South Pasadena Municipal Code Art. IV Boards and Commissions—general Provisions

(a) Unless otherwise specified in this article, all boards and commissions shall consist of five adult members, all board and commission members to be appointed by the mayor of the city with at least three affirmative votes of the city council. All members of any city board or commission shall be subject to removal at any time without cause by motion of the city council adopted by at least three affirmative votes of the city council. Upon appointment, commission members take the oath of office. All members of any city board or commission shall be required to undertake Brown Act training; failure to complete the training within six months of appointment is cause for removal.

(b) Youth Member. The mayor may appoint one nonvoting youth member to any board or commission of the city, at his or her discretion, in the same manner as prescribed in subsection (a) of this section. A youth member on any commission shall serve only in an advisory capacity. (Ord. No. 2187, § 2, 2009; Ord. No. 2228, § 1, 2012; Ord. No. 2329, § 1, 2019; Ord. No. 2406, § 1, 2025.)

(a) All members of a board or commission shall be residents of the city of South Pasadena at the time of their appointment and continuously during their term of office. Membership shall terminate automatically if a member ceases to reside in the city. In addition, the member shall have a strong commitment and demonstrated ability to work in a collaborative manner with other board and commission members and city staff. Elected city officials and/or employees are not eligible for membership on any board or commission. No individual shall serve on more than one board or commission at the same time. Notwithstanding the aforementioned prohibition of serving on more than one board or commission at the same time, in the event that a committee or other body is merged with a board or commission or is redesignated as a board or commission, the city council may waive this prohibition for any incumbent members of said committee or body. Said waiver shall be in effect until expiration of the commissioner’s term on either commission, whichever commission term expires first.

(b) To be eligible for appointment to any board or commission as a nonvoting youth member, the individual shall be between the ages of 14 and 18 years old and shall be a resident of the city of South Pasadena at the time of their appointment and continuously during their term of office. Notwithstanding, if the individual is a student at South Pasadena High School, the individual is not required to be a resident but must be a currently enrolled student at the time of their appointment and continuously during their term of office. Membership shall terminate automatically if a member ceases to reside in the city or be enrolled as a student at South Pasadena High School if the member is not a resident of the city. The youth member shall be a nonvoting member on all boards and commissions. In order to be considered for appointment, the individual shall provide written documentation of parental or guardian consent. No youth member shall serve on more than one board or commission at the same time. (Ord. No. 2187, § 2, 2009; Ord. No. 2210, § 1, 2010; Ord. No. 2228, § 2, 2012; Ord. No. 2366, § 2, 2022; Ord. No. 2406, § 2, 2025.)

2.25A Term of office.

(a) A member may be appointed for a full term of three years or a lesser term of one or two years, but in no event shall a member serve more than a total of six years in an eight-year period on the same commission. In calculating the six-year period, this shall include any combination of an appointment for a full term(s) of three years or a lesser term of one or two years and an appointment of any length to fill an unscheduled vacancy of a member on the same commission.

(b) Terms may be staggered if the mayor and city council find it is necessary to ensure that no more than three members of a board or commission will expire in the same year.

(c) Each term shall commence on January 1st and end on December 31st regardless of when the individual is initially appointed. For example, if an individual is initially appointed to a full term of three years in March, the term is still considered a three-year term even though a member serves only two years and nine months.

(d) For the purpose of term limitation, any individual who has served six years in an eight-year period (if applicable) on a board or commission shall be eligible for reappointment to any board or commission 12 months from the date said individual terminated service on a commission where they were previously a member.

(e) A member’s term shall continue until he or she is replaced or reappointed, if eligible. The extension of that term shall count towards the member’s six-year term limit described herein.

(f) Unless otherwise provided for in this article, a member may resign from a board or commission by submitting their resignation in writing (email acceptable) to the city clerk’s office. (Ord. No. 2406, § 4, 2025.)

2.25B Term of office—Youth member.

(a) The term of office for a youth member of any board or commission shall be for one calendar year, commencing on January 1st and ending on December 31st. Notwithstanding, an appointment of a youth member to a board or commission may be for a partial term; however, that partial term shall end on December 31st and shall be considered a full one-calendar-year term regardless of the date of appointment.

(b) Youth members are limited to two calendar-year terms on any one board or commission.

