(A) Committee Established: There is hereby established in the city of Selma that an independent citizens' oversight committee shall monitor the expenditures of revenue collected pursuant to this chapter only and report to the people and the city council.
(B) Selection Of Members: Members of the citizens' oversight committee shall be appointed by the city council. The committee shall consist of five (5) members. The citizens' oversight committee members shall not be current city of Selma employees, officials, contractors or vendors of the city. Past employees, officials or vendors shall be eligible to serve on the committee, provided that there are no conflicts of interest as determined by the city attorney.
Of the members of the committee first appointed, three (3) shall be appointed for terms of two (2) years and two (2) for terms of three (3) years. Their successors shall be appointed for terms of three (3) years. No member may serve more than two (2) consecutive three (3) year terms.
The city council shall solicit citizens' oversight committee members through an open application process that is promoted through a broad based recruitment process. Any Selma resident is eligible to apply for committee membership, subject to the appointment categories specified above. All applications will be reviewed by the city council, which will have the authority to make all final decisions on committee representation, subject to these guidelines.
(C) Purpose And Jurisdiction: The citizens' oversight committee shall review expenditures of revenue collected pursuant to this chapter only to determine whether such funds are expended for the purposes specified in the then current public safety measure police and fire expenditure plan, and issuing reports on their findings to the city council and public at least annually. Committee members may also review the annual financial or performance audits performed by an independent auditor. The committee shall confine its oversight specifically to revenues generated under this chapter. Revenue generated through other sources shall be outside the jurisdiction of the public safety measure citizens' oversight committee.
In order to preserve the integrity and independence of the oversight process, committee members will not play a formal role in contracting, project management, or any other aspect of the public safety measure funding.
The committee is not charged with decision making on spending priorities, schedules, project details, funding source decisions (e.g., leveraged funds, developer fees, etc.), financing plans, or tax rate assumptions. The committee shall serve in an advisory only role to the city council. The committee shall have no jurisdiction other than that delegated to it by the people pursuant to this chapter.
The city of Selma city manager or his or her designee shall provide any reasonable administrative or technical assistance required by the committee to fulfill its responsibilities or publicize its findings.
(D) Meetings: The citizens' oversight committee shall meet semiannually (or as otherwise provided for in approved or amended bylaws) with specific meeting dates to be determined by committee members. Citizens' oversight committee meetings are subject to the Brown act. Meetings must be noticed and open to the public. Committee minutes and reports are a matter of public record, and must be posted on a website provided by the city. Additional meetings may be scheduled by the committee as necessary. All committee members shall attend a training and orientation session prior to the first regular committee meeting.
Committee members are expected to attend all regular meetings. Failure to attend two (2) consecutive meetings may result in removal from the committee at the discretion of the city council.
(E) Committee Operations: The citizens' oversight committee will select members to serve as chair and vice chair of the committee. A city staff person will be appointed by the city manager or his or her designee to serve as secretary. The secretary will be responsible for preparing, posting and distributing agendas and taking minutes at each meeting. Approved minutes shall be made available to the public. Committee decisions, positions, findings and procedures shall require a simple majority vote of those members in attendance. The quorum requirement for any meeting shall be a minimum of three (3) members.
(F) Vacancies: Committee members may be removed from the committee only by the city council for repeated absence (see subsection (D) of this section), for malfeasance, for failing to meet the qualifications set forth in this section or for inability or unwillingness to fulfill the duties of a member. In the event of removal, resignation, or death, the city council shall appoint a person to fill the vacant seat.
(G) Miscellaneous: With the exception of those items specifically addressed in these guiding principles, the committee may draft and adopt its own standard procedures and bylaws by majority vote.
All citizens' oversight committee procedures and bylaws remain subject to review and approval by the city council. Citizens' oversight committee reports and audits are subject to review and approval of the city council. (Ord. 2007-8, 11-6-2007)