Pleasant Hill Recreation & Park District
Board of Directors Meeting
January 28, 2010
The January 28, 2010 Board Meeting of the Pleasant Hill Recreation & Park District Board of Directors was called to order by Board Chair Sherry Sterrett at 7:00 p.m. in the Conference Room at the Administration Office.
Pledge of Allegiance
Carole Lucido of Lucido Marketing & Graphics led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Ex-Officio Broomand reported that the Pennies for Patients fundraiser is going on for another week and the speaker rescheduled for next week. Another fundraiser College Park High School students are conducting is Help for Haiti where you can donate canned foods and other supplies. It is finals week and the leadership students wanted to show teachers their appreciation, so they coordinated College Park High School students to make or buy cookies for the teachers. Board Chair Sterrett thanked Broomand for her report and wished her well on her finals.
Consent Calendar
Board Member Shepard said she wanted to make a clarification on the November 5, 2009 minutes. She said the issue is still unresolved and feels compelled to bring it up to the Board again in regards to the payment to Tom MacDonald of $18,806.82 with an interest of $1,182.17 with a total of $19,988.99. Shepard said the original minutes did not accurately represent what was discussed at the meeting. She said there have been several revisions to the minutes of November 5, 2009 and she wanted to make sure what she said was captured. She said no matter how she looks at it, she remains uncomfortable with what happened.
Shepard said she first heard of a $20,000 loan for the Measure E campaign from MacDonald, the General Manager interrupted saying that this is not an agenda item, but just an approval of the minutes. Shepard stated that she is making a clarification on the minutes of November 5, 2009 and how it was transcribed. Board Chair Sterrett said as the Campaign Chair, she wanted to make a clarification as well. She stated that she recently asked the Campaign Treasurer about the $20,000 from Tom MacDonald for the campaign. She asked if the money was given as a loan or a donation. Sterrett said the Campaign Treasurer stated that MacDonald said it was a donation to the campaign. Shepard said although the Campaign Treasurer recorded the $20,000 as a donation, it does not necessarily mean that it is not a loan.
Shepard continued that the afternoon of November 5, she asked the General Manager about the recommendation. She specifically asked him if this is the result of Mark Cornelius stating that we could not pay the campaign loans from the bond proceeds. Her question to the General Manager was, “does it mean that the District has to pay $20,000 for the loan and also pay the $18,806.82 plus the interest”. She said the General Manager said, “no, and the resolution takes care of that and the District only needs to pay one, not both”.
Shepard brought up the resolution. She said she did not read it all the way through before the Board Meeting on November 5, 2010. Shepard said the resolution states, “it essentially meets the oral understanding of the parties and serves a public purpose of the District”. She said this was not true and there never was an oral understanding with the Board other than Tom MacDonald paying all the fees for the plans for the Senior Center. Shepard said if Tom and the Board had any oral understanding, then why did Tom pay all the bills and not separate out the $18,000 for the District to pay. She said if there was any oral agreement, it was between Bob and Tom and the Board was not a party to it. She feels the Board would not have approved it. The Board never had any oral understanding with Tom that delineates and carves out certain expenses. She has not seen any paperwork that Tom has ever asked for the money. She wants to see the documentation based on oral agreements. She said the bottom line is, just by approving the resolution, it does not make it transparent or make it right.
Board Chair Sterrett had some minor changes to the minutes of November 5, 2009. Board Member Bonato had some corrections to the minutes of November 5, 2009 as well. Bonato made a correction on one of her statements in the minutes and requested it should be separated from Shepard’s comments and to start a new paragraph with her comments. She said it better shows her intentions of her statement and better supports the motion. She said the statement that she is trying to make is another way of looking at the issue and dealing with it. It is her opinion and philosophy that the District should stand more on its own “two feet” and attend to the expenses that incurred that were not pure architectural fees. She said she has been a member of the Board of Directors for the last year and before that, as a citizen, it was her understanding that the contributions were for architectural services. She stated her point is to shift and look at this issue from a different perspective. She does not think that Shepard’s opinion is reflected by others. Board Chair Sterrett suggested taking action on each item under the consent calendar as individual items.
Upon motion of Bonato/Donaghu, the Board approved the warrants as presented.
To Approve Bills to be paid, warrants #13227 - #13280 in the amount of $196,967.37 dated January 28, 2010.
To Approve Minutes of November 5, 2009 and January 14, 2010.
Upon motion of Hurd/Bonato, the Board approved the minutes of November 5, 2009 with suggested changes.
Upon motion of Hurd/Shepard, the Board approved the minutes of January 14, 2010 with the change suggested from Board Chair Sterrett.
