1999-12-08 Charter Commission Minutes

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minutes 12-08-99Page 2 of 31 TAKAHASHI: Yes, probably the Mayor would be willing to pass off on some of the lesser contracts because it’s an awful lot of contracts that needs to be submitted to him for signature. But it would probably be a "may" situation, not a "shall" situation because there may be contracts that he may insist that he review, no matter what the price tag. IRVINE: Okay. RAY: John, do you have a question? SANTANGELO: Just for a point of information, having been involved in that a little bit, maybe you can help us understand. In your opinion, how many contracts the Mayor doesn’t sign? TAKAHASHI: I believe, right now, it’s just a handful. SANTANGELO: Very, very small amount. TAKAHASHI: And usually there’s another provision for him, not signing it, because I think the Council signs the external audit contract. I know there are instances where I sign on some of the agreements where they’re provided by different laws. SANTANGELO: But basically, the way the Charter’s written right now, the Mayor is the one responsible for all contracts. TAKAHASHI: That’s right. RAY: How does the Managing Director figure into this in terms of that signing authority? TAKAHASHI: The Managing Director will sign when the Mayor is out of town. RAY: That’s the only case? TAKAHASHI: That’s the only case. RAY: So maybe that would be a place to look to? TAKAHASHI: Yes, it could be, that anything less than a certain amount. RAY: Well, if he’s the Managing Director, ‘the Managing Director’ of the County, why wouldn’t it be reasonable that the Managing Director of the County have more authority to sign these contracts? TAKAHASHI: I don’t know. It’s up to this body. IRVINE: Or Department Heads sign off on certain things? TAKAHASHI: I don’t know of any that Department Heads would be signing off on. RAY: We’ve been having this discussion in terms of having more of a City Manager type Managing Director, and clearly that seems like that would be something in their purview, so anyway, we can talk about that. Steve. BESS: I’d just like to ask Chris, on 13-13(c), except as otherwise provided, be signed by the Mayor. What’s your take on that, what that means? That means except as otherwise provided by law, by ordinance? YUEN: I think it means by State law rather than by ordinance. BESS: By State law. Okay, so we can’t play with that at all. All right. YUEN: No, the Charter can be changed. file://\\coh01\cohweb\council\charter_commission\minutes\minutes 12-08-99.html7/1/2011