Did you know the second week in August is National Smile Week?

It seems like lately we’ve been bom-barded with nega-tivity – whether it’s the country’s debt crisis, the rise in famine across the globe, or the eco-

nomic challenges in our own communi-ties – the bad news seems to be every-where!

To combat the bad news, let’s spread the good news…lots of good news…by celebrating National Smile Week! Some of the good news and benefits of smiling include the following: • Smiling changes our mood. • Smiling relieves stress. • Smiling boosts our immune system. • Smiling releases endorphins and

makes us feel good. • Smiling lifts the face and makes us

look younger. • Smiling is contagious. We can smile because we have amazing families and friends, strong faiths and hope, meaningful careers and so much more. So smile away and be happy! As for the business of our or-ganization, there are a few

President’s Message

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

President’s Message 1

Newly Designated 2

LOCC Annual Con-ference

2

Following Your (Inner) Leader

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Legislative Update 4

Athenian Dialogues 5

2012 Annual Con-ference

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Classifieds 10

CCAC Board 12

C I T Y O F L A T H R O P

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S P E C I A L L I N K S O F I N -T E R E S T :

• Gladwell Govern-

ment Services, Inc. http://www.gladwellgov.org/

• GG-One Software

http://www.ggonesoftware.com/

• IntelliBridge Partners

http://www.IntelliBridgePartners.com

• Lapkoff & Gobalet

Demographic Re-search Inc. http://www.demographers.com

important dates to be cognizant of. First, the League Annual Conference will be held September 21-23, 2011 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. The City Clerks’ Annual Department Meeting, which includes the Pre-Conference Workshop, will be held on September 21st from 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. The $100 cost includes lunch and the four-hour workshop valued at 1 CMC/MMC point. This is also the meeting at which the new 2011-2012 Executive Board will be sworn and seated. Some of the League Policy Committees may also be meeting during the conference. The annual New Law and Election Semi-nar will be held on November 30 – De-cember 2, 2011 in Long Beach. Addi-tional information about the seminar will be forwarded as it becomes available. I have heard some of our regular visitors, including Dixie Howard with the Fair Political Practices Commission and Neal Kelley with the Orange County Registrar of Voters, are slated to be on the pro-gram. That is all the news for now. Next month in my last Official Word article as president, I’ll provide a final status re-port on the 2010-2011 Executive Com-

mittee Goals, current happen-ings with the League and FPPC, and any other news worthy items prior to my de-parture. Thank you again for the opportunity to serve Team Clerk.

Randi Johl, JD, MMC CCAC President

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LOCC Annual Conference & Expo The League of California Cities Annual Con-ference & Expo will be held September 21-23, 2011 at the Moscone West Convention Center in San Francisco. Don’t forget to register your City’s voting delegate for the conference! Sessions that may be of interest to city clerks include: • Caught in the Net: Tools and Tips for

Managing Employee Misconduct and Other Issues in Social Media

• Guide to Crisis Communications and Stra-tegic Solutions

• Leadership Strategies in Times of Eco-nomic Meltdown

• Linking Generational Differences for a Stronger City

• Parliamentary Procedure for Mayors and Council Members

• Turning Civic Passions into Action: Volun-teers As Strategic Resources for Cities

• And more!

Also for clerks… City Clerks Department Pre-Conference Workshop “Public Hearings: the Good, the Bad, and the Complicated" Public hearings are good because they encourage citizen participation and transparency in government. Hear how public hearings can go bad as out-of-control situations result in new case law and legislation. Learn about the compli-cated processes associated with various hearings and the implications of Proposi-tion 26. Wednesday, September 21, 2011 10:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. $100 (includes lunch) Approved for 1 IIMC point Register online for the conference and/or the workshop at www.cacities.org/AC by Tuesday, August 30, 2011.

Newly Designated Congratulations to the following IIMC Members for achieving their designations!

Certified Municipal Clerk: ο Jennifer Yamaguma, CMC, City of Santa Clara

Master Municipal Clerk:

ο Lori Martin, MMC, City of Waterford ο Rebekah Barr, MMC, City of American Canyon

Central Division Installation Save the Date! CCAC Central Division will be having its annual installation meeting on Septem-ber 16, 2011 in Manteca, California. The Education Program is going to be "Journey to Digital Delivery and Greater Transparency" presented by City of Sacramento's Dawn Bullwinkel, Assistant City Clerk. Additional information to follow via City Clerk Listserv.

