REPORT:

Administrative Committee

SYNOPSIS:

The Administrative Committee met Friday, August 22, 1997, and reviewed the proposed agenda for the September 12, 1997 Board meeting. The Committee also discussed various issues detailed in the Committee report. The next Administrative Committee meeting is Friday, September 19, 1997, at 9:30 a.m., in Conference Room CC8.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Approve this report.

Norma J. Glover, Chairman
Administrative Committee

Attendance:

Present were Committee Chairman Norma J. Glover and Committee Members Richard Alarcón, Dr. William A. Burke, Mee Hae Lee, James W. Silva, and Nell Soto. Absent were Committee Members Michael Antonovich and Wayne Nastri.

Administrative Committee Discussion Items:

Status of EPA’s Proposed Standards Regarding Ozone and PM2.5: Acting Executive Officer Dr. Barry Wallerstein reported that staff analyses of the proposed standards are nearly complete, and that nine public meetings on the standards have been scheduled in September, whereupon staff will attend the October FACA meeting to present its analyses and the public comments.

Procedures for Standing Committees of the Governing Board: The Committee considered and recommended for approval the proposed revisions to the Procedures for Standing Committees of the Governing Board (adopted March 8, 1996), referenced in Agenda item #38. Revisions include: (1) That, in addition to the Board Chair, the Board Vice Chair or a Committee Chair could appoint another Board Member to serve temporarily on a Committee in the absence of a regular member for a given meeting; (2) that no Committee shall have more than six members attending any one meeting unless otherwise publicly noticed as a special board meeting; and, (3) that, in addition to the Board Chair, the Vice Chair is also eligible to preside as the chair of the Administrative Committee. Unanimously approved.

Approval of Compensation for Board Member Assistants: The Committee considered and recommended approval of the proposed compensation and contracts for Board Member Consultants to Wayne Nastri and Councilman Richard Alarcón, in accordance with the guidelines set forth in the Board Member assistance policy. Ms. Jennifer Korn was confirmed as the Board Member Consultant (independent contractor status) to Wayne Nastri, at $45.00 per hour; and, Mr. Woody Hastings was confirmed as the Board Member Consultant (employee status) to Councilman Alarcón, at $40.00 per hour. Unanimously approved.

Out-of-Country Travel: There is no staff out-of-country travel. There is Board Member travel proposed for the October, 1997 Fuel Cell Conference in Frankfurt, Germany (reported in a subsequent section of this report).

1997 Clean Air Awards: Public Advisor La Ronda Bowen provided the Committee with a brief status report on this item, and received confirmation of attendance by Board Chairman Burke, Board Vice Chairman Glover, and Board Members Lee and Alarcón; it was confirmed that the event would take place as scheduled on Thursday, October 23, at 11:30 a.m. at the Biltmore, Los Angeles. The Committee further considered presenting the Clean Air Awards’ "Lifetime Achievement Award" to recently retired Board Member Marvin Braude, whereupon discussion followed relative to renaming the award to honor the esteemed former Councilman, e.g., "The Marvin Braude Lifetime Achievement Award." This item will be further discussed at the September 12 Board meeting.

Staff Recommendations for September 12, 1997 Board Meeting

Recommended for Approval by the Administrative Committee:

1. Establish Membership of AQMP Advisory Group: Upon discussion of this item, Ed Laird and Curt Coleman were added to the AQMP Advisory Group at the request of Supervisor Silva and Councilmember Soto, respectively. In addition, Councilman Alarcón and Mee Hae Lee reserved the option of proposing further members at a future date, whereupon it was moved that it be recommended that the Board Chair or Board Vice Chair be granted authority to add additional AQMP Advisory Group members subsequently suggested by Board Members. Finally, Chairman Glover requested that the proposed membership rosters of the remaining Advisory Groups be distributed the week of August 25 to allow adequate review. Unanimously approved.

2. Execute Contract to Support and Enhance Emission Reporting System: Director of Information Management Dr. Vinita Mathur briefed the Committee on this item, whereupon Councilmember Soto commented that she would appreciate a greater effort being made to reach women’s groups with respect to District contracts. Upon Councilman Alarcón’s inquiry regarding the effect of any litigation relating to Proposition 209, General Counsel Peter Greenwald advised such would have no effect on this item. Unanimously approved. [Subsequent to the Administrative Committee meeting, staff has identified three women’s organizations -- National Association of Women Business Owners, Alliance of Women Entrepreneurs, and the Business and Professional Women’s Organization -- which will be included in future outreach efforts for RFPs/RFQs.]