Presentation and Approval of Audit Report for Fiscal Year 2008-09 (ACTION)
Review Management Letter
Review Pleasant Hill Senior Club Audit and Management Letter
The General Manager introduced Michael O’Connor with R.J. Ricciardi, who handles the auditing services for the District. O’Connor reviewed the management letter and the District audit report for fiscal year 2008 – 09. He stated it is an unqualified opinion, which is the best rating. Board Member Bonato had a question on page 9 in regards to capital grant and contributions of $312,162 under CC rental. Accounting Supervisor Blair said there were no grant contributions. O’Connor will look into it and check to see if it might have been a mistake. It is a good audit report with no recommendations in the management letter.
O’Connor continued with a review of the Pleasant Hill Senior Club audit. Board Member Bonato asked why an audit is conducted for the Senior Club. The General Manager stated that there are a lot of funds with volunteer seniors operating the club. A number of years ago, the Board of Directors decided that it was a good idea to conduct an audit each year. Some further discussion followed with Board questions answered by O’Connor.
Board Chair Sterrett attributed the successful audit to staff and direction of past Board Chair Donaghu.
Upon motion of Donaghu/Shepard, the Board approved the audit report for fiscal year 2008 – 09 for the District and Senior Club pending the clarification on the question of the funds on page 9 of the grant contributions of $312,162 for the CC Rental.
Minutes_1-28-2010Pleasant Hill Recreation & Park District - Clubs and Organizations
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Meeting Minutes
Pleasant Hill Recreation & Park District
Board of Directors Meeting
January 28, 2010
The January 28, 2010 Board Meeting of the Pleasant Hill Recreation & Park District Board of Directors was called to order by Board Chair Sherry Sterrett at 7:00 p.m. in the Conference Room at the Administration Office.
Pledge of Allegiance
Carole Lucido of Lucido Marketing & Graphics led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Ex-Officio Broomand reported that the Pennies for Patients fundraiser is going on for another week and the speaker rescheduled for next week. Another fundraiser College Park High School students are conducting is Help for Haiti where you can donate canned foods and other supplies. It is finals week and the leadership students wanted to show teachers their appreciation, so they coordinated College Park High School students to make or buy cookies for the teachers. Board Chair Sterrett thanked Broomand for her report and wished her well on her finals.
Consent Calendar
Board Member Shepard said she wanted to make a clarification on the November 5, 2009 minutes. She said the issue is still unresolved and feels compelled to bring it up to the Board again in regards to the payment to Tom MacDonald of $18,806.82 with an interest of $1,182.17 with a total of $19,988.99. Shepard said the original minutes did not accurately represent what was discussed at the meeting. She said there have been several revisions to the minutes of November 5, 2009 and she wanted to make sure what she said was captured. She said no matter how she looks at it, she remains uncomfortable with what happened.
Shepard said she first heard of a $20,000 loan for the Measure E campaign from MacDonald, the General Manager interrupted saying that this is not an agenda item, but just an approval of the minutes. Shepard stated that she is making a clarification on the minutes of November 5, 2009 and how it was transcribed. Board Chair Sterrett said as the Campaign Chair, she wanted to make a clarification as well. She stated that she recently asked the Campaign Treasurer about the $20,000 from Tom MacDonald for the campaign. She asked if the money was given as a loan or a donation. Sterrett said the Campaign Treasurer stated that MacDonald said it was a donation to the campaign. Shepard said although the Campaign Treasurer recorded the $20,000 as a donation, it does not necessarily mean that it is not a loan.
Shepard continued that the afternoon of November 5, she asked the General Manager about the recommendation. She specifically asked him if this is the result of Mark Cornelius stating that we could not pay the campaign loans from the bond proceeds. Her question to the General Manager was, “does it mean that the District has to pay $20,000 for the loan and also pay the $18,806.82 plus the interest”. She said the General Manager said, “no, and the resolution takes care of that and the District only needs to pay one, not both”.
Shepard brought up the resolution. She said she did not read it all the way through before the Board Meeting on November 5, 2010. Shepard said the resolution states, “it essentially meets the oral understanding of the parties and serves a public purpose of the District”. She said this was not true and there never was an oral understanding with the Board other than Tom MacDonald paying all the fees for the plans for the Senior Center. Shepard said if Tom and the Board had any oral understanding, then why did Tom pay all the bills and not separate out the $18,000 for the District to pay. She said if there was any oral agreement, it was between Bob and Tom and the Board was not a party to it. She feels the Board would not have approved it. The Board never had any oral understanding with Tom that delineates and carves out certain expenses. She has not seen any paperwork that Tom has ever asked for the money. She wants to see the documentation based on oral agreements. She said the bottom line is, just by approving the resolution, it does not make it transparent or make it right.
