Recommendation to request Mayor to convene the Charter Amendment Committee of the City Council within 30 days to discuss placing a charter amendment before the voters to establish a City Ethics Commission, and to establish a Citizen Redistricting Commission, in order to promote good governance and ensure public confidence in Long Beach city government, and request City Clerk and City Attorney to develop framework options for the Committee to consider.
So thank you. Thank you very much. And that concludes the conclusion items. Thank you all that came out. For those items we're going to go we're back on the regular agenda as well here, item 21. Communication from Councilman Austin, Councilwoman Price, Councilmember Super Na, Councilmember Andrews recommendation to request the Mayor to convene the Charter Amendment Committee of the City Council within 30 days to discuss placing a charter amendment for the voters to establish a city ethics commission and a citizen's redistricting commission. Thank you, Councilman Austin. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And I'd like to also thank my colleagues and Co-Actors for signing on to this item. This is, I believe, a very important time in the discourse to ensure that there's confidence in government institutions. On this item, I want to be very clear is meant to be the beginning of a discussion that will hopefully make a lasting, lasting reforms to our governance here in the city of Long Beach. From the national to the local level, there has been a clear erosion in confidence in our government institutions, and voter turnout is a key indicator of that. Long Beach has tried to address these issues before. A little bit of history. The Long Beach City Council created an ethics task force in 2001 approving a proposal by then council member Bonnie Lowenthal. And that that as the ethics task force was comprised of many people who were continuing to serve in government today. They presented a report and recommendations in 2002. The City Council also adopted a code of ethics in 2003. We made we made some progress. In a discussion of charter reform, the city council approved establishing an Ethics Commission and redistricting commission in 2007. However, those issues were not those items were not successful on the ballot because they were combined with other issues that were far more controversial. And so it's important to note that every major city in California has an ethics commission or an Office of Equity, and they include Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Berkeley and Oakland . Cities that we base a lot of our policies on here as a city, these commissions handles duties ranging from conflict of interest, campaign finance, city campaign laws, lobbying, government ethics and including enforcement in some cases. And so I think the time has come for us to have a really serious conversation about improving our ethics laws and codifying them in our governance here in the city of Long Beach. Long Beach also has had numerous divisive experiences with redrawing council district lines. In 2011. It was polarizing and politically charged. The process was polarizing and very politically charged. Hundreds of residents turned out at community meetings about the proposed lines. Lawn signs went up and throughout some neighborhoods, and it was not a pretty sight. In 2008, our state adopted a independent redistricting commission model that has been widely praised throughout the nation. It actually was drafted or put together by a former city council member, Alan Lowenthal, and our current congressional representative. Several cities have followed this approach. And eight cities in California have created citizens redistricting commissions. And those cities include Berkeley, Chula Vista, Escondido, Modesto, Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego and San Francisco. Common cause. The League of Women Voters and other good government advocacy groups are promoting these citizen commissions to increase transparency and to also restore public confidence. In 2015, I, along with Councilmember Gosar, proposed city proposals that the city state redistricting redistricting commission I'm sorry, again for Long Beach. Unfortunately, that proposal was sent to the election's oversight committee and has been stalled without further action to this point. These issues, I believe, are very timely and really merit our discussion in consideration as a city council and as a city. And therefore, I'd like these issues to be discussed in a meeting of a charter amendment committee. And the item tonight. I want to be very clear, does not seek to lay out the details of what an ethics commission will will do or the scope of responsibilities. We're looking forward to having that conversation. But this is as I mentioned in the beginning, I started the conversation in the item here, and I'd like to just a minute my item briefly, because it asks for the the the for the mayor and the charter amendment committee of the City Council to be convened within 30 days to discuss placing a charter amendment before the voters to establish and the City Ethics Commission and to establish a citizens redistricting commission. I think in light of the timing that we are going into the holiday season, it would be a little rough on staff and to to come back within 30 days. And so I would like to change that, to propose 60 to 90 days and within that window that that would give us, I think, plenty of time to prepare, but also in that period of time allow the Council to do due diligence to do their independent