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Taft council adds member-at-large to Public Works Committee to address Laguna Landscape district deficits
Summary
The Taft City Council on a 4-0 vote adopted a resolution updating the Public Works Committee administrative policy to add a member-at-large and the city engineer after repeated failed votes to raise Laguna Landscape Maintenance District fees.
The Taft City Council on Tuesday adopted a resolution updating the administrative policy for the City’s Public Works Committee to add a member-at-large and include the city engineer, a change council members said is intended to help address budget deficits in the Laguna Landscape Maintenance District.
City Manager Craig Jones told the council the item followed failed attempts to raise district fees and a council request to form an ad hoc committee to study the issue. “Since there was already members of the public and the city council meeting that volunteered and were willing to serve on the ad hoc committee for the purpose of this issue, staff would like to add a member at large to the public works committee along with the city engineer,” Jones said.
Mayor Noor said the change was aimed at improving communication with voters after multiple unsuccessful ballot measures. “As it said in the staff report… the election failed for the third time to raise the rates paid by the people who are part of that district. And in an effort to try to understand exactly where things are going wrong with the communication to the voters, we are going to take this step,” Mayor Noor said. He added, “So that's why we're doing it, and I think it's a great idea.”
Councilman Scribe moved to adopt the resolution; the motion was seconded. A roll-call vote recorded Councilmember Kreier, Councilmember Waldrop, Councilmember Chavera and Mayor Noor voting yes. The motion passed on a 4-0 vote; Mayor Pro Tem Bryant was absent with notice.
The resolution as read included a CEQA determination that the activity is not a project under the California Environmental Quality Act, citing sections 15060(c)(3) and 15378 of the CEQA Guidelines. Council discussion focused on the district's repeated failed rate increases and the value of adding a public member to regular committee meetings rather than limiting participation to public attendance.
No additional budgetary figures or specific timeline for appointing the member-at-large were provided during the discussion. The council tabled a separate agenda item — reorganization of council committee assignments — until a future meeting because Mayor Pro Tem Bryant was absent.
The council moved into closed session at the end of the meeting for two items, including anticipated litigation and labor negotiations.