Board Chair Sterrett had some minor changes to the minutes of November 5, 2009. Board Member Bonato had some corrections to the minutes of November 5, 2009 as well. Bonato made a correction on one of her statements in the minutes and requested it should be separated from Shepard’s comments and to start a new paragraph with her comments. She said it better shows her intentions of her statement and better supports the motion. She said the statement that she is trying to make is another way of looking at the issue and dealing with it. It is her opinion and philosophy that the District should stand more on its own “two feet” and attend to the expenses that incurred that were not pure architectural fees. She said she has been a member of the Board of Directors for the last year and before that, as a citizen, it was her understanding that the contributions were for architectural services. She stated her point is to shift and look at this issue from a different perspective. She does not think that Shepard’s opinion is reflected by others. Board Chair Sterrett suggested taking action on each item under the consent calendar as individual items.
Upon motion of Bonato/Donaghu, the Board approved the warrants as presented.
To Approve Bills to be paid, warrants #13227 - #13280 in the amount of $196,967.37 dated January 28, 2010.
To Approve Minutes of November 5, 2009 and January 14, 2010.
Upon motion of Hurd/Bonato, the Board approved the minutes of November 5, 2009 with suggested changes.
Upon motion of Hurd/Shepard, the Board approved the minutes of January 14, 2010 with the change suggested from Board Chair Sterrett.
Presentation and Approval of Audit Report for Fiscal Year 2008-09 (ACTION)
Review Management Letter
Review Pleasant Hill Senior Club Audit and Management Letter
The General Manager introduced Michael O’Connor with R.J. Ricciardi, who handles the auditing services for the District. O’Connor reviewed the management letter and the District audit report for fiscal year 2008 – 09. He stated it is an unqualified opinion, which is the best rating. Board Member Bonato had a question on page 9 in regards to capital grant and contributions of $312,162 under CC rental. Accounting Supervisor Blair said there were no grant contributions. O’Connor will look into it and check to see if it might have been a mistake. It is a good audit report with no recommendations in the management letter.
O’Connor continued with a review of the Pleasant Hill Senior Club audit. Board Member Bonato asked why an audit is conducted for the Senior Club. The General Manager stated that there are a lot of funds with volunteer seniors operating the club. A number of years ago, the Board of Directors decided that it was a good idea to conduct an audit each year. Some further discussion followed with Board questions answered by O’Connor.
Board Chair Sterrett attributed the successful audit to staff and direction of past Board Chair Donaghu.
Upon motion of Donaghu/Shepard, the Board approved the audit report for fiscal year 2008 – 09 for the District and Senior Club pending the clarification on the question of the funds on page 9 of the grant contributions of $312,162 for the CC Rental.
To
Consider Selection of Bond Oversight Committee Members (ACTION)
Board Chair Sterrett stated that she was on the selection committee along with Board Member Bonato. She said 15 applications were received and the interviews were conducted on Monday, January 25, 2010 from 4:30 – 8:30 p.m. She said there were many good applicants and the seven Bond Oversight Committee Members that they are recommending are:
Steve Ganguet, Lisa Hagopian, Harold Jeffrey, Lily Ng, Marie Simons, Norman Vanhole, and Leo Vardas
Sterrett said after they met with all the candidates and agreed on five of the same candidates right away, they only had to discuss and make a decision on two more candidates. Sterrett gave a description of each Bond Oversight Committee member and their background. Bonato stated the committee is a nice blend of gender, age, abilities and background. It will be determined later on how frequently the committee will be meeting and there will be quarterly statement and reviews made to the Board of Directors. Once the bonds are sold and the funds are flowing, the committee will start meeting to oversee the bond funds.
Upon motion of Donaghu/Hurd, the Board approved the seven recommended Bond Oversight Committee members.
To Consider Administrative Leave for Exempt Employees (Second Reading/ACTION)
The General Manager spoke about his experience when he first started working for the District and when he was promoted to Community Center Director while still working with the teen programs and raising funds for the teens for a Hawaii trip. He said he worked many weekends with the teens, also other weekends with other programs, worked evenings, and the excessive amount of hours working over the normal 40 hours per week. He said he was burned out and went to the General Manager at that time, Ted Winslow, and said he could not keep up this pace of work. He said they worked out some comp time and he was able to take some time off. But, he explained that some staff is currently working these crazy hours on weekends and after hours and still coming in during the week for normal office hours. He said staff cannot take the time off during peak season, Spring and Summer, but they may take the time off during the winter or off season. He said that this is a way of saying thank you to employees so the employees don’t burn out. The General Manager stated that other agencies have administrative leave policies for exempt employees. He said it does not cost the District any more money, but it is an opportunity to say thank you for the staff’s extra efforts. He said it is reasonable and there has been other language added per the suggestion of the Board. He recommends the Board to approve the administrative leave policy proposed.
