Rocklin Council moves forward with proposed traffic-safety town halls

In an attempt to create a more open forum for residents on the issue of traffic, Rocklin City Council on Jan. 14 moved forward with proposed regular town hall meetings conducted by its current Traffic Safety Committee. While residents will still have the ability to communicate traffic safety issues through staff or council members, the proposed town hall meetings would serve to provide members of the community with an added opportunity to engage with staff and receive feedback on their specific issue. While two other options discussed by City Council would have placed citizens directly on committees, Rocklin City Manager Steven Rudolph advocated for the staff recommended option of creating town halls based on several discussions over the last several weeks. "When I reflect back on the testimony that we had back in November, I did not perceive there was a uniform or particular issue that was coming forward to the council," Rudolph said on Jan. 14. "What we really experience was that we had many residents that had unique issues local to their neighborhood and their community. When I reflect on that testimony, I feel like this (town hall) model will be the best way for our citizens in the future to be able to bring those items forward to our experts and move those issues into consideration and then resolution." Rocklin Councilman Joe Patterson, who proposed adopting a resolution to establish an ad hoc committee composed of five residents on Nov. 12, 2019, said traffic concerns are consistently the number one issue residents approach him with. During the course of the November discussion, Patterson's initial proposal was altered through deliberation and public input to perhaps create a hybrid traffic safety committee with citizen participation. While Patterson was surprised by council and staff's direction to proceed with town halls instead of a committee with citizen members, he commended council's direction to empower voices of residents. "I am always a fan of allowing residents make decisions on how their city is going to look," Patterson said Tuesday. "I definitely prefer a committee that allows residents to make decisions but ultimately, I am glad the council recognized the importance of having an avenue for residents to express their traffic safety concerns." According to the staff report, the alternative option before council on Jan. 15 would have restructured the current Traffic Committee consisting of city staff members. The restructured committee would have comprised only of residents through the adoption of a new Traffic Safety Committee Ordinance. The proposed ordinance would have created a Traffic Safety Committee of five residents, appointed by the City Council, whose purpose is to provide the City Council with recommendations on policy related, traffic safety issues, the report stated. In addition, the committee would provide a venue for receiving citizens' comments and concerns, and directing such concerns to the appropriate city official for consideration and resolution. Under this action, a city staff member would be designated by the Public Services director to support the committee as its secretary. The secretary would handle preparing agendas, agenda packets, scheduling meetings, preparing minutes, and other duties as required. While some surrounding cities have traffic committees comprised of city staff and public members, the report indicated, the model is not recommended. Recommendations to the City Council from professional staff and from community members serve different purposes, the report explained. "Mixing professional staff and community members into one committee makes it difficult for the City Council to put the recommendations from the committee into the proper context." According to the staff report, there will be minimal financial impact resulting from the administrative support for the implementation of town hall meetings According to a press release, additional details on the potential traffic forums will be presented to City Council in February and the public is encouraged to attend and take part in the discussion. The specific meeting date will be announced, when scheduled.