation or for other reasons prescribed by the City of Kenai Municipal Charter or Code. Selecting an applicant to fill a vacancy on the Council is an action that is subject to the Alaska Open Meetings Act. Policy Declaring a City CoundL Seat Vacant The City Council, due to a resignation or for reasons prescribed by Kenai Municipal Charter or Code, will declare a City Council seat vacant. Advertising a City Council Seat for Appointment The Clerk will post to the City website, publish in a newspaper of general circulation and post to other media formats currently utilized for public notice by the City Clerk's Office. 1. Notice of Vacancy: The Clerk will publish at least twice in a newspaper of general circulation a Notice of Vacancy in Office. The posting and first publication will occur at least seven (7) calendar days before the application period opens. The notice will include the procedures for applying, qualification requirements of applicants and the dates of the application period. 2. Publishing Notice of Vacancy: Within the limitation of publication deadlines established by a newspaper of general circulation, the Clerk will endeavor to post and publish the Notice of Vacancy within seven (7) calendar days of the City Council declaring the seat vacant. Application Period The application period will be determined by the Clerk and established with the objective of providing applicants for consideration by the City Council and meet the following requirements: 1. The application period must be open a minimum of seven (7) calendar days. 2. The application period may not be opened any sooner than seven (7) calendar days from the first publication of the Notice of Vacancy in Office. Applicants Interested persons may file an application for appointment with the Office of the City Clerk. 1. Applicants must meet the qualification of office requirements as established in Kenai Municipal Code and Charter. Applicants must provide proof of qualifications for office as required by the Clerk. 20.220 - Filling Council Vacancies by Appointment Page 1 of 4 2. Each interested person must file an application for appointment under oath on a form provided by the Clerk and a completed City of Kenai Financial Disclosure form must be submitted at the time of filing the. application for appointment. Applicants are also encouraged to include a letter of interest and/or resume. 3. The Clerk will determine an applicant's qualifications in accordance with Kenai Municipal Charter and Code. Applicants will be notified by the Clerk stating that their application is complete and in proper form, or return it to the applicant with a statement explaining how the application is deficient. If the application period remains open, the applicant may correct deficiencies. 4. Applications submitted with the following deficiencies will not be given to the Council: a. The applicant does not meet the required qualifications as established in Kenai Municipal Charter and Code; or, b. The application is incomplete and the applicant did not correct any deficiencies prior to the closing of the application period; or, c. A completed City of Kenai Financial Disclosure form was not submitted with the application for appointment; or, d. The application was received after the application period closed. 5. The application, and if submitted letter of interest and resume from qualified applicants, will be included in the Council's packet for a work session or meeting set for conducting interviews. Scheduling Interview Applicant interviews will be conducted during a work session, special or regular meeting of the City Council and will be open to the public. 1. The Mayor and Clerk will work together to schedule a tentative interview schedule, such schedule is subject to final approval of the Council. 2. Each applicant, will be provided with the notice of meeting for scheduled interviews and with a packet containing the application and any supporting materials from all qualified applicants. 3. All Work Session, special or regular meetings will be noticed in accordance with Kenai Municipal Charter and Code. Interviews Interviews of qualified applicants) will be conducted prior to appointments to vacant City Council seat(s). To ensure a fair process each applicant will be provided an equal amount of time for statements and asked similar interview questions, follow up questions from Council will be allowed based on the answers or statements provided by the applicant(s). Unless otherwise requested by the Council and supported by a majority vote, no public testimony other than the applicants will be heard during the interviews. 1. The City Council or a Sub -Committee appointed by the Council may meet in Executive Session to develop interview questions. 2. Before interviews commence, applicants will be asked to report to a conference room during interviews of other applicants and until it is their turn to interview. In accordance with the State of Alaska Open Meetings Act, City Council meetings are open to the public and any applicant who objects may remain in the Council Chambers during the interview process. 3. Applicants will generally be interviewed in the order in which their application was received, exceptions may be made based on the availability and schedule of the applicant(s). The order of interviews may be changed by a majority vote of the remaining Council members. 20.220 - FiUing Council Vacancies by Appointment Page 2 of 4 4. During the interviews each applicant will have five minutes to introduce themselves and make a statement. Additional time will be provided to answer questions from the Council. Appointment Procedures When there is more than one vacancy and multiple appointments are being made during the same meeting, only one appointment will be made at a time. The Mayor will announce which vacancy is being considered prior to commencement of the voting process. Any applicant eliminated during the voting process for the first appointment may be considered for voting on subsequent appointments during the same application/appointment process. 1. During the same regular or special meeting when applicant interviews are completed or at a regular or special meeting scheduled for a later date, the Council may make and pass a motion to begin the voting process by secret ballot. If the appointment takes place during a regular meeting the matter will appear on the agenda after Unscheduled Public Comments and prior to Public Hearings. (Appointments may not be made during a Work Session) The Council, by majority vote of the remaining members will select an applicant for appointment. If at any time during the voting process there is a tie vote, and the tie isn't broken after two votes, the tie shall be broken by lot as provided in Kenai Municipal Code for a tie in an election. Voting procedures will be established based on the number of applicants for consideration and as follows: a. One Applicant: In the event that there is only one (1) applicant for an open seat, the City Council may skip all secret ballot voting and make a motion to appoint the applicant. This step may also be used when the number of applicants is equal to the number of vacant seats. Two Applicants: In the event that there are only two (2) applicants for one open seat, proceed to subparagraph 3 of this section. c. Three or More Applicants: The Council will take an initial vote through a ballot provided by the Clerk to narrow the field utilizing the following procedures. i. The initial votes will be counted on a point system: the first choice would receive two (2) points, the second choice would receive one (1) point. ii. During the initial vote, Council members may choose only one or two applicants; however, Council members may not select that same applicant more than once on the same ballot. iii. The Clerk and Attorney will tally the results of the initial vote and announce the point results. iv. The applicant(s) with the lowest number of points will be eliminated, until only two applicants remain. When only two applicants remain, proceed to subparagraph 3 of this section. v. If two applicants cannot be differentiated based on the highest number of votes, two applicants will be selected by lot. Once two applicants have been selected by lot, proceed to subparagraph 3 of this section. 3. Council members will be given a ballot with the names of the applicants or remaining applicants. The Clerk will gather the voted ballots, tally the vote and read out loud the outcome of the voted ballots. 4. After the outcome of the vote from Appointment Procedures has been read out loud the Council may make and pass a motion to appoint the person who received the greatest number of votes to fill the vacant seat. 5. The Council, by a majority vote of the remaining members may decide at any time not to appoint any applicants and start a new recruitment period or extend the existing recruitment period. 20.220 - Filling Council Vacancies by Appointment Page 3 of 4 Term, Oath and Requirements of Appointed Council Members Persons appointed to a vacant City Council seat serve until the next regular election at which time that seat will be placed on the ballot for the remainder of that seats regular term. After the motion to appoint has passed, the person appointed will be given their oath of office and immediately take their seat at the dais as a member of the City Council. In accordance with Kenai Municipal Charter Section 2-9, the appointed person serves until the next regular election. Brian Gabriel Sr., Mayor Sheltie Saner, MMC, City Clerk Policy History. Resolution No's 2021-01; 2023-15 Sub 20.220 - Filling Council Vacancies by Appointment Page 4 of 4