Board Members Hurd and Donaghu were in total agreement. Board Member Bonato has some reservations. She will be voting against it, but not because she opposes the concept, but because she is uncomfortable about this approach. She wants to see what other District and City’s policy language are. Board Chair Sterrett said it would benefit the employees that put in “above and beyond” hours and are away from their families. It puts wear and tear on them. She feels the policy is appropriate and she supports it. She said the time is not carried over, the need for approval, and change of language suggested is good. Board Member Shepard is opposed because if you have a salaried position, you are paid over and beyond for the work. She said it is a higher paid position and it comes with the job. She said if other agencies are doing it that does not mean we should. She does not feel it is something the District has to do. She is philosophically opposed. She said about two years ago she thought there were salary adjustments. The General Manager said there was a study completed, but there were no adjustments made.
The General Manager said it is a wrong message to send to the employees. He stated he has a hard time grasping why she does not feel the employees deserve it. Board Member Donaghu views it as a safety issue and he does not agree with Shepard’s comment that they are higher paid employees and are expected to work the hours. Shepard asked how many positions was it for. The General Manager said there are about 15 employees. He said it is for all the exempt employees in supervisory positions. Shepard does not believe in comp time for salaried employees. Donaghu said he does believe that a tired employee can have accidents and does not like tired employees. He supports it based on the safety aspect. Hurd said from his experience, work can be seasonal and there may be periods of time where you cannot get your job complete in an eight hour day and many managers of firms will have an informal plan where they let their employees take comp. time off. He said the employee may put in 60 hours or more in a week to complete their job, but they don’t get time off to compensate them for the extra hours worked. Hurd said this is a way to have an incentive to get their job done in time. Hurd is in favor of the policy.
Board Chair Sterrett agrees with Shepard that because other agencies are doing it, it does not mean we should, but from the stand point that we are in the business of intangible services to get the job done. She said when the employees put in hours above and beyond, they need the time to recoup and rest. She said it is not an excessive amount of time and it is monitored and approved by the General Manager and cannot be paid out or accrued. All the concerns the Board mentioned in the past have been written in the policy and she approves it. Board Member Bonato does not share Shepard’s view that administrative leave is inappropriate. She wants to see a policy that is more structured and wants it to be fair and shared equally. She will put down her thoughts and share them with the General Manager and new language for the policy can be brought back to the Board.
The General Manager recommended tabling the item until further language can be worked out to the Board’s satisfaction. Board Chair Sterrett stated the agenda item will be brought back to a future Board Meeting and Board Member Bonato will work with the General Manager to work on new policy language.
Bond Project Updates
The General Manager said staff met with Steve Harriman to review plans to the Senior Center and Teen Center. Harriman reviewed the changes that have been made to the plans of the Teen Center and stated there were some more restrooms added inside the center. Some further discussion followed. Harriman reviewed the Senior Center plans. The General Manager mentioned that Mal Malpass and Jack Prosek met with Harriman and made some suggestions to the plans. He said Harriman incorporated some of their suggestions. Discussion followed on the layout and space of the Senior Center. Board Chair Sterrett thanked Harriman for his presentation on such a short notice. She said it was good to see all the changes that have been made.
Board Announcements And Requests To Staff
Board Member Donaghu said he will attend the Mayor’s Breakfast tomorrow morning at 7:30 a.m. He attended the CCSDA quarterly meeting on Monday, January 25 along with Chair Sterrett and mentioned that the main speaker spoke about the water shortage situation and the effects on the Delta and how it will not solve our water problems.
Board Member Shepard said the bond selection committee will be interviewing for the project/construction management services tomorrow.
Board Chair Sterrett thanked the staff and Board for the Board Study Session yesterday. She mentioned the LAFCO election procedures that took place at the CCSDA quarterly meeting.
Staff Announcements
The General Manager made the following announcements:
He announced that the Pleasant Hill Dolfins Swim Team Crab Feed is on Friday, February 26.
He received a thank you postcard from Strandwood Elementary thanking the District for the donations of balls
Recreation Supervisor Pam Lischeske will be having surgery on February 3 to remove a tumor.
Adjournment
Board Chair Sterrett adjourned the meeting at 9:55 p.m.
Prepared by Robert B. Berggren, Clerk of the Board