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September TTC (Series 100) Registration for the September TTC (Series 100) is officially open! The session brochures are on the way via USPS - in the event you’d rather not wait, the registration form and brochure are available on pages 7-9. Don’t miss this great training and networking oppor-tunity to be held September 6-9, 2011 in Riverside, CA. Register now! If you have any questions please contact Institute Director Maureen Kane at 951-789-8319, TTCwithKane@aol.com or Joann Tilton at 209-456-8011, jtilton@ci.manteca.ca.us.

Following Your (Inner) Leader By Mindy Cuppy, CMC, City Clerk and Nancy Pearl, Communications City of Rancho Cordova, California A recent story in CCAC’s “Official Word” paraphrased author Steve Farber by stat-ing that “Extreme Leadership [is] the only kind that matters these days,” sug-gesting that the word “leadership” is an overused buzzword and applies to those people who are slick, polished, highly visible and possibly insubstantial. That got us to thinking about leadership. Maybe there are different types of lead-ership; one with a big L and one with a little l. Perhaps he was referring to Leaders we see on TV, in the news, in politics, business, education and the like. Presidents, CEOs, entertainment celebri-ties, and advocates of many causes. Maybe there are also lower-case leaders who may never receive the kind of rec-ognition we tend to associate with suc-cess. Who are these people? Little league coaches, school room moms, dads and grandparents, PTA members, volunteers. In other words, people like us. Regular folk. People who care enough to become involved in something important. How can we as City Clerks be leaders? Most likely everyone reading this has run across an ordinance, law, practice or

procedure that either doesn’t make sense or possibly conflicts with another. Perhaps there is a lapse in a procedure that could eventually become a problem. If the issue is raised, the response is of-ten “well, it’s always been that way” or “it’s too complicated to try to change it” or “what does it matter, it’s not hurting anyone.” We’ve all heard those kind of wearisome comments. Here is where you can become a leader. You can use your excellent training and analytical mind to do some research. What is the history of the situation? What has been done in other jurisdic-tions? Are there legal or ethical ramifica-tions that could come into play? What is/will be the effect on the community? Jot down all the possible questions you can think of about your issue, try to find as many pertinent answers as you can. Consult with other subject matter ex-perts. The knowledge you gain will en-able you to develop an educated pro-posal for change. The more background and support you have, the more likely your proposal will be successful. And, despite the inevitable set-backs or road blocks, continue to follow through on it until it reaches resolution. Regardless of whether the resolution is what you wanted or hoped for, if you brought it forth and saw it through, you assumed a leadership role. That is something to be

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Mindy Cuppy Rancho Cordova City Clerk

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Legislative Update AB 23 (Smyth) This bill was signed by the Governor on July 25, 2011 and will go into ef-fect January 1, 2012. This bill re-quires that, prior to holding a serial or simultaneous meeting, the clerk or a member of the legislative body an-nounce the compensation that mem-bers of the legislative body will receive for attending the serial or simultane-ous meeting. An example is when a legislative body meets as the city council, and then recesses or adjourns and reconvenes as the RDA board or the housing authority. The compen-sation for the serial or simultaneous meeting must only be announced if it is above what is already allowed by state statute, and if it is received just for attending the additional meeting. AB 23 is intended to curb the practice that happened in the City of Bell when city council members met simultane-ously as several different bodies in one meeting, and then received sig-nificant compensation for the various meetings. The author hopes to dis-courage or prevent gaveling in and gaveling out of meetings just to re-ceive additional compensation.