3. Amend Contracts with COMSYS Technical Services and Majesco Software, Inc., and issue RFP for Short- and Long-Term Systems Development and Maintenance Support: Upon Mee Hae Lee’s request that future requests to amend contracts contain more comprehensive information on the recommendation for the subject contract as to date awarded, additional funding available, and the status of the other contractors, this item was unanimously approved.

4. Authorize Purchase of Standard Office Software Upgrades: Upon discussion of the possible impacts of the recent court decision on Proposition 209, as well as Proposition 209’s relation to EPA Section 105 funds and the cost issues associated with this item, Mee Hae Lee moved that the referenced software be purchased from this contractor. Unanimously approved.

5. Amend Contract for Facility Permits Processing System to Transfer Funds from Phase I to Phase II of Work Scope: This item was unanimously approved.

6. Amend Contract for Technical Assistance Services to AQMD in Support of AB 2766 Subvention Fund Program: Upon discussion of the report provided by Intergovernmental Affairs Officer Oscar Abarca, which evaluated the services provided to date by the Solis Group, Councilmember Nell Soto moved to award the full $100,000 amount budgeted in Fiscal Year 1997-98 for AB 2766 assistance to the Solis Group to eliminate the need for future contract extensions for Solis; however, the motion resulted in a tie vote: Ayes: Soto, Burke, Alarcón; Noes: Glover, Lee, Silva. A motion by Supervisor Silva to approve the staff recommendation also resulted in a tie vote: Ayes: Glover, Lee, Silva; Noes: Soto, Burke, Alarcón. This item therefore was referred to the full Board, without recommendation, for action at its September 12, 1997 meeting.

7. Issue RFQ to Acquire Instruments for Continuous Measurement of Ambient Carbon Monoxide Concentrations: This item was unanimously approved.

8. Establish Compensation for Acting Executive Officer: The Committee was provided with information from Director of Administrative and Human Resources Joe Contaoi that standard public sector practices establishing salaries of acting appointments typically requires a 10-15% salary above the highest paid employee to be supervised. This would indicate a salary of at least $127,593 (10% increase) up to $133,393 (15%), and that the average executive officer salary in a 1997 survey was $147,484. The Committee asked what was the beginning and ending salaries of James Lents, the former Executive Officer and Mr. Contaoi advised that the amounts were $95,000 (1988) and $143,380 (1997), respectively. To begin the discussion, Chairman Glover suggested $127,593. The members discussed various options and Councilmember Nell Soto moved to set Acting Executive Officer Barry R. Wallerstein’s salary at $143,380. The motion resulted in a tie vote: Ayes: Burke, Silva, Soto; Noes: Alarcón, Glover, Lee. A motion by Councilman Alarcón to set the salary at $133,393 also resulted in a tie vote: Ayes: Alarcón, Glover, Lee; Noes: Burke, Silva, Soto. This item therefore was referred to the full Board, without recommendation, for consideration at its September 12, 1997 meeting.

9. Finalize Panel to Evaluate Executive Search Firm Proposals: The proposed panel was agreed to be composed of Board Chairman William A. Burke, Board Vice Chairman Norma Glover, and Board Members Ron Loveridge, Leonard Paulitz, and Nell Soto. Unanimously agreed.

Board Member Travel Authorized by the Chairman (July 18-August 22, 1997):

Mr. Paulitz requested authorization to attend the Fuel Cell Conference in Germany. Chairman Burke stated he believe this to be a beneficial conference and suggested it would be appropriate for the new Technology Committee Chair, Wayne Nastri, to also go. Ms. Soto indicated that as a member of the Fuel Cell Buyers’ Consortium she may have some interest in attending, but was unsure if she would be able to do so. The Committee approved attendance of these three Board Members as well as the other travel indicated below. (Mr. Nastri has subsequently indicated that he does not plan to attend the Fuel Cell Conference.) Chairman Glover requested that, whenever a Board Member travels on the agency’s behalf, a full report be provided to the Governing Board to apprise them of the information learned.

DATE	TRAVELER	DESTINATION	PURPOSE
8/29/97	Norma Glover, Leonard Paulitz, Nell Soto	Sacramento	League of California Cities’ Environmental Policy Committee
9/24-28/97	Richard Alarcón	Washington, D.C.	Establish District contacts and discuss Washington representation
10/18-23/97	Leonard Paulitz Nell Soto*	Frankfurt, Germany	Second International Conference on Commercializing Fuel Cell Vehicles

*Ms. Soto may decline to attend

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