research and come back for that at that meeting with with the information to have a robust discussion. So with that, I ask for my colleagues unanimous support. Thank you. Councilman Price. I want to commend Councilman Austin for bringing this item forward. I think it's very important as a as an elected body that we have the confidence and and good faith of the people that we work with. It's essential to our ability to get things done, to have their trust. So I'm happy to support this item. And I believe it's this is a huge step forward for us in instituting good government practices in the city of Long Beach. And I really appreciated the presentation that Councilman Austin gave, because I think it does a really good job of showing the history of this issue in the city of Long Beach, which I was not aware of up until today, and also knowing how many other cities have initiated these practices. I know I work in a county that recently initiated an ethics focused committee or an ethics officer, and I think that's very important. So I'm I'm completely supportive of this, and I look forward to hearing from my colleagues on this. And more importantly, I look forward to having the bigger discussion when staff engages with us and gives us options of what some models could look like and what some of the changes to the way we continue to do things would be and how those would benefit our residents and ensuring that they have confidence in their elected officials. I think that. I am not obviously as familiar with the redistricting process as Councilman Austin is, having not been through it before. But it sounds like it was a very divisive process. And and I don't know that that process has always been fair, not just in the city of Long Beach, but around the nation. That seems to be one of the most politicized processes in governance. So to the to the extent that we can employ some best practices to take the politics out of such a process and enhance transparency and really strive for this concept of equity that I know is important to so many of our colleagues in such a process. I would be completely supportive of that. So again, I want to thank you for bringing this forward, and I wholeheartedly support this item. Thank you, Councilman Mongo. Thank you. I, too, want to thank Councilmember Austin for a robust presentation. I think that it was well done and well researched. I appreciate that our community needs to be able to look to those that are leading either the council or city departments and or our commissioners and look at the barometer in which we we really exercise our ethics. And so I appreciate this. And I also am a big supporter, and I will stand beside you in ensuring that we continue to have ethical leadership. And when we when people make mistakes and there are challenges, we need to have a system in place to first and foremost prevent it. And I think that there are lots of good models, including Metro, that lay out some of the best practices and standards to ensure that those that are stepping up are given the tools to be strong leaders and ethical leaders. And I think that if you don't have your ethics, you really don't have anything at all. So thank you. Thank you. Councilmember Bishop Brown. Thank you. And thanks to Councilman Bronson for bringing this item forward. I'm going to support it. I just had a question and maybe it's for our city attorney in convening the Charter Amendment Committee. Let get the language here. So if we have a citizens redistricting committee that would be made up by whatever standards are set by the redistricting committee, is that how that works? Or it will be wide open. It currently under the the redistricting is provided under the charter, I believe it's charter section 103 or 1 to 1. So in order to change that, to create a independent committee, I believe the motion is to have that discussion to see what that would look like. It would require a vote of the people to establish a charter committee to look at and redistricting. And part of the discussion and process would be bringing back maybe examples of maybe background or certain types of expertize that the council would want those members to possess in order to sit on that committee. Okay. Thank you. So that is yet to be determined. So there there if any detractors on the system, we don't have the system in place yet to be determined. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Is there any public comment on this item? Please come forward. I see two members of the public. They're going to speak. Okay. Good evening, Mayor Garcia and council members. Thank you for the opportunity for me to speak. My name is Sylvia moore. I'm Southern California, organizer for California Common Cause. Two years ago, I was here at the invitation of Councilmembers Gonzales and Councilmember Austin talking about the idea of a redistricting commission. And Councilmember Austin, thank you so much for your great presentation on Common Cause. We definitely support this proposal. We're very happy to see that this conversation is moving forward. So why an ethics commission? It helps promote public trust by providing local oversight and education about a city's ethics laws. And it would also fill a gap as to local ethics laws that the IPC cannot enforce. Similarly, with a redistricting commission, commission, redistricting commissions are now considered the high watermark for fair, transparent and inclusive redistricting. And that's why state and over a dozen jurisdictions statewide, including Oakland, San Francisco, San Diego, Sacramento and Modesto, have