Downtown Community Planning Council Administrative Policies

Member Duties & Responsibilities

This policy delineates the duties and responsibilities entrusted to individuals assuming administrative roles within the Downtown Community Planning Council (DCPC), hereby referred to as “Administrators”.

I. Accountability

Administrators are expected to fulfill their designated duties with diligence and integrity. The DCPC shall seek the replacement of Administrators who are persistently failing to meet the duties and responsibilities stated in this policy.

II. Definitions

General Meetings: Defined as the scheduled meetings involving the full membership of the Downtown Community Planning Council, aimed at deliberation, decision-making, and dissemination of pertinent information related to Downtown’s planning and development.

The City: The City of San Diego

DSD: The City of San Diego’s Development Services Department

III. Role-Specific Duties

A. Chairperson

  1. Agendas
    a. Distribution
         i. Unless impeded by unforeseen changes, requests, or circumstances beyond the control of the Chair, the Chair should finalize and forward DCPC meeting agendas to the City for public distribution at least one week prior to the meeting. 
         ii. The Chair should include the Vice Chair & Secretary in communications to the City regarding public agenda distribution to ensure accountability.
    b. Content
         i. Agendas should not contain materials that are or could be copyrighted, including development project materials from Offline Reviewer Form shared by the City.
  2. Forms
    a. Offline Reviewer Form
         i. Upon receiving an Offline Reviewer Form from the City, the Chair should promptly contact the project applicants listed on the Ownership Disclosure Form. The purpose of this contact is to request their presence at a DCPC meeting, where they will present their permit application. This outreach should occur no later than seven days after the Chair has received the Offline Reviewer Forms.
    b. IB 620 Forms
         i. The Chair should submit the “Information Bulletin 620 Community Planning Committee Distribution Form” (IB 620 Form) to the City via the designated portal, no later than 30 days following an approve or deny decision taken by the DCPC on a permit or project.
         ii. The Chair should ensure that a copy of the IB 620 Form, along with any pertinent documentation, is forwarded to the appropriate DSD personnel involved with the project (e.g., the staffer who shared the Offline Reviewer Form to the Chairperson) as well as to the project’s key stakeholders (e.g., owner, consultant, or presenter).
    c. The Chair should include the Vice Chair & Secretary in communications relating to forms to ensure accountability.
  3. Assignments
    a. The Chair should attend, or designate an alternate approved by the DCPC, to represent the DCPC at the Community Planners Committee meetings.
    b. The Chair should attend, or designate an alternate approved by the DCPC, to represent the DCPC at the Downtown Parking Management Group meetings.
    c. The Chair should ensure that the appointment of new Subcommittee members and alternate positions are agendized no later than the first meeting subsequent to the seating of new members following an election.

B. Vice Chair

  1. Audit
    a. The Vice Chair should track expenditures incurred by DCPC administrators in the execution of DCPC operations.
    b. The Vice Chair should draft an invoice for the reimbursement of these expenses using the template provided by the City. This draft invoice should then be presented to the DCPC for final approval prior to the end of each fiscal year.

C. Secretary

  1. Minutes
    a. The Secretary is responsible for preparing the minutes of each DCPC meeting. The minutes should accurately reflect the proceedings and decisions of the meeting, including all motions, votes, and outcomes. b. Draft minutes must be prepared and made available to DCPC members for review no later than ten days prior to the next regularly scheduled meeting. This helps to ensure a timely preparation and public distribution of the Agenda Packets

D. Subcommittee Chairs

  1. Unless impeded by unforeseen changes, requests, or circumstances beyond the control of the DCPC, all Subcommittee Chairs should finalize their meeting agendas and forward them to the DCPC Chair at least one week prior to the meeting.
  2. The Communications Subcommittee Chair should ensure that announcements for forthcoming General Meetings are posted on relevant social media platforms a minimum of 72 hours before the scheduled meeting, to facilitate optimal member and public engagement.

