John Potter, Ken Paulk vie to replace late H.R. Autz

Benicia City Council may select the city’s next treasurer at is regular meeting Tuesday.

The position became vacant May 16 with the death of H.R. Autz, who had been appointed to complete the term of Robert Langston, who died Aug. 24, 2012 after having defeated Autz in the 2011 election.

Two people applied for the job, which pays a $200-a-month stipend plus some expenses and a retirement benefit.

Kenneth Charles Paulk, a specialty sales assistant store manager at the Home Depot in Vacaville and retired garment industry executive, and John Potter, a former member of the U.S. Navy who also is a retired Pacific Gas and Electric employee, are seeking to succeed Autz.

City Attorney Heather McLaughlin wrote June 2 that there are several ways the Council can handle the matter. It can appoint a new treasurer, the way it chose city administrative secretary Teri Davena when Treasurer Margaret “Teddie” Bidou died Sept. 17, 2010 — just as it appointed Autz on Oct. 15, 2012.

The Council also could add the treasurer’s position to the Nov. 4 ballot, McLaughlin wrote, or add a measure to that election to decide whether the position always should be appointed. Currently, it’s an elected position.

Benicia’s Government Code lets the Council appoint a treasurer or call a special election when a vacancy arises, McLaughlin wrote. But a special election would cost $264,510, based on 30 cents a voter. “The costs for a ballot measure to determine the desire for the city treasurer position would be comparable,” she wrote, noting that the current budget didn’t provide for that expense.

At its May 27 meeting, the Council agreed to accept applications and appoint Autz’s successor from those candidates.

The city treasurer countersigns city warrants and attends meetings of the Finance Committee.

In the absence of a treasurer, Mayor Elizabeth Patterson and designated staff members have been countersigning the warrants.

“It is recommended that the City Council interview the applicants and make an appointment,” McLaughlin wrote.

Those interviews will take place in public at Tuesday’s meeting. Paulk and Potter each will wait outside Council Chambers while the other is being interviewed, and each will be asked the same questions — why he wants to be the treasurer; what his background and experiences are that make him a desirable candidate; what his understanding is of the city’s investment policy as approved by the Council; and whether he is willing to complete the current term that ends Dec. 31, 2015.

Follow-up questions will be allowed, but per an agreed-upon process, those asked one candidate should be asked the other.

In addition, each candidate may give a one-minute opening statement.

Members of the public also will be allowed to speak, after which the Council will deliberate and select the new treasurer.

McLaughlin noted in her report that the opportunity to select a new treasurer raised the question of the need for the position, since the city has an appointed Finance Committee made up of residents and two members of the Council, as well as a finance director.

On the other hand, the treasurer normally is elected by voters as the public’s representative, McLaughlin wrote.

The Council has discussed asking voters Nov. 4 whether to change the position to an appointed one or to eliminate the position, McLaughlin noted, and Councilmember Mark Hughes has suggested expanding the treasurer’s duties to let the person vote on Finance Committee matters.

In other matters, the Council will open a public hearing on the Lighting and Landscaping Special District assessments, which would experience no change in the 2014-15 fiscal year.

The Council also may decide by resolution to refinance the bonds for the McAllister Area Assessment District, which would lower the assessments about 13 percent to the 336 property owners in the district. That would drop their annual assessment to $2,200 from $2,526.96.

The original bond issue, made Nov. 3, 2004 for $11.7 million, paid for public improvement construction in the East Second Street and Rose Drive area. The bonds have a balance of $8.495 million, and interim Finance Director Brenda Olwin has recommended the city refinance the bond issue balance at lower available rates.

In other matters on the Council’s consent calendar, all of which could be decided without comment by single vote, the panel may agree to sign a grant agreement that would underwrite the installation of three electric car chargers as the city’s share of a California Electric Vehicle Alliance award from the California Energy Commission.

Also on the consent calendar:

• The Council may award a $123,910 contract to JJR Construction, San Mateo, for a Safe Route to School project to eliminate gaps in the sidewalk route to Robert Semple Elementary School, install pedestrian safety improvements on Dempsey Drive for children crossing from Matthew Turner Elementary School to the Community Park parking lot and other Southampton areas, and install flashing beacons on Southampton Road at Turner Drive to help Benicia Middle School pupils cross safely.

To accomplish this, City Manager Brad Kilger wrote June 19 in a report that the Council will need to approve a One Bay Area Grant funding agreement with Solano Transportation Authority.

• The Council will consider approving its agreement with Benicia Main Street for the 2014-15 fiscal year.

The nonprofit organizes activities to encourage shoppers to visit the city’s downtown area. The one-year pact would cost $100,000 to contract for such events and activities as the Certified Farmers Market, Independence Day activities, holiday events, a summer waterfront festival and Main Street staff acting as a liaison with residents, merchants and visitors.

• The Council will decide whether to establish $79,332,036 as the maximum allowable appropriations limit for fiscal year 2014-15 as required by state law to limit its growth in appropriation. This would give Benicia a $52.1 million margin between approved appropriations and the appropriations limit.

The panel also will vote on setting the fiscal year 2014-15 bonded indebtedness tax rate for refunding General Obligation Bond series 2012 at .0137 per $100 of assessed property valuation. That is slightly less than last year’s assessment of .01433 per $100 of assessed value.

• The Council may decide to accept the work completed on the Benicia City Cemetery drainage project, performed by Team Ghilotti and finished April 10.

• The panel also may amend its contract with WattzOn for a residential water and energy savings program that assesses water and power use, then recommends changes so homeowners can save money and reduce consumption.

Kilger wrote June 18 that the drought has caused WattzOn officials to propose changes that would reassign funds for additional home assessments and personalized reports for high consumers of water. No additional money is being requested.

• Representatives of Benicia-Tula Sister Cities will describe the upcoming six-day visit by a delegation from Tula, Hidalgo, Mexico to Benicia that begins Wednesday.

• Mayor Elizabeth Patterson will announce Nancy Craig-Schram as her appointment to the Arts and Culture Commission, and will read proclamations in recognition of Parks Make Life Better, Benicia Old Town Theatre Group’s 50th anniversary, and the conclusion of Lois Requist’s term as the city’s poet laureate.

The Council meeting starts at 7 Tuesday night in the Council Chamber of City Hall, 250 East L St.