Stanislaus County Grand Jury
• 2011-2012
• Agency Response
Response to:
12-09C Oakdale City Council Member
Finance Department*
⚠️ Aviso de traducción: Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 4 findings
F1
Page 1
— B removed confidential files from City Hall after being specifically (209) 848-4344 instructed not to by the CM and thereby, acted with poor judgment. This is a violation of the Oakdale City Council Handbook of Rules and Procedures for the Oakdale City Council, Chapter 1 (B) Ethical POLICE DEPARTMENT Behavior. N. Second Ave. Oakdale, CA 95361 (209) 847-2231 Respondent agrees with this finding. As the SCCGJ noted in its first (209) 847-3790 Fax
No recommendations for this finding
F2
Page 1
— B and F interfered in a personnel issue by meeting with D without www.ci.oakdale.ca.us the prior notice or knowledge of the CM or personnel department. This is a violation of the Oakdale Handbook of Rules and Procedures for the E-MAIL Oakdale City Council, Chapter 1(I) Interference in Staff Functions. information @ci.oakdale.ca.us Respondent agrees with this finding. Honorable Ricardo Cordova September 20, 2012 Page Two
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
Page 2
- Councilmembers should not become involved with personnel issues or be an advocate for or against employees. To become involved in these issues not only violates the City of Oakdale rules for Councilmembers but it could increase liability of the City. Respondent agrees with this recommendation. Honorable Ricardo Cordova September 20, 2012 Page Three
F3
Page 2
- Normal procedures for abstaining on an issue were violated in the July 18, 2011 Council meeting when B and G both abstained but remained in the room and participated in discussion on adopting Resolution 2011-102. This was a violation of both the City of Oakdale Handbook of Rules and Procedures for the Oakdale City Council Chapter IV (B) (6) Abstention/Recuse: Conflict of Interest and Section 87105 of The California Government Code. Respondent agrees in part. Since this was a combined item it was confusing for B and G to know when to step down. This item which routinely recurs every year has now been split into two distinct parts to avoid confusion. The item was recently approved again for 2012-2013 with the proper recusals being timely made.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
Page 3
- The SCCGJ recommends the Council of Oakdale review procedures for Abstention/Recusal as outlined in their Council handbook and insure that the proper procedure is followed at all meetings. Respondent agrees with this recommendation.
F4
Page 2
- B moved to Grass valley at the start of 2012 and is no longer living in the City; however B is still participating in the City Council meetings. By State election law (California Government Codes - Residency Requirements Section 36502(a), no council member is allowed to serve on Councils/Boards when they do not live within established boundaries of the jurisdiction they are representing. Respondent agrees with this finding that no council member is allowed to serve if they do not live in the city. However, in this case, respondent believes B was permissibly commuting between his place of employment and the city until he decided to change his residence.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
Page 3
– The SCCGJ recommends that the City of Oakdale implement California Government Code section 36502 for the immediate removal of Councilmembers who no longer reside within the City limits. Respondent agrees with this recommendation. Very truly yours, Tom Hallinan City Attorney 4.1
* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.