OXNARD : Council to Consider Delegating Authority

A task force charged with streamlining the agenda and meetings of the Oxnard City Council is recommending that the city delegate authority for so-called routine matters to the city manager and other staff.

The council is scheduled to decide today whether to grant City Manager Thomas Frutchey sweeping powers to negotiate land deals, administer personnel changes and approve salary and benefits packages for his employees without the specific approval of the City Council, which is now required.

Members of the task force, formed in December and made up of various department heads, recommend that the council approve the changes to shorten the meetings and decrease staff time dedicated to preparing lengthy agenda reports.

Department heads in the city also would be granted authority now reserved for the City Council, under the proposal to be discussed today.

For instance, managers would be allowed to approve fee waivers, new street names, lease renewals, service agreements, and award bids under a certain amount, should the council approve the recommendation.

The plan also would allow city staff to avoid writing most consent-agenda reports that now must be reviewed by at least three offices before being forwarded to council members for routine approval. Instead, the staff will provide brief summaries of scheduled items.

Councilman Thomas E. Holden, who said Monday he had not yet decided how he will vote, said he could see merits to paring the size of the agenda and whittling down the often-lengthy council meetings.

“The intention of the recommendations are worth exploring,” Holden said, “because we definitely have a problem in the amount of staff time and the resources we use to make certain decisions.”

But Holden said some of the proposals--such as one allowing the city manager to negotiate salaries and land buys--need more serious review by the City Council.