Honorable Mayor and Members of the Hermosa Beach City Council Regular Meeting of September 10, 2019
Title
CONSIDERATION OF MEMBERSHIP WITH
INDEPENDENT CITIES ASSOCIATON
(City Manager Suja Lowenthal)
Body
Recommended Action:
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the City Council consider and provide direction on membership with Independent Cities Association (ICA).
Body
Background:
At the September 13, 2016 City Council meeting, the Councilmembers voted to withdraw membership from ICA due to concerns that the organization was not being managed well and it was no longer beneficial for the City to continue membership (Attachment 1). The vote to withdraw membership came with the understanding that Councilmembers could still attend ICA Seminars as a non-member City and that membership to ICA could be re-evaluated in the future.
On June 11, 2019, Council evaluated the City’s current membership with California Contract Cities Association (CCCA) and discussed re-joining ICA (Attachment 2). Council directed staff to maintain membership with CCCA and did not provide direction to change the City’s status with ICA. Council decided to continue monitoring and evaluating these relationships moving forward.
At the July 23, 2019 City Council meeting, Mayor Armato and Councilmember Duclos reported on their attendance at the ICA Summer Seminar from July 12-14, 2019 in Carlsbad, California (Attachment 3). Councilmember Duclos reported that it was the 59th annual meeting and there were 155 registered attendees representing 44 Cities and according to ICA, it was the most ever attended Summer Seminar. Councilmember Duclos shared that a number of very interesting topics were covered including the Census, Homelessness, Affordable Housing and Climate Change. He found the Seminar to be excellent, the speakers and format to be good, and that it was good to see they had revived after a couple of rough years. Mayor Armato also reported on the Census, Homelessness, and Economic Development presentations. Mayor Armato closed her report by stating that Manhattan Beach Mayor Pro Tem, Richard Montgomery asked the City to consider re-joining ICA and stated that the leadership issues that previously existed are gone. Mayor Armato requested that the item be agendized for consideration at a future meeting. The request was unanimously supported by Councilmembers Fangary, Duclos and Massey (Mayor Pro Tem Campbell was absent for this meeting).
General Plan Consistency:
This report and associated recommendation have been evaluated for their consistency with the City’s General Plan. Relevant Policies are listed below:
Governance Element: Goal 4. A leader and partner in the region. As a small community in a large metropolitan region, the City of Hermosa Beach understands and capitalizes on our role and responsibility to collaborate with other agencies and nearby jurisdictions on issues of mutual concern.
Policies
• 4.1 Regional governance. Play an active role in the South Bay Cities Council of Governments, the Southern California Association of Governments and other regional agencies to protect and promote the interests of the City.
• 4.3 Collaboration with adjacent jurisdictions. Maintain strong collaborative relationships with adjacent jurisdictions and work together on projects of mutual interest and concern.
Fiscal Impact:
Membership dues for ICA in FY 2015-16 was $823. ICA Membership dues were not included in the FY 2019-20 budget. The membership cost could be covered through the prospective expenditures account.
Attachments:
1. Link to September 13, 2016 City Council meeting discussion (item 7b)
2. Link to June 11, 2019 City Council meeting discussion (item 7a)
3. Link to July 23, 2019 City Council meeting discussion (item 7b)
Respectfully Submitted by: Ann Yang, Executive Assistant
Noted for Fiscal Impact: Viki Copeland, Finance Director
Approved: Suja Lowenthal, City Manager