Public Meeting Report

I attended the city council meeting of El Cajon, CA on October 9th, 2012. The meeting was held at 3 pm on 200 Civic Center Way. The meeting was led by Mayor of El Cajon, Mark Lewis. Various prestigious city council members attended the meeting and they comprised of a Vice Chair, Secretary, General Counsel, Executive Director, Director of Public Works and Director of Community Development. The meeting was the first public meeting of any kind I had ever attended. I was not familiar with a school board meeting or even county meetings. During the meeting, I made some observations and learned about the process and the decisions that take place to ensure that El Cajon is run effectively. 

The council meeting opened with a pledge of allegiance and moment of silence rather than prayers as the courts have outlawed prayer as it is unconstitutional. I thought that this was appropriate as the church and state should be kept separate. I found it interesting that prayer was replaced with a moment of silence rather than just done away with and just having the meeting opened with a pledge of allegiance. The council then went on to approve the minutes of the previous meeting and any warrants that were paid. The council then went on the read all of the ordinances that were being presented during the meeting. 

The first half of the meeting seemed to serve the tone and agenda of the rest of the meeting. As the meeting continued it was interesting to see which projects were provided funding. A proposal to make improvements to the city hall and council chambers was approved. The improvements were designed to meet fire code requirements. The meeting then agreed on funding events that would be held in the city. They approved both the Centennial Celebration and the Hauntfest. While the Centennial event was provided with the right of way unanimously, the Hauntfest was only provided right of way with conditions. The reason of this could be attributed to the nature of these events as the Centennial celebration is held every year and the Hauntfest is something that is not essential to the city rather it is just a preference.

The next part of the meeting appeared to deal with giving permission to agencies to be able to run their business or organization. The first measure was for a cost-sharing agreement between the city and the Otay Water District. The agreement was interesting in that the water district charges residents for their water however it appeared that they could not maintain the costs of providing water on their own and needed the assistance of the city. Another measure agreed to provide a special operation license to Broadway Thrift. The license allowed the business IZ Home Improvement to open a second-hand thrift store to sell used goods. Both these measures served to allow both big and small business to thrive.

The next set of measures served to deal with construction and building structures. The city approved storm drain repair on View Way. The city also discussed who the contract for the repair would go to. I thought it was interesting that they discussed in the meeting how the determination was made regarding who the contract was awarded to and also how much money was being provided for the repair. The city also approved a measure to amend the lease agreement for a communications building so that the fire department headquarters could be housed there. Both this measure served to improve the infrastructure of the city through modern architecture and design and to ensure that these changes improve the city and those that live there.

The first denial in the meeting occurred shortly after. The council members discussed the application that was submitted for a cardroom in a restaurant. A prominent doctor in the community submitted a special petition on behalf of the applicant and supported the application in front of the city council. Mayor Lewis discussed the fact that there has been an ongoing police investigation against the restaurant and recommended that the license be denied. The council went on to suggest to the applicant that he should assist with the police investigation until it is completed and that he should re-apply. It was interesting to see how the denial was handled so amicably. It also occurred to me that the city might be opposed to the cardroom in general due to issues of morality and disapproval of gambling. It would be interesting to see if the license is approved once the police investigation ends or if another reason would be found.

After the unpleasantness of the denial, the meeting was opened to public comment which allowed for members of the community to speak to the city council and the community members of the audience. The comments consisted of appreciation for the city council or other community members, promoting upcoming community events or provide suggestions for the community. The main appreciation was given to the East County Transitional Living Center for the help they provide to needy families. The community events that were promoted included the Hauntfest. The suggestions provided included working together as a community to help set up and tear down the community events. The public comments felt like an important part of the meeting as it is the one opportunity for community members to have a voice.

The meeting then continued after the public comment to discuss the resolution of a no parking zone on Peach Street. The resolution did not seem to be a big issue as no one came forward to speak on the issue. The resolution was passed with little discussion. Once the public comment portion ended the meeting was not as interesting as the first half. The council members also seemed to be not as interested in the second half of the meeting. This could be due to the fact that the meetings are very similar every month.

The next part of the meeting was devoted to the activities reports from the Mayor which did not seem as relevant to the city discussions which were more pertinent to the community members as a while in the first part. The council then went on to a discussion of the city council’s activities which also did not seem as pertinent. Discussion of the city council’s activities involved discussing each city council member’s report on recent community activities. Some of the activities involved attending festivals while others involved attending meetings of law enforcement agencies. The discussion seemed to revolve around the council member’s proving to the community that they had been doing their job as a council member.

The meeting was then continued to discuss a new ordinance that would be passed. The ordinance involved making synthetic stimulants and synthetic cannabis a public nuisance. This appeared to be a reaction against the recent use of bath salts and substance such as spice to get high. These new substances have come on the market and have resulted in odd or dangerous behavior among users. Numerous other cities have attempted to create laws or rules against the usage of the substance. This has been difficult to do in most cities as the substances that are used in these synthetic drugs change on a frequent basis. It can also be difficult to criminalize these substances due to the fact that drug tests do not pick up on the use of spice. It was interesting that the discussion of an ordinance with such a complicated issue was left towards the end of the meeting. It was also interesting that the wording of the law stated that it was a public nuisance rather than banning the substance. This could be attributed to the reasons outlined above. Council members also instructed city officials to go against those who sell the substances with the full force of the law. This is difficult to enforce which was why the ordinance was so vaguely defined. 

The council then closed the open session which allowed community members to sit in on the meeting. The council members met in a closed session for about 10 minutes before they reconvened in front of the public meeting. The council members reported that received a report on a situation however no action had taken place regarding the report. It was interesting to see that there were some topics that were off topic for the public. I would have appreciated the opportunity to be in the closed session or to discuss with the council member’s the types of topics that are discussed in a closed meeting and why these topics cannot be discussed in front of the public. As it was stated that they discussed a report I assumed that the meeting is closed due to the fact that the reports are pertaining to private information which cannot be discussed in front of the public as it would violate the law and someone’s right to privacy.

It was an interesting and long experience to observe a city council meeting. I learned how decisions are made from simple ones regarding no parking zones or complicated ones such as the use of synthetic drugs in the community. As a citizen of my community, I was mostly unaware of how much forethought and planning is put into ensuring a city is run efficiently. I will appreciate this more now in my day to day life after experiencing the meeting. During the meeting, I also had thoughts of whether I would be able to be a council member myself. I found myself thinking to myself if I would have agreed with the decisions that were made. After hearing the activities completed by the council members I thought to myself that I would be able to complete these tasks. Although the meeting was long I gained a lot of knowledge and believe it would be beneficial for me to consistently attend the meetings.