Artesia Municipal Code Art. 4 Public Safety Commission

Editor's Note: Previously codified as Chapter 4-5. Prior ordinance history includes Ord. Nos. 507, § 1 and 540, § 4.

A Public Safety Commission is hereby created and established. This Commission shall be known and referred to as the Artesia Public Safety Commission or the Public Safety Commission.

(Ord. 10-761, § 10)

The Public Safety Commission shall consist of five members who shall be residents of the City.

(Ord. 10-761, § 10)

Each member of the City Council shall appoint one member to the Public Safety Commission. Appointments shall be made at a regular City Council meeting.

(Ord. 10-761, § 10)

A Commissioner may be removed in one of two ways:

(a) Removal at Any Time by Appointing Councilmember. The member of the City Council who appointed the Commissioner may remove the Commissioner at any time by delivering written notice of the removal and the effective date of the removal to the City Clerk and the Commissioner, and shall report the removal to the City Council on the next regular City Council meeting agenda; or

(b) Removal by Majority of Councilmembers. Any member of the City Council may request that staff place the removal of a Commissioner on a regular City Council meeting agenda and recommend the removal of the Commissioner during the agenda item by motion and approval by the City Council by majority vote of the quorum present.

(Ord. 10-761, § 10; Ord. 18-864, § 8)

Vacancies on the Public Safety Commission shall be filled by appointment of the City Councilmember, or his or her successor, who appointed the previous holder of the position, and once appointed shall serve the unexpired term of the office that has become vacant.

(Ord. 10-761, §§ 10, 11)

Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, any member of the Public Safety Commission who absents him or herself from any two consecutive regular meetings of the Public Safety Commission, unless excused from such attendance by the consent of the Commission expressed by action of record in its minutes, or any member who is absent from a total of four regular meetings of the Commission in any 12 month period, shall thereby automatically forfeit his or her position or office as a member of the Public Safety Commission. The name of such person shall be automatically removed from the membership of the Public Safety Commission immediately after the adjournment of any such second consecutive meeting or of any such fourth meeting in any 12 months' period, as the case may be, at which such member of the Public Safety Commission has not appeared. The chairperson or the secretary of the Public Safety Commission shall thereupon promptly notify the Council of any such person so ceasing to be a member of the Public Safety Commission of such fact. The vacancy so created shall be filled by appointment as provided for in Section 2-2.403 of this article.

(Ord. 10-761, §§ 10, 11)

The regular meeting of the Public Safety Commission shall be held at 18747 South Clarkdale Avenue, Artesia, California, unless otherwise specified in the regular meeting notice, on the second Thursday of January, April, July, and October at the hour of 6:00 p.m., unless the items of business before the Commission require that adjourned regular or special meetings be called more frequently.

(Ord. 10-761, § 10; Ord. 18-864, § 9; Ord. 22-923, § 4; Ord. 23-942, § 2)

The members of the Public Safety Commission shall, at their first meeting following commencement of the terms of office of its members, nominate and elect a chairperson and vice chairperson, who shall each serve for a term of one year. The chairperson shall not be elected for more than two consecutive one year terms. The chairperson shall preside over all meetings of the Commission. The vice chairperson shall preside over Commission meetings in the absence of the chairperson.

(Ord. 10-761, § 10)

The Public Safety Commission shall be responsible for making recommendations to the City Council on matters affecting public health and safety in the City and such related matters as determined and directed by the City Council. The Public Safety Commission shall hold meetings and hearings as deemed necessary by the Commission to accomplish these responsibilities and shall take action thereon in the form of reports and recommendations to the City Council. In making its recommendations, the Public Safety Commission shall do the following:

(a) Act as a "sounding board" for citizen input and community concerns;

(b) Adequately consider community values and goals relating to public health and safety;

(c) Develop recommended solutions that are practical and address community needs;

(d) Identify and develop alternative policy recommendations to public health and safety problems and concerns;

(e) Periodically invite Neighborhood Watch Captains to attend Commission meetings and to report on activities, issues and concerns noted by Neighborhood Watch groups.

(Ord. 10-761, §§ 10, 12)

The Public Safety Commission shall have no power or authority to:

(a) Conduct investigations into individual complaints related to law enforcement personnel or actions of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department; or

(b) Bind or obligate the City or any officer or department thereof for any money, debt, undertaking or obligation of any kind in excess of the appropriation which the City Council may have made for the purposes of the Commission's operation in any fiscal year.

(Ord. 10-761, § 10)

Members of the Public Safety Commission shall not be compensated for their service on the Commission unless otherwise provided by City Council action. The City Council may from time to time authorize in advance, expenditures for attendance at seminars, conferences or other meetings which the City Council finds to be beneficial to the Commissioners in the performance of their duties, and in the best interests of the City. Claim for such expenses shall be filed with the City Manager and shall be subject to audit and approval by the City Council.

(Ord. 10-761, § 10)

The City Manager shall designate a City staff person or persons to be the City staff liaison to the Commission. Such person or persons shall prepare notices and agendas for the Commission's meetings, attend Commission meetings, take minutes of the Commission's actions, report information to and from the City Manager, Sheriff's Department, and the Commission, and provide other services to the Commission as directed by the City Manager.

(Ord. 10-761, § 10)