REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
DATE: 01/04/2023
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: City Manager’s Office
SUBJECT:
Title
2023 Legislative Platform and Financial Priorities
End
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
This staff report asks City Council to adopt the 2023 Legislative Platform and Financial Priorities. A Legislative Platform provides a streamlined process for responding to legislative proposals that may impact the City. The proposed Legislative Platform identifies the fundamental legislative issues deemed important to the City, and upon Council approval, will continue to allow Staff to respond to the rapidly changing nature of legislative items efficiently, and more importantly, without delay. The Financial Priorities document provides a comprehensive look at Corona’s funding needs, and it provides a framework for advocacy for assistance with needed resources.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommended action
That the City Council adopt the 2023 Legislative Platform and Financial Priorities.
Body
BACKGROUND:
The Legislative Platform has been used as a guideline for urgent requests to support, oppose, or take neutral positions on various legislative proposals throughout the year. Resolutions, major and/or unique issues, and substantial items not directly addressed in the Platform will continue to be taken to Council for formal consideration and adoption. At the end of each year, the City of Corona identifies policy priorities and legislative initiatives that it would like the State and Federal Legislature to address. The 2022 Legislative Platform and Financial Priorities were adopted on January 19, 2022. The City Council reviewed and provided feedback on the Legislative Platform during the 2022 Fall Council Workshop and the December 2022 Committee of the Whole meeting.
ANALYSIS:
The attached documents include the 2023 draft Legislative Platform and Financial Priorities. These documents contain legislative priorities that Staff and consultants will use to actively support or oppose various articles of legislation during the year, as well as provide testimony, and/or actively pursue legislative action around the items listed therein. The proposed legislative priorities include a number of topic areas, including transportation, municipal finance, unfunded mandates, home rule, public safety, housing reform, homelessness, tort reform, public utilities, community services, and economic development. The Legislative Platform reflects the adopted, standing position of the City Council until superseded. The priorities are stated in general terms so they can be applied broadly to various legislative proposals. Advocacy efforts on behalf of the City by staff or Councilmembers are expected to reflect the adopted position of the Legislative Platform. However, this is not intended to limit the prerogative of individual Councilmembers from expressing their individual support for or opposition to any local measure, State proposition, State or Federal legislation, or grassroots advocacy actions. However, in doing so, the member should clearly state that they are speaking for themselves, not on behalf of the Council or the City.
The Legislative Platform is divided into 11 sections dealing with the following topics:
1. Community Services
2. Economic Development
3. Home Rule
4. Housing Reform
5. Homelessness
6. Municipal Finance
7. Public Safety
8. Public Utilities
9. Tort Reform
10. Transportation
11. Unfunded Mandates
Edits to the legislative platform and financial priorities based on feedback from City Council and recommendations from City Staff are listed below.
Item edited in the Legislative Platform for 2023:
Support COVID-19 Public Health related legislation, regulation, and other orders monitoring for the Utilities and in general City business practices.
Items added to the Financial Priorities for 2023:
Body-Worn and In-Car Camera Enhancement
• In 2012, the police department launched its in car camera program, which was followed by a body-worn camera program in 2016. Due to age and technological advances, the devices for these programs are near their end of service life. Funding is needed to replace said equipment, which is estimated to cost between
Funding for Training Facility
• Funding is being sought to build a training facility that will facilitate advanced officer training for local and regional police officers. The California Police Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission requires certain perishable skills are maintained and performed routinely. The department has identified a gap in training space for slow-speed driving, defensive tactics, and advanced officer movement training, such as active shooter environments. A training center will enhance the ability of regional officers to train together and improve mutual aid response at a local, county, or state level.
Items funded in 2022 and removed from the Financial Priorities for 2023:
Griffin Park Renovation Phase II
• $2 Million granted in the 2022-2023 State Budget
Innovation Center
• $2.5 Million granted in the 2022-2023 State Budget
Replacement of Special Response Team Mobile Equipment Unit/ Command Post
• Replacement Underway
Develop a Community Wildland Protection Plan (CWPP)
• $200,000 granted in the 2022-2023 State Budget
COMMITTEE ACTION:
This item was presented at the December 2022 Committee of the Whole meeting.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
This item does not have a financial impact.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
This action is exempt pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the Guidelines for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which states that a project is exempt from CEQA if the activity is covered by the common sense exemption that CEQA applies only to projects that have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA. This action is adopting the City’s annual legislative platform and financial priorities, and there is no possibility that adopting this resolution will have a significant effect on the environment. Therefore, no environmental analysis is required.
PREPARED BY: DENZEL MAXWELL, ASSISTANT TO THE CITY MANAGER
REVIEWED BY: JACOB ELLIS, CITY MANAGER
Attachments:
1. Exhibit 1 - REDLINES Draft 2023 Legislative Platform
2. Exhibit 2 - Draft 2023 Legislative Platform
3. Exhibit 3 - REDLINES Draft 2023 Financial Priorities
4. Exhibit 4 - Draft 2023 Financial Priorities