(c) A youth member may resign from a board or commission by submitting their resignation in writing (email acceptable) to the city clerk’s office. (Ord. No. 2406, § 5, 2025.)

(a) If an unscheduled vacancy occurs on a commission, such vacancy shall be filled by the mayor by appointment, with the approval of the city council, for the remainder of that member’s term.

(b) The remaining term assumed by an individual to fill any vacancy shall be included towards the member’s six-year term limit described in SPMC 2.25A. (Ord. No. 2187, § 2, 2009; Ord. No. 2216, § 2, 2011; Ord. No. 2329, § 3, 2019; Ord. No. 2406, § 6, 2025.)

A board member or commissioner’s seat will be deemed vacant whenever such board member or commissioner misses three consecutive meetings or misses one-third or more of all regular meetings within any 12-month period. Attendance of less than 50 percent of any meeting will be counted as an absence. If a meeting agenda has been posted and the meeting cannot be held due to lack of a quorum, those members not attending shall be considered absent for purposes of this section. (Ord. No. 2187, § 2, 2009; Ord. No. 2406, § 7, 2025.)

The members of all boards and commissions shall serve without compensation for their services as such, but may receive reimbursement for necessary traveling and other expenses incurred on official duty when such expenditures have been authorized. The city shall include in its annual budget such appropriations of funds as in its opinion shall be sufficient for the proper and efficient functioning of such commission. (Ord. No. 2187, § 2, 2009.)

No member of any board or commission of the city shall be eligible for appointment to any salaried office in the service of the city unless such board member or commissioner has resigned as a board member or commissioner prior to his appointment to the salaried position. (Ord. No. 2187, § 2, 2009.)

A majority of the total members of a board or commission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. (Ord. No. 2187, § 2, 2009; Ord. No. 2366, § 3, 2022; Ord. No. 2393, § 1, 2025; Ord. No. 2406, § 8, 2025.)

All boards and commissions shall, at their first regular meeting after January 1st of each year, or as soon as reasonably possible, but in no event later than March 31st of that year, elect a chair and vice-chair from among its appointed members to serve for a term of one year. The persons selected as chair and vice-chair shall serve no more than two consecutive one-year terms as chair or vice-chair, respectively. The vice-chair shall serve as chair in the chair’s absence. Commissions shall select a secretary, who may or may not be chosen from the membership of the commission. Copies of signed minutes are to be filed with the city clerk’s office. All proceedings are open to the public.

Periodically, in order to insure that commissions are functioning as efficiently as possible, and to assess whether commissions still warrant expenditure of limited resources, the city council will conduct assessments of the commissions and their processes. (Ord. No. 2187, § 2, 2009.)

All officers and employees of the city shall cooperate fully with and render all reasonable assistance to all city boards and commissions. (Ord. No. 2187, § 2, 2009.)

Unless otherwise authorized in this article, no commission or board shall have the power, without the consent of the city council, to incur financial obligations, nor to pledge the credit of the city, nor expend the revenues of the city for any purpose whatever, nor to commit the city, its council, officers and employees to any course of action, decision or procedure. (Ord. No. 2187, § 2, 2009.)

The mayor shall appoint a councilmember as liaison to each board and commission. Liaisons are free to attend meetings as their schedules allow. The council liaison role is that of non-voting observer; the liaison does not participate in or direct commission activities. The council liaison shares council decisions and policies with the commission, and reports commission activities, issues, and requests to the council.

Each commission shall be assigned a staff liaison to assist in coordinating the commission’s activities. The staff liaison is expected to provide assistance and support to the commission; provide information about relevant city policies and procedures; provide guidance and direction; develop meeting agendas in collaboration with the chair; assist the secretary with the minutes or other official documentation of the commission; facilitate communication between the commission and council; and keep the city manager informed of commission activities. With limited staff resources, the city expects commissioners to assume most of the responsibilities of carrying out the commission’s mission. (Ord. No. 2187, § 2, 2009.)

Commissions shall keep records of its minutes, resolutions, findings, determinations, and recommendations, which records shall be public records. Commissions shall render annually to city council a full written report of its work during the preceding fiscal year. A summary is presented at a city council meeting. The commission shall also submit, from time to time, such reports as the city council may require.

Commission members are expected to complete educational programs on the Brown Act, ethics, and other topics. Costs for such programs will be assumed by the city. (Ord. No. 2187, § 2, 2009.)