Copyright 2005, Daily Breeze

Redondo Beach's late-late council sessions take toll
Critics also question the attention given to discussions and the practice of making decisions after midnight.

(Daily Breeze 4/26/05) -- As most of the South Bay settled into bed on recent Tuesday nights, the clock ticked and the coffee pot dripped into the early morning hours at Redondo Beach City Hall.

For the third time in the past two months -- and for at least the sixth since late last year -- the most recent City Council session stretched well past its recommended deadline, with just a handful of sleep-deprived, bleary-eyed residents standing by.

Last week, as discussions and debates outlasted most normal bedtimes, eyelids dropped and patience grew thin. And even Councilman Don Szerlip -- known for his endurance and long lines of questioning -- told colleagues his "tank's on empty," and that City Attorney Jerry Goddard's "melodious voice" had nearly lulled him to sleep.

Though Szerlip and other council members have said they've become accustomed to deliberating late into the evenings, the most recent closing time raises questions about whether business meetings have simply spun out of control.

The issue even reared its head in a recent mayoral debate, with contender Mike Gin taking council members to task for raising their own salaries well past midnight. Gin's rival, Councilman Gerard Bisignano, promised "decisions, not discussions" and pledged to end meetings at a reasonable hour.

C.J. Thompson, who oversees operations at the city's AES power plant, also has questioned the council's early-morning decision last week that changed procedures for appealing the utility-users' tax. Because the discussion was held over from the council's routine business calender, it didn't resurface until about 1 a.m.

'Everyone was so tired'

"My concern Tuesday night was, everyone was so tired by the time they got to our item, I don't think they wanted to hear about it," Thompson said. "I'm not saying it would have changed the outcome, but hopefully we would have had a little more attention paid."

Attorneys for AES argued unsuccessfully that the company should be permitted to challenge its $72 million tax bill under new procedures that allow an independent judge to hear tax appeals, rather than the city manager.

"There's no time limit for meetings, but it seems to me ... you've got to try to do things in a way that allows the work to get done in the allotted time," said Peter Scheer, executive director of the California First Amendment Coalition. "And the allotted time generally doesn't extend until 2 or 3 (a.m.) for most people."

New start time suggested

Councilman Chris Cagle, who has adjusted his sleep schedule to balance council meetings with his normal workload, said it might be time to make changes. He suggested rolling back the start time one hour, to 5:30 p.m., or sticking to a curfew -- a policy that is ignored most nights.

The city's meeting conduct rules say the council intends to wrap up business at or before 11 p.m., and that by 10:30 p.m., officials should determine what remaining items of business they will discuss and which they will hold over.

"We just keep going," Cagle said. "I've sort of gotten used to it."

Delaying a discussion is an option, but Szerlip said that's often a difficult decision to make. "If you've got a lot of people who want to talk, do we cut things short?" he asked. "Is it fair to postpone it and make them come back in a month?"

Of course, Redondo Beach isn't the only South Bay community known for its meeting marathons.

Other city councils also stay late

Last week, the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council met even longer -- until 2:23 a.m. -- while considering a storm drain and water quality users' fee, among other issues, said Assistant Manager Carolynn Petru. The all-time record she recalls is 3:30 a.m.

And even Torrance -- which typically meets four times a month, not two -- fell just a couple hours short of its neighbors. After considering a 226-unit condominium development Tuesday, the council adjourned just after midnight.

These days that's fairly unusual, Mayor Dan Walker said. But in 1983, when Torrance officials weighed a proposal for a major commercial redevelopment project, Walker, a councilman at the time, didn't head home until 3:10 a.m. Impressed by the record time, a staff member inked in the date and time on a certificate Walker still keeps in his office.

"I framed it," said Walker. "I challenge anyone to beat that."

By Kristin S. Agostoni