After adjourning for the holidays, the City Council is set to reconvene Tuesday to conduct committee appointments and discuss topics such as the termination of the landscape and lighting district processes.
The City Council will revisit the landscape and lighting district assessment, with the recommendation from staff to end all proceedings and cancel the public hearing scheduled for Jan. 22.
In a city news release sent out earlier this week, Mayor Marsha McLean said, “The community has made it clear that additional outreach and information is necessary.”
Plans to consider termination stem from residents who voiced anger and confusion over a letter sent out in November notifying more than 30,000 residents that annual streetlight maintenance rates would hike from $12.38 to $81.71 per year.
If approved on Tuesday, the city would then take no further action on the current process and all assessments proposed for modification would remain unchanged. Recipients of the original letter would also receive a letter explaining the termination of all proceedings, according to the agenda report.
“In the future, staff will undertake community outreach and seek public input regarding modification of the streetlight maintenance assessment,” the city agenda reads.
Committee appointments
At the regular meeting on Nov. 27, the City Council declared vacancies for three positions on each of the Santa Clarita commissions, panels and boards.
Mayor McLean, and council members Bill Miranda and Laurene Weste will nominate and the council will vote on appointments for those including the Planning, Arts and Parks, Recreation and Community Services commissions.
Norms and procedures
Following the mayoral rotation ceremony on Dec. 11, the City Council will consider changes to the council norms and procedures for City Council meetings and related functions and activities.
The 2019 mayor appointment came after two nominations were made: the first for now Mayor Pro Tem Cameron Smyth and a second for current Mayor McLean. Due to the complexity of how the voting unraveled, the city manager had to direct the voting process by guiding council members to vote on McLean’s nomination first, as the substitute nomination, followed by a vote for Smyth.
To prevent a similar situation from happening in the future, the City Council will consider adopting Robert’s Rules of Order, which means that nominations are submitted without the requirement for a second, or Rosenberg’s Rules of Order, where motions require a second, but nominations are not specifically addressed.
