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HomeMy WebLinkAboutADMINISTRATION MINUTES 04-11-17 8■ ■ Central Contra Cos Sanitary District 1W .'',11:1! 112 UM W11- L ETI "ENTl L COSTA PAUL H.CA USES' SANITARY DISTRICT President ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE President Fro Tein MICHAEL R..41CGIrL,L T.4I)J.FILL'CKI M I N U T E S DAVID R.WILLIAMS PHONE: (925)228-9500 Tuesday, April 11, 2017 SAX: (925)372-0192 8:30 a.m. www.centralsan.o g Executive conference Room 5019 Imhoff Place Martinez, California Committee: Chair Mike McGill Member David Williams Staff Roger S. Bailey, General Manager Denton L. Alm, District counsel Ann Sasaki, Deputy General Manager Phil Leiber, Director of Finance and Administration Emily Barnett, Communication Services and Intergovernmental Relations Manager Teji O'Malley, Human Resources Manager Shari Deutsch, Fisk Management Administrator Manna Anderson, Assistant to the secretary of the district 1. Call Fleeting to Order Chair McGill called the meeting to order at 3:39 a.m. 2. Public-Comments None. 3. Report on recent California Supreme court decision about public records on private devices, and impact on existing central San Board policies Mr. Alm re vie wed the memorandum included with the agenda materials, stating that he was not presenting the Committee with a `Plan of action"at this point because it is a fairly complicated.issue a.nd there may be policy issues that the Board will wish to address'. Essentially, the Court has set the policy and it is a Administration Committee Minutes April 11, 2017 Page 2 management issue as to how best to implement the decision. He said several things may come out of the court's decision, including: a) Modifications to Board Policy No. BP 014 —District-Owned Mobile Computing Devices for Board Members; b) Establishment and implementation of retention policy for emails; c) Development of a policy on drafts and notes; and d) Development of a system whereby employees whose personal devices come under scrutiny are trained in how to determine which communications are private and which are public. He said staff will be dealing with these issues over the coming months. Mr. Alyn read portions of the Supreme Court decision, noting► that the ruling defines a public record.as having four components: a) It must be in writing (including video or audio recordings, pictures, graphs, notes, etc.) b) It must have content that is pertinent to the public's business; c) It must be by a local official (which includes employees, Board Members, and District Counsel); and d) It must be owned, used or created by a public agency. In answer to a question raised by chair McGill at last weeks Board meeting, Mr. Alm pointed out that electronic notes on agenda packets are considered public record. Basically, if it relates to the public's business, then it is a public record. Member Williams asked why the Board Members receive W-2s rather than Boggs. Mr. Bailey said staff will get back to the Committee on this question. Member Williams asked if the ruling changed anything regarding closed session material. Mr. Alm said the no existing privileges with respect to closed sessions were affected by the ruling. The difference is that no matter where the public information resides, it would be an available record; the second question would be whether it is privileged. With the broadened definition of a public record, Member Williams asked what are the issues facing Central San? Is it a concern about the workload in responding to requests for information, are there concerns about transparency issues, or is the issue one of educating employees regarding the broader definition? lair. Alm pointed out that quick communications (emails, text messages, notes, etc.) are not generally as thoughtful as other types of communications. People have typically viewed such communications as private, but it is clear now that they are not. The ruling requires an entire re-thinking of those types of Administration Committee Minutes April 11, 2017 Page 3 communications. He said an email retention schedule will help to address this. Having said that, he believes there ought to be some notes that employees can maintain that are not viewed as a public record. From his perspective, Mr. Alin said it would be wise to develop standards for electronic communications that would be implemented by educating employees as to how best to utilize the standards for District business. He noted that adopting a policy containing the standards could be challenged, but it would be better than not having a policy in place. Member Williams agreed that adopting a policy with respect to the issues raised by the court ruling appears to be an open and transparent approach that he would support. With regard to Mr. Alm's comment earlier in the discussion about possible modifications to Board Policy No. BP 014 -- District-owned Mobile computing Devices, chair McGill asked what type of modifications he was considering. Mr. Alm noted that part of the policy encourages Board Members to only use