E. Resignations

  1. Members intending to resign from the DCPC should submit their resignation in writing to the Chair. The resignation letter should state the effective date.
  2. Upon receipt of a resignation letter, the Chair should acknowledge its receipt in writing and CC the Vice Chair and Secretary.
  3. Resigning members should complete any outstanding obligations and prepare a transition report for their successor, if applicable.
  4. The Chair should inform the DCPC and the public of the resignation at the next scheduled meeting or via a public notice.
  5. Resignation from the DCPC includes all subcommittees, alternate positions, and assignments, unless the resigning member specifies otherwise and continues to meet any applicable criteria for those roles.

Communications Policies

Communications Retention Policy
  1. Purpose
    The purpose of this policy is to ensure the proper retention and management of electronic communications related to the Downtown Community Planning Council’s (DCPC) digital accounts. This includes, but is not limited to, DCPC email and social media accounts.
  2. Scope
    This policy applies to all members, staff, and volunteers of DCPC.
  3. Definitions
    Electronic Communications: Any form of communication transmitted by electronic means, including emails, text messages, instant messages, and other digital communication platforms not including comments left by outside parties on DCPC social media posts.
    Retention Period: The specific duration for which electronic communications should be stored.
  4. Policy: All electronic communications pertaining to official digital accounts of DCPC should be retained for at least 5 years from the date of creation.
  5. Responsibilities
    5.1. The Executive Chairperson and Communications Committee, as the ones overseeing the digital accounts, are responsible for the implementation and oversight of this policy.
    5.2. All DCPC members are responsible for adhering to this policy and ensuring electronic communications are retained as specified.
  6. Compliance Failure to comply with this policy should result in disciplinary action, including removal from Committees and assignments.
  7. Review and Modification This policy shall be reviewed and modified as necessary to ensure effectiveness and compliance with relevant laws and regulations.
  8. Elections Committee Exemption
    8.1 Purpose of Exemption: Recognizing the sensitive nature of the information handled by the Elections Committee during the electoral process, this exemption aims to mitigate risks associated with the retention of sensitive data.
    8.2 Scope of Exemption: This exemption applies exclusively to the Elections Committee of the Downtown Community Planning Council (DCPC) and pertains to all forms of electronic communications as defined in section 3 of this policy, which contain sensitive information including, but not limited to, personal addresses and identification details of individuals.
    8.3 Exemption Period: Electronic communications falling within the scope of this exemption are not subject to the retention period outlined in section 4 of this policy. Instead, such communications should be deleted 30 days following the conclusion of an election, ensuring no prolonged storage of sensitive information.

Teleconferencing/Virtual Participation Policy

The Downtown Community Planning Council (DCPC) agrees to adhere to the provisions of the Brown Act, Sections §54953 of the California Government Code and the amendments thereto detailed in AB-2449 regarding “Open meetings: local agencies: teleconferences”. 

Some of those provisions include the following:

    1. Ensuring that the “official teleconference location”* is noticed in the agenda and posted at least 72 hours before a regular meeting. For the purposes of DCPC, the agenda must be completed and submitted to the City of San Diego the Friday before the regular Wednesday meeting to meet the 72-hour requirement.
    2. Ensuring that the “official teleconference location” is accessible to the public.
    3. At least a quorum of the DCPC members participate at the physical meeting location.*
    4. All votes taken during a teleconferenced meeting shall be by roll call.
    5. Each DCPC member desiring to participate remotely must notify the Chair at the earliest opportunity possible. The reasons to justify remote participation are:
      a. “Just Cause”, including:

                              (i) a childcare or caregiving need of a child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse, or domestic partner that requires them to participate remotely; 
                              (ii) a contagious illness that prevents a member from attending in person;
                              (iii) a need related to a physical or mental disability as defined by statute; or
                              (iv) travel while on official business of the legislative body or another state or local agency.
      b. “Emergency Circumstances” – means a physical or family medical emergency that prevents a member from attending in person.

    6. Prior to any actions taken, it must be disclosed if an individual 18 years of age or older are present in the room at a remote location.
    7. No DCPC member shall be allowed to participate from a remote location for a period of more than two consecutive months or three meetings annually. 
    8. “Remote Location” means a location from which a DCPC member participates in a regular meeting at a location other than the physical meeting location.

*The physical meeting location is usually the same as the “official teleconference location.”

 

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