Important Points to Remember About AB 23: • Applies to serial or simultaneous

meetings only (not the City Council meeting itself)

• Oral announcement is required by the clerk or a member of the legisla-tive body (compensation need not be listed on the agenda and cannot be listed on the agenda as an alter-native to the announcement)

• Only applies to compensation for each simultaneous meeting (if no compensation, then no announce-ment is needed)

• No announcement is required if the compensation for the serial or simul-taneous meeting is the same that is allowed under a state statute

• Check with your city attorney if you do not know if the compensation paid is different or more than al-lowed under a state statute

AB 1344 (Feuer) Status: Pending action in the Senate Appropriations Committee League Position: Seeking amend-ments. The League is seeking amend-

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Following Your (Inner) Leader Cont. proud of. That knowledge and self-assurance will help you the next time you want to lead. Of course, there are many ways to assume leadership positions, both in the office and at home. Volunteer. Step up to organize a department luncheon or awards event. Offer to take the kids’ class on a field trip. Help out at the library or any organization that needs volunteers. Even if you don’t have a title or teams of followers, if you’re taking positive action that helps others, you are a leader. So, the idea is that, no matter what the magnitude of the project, leadership depends on someone—you—taking the reins on something that is meaningful to you, and, most likely, others. Where you see a wrong, right it, no matter how big …or how small. It makes a dif-ference. You don’t need to be an Extreme Leader to lead.

Dawn Abrahamson, MMC Legislative Director

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Legislative Update Cont. ments to the Brown Act portion of the bill related to adopting contracts and the abuse of office provisions. AB 1344 (Feuer) would amend the Brown Act, election statute, and create new sec-tions of code related to executive level management contracts. This bill is still a work in progress as the League and the City County Management Foundation (CCMF) along with the advocacy firm Gonsalves and Sons continue to seek amendments to the Brown Act portion of the bill related to adopting contracts and the abuse of office provisions. While this bill is expansive, it is intended to solve several of the problems arising out of the Bell scandal including the abusive pay practices. • Require that proposed charters or charter

amendments be presented to the voters at a statewide or general municipal elec-tion.

• Require that a proposed charter have an extended noticing period of 10 or 21 days. This provision has not yet been amended into the bill but it is our understanding that it will be. The League is advocating for a 10 day over a 21 day noticing pe-riod.

Athenian Dialogues Announcing Athenian Dialogue #3 . . . “We Band of Angels” by Elizabeth M. Norman Location: Manteca The Dialogue will be held in September. The exact date is being deter-mined, but go ahead and get your book now! Athenian Dialogue #4 . . . Will be held in early November in Northern California Watch the City Clerk Listserv for final scheduling information on these next two California Dialogues.

• Require that agendas be placed online. • Define compensation as salary, stipend, or

bonuses for the purpose of the bill. • Define cost-of-living adjustment. • Define local agency executive to mean a

person who is not subject to collective bargaining and who is a chief executive or a department head.

• Prohibit contracts executed on or after Jan. 1, 2011 from including automatic re-newals of the contract if the contract also provides for an automatic increase in the level of compensation that exceeds a cost-of-living adjustment.

• Prohibit contracts from including cash set-tlements that exceed the limits already provided in current law.

• Require that contracts be adopted at a regular public meeting. The League is seeking technical amendments to this sec-tion to clarify the language.

• Require that any contract executed or re-newed between a local agency and an officer or employee of a local agency that provides paid leave salary offered by the local agency to the officer or employee pending an investigation shall require that any salary provided for that purpose be fully reimbursed if the officer or employee

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Legislative Update Cont. is convicted of a crime involving an abuse of his or her office or position. The League is seeking amendments to clarify this language.

• Define "abuse of office or position" to mean (1) An abuse of public au-thority, including, but not limited to, waste, fraud, and violation of the law under color of authority; and, (2) A crime against public justice, including, but not limited to, a crime described in Title 7 (commencing with Section 92) of Part 1 of the Pe-nal Code. The League is seeking amendments to narrow the scope of this section.

Explanation for the amendments: 1. The amendment related to adopt-

ing a charter or charter amendment is a response to when Bell adopted their charter. Bell put the charter before the voters at an election fol-lowing a statewide general elec-tion. They did this knowing that the voter turnout would be very low. Less than 400 people voted to make the city a charter city. The author wants to prohibit this prac-tice or the practice of putting pro-posed charters or charter amend-ments before the voters at a special election.