their Central San email account for all District business, but that has not happened universally. The same thing applies to employees who have mobile devices. Therefore, existing policies regarding mobile devices for Board Members as well as employees should be re-evaluated to see what has and has not worked, especially in light of the court's ruling. The Committee agreed that this topic should be agendized for a future meeting. !Member McGill said this issue must be taken very seriously. Policies and procedures need to be developed, and they must be enforced through education. He asked if Board Members or individuals can have a different retention practice for personal emails, texts, etc. than one that might be adopted by central Barr. He said he would like more clarity regarding personal accounts and notes (either handwritten or electronic). He also asked for information on the methods employees and Board Members should use to perform searches of their personal devices. Ultimately, he said he does not know if the court's ruling will help the public process because, in his experience, not taking motes could make it more difficult to be thoughtful and efficient in conducting the public's business. Chair McGill said he would like Mr. Alm to return to the committee with policy issues as well as procedural issues that he is considering. Mr. Alar concurred with a point made by Member Williams earlier in the discussion that the starting point in dealing with these issues is to determine how to comply with the court ruling and be transparent, as opposed to finding ways to avoid compliance. Member Williams noted that Board policies are typically brief and very high level, but he thinks in this case, the policy should be more detailed. chair McGill agreed. Administration Committee Minutes April 11, 2017 Page 4 Mr. Alyn said he will brief the full Board regarding this subject during an upcoming District Counsel report. COMMITTEE ACTION: Received the report and provided input to staff. 4. Update on 2017 Winter Storm incidents, including: a. Miner Road sinkhole Ms. Deutsch reported than the City of orinda has worked out an arrangement with the homeowner on whose property they need rights in order to perform the repair work. The project has been redesigned and it is not yet known if it the new design will affect Central Ban's portion of the work. The orinda city Council will consider the revised plans at its meeting this evening. Assuming they are adopted, the work could begin as early as next week. b. Photos of Walnut Creek divot Ms. Deutsch noted that two photos had been included with the agenda materials as requested by the Committee at the last meeting. She noted that Member Williams had asked how staff makes the decisions on whether to pay claims in these types of matters. She said that in this instance, she and other staff were occupied with the Miner Road sinkhole situation, which occurred the same day, so collection System staff dealt with the divot because they were unable to determine the exact cause. She noted that the repair costs will be submitted to the Federal Emergency Management Agency(FEMA) for reimbursement as part of the emergency work arising from the 2017 Winter Storms. C. Status of recovery efforts from federal and state agencies Nis. Deutsch said she met with the California office of Emergency Services (CalOES) last week for preliminary information. She said there are two different categories of work: 1) emergency protective measures (bypass pumping on Miner Road) and 2) repairs. one issue that has been raised is whether central San should pay the contractor(Bay Cities) directly for the Miner Road repairs because the city of orinda is not allowed to be reimbursed for work done on central San assets. Staff will continue to monitor this issue. In conclusion, Ms. Deutsch said initial kickoff meetings with FEMA and CaIoES are being scheduled soon. COMMITTEE ACTION: Received the updates. Administration Committee Minutes April 11, 2017 Page 5 5. Update on missing IT tapes In IT Manager John Huie's absence, Mr. Leber reported that staff was notified by the vendor on March 15 that the box containing the missing tapes had been located. Mr. Huie decided to cancel the contract with the vendor because staff now has the ability to store backup tapes at the Walnut creek facility. COMMITTEE ACTION: Received the update. 6. Review Gantt chart of activities leading up to 2017 Labor Negotiations COMMITTEE ACTION: Reviewed the Gantt chart. 7. Announcements a. Future scheduled meetings: Mondays April 24, 2017 at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, May 9, 2017 at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, May 25, 2017 at 8:30 a.m. b. Mr. Bailey announced that the second week of the Central San Academy will take place this evening and that all Board Members are welcome to attend. 8. Suggestions for future agenda items Member Williams said he would like information as to why the Board Members receive w-2s and whether they are treated as employees. 9. Adjournment-- at 9:58 a.m.