Ventura Council Members Wrap Up Retreat Session With a City Hall Overhaul

Determined to streamline how they do business, City Council members hunkered down for a six-hour retreat Saturday, overhauling a set of traditional policies criticized as outmoded and counterproductive.

By midafternoon, council members had eliminated nine standing committees and embraced a new system aimed at snuffing out behind-the-scene politics while promoting a more collegial spirit at City Hall.

Council members walked away from the daylong retreat optimistic that the changes will result in greater council efficiency and better use of staff members’ time.

And in stark contrast to years of bickering and back-biting politics, they praised one another for working as a team.

“I want to compliment all my colleagues in this room,” Mayor Jack Tingstrom said at the close of the meeting. “It is the best session I have been in as a council member.”

Meeting in a conference room away from City Hall, council members agreed to:

* Eliminate nine standing committees.

* Hold periodic study sessions.

* Encourage professionalism and mutual respect among council members and staff members.

* Increase public participation.

The biggest change centered on the council’s committee structure.

Until Saturday, council members were appointed to two-year terms on standing committees that deal with specific issues such as the budget, housing and trash.

But council members and city staff members have complained the system fueled behind-the-scenes politicking for key appointments and left other council members in the dark about decisions made off the dais.

Police Chief Richard Thomas said the structure often resulted in inflexible recommendations coming before the council.

“By the time it got to the full council, it was in concrete,” Thomas said. Making changes at that point, he said, “would be like attacking motherhood and apple pie.”

City Manager Donna Landeros recommended eliminating standing committees and replacing them with committees created on an ad hoc basis. Committees would include residents and be limited in their scope and time frame.

Council members embraced the idea, saying the new structure would force them to learn about a range of issues while eliminating the campaigning for appointments.

“It will take a lot of politics out of the process,” Councilman Jim Friedman said.

While some council members expressed concern that the new structure could create more work and result in longer meetings, they unanimously agreed to try it.

“If the ad hoc process doesn’t work, we can go back,” Tingstrom said.

The council voted 6 to 0 to adopt the new committee structure. Councilman Jim Monahan, who is running for the Board of Supervisors, was campaigning Saturday morning and attended only half the workshop.

The council also agreed to begin holding periodic study sessions on complicated issues.

Councilwoman Rosa Lee Measures suggested that the council hold study sessions on alternating Monday nights, but Friedman questioned whether that would drag already lengthy meetings later into the night and bog down city business.

The group eventually compromised and agreed to hold workshops on an as-needed basis.

That the disagreement was only mild was indicative of another goal the council is pursuing: peace and courtesy.

“There was a sense of collegiality today amongst the council,” Bennett said.

“We took off our respective hats and came together,” Councilman Ray Di Guilio added. “If you are going to be a good policymaker, you have to have a good process in place. . . . This is a step.”