City Council mulls changing venues for next week’s retreat
Administrator explains initial YPG site choice
The Yuma City Council is considering a venue change for next week’s retreat. The discussion took place during the Tuesday work session, with more deliberation scheduled for Wednesday’s regular meeting.
The council is holding its annual retreat next week, from 1-5 p.m. on Monday and 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesday. The retreat was to take place at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground in the Palm Garden Conference Room, 301 C St., Building 530.
However, after discussion on an agreement with Arizona Western College for the establishment of a regional law enforcement training academy facility, Councilman Mike Shelton asked whether the retreat could take place at the site being renovated for the academy. He referenced an email the council received from a citizen listing challenges that a retreat at the military base would present to those wanting to attend.
Shelton asked whether the council could tour the site of the proposed academy, which will use portions of the city’s Ray Kroc Complex located at 1280 W. Desert Sun Drive, with the intention of moving the retreat to that venue.
Mayor Doug Nicholls, Deputy Mayor Gary Knight and Councilman Edward Thomas also expressed their willingness to change the venue. Thomas called it “pretty appropriate.” Knight said he would be “totally in favor of doing that.”
“Let’s see if we can make that happen,” Nicholls said, noting that the retreat would still take place on the same dates.
City Administrator Greg Wilkinson agreed that it is a “good idea.” He noted that all the council needs to do is give the direction and staff would change the venue.
They agreed to continue the conversation during the Wednesday meeting, which starts at 5:30 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers, 1 City Plaza.
City spokesman Dave Nash told the Yuma Sun that the purpose of the retreat is to “allow for highly detailed, back-and-forth discussion between staff and the council” on various issues, including the status of the services the city provides its customers, trends affecting the cost or delivery of those services, changes the councilors may wish to see, “so that the staff can construct
a budget for the upcoming fiscal year that reflects council priorities within the constraints of costs and revenue limitations.”
As with all official meetings of the council, the retreat is open to the public. However, some citizens had pointed out that holding the retreat outside the city limits made it difficult for some citizens to attend because of the “remote” location. YPG is 23 miles from City Hall, about a 30-minute drive.
In addition, citizens who want