On Jan. 18, the Society of Professional Journalists and more than 60 other journalism groups sent a letter to President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence requesting a meeting to discuss access to government.
“We urge you to publicly affirm your commitment to transparency, to issue an executive order prohibiting the restrictive public information policies that have been the status quo,” the letter stated.
While the press corps asked the Trump administration to play nice with openness, cities on the Central Coast took recent steps to make their goings-on more accountable to the public, including the city of Santa Maria.
During the Santa Maria City Council meeting on Jan. 17, council members approved a resolution establishing formal dollar limits and procedures when accepting donations made to the city.
Resolution No. 2017-01, which was passed with no discussion from the City Council, sets limits on monetary donations or items of value between $50 and $10,000 that may be accepted by city department heads, as long as they’re used for official use. The city manager position, currently held by Rick Haydon, can accept donations up to $25,000. Anything more must be accepted in a written agreement that’s approved by the City Council.
From time to time, the city receives donations from groups that give for the benefit of the public. One such item is the Lenco BearCat armored vehicle donated to the city’s police department by the nonprofit Santa Maria Police Council (SMPC) in March 2015, which was valued at $229,000.
Mayor Alice Patino said the BearCat came to the SMPC thanks to a $135,000 grant from an anonymous foundation. The SMPC contributed the grant money toward the BearCat, and the difference was covered by the city with funds allocated from Measure U—a city sales tax measure passed by voters in 2012 that helps pay for services like public safety—and approved by the City Council in November 2014.
And just last December, the city accepted another donation from the SMPC, this time in the form of 70 ballistic helmets and nylon bags worth $25,346.75, according to city documents.
Mayor Alice Patino told the Sun that it’s important for the city to have a formal cataloguing procedure for accepting such donations and how they’ll be used. This applies to anything given to the city—from library books to police equipment. Before, there was no uniform way of accepting gifts.
“That way it’s in writing and we have something to go back to if a department decides to use it differently,” Patino said.
There are several steps to the process. In short, the paper trail begins when the department heads or city manager sends a thank you letter within 30 days of receipt. The city’s director of finance then makes proper recording of the gift on a Form 801. Those forms are available for public inspection.
It works the other way as well, like when the city wants to get rid of stuff it doesn’t want, Patino added.
The resolution differs from the strict set of rules regarding contributions to individual government employees, elected officials, and candidates, said Santa Maria Public Information Officer Mark van de Kamp.
According to van de Kamp, the city wanted to comply with California’s Fair Political Practices Commission, a nonpartisan and independent group whose members are appointed by the governor and charged with holding local governments accountable in various ways, including city finances.
“There are proper ways to accept gifts, and we want to make sure we live up to that,” van de Kamp said. “Of course it’s great, but we want to make sure we’re not missing a step in accounting and thinking of the best place to apply that gift.”
The new policy is part of an ongoing re-evaluation of city priorities that usually occur at the beginning of the year, van de Kamp said. It’s kind of like making a New Year’s resolution, except Santa Maria officials make them for the city government.
City officials lay down a list of goals at the start of the year and usually include things like balancing the budget and retaining and recruiting quality businesses.
When it comes to creating policies like these, van de Kamp said it’s not uncommon for Santa Maria to look to other cities for guidance.
San Luis Obispo has a similar policy to the one Santa Maria just passed, but it appears to only apply to certain aspects of the government, like the city’s Parks and Recreation Department and the historic and cultural resource preservation fund.
The issue of transparency came up in Lompoc last year when the Santa Barbara District Attorney’s Office issued a second Brown Act warning to the City Council. The warning came following complaints from citizens who accused City Council members of improperly discussing the now-scrapped California Space Center project on city-owned property behind closed doors when the discussion should have been in public.
Lompoc City Councilmember Jim Mosby—the only member of the council not directly elected by Lompoc voters—hosted a public forum in April 2016 to address the public’s concerns regarding transparency.
“There’s a lot of information that’s in our staff reports, and City Hall is full of information,” Mosby said at the time. “If it was difficult for a council member to get a question asked … it’s probably very difficult for the public.”
While there may be plenty of transparency laws on the books, van de Kamp noted that it’s important that city business is put in the spotlight.
“Sunshine is a good disinfectant,” van de Kamp said. “We have to make sure that everything is done in the public interest.”
Staff Writer David Minsky can be reached at dminsky@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jan 26 – Feb 2, 2017.