Elections Commission
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ELECTIONS COMMISSION RETREAT
Friday, July 22, 2005
1:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Fort Mason Officer’s Club Lounge
I. President Richard Matthews called the meeting to order at 1:10 pm and welcomed the Commissioners, Director of Elections, Deputy City Attorney and members of the public.
INTRODUCTION OF COMMISSIONERS & STAFF: Commissioners Sheila Chung, Eric Safire, Richard Matthews, Michael Mendelson, Deputy City Attorney Julia Moll, and Director of Elections John Arntz. Members of the Public in attendance were Dennis McKenzie and David Pilpel. Commissioner Gerard Gleason arrived at 1:16 pm and Commissioner Arnold Townsend arrived at 1:43 pm.
II. THE ELECTIONS COMMISSION
a.- Deputy City Attorney Julia Moll gave an informative presentation on the history of elections administration in San Francisco. A copy of a related memo is attached to these minutes as Appendix #1 .
- – Deputy City Attorney Julia Moll explained that the Charter imposes specific duties on the Elections Commission and general duties on all of the City’s commissions. A copy of Ms. Moll’s memorandum regarding these powers and duties is attached to these minutes as Appendix #2 .
Commissioner Chung asked if the Department has an internal policy for dealing with complaints. Director Arntz answered that once the Department is made aware of a complaint, the Department tries to resolve the complaint. He meets with the person about the concerns, provides documentation of the incident, and goes over the situation in the meeting. This, he said, is normally enough. Mr. Arntz said that the Department does not have a “set program” of handling complaints, but complaints are handled individually and the Department is very responsive.
President Matthews asked the members to give comments regarding their interpretations of the sentence “The Commission shall set general policies for the Department of Elections and shall be responsible for the proper administration of the general practices of the Department, subject to the budgetary and fiscal provisions of this Charter” section of Sec.13.105.5 of the City Charter. Commissioner Safire replied that “if something goes wrong, it is our duty to fix it”. Commissioner Chung added that the Commission’s role, in addition to oversight of the Department, is to be supportive of the Department.
Commissioner Townsend said that if there is a complaint, it is automatically a “Department” issue. If there is a “chain of complaints”, perhaps there would be the need to hold a hearing. If there were enough people coming to complain to the Commission, and after consultation with the Director, it could be decided that a problem needed to be addressed in a hearing. He said that most complaints have been handled on the Department level.
President Matthews stated that the Elections Commission’s powers and duties are outlined in Charter Sec. 4.102, and read through the ten paragraphs in the section to reach consensus. He stated that all paragraphs, except numbers 5, and 6, apply to the Elections Commission. A copy of this section is attached to these minutes as Appendix #3.
BREAK (10 minutes) at 2:30 pm.
- - Deputy City Attorney Julia Moll, gave a brief introduction to the topic. She said that the Charter establishes a chain of command that applies to the governance of City departments. The Commission sets policy for the Department and communicates that policy to the Director. The Director is responsible for administration and management of the Department and for executing the policies established by the Commission.
Comments of Director of Elections John Arntz – Mr. Arntz stated that he prefers that Commissioners seeking information from members of the Department go through his office to obtain that information. Commissioner Matthews added that the law in fact requires this.
Commissioner Chung said that it would be helpful if staff were able to continue to let the Commission know of areas in which it can offer support to the Department, as was done when members of the Commission spoke before the Board of Supervisors Finance Committee in support of the Department’s budget needs.
III. CONDUCT OF COMMISSIONERS
- – President Matthews stated that the reason he wanted this item on the Retreat’s agenda was to revisit the Board of Education’s meeting in which that Board, which has an appointment on the Elections Commission, expressed its desire that their appointee would keep in mind the needs of the Board of Education when considering matters before the Commission. President Matthews said that this was “classically wrong… and the Charter says the appointee, is broadly representative of the general public,” not broadly representative of parents who have children in our schools or any of the other constituencies that the Board of Education wants represented.
In Deputy City Attorney Julia Moll’s presentation, she stated that members of the Elections Commission, like all City boards and commissions are City officers, and as City officers, they owe a duty of loyalty to the City and must act in the City’s best interests. She explained that although members are all appointed by different appointing authorities, those members do not owe a duty of loyalty to that appointing authority.
There was consensus by the Commissioners.
b. Restrictions on Political and Other Outside Activity – Commissioners recalled that there had been discussion of this topic during the annual conflict of interest seminar for Commissioners and agreed that there was consensus of the current Commissioners on this topic.
c. Interaction with Department Staff
The Commission agreed to consensus on requesting information from the Director rather than from other DoE staff.
IV. OPERATION AND GOVERNANCE OF THE COMMISSION
- Should the Commission amend its bylaws now that the
Commission is no longer in its infancy?
Commissioner Safire said that he felt that the subjects of:
Formation of Committees, Procedure for Electing Officers,
Decorum of Commissioners during meetings, and Preparation of Meeting Agendas, had been addressed by earlier Elections Commissions and that he saw no need to make changes.
President Matthews asked for a consensus regarding Commissioners refraining from conversation among themselves during meetings when public comments and presentations are being made. Commissioner Gleason said that he agreed. Commissioner Townsend said that he felt that the Commissioners should maintain, even in the “mist of great difficulty”,when speakers are, themselves, being rude, decorum.
Procedure for Electing Officers - President Matthews expressed his concern that at the last election, members were called upon to verbally vote “yes” or “no”, by name, for candidates. In the future, the Commission will use Robert’s Rules for its election procedures.
b. Expectations of individual Commissioners, between
meetings and on Election Day – President Matthews opened this discussion with the example of the three Commissioners who addressed the Board of Supervisors’ Finance Committee recently and said that he felt it was a good example of how Commissioners can assist the Department.