2. The author also believes that a longer noticing period is more ap-propriate for proposed charters or charter amendments as well. In

talking with attorneys this longer noticing period will not be terribly burdensome. However, the League suggested that if they do amend the noticing period that it be 10 days and 21 days.

3. The requirement that agendas be placed online is a state man-date. However, the agencies the League surveyed are already doing this.

4. Requires that city manager and de-partment head contracts be adopted at a regular public meet-ing. In the League's discussions with the author and CCMF it was their understanding that this is standard practice already.

Should you have any questions re-garding these two bills, you may con-t a c t m e a t d a b r a h a m -son@ci.vallejo.ca.us or consult with your city attorney. AB 80 (Fong) Presidential Pri-mary: Election Date This bill was signed by the Governor on July 29, 2011 and will go into ef-fect January 1, 2012. This bill changes the date of the presidential primary election to the first Tuesday after the first Monday in June of presi-dential election years and will consoli-date the presidential primary election with the statewide direct primary elec-tion.

2012 Annual Conference SAVE THE DATE 2012 CCAC Annual Conference – Next year’s annual conference will be held April 11-13 in Sacramento at the Embassy Suites. We are still in early planning stages but at this point an Academy Session is tentatively planned for Tuesday April 10th. More info to follow soon.

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2010/11 CCAC Board of Directors2010/11 CCAC Board of Directors2010/11 CCAC Board of Directors Randi Johl, JD, MMC, President, Lodi, 209-333-6702, rjohl@lodi.gov

Shirley Concolino, MMC, First Vice-President, Sacramento, 916-808-7200, sconcolino@cityofsacramento.org

Jamie Anderson, MMC, Second Vice-President, Yucca Valley, 760-369-7209, janderson@yucca-valley.org

Cynthia VanWormer, CMC, Recording Secretary, Fort Bragg, 707-961-2823, cvanwormer@fortbragg.com

Lucinda Williams, MMC, Fullerton, Treasurer, 714-738-6355, lucindaw@ci.fullerton.ca.us

Mitzi Ortiz, MMC, Communications Director, Lathrop, 209-941-7228, mortiz@ci.lathrop.ca.us

Dawn Abrahamson, MMC, Legislative Director, Vallejo, 707-648-4528, dabrahamson@ci.vallejo.ca.us

Joann Tilton, MMC, Professional Development Director, Manteca, 209-456-8017, jtilton@ci.manteca.ca.us

Margaret Wimberly, CMC, Northern Division Professional Development Representative, Brentwood, 925-516-5182,

mwimberly@ci.brentwood.ca.us

Dana Davidson, MMC, Central Division Professional Development Representative, Merced, 209-385-6231,

davidsond@cityofmerced.org

Pat Hammers, MMC, Southern Division Professional Development Representative, Cathedral City, 760-770-0385,

phammers@cathedralcity.gov

Patrice Olds, MMC, Northern Division Trustee, Walnut Creek, 925-943-5819, olds@walnut-creek.org

Nanci Lima, MMC, Central Division Trustee, Lemoore, 559-924-6700, nlima@lemoore.com

Kimberly Rodrigues, MMC, Southern Division Trustee, Agoura Hills, 818-597-7303, krodrigues@ci.agoura-hills.ca.us

Lorrie Brewer, MMC, Northern Division Chair, Mountain View, 650-903-6399, lorrie.brewer@mountainview.gov

Lori Martin, CMC, Central Division Chair, Waterford, 209-874-2328, cityclerk@cityofwaterford.org

Juana Laur, MMC, Southern Division Chair, Laguna Niguel, 949-362-4300, jlaur@ci.laguna-niguel.ca.us

Lisa Pope, MMC, Past President, Malibu, 310-456-2489, ext. 228, lpope@ci.malibu.ca.us

Colleen Nicol, MMC, IIMC President, Riverside, 951-826-5557, cnicol@riversideca.gov

Kristi Smithers, MMC, Region IX Director, Wasilla, AK 907-373-9091, ksmithers@ci.wasilla.ak.us

Margaret (Peggy) Hawker, MMC, Region IX Director, Newport, OR 541-574-0613, p.hawker@cityofnewport.net

League Representative: Lorraine Okabe, Information Services Mgr., 916-658-8236, okabel@cacities.org