At the request of Mayor Murphy, staff brought a matter before the Council regarding amending the Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) for the Burbank Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority.  At the June 3, 2003 Council meeting the Council approved placing this item on the Agenda.  The two items to be considered were to provide for staggered terms for the Authority members, and to provide for rotating presidents.

The JPA has been amended several times since it was originally adopted.  Then in 1991 it was amended and restated and has not been amended since.  In previous discussions some representatives from the other member cities have expressed reluctance to agree to any further amendments. 

The process to amend the JPA is to have each Party agree in writing to the amended terms, which requires approval of each respective City Council. The specific sections are set forth below: 

Section 11 allows for amendments, and provides:

�This Agreement, shall be effective when signed by each Party, may be amended by mutual consent to include other cities or for any other lawful purpose, �; provided, however, that�

�(b) This Agreement cannot be amended in any way to the detriment of the holders of any such revenue bonds or other forms of indebtedness which are outstanding�;

 �(c) No termination or amendment shall adversely affect the operation, repair, maintenance, improvement or administration of the Airport Facility,�

�(d) No termination or amendment shall be made which is contrary to the language, spirit or intent of any contract and/or grant agreement entered into by the Authority with the United States of America, or any agreement entered into by the Authority with the State of California, or any department, administration or agency of either the united States of America or the State of California.�

Section 16 requires the Agreement to be amended in writing, signed and attested by all Parties.  

As currently written, with regard to the terms of Commissioners, the first paragraph of Section 2.2 of the Restated and Amended JPA, dated September 15, 1991, states:

�The Commission shall be composed of none (9) members. Each of the respective governing bodies of the Parties shall be entitled to appoint three (3) members to the Commission. Members of the Commission shall serve for four (4) year terms, commencing June 1, 1977, with subsequent terms to commence on June 1 of each fourth (4^th) year thereafter, unless such service is terminated sooner as provided below.  Each member shall serve as a member of the Commission in such member�s individual capacity.�

Should the member cities desire to consider language that would provide for the staggering of terms, it would be necessary to amend this language (specifically the last sentence), and an initial shorter period will need to be designated for some of each parties� appointees in order to create a staggered  term.

The Council might want to consider the following proposed amendment to this language:

�Members of the Commission shall generally serve for four (4) year terms, except that for the terms commencing June 1, 2005, the cities of Glendale and Pasadena shall each appoint one (1) member to the Commission for a  two (2) year term and two (2) members to the Commission for a  four (4) year term, and the City of Burbank shall appoint two (2) members to the Commission for a two (2) year term and one (1) member to the Commission for a four (4) year term, all with subsequent terms to commence on June 1 of each fourth (4^th) year thereafter.  Although the terms continue, the service of an individual Commissioner may be terminated as provided below.  Each member shall serve as a member of the Commission in such member�s individual capacity.� 

By the City of Burbank taking the two initially shorter terms, we might be able to convince the other cities that we are really trying to do what is right, and not trying to obtain some kind of hidden advantage.

In relation to the rotating president, Section 2.4.1 of the JPA currently provides as follows:

�The Commission shall elect or re-elect a President, Vice President and Secretary as officers of the Authority at the first meeting of the Commission held in July of each calendar year.  In the event that the President, Vice President or Secretary so elected resigns from such office or ceases to be a member of the Commission, the resulting vacancy shall be filled at the next regular meeting of the Commission held after such vacancy occurs.  In the absence or inability of the President to act, the Vice President shall act as President.  The President, or in the President�s absence the Vice President, shall preside at and conduct all meetings of the Commission.  The Secretary shall be responsible for the minutes and other records of the Authority and shall perform such other duties specified by the Commission.  The Commission may elect an Assistant Secretary to assist the Secretary in the performance of the Secretary�s duties, to certify copies of official documents of the Authority and to perform such other duties specified by the Commission.�

Since the formation of the JPA the Airport Authority has had eight (8) presidents:

Leland Ayers, Burbank             July 1977 � January, 1978

Bill Rudell, Burbank                  January, 1978 � July, 1984

Bob Garcin, Glendale               July, 1984 � July, 1994

Brian Bowman, Burbank          July, 1994 � May, 1995

Carl Raggio, Glendale              May, 1995 � July, 1996

Joyce Streater, Pasadena       July, 1996 � July, 1999

Carl Messeck, Glendale           July, 1999 � July, 2001

Chris Holden, Pasadena          July, 2001 - Present

The following language could be added to the JPA to provide for rotating officers but to still allow a maximum of flexibility for the Commission to select whomever they wished for these offices.  Such an amendment would also avoid the possibility of one individual holding office for a lengthy period of time.

�At least once in every five (5) year period the offices of President, Vice President and Secretary shall each be held by Commissioners appointed by each of the three member cities, so that each city shall have an opportunity to have its appointees serve in each of the offices.�

The approval of amendments to the JPA is not a project under CEQA and would not require environmental review.

Once the Council determines which, if any, amendments it would wish added to the JPA, it should formally adopt the changes and then approach the other member cities in a variety of ways:

1. Send a written document to the respective mayors with a request that it be placed on the agenda for consideration.  This should probably be accompanied by an explanatory letter.

2. Send a delegation of one or two Council members to meet with one or two Council members of the other cities explaining the proposal and asking that it be placed on the agenda for consideration.

3. Send the Mayor and Vice-Mayor to meet with their counterparts in the other two cities explaining the proposal and asking that it be placed on the agenda for consideration.

4. Set a joint meeting of the three cities to introduce the issue and request that they return and consider it further in their own meetings.

5. Send the City Manager to visit with her counterparts in the other two cities, explain the issue and ask that it be placed on the agenda for consideration.

It might seem best to call a full joint meeting, but the practicality is that we often do not get a full turnout from the cities.  It would probably work better for the Council to either send the Mayor and Vice Mayor, the ad hoc Airport Subcommittee, or two other Council members to meet with members of the Glendale and Pasadena City Councils with a request that this matter be placed on their agenda for full consideration.

As an alternative, and before the Council settles on any specific amendments, the Council might wish to invite the other two cities to appoint representatives to a joint ad hoc committee to review the JPA and come up with amendments to propose to the three cities.  Certainly the other cities (and perhaps the Airport Authority) might have amendments that they would like to propose, and we could suggest a one-time review.  The resultant amendments would then not be viewed as just Burbank sponsored but have the approval of the joint committee.

It is my recommendation that the Council appoint its own representatives and invite Glendale and Pasadena to also appoint representatives to attend a joint ad hoc JPA review committee to meet in the future at a time and place certain.

cc:        Mary Alvord, City Manager

            Sue Georgino, Community Development Director

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