Commissioner Mendelson said that members should read the operations manual and learn all they can so that the Commission can assist by: giving direction to the Director, doing strategic planning, writing good motions, and talking to the Director to determine what the needs are.
Commissioner Chung said that the Commission can provide support to the Department by deciding that an individual Commissioner can conduct an investigation and bring ideas to the Commission or to the Budget and Policy Committee. Another suggestion is to bring forth agenda items that can help further the work of the Commission.
Commissioner Gleason said that the investigations are good ideas but that nothing can happen unless it is the policy of the body. He said that he had recently attended the accessibility meeting but that he feels that there is no obligation that a particular Commissioner attend outside meetings.
Commissioner Townsend said that, as individuals, Commissioners can attend meetings but not formally represent the Commission, or formally state the Commission’s position if the position has not been formally taken.
c. What, if any, committee structure should the Commission have?
Commissioner Mendelson said that the current structure of one committee, the Budget and Policy Committee, is sufficient.
Commissioner Chung said that an individual Commissioner can be charged to do an investigation and bring his or her information to the policy committee to be vetted before going forward to the full Commission. She said that this would eliminate having a backlog of work sent directly to the committee.
Commissioner Gleason suggested that there be a Budget Committee separate from the General Policy Committee. This would divide the work so that everyone has some involvement. For example, Commissioners could study the budget and therefore be more prepared to assist in that effort. The Budget Committee could meet only during the budget season.
Commissioner Townsend said that the committee structure should be used to look at an issue in depth.
d. Discussion of use of Robert’s Rules of Order at meetings -
President Matthews said that it is his hope that Robert’s Rules of Order will be used as an “enabling” tool rather than an “intimidating” one at Commission meetings.
Commissioner Mendelson said that Robert’s Rules of Order is not meant to be a restraining device. He said that the purpose is “to make happen those things through a common understanding of individuals of the applicable law.”
President Matthews requested that Commissioners have their main motions in writing before they make that motion.
David Pilpel said that he has observed there is often a legal and technical approach taken by the Commission on the matters before it, and that this approach obscures the fundamental policy being considered. Regarding the budget, Mr. Pilpel said that the Commission should be better informed of the line items so that it can defend them before the Board of Supervisors if it should be necessary to do so. The Commission should do this rather than turning to the Director to answer all the questions.
Mr. Pilpel said that once an item is on the agenda, the Commission should be able to discuss it without making a motion to do so. Because it is already on the agenda, it is already before the body. This is the manner in which all the other Commissions and Committees he attends proceed with their meetings.
Mr. Pilpel said that he would like the Director to give status reports regarding candidates and potential ballot measures at Commission meetings.
Dennis McKensie said that he has attended City meetings for twenty years and that the important thing for commissions to remember is that their loyalty is to the City. Young people, students should be more involved in the process of elections and outreach.
Mr. McKensie said that kids have a real separation between why they are in school and what they do once they are out of school. There should be field studies where youth can observe and learn about their government, how it runs and what educational degrees are necessary to run the City’s departments. He said that City Hall should have a classroom to provide presentations to students about government.
ADJOURNMENT
APPENDICES:
Appendix # 1 - A brief history (PDF)
Appendix # 2 - Powers and Duties (PDF)
Appendix # 3 - SF Charter Section 4.102
SEC. 4.102. BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS-POWERS AND DUTIES.
Unless otherwise provided in this Charter, each appointive board, commission or other unit of government of the executive branch of the City and County shall:
1. Formulate, evaluate and approve goals, objectives, plans and programs and set policies consistent with the overall objectives of the City and County, as established by the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors through the adoption of City legislation;
2. Develop and keep current an Annual Statement of Purpose outlining its areas of jurisdiction, authorities, purpose and goals, subject to review and approval by the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors;
3. After public hearing, approve applicable departmental budgets or any budget modifications or fund transfers requiring the approval of the Board of Supervisors, subject to the Mayor's final authority to initiate, prepare and submit the annual proposed budget on behalf of the executive branch and the Board of Supervisors' authority under Section 9.103;
4. Recommend to the Mayor for submission to the Board of Supervisors rates, fees and similar charges with respect to appropriate items coming within their respective jurisdictions;
5. Unless otherwise specifically provided, submit to the Mayor at least three qualified applicants, and if rejected, to make additional nominations in the same manner, for the position of department head, subject to appointment by the Mayor;
6. Remove a department head; the Mayor may recommend removal of a department head to the commission, and it shall be the commission's duty to act on the Mayor's recommendation by removing or retaining the department head within 30 days; failure to act on the Mayor's recommendation shall constitute official misconduct;
7. Conduct investigations into any aspect of governmental operations within its jurisdiction through the power of inquiry, and make recommendations to the Mayor or the Board of Supervisors;
8. Exercise such other powers and duties as shall be prescribed by the Board of Supervisors; and
9. Appoint an executive secretary to manage the affairs and operations of the board or commission.
In furtherance of the discharge of its responsibilities, an appointive board, commission or other unit of government may:
10. Hold hearings and take testimony; and
11. Retain temporary counsel for specific purposes, subject to the consent of the Mayor and the City Attorney.
Each board or commission, relative to the affairs of its own department, shall deal with administrative matters solely through the department head or his or her designees, and any dictation, suggestion or interference herein prohibited on the part of any member of a board or commission shall constitute official misconduct; provided, however, that nothing herein contained shall restrict the board or commission's powers of hearing and inquiry as provided in this Charter.