Rules Committee agrees to duplicate file and send rules amendment on administration of oaths to full Board

The Rules Committee considered proposed amendments to Board rules that would set out the process for administering oaths to individuals testifying under subpoena and included language proposed last week. Committee members pressed the city attorney and Clerk Calvillo about whether the Municipal Executives Association (MEA) and the Department of Human Resources (DHR) had been consulted and asked why DHR had not determined whether the language triggered meet-and-confer obligations sooner.

A committee member said the new language prompted the city attorney to send the draft to DHR and that DHR had not yet made a decision about whether meet-and-confer was required. The city attorney confirmed the draft had been sent to MEA and to DHR through MEA late last week but said the committee had not yet heard back.

After discussing options — including sending the item to the full Board with the new language and allowing the Board to remove the clause if needed — the committee moved to duplicate the file (keeping an identical version in committee while sending an identical copy to the full Board) and to forward it with a positive recommendation. The motion passed "without objection." Committee members asked staff to follow up with DHR about the meet-and-confer determination.