created citizens commissions to bring community and neighborhood input into the redistricting process. And local commissions have long been pushed by good government groups, groups including common cause and civil rights organizations like MALDEF and ACLU, because they generally result in fairer lines that better respect and protect minority communities. And for the foregoing reasons, we hope that you move forward on both proposals and if you do. California common cause we pledge to lend our assistance to and helping to provide technical expertize and assistance. We have a long history of helping jurisdictions establish conditions, including just last year when we collaborated with the Sacramento City Council in establishing that city's first Ethics Commission and Redistricting Commission. Thank you very much for your account, the council's time and consideration on this important topic. Thank you. Again, there's more. I just want to just just commend common cause. I think there are very few organizations anywhere that do better work than the work you guys do. And so it just means a lot whenever you guys are here and supportive of the work. I'm a huge supporter, so continue the great work you guys are doing. You guys are are always leading the state when it comes to these important issues. So thank you. Thank you. Appreciate that. Mr.. Good, you. Very good, you resident in Long Beach since 1977 and it's very face. The motion is so obvious. Most people think it needs to be discussed. But let me offer these thoughts on this is looking back on it. This is at this point. Not unlike closing the barn door after the horses are out. And let me make it clear also that I think within this council and within this community, there are people that should get and have the caliber and the integrity to be on this commission or involved in this commission. However. Having our current mayor or any of his criminally blessed fellow travelers involved. And setting up a commission dealing with ethics and honesty would be like Harvey Weinstein opening up an academy to teach female women how to advance in Hollywood, period. Let it move forward, but let it be well distance from the mayor and his criminally complicit fellow travelers. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next picture, please. Thank you very much. My name is Sterling Reagan. I live in the eighth district. I live in fourth range three, just Avenue. And when I heard that this proposal was coming up, I was shocked by the fact that this is not already implemented. I would have thought that as soon as a municipality is established that an ethics commission would be there with it to to ensure that the processes are safe and secure. And so with that in mind, if you are thinking about not doing it, I have a few reasons why you should. So currently we have a grotesque level of political apathy. Currently, here in Long Beach. It's something like 13 and a half percent voter turnout in the 2016 election, and it's hope to God that it's not that bad. In the. Next one. That's coming up. And nationwide, it's somewhere along 40% voter turnout, eligible voters. That is just not acceptable. And maybe this commission can help people more trusting in their government and say maybe I can be a part of the process and help out my community. I also think a city commission is good because it is very personal to the community. So the people that are, you know, you know, organizing the districts and the people that are ensuring that our councilmen are ethically secure, they are our neighbors. They are good local people. So we know them and we can. Keep them in. Check as much as possible and we know their motives. So that's a positive thing. And you know, guys, this is just common sense. You want your councilman to be ethically secure. You want your elected officials to have a certain degree of checks and balances with their own people. So this is a very positive I'm very glad that this is finally a part of the discussion, at the very least. And thank you so much, I hope support. Thank you. Thank you. And our last speaker. Thank you. I'm back again. The part that I think about this is that the Ethics Commission proposal that you have here kind of rounds the picture of the economic development package that we were talking about before, because what it's doing is going to encourage the entire city to know that our leadership is trying to make sure that everyone is involved and everyone is is working together, is trying to make sure that economically we're working together as a as a community. It's going to be the kind of issues that are going to work with all minority groups and everyone is going to win out of this package. So I think tonight has been a very positive night because to know that we're concerned about our ethics, we're going to be concerned about our economics. We're concerned about our community. So so, Mayor, I think this is fantastic. And I hope that the best success and I think it's going to be a great effort to but for us to move forward as a community. So thank you very much. Thank you very much. And with that, I just want to also thank Councilmember Austin. These are issues that need to be discussed. And we look forward to having a good, robust conversation when they come before the charter amendment committee that the charter committee, which of those who don't know is basically the city council. So that will be back will be back to us in a in a in a special meeting. So with that, thanks again and particularly to common cause and please cast your votes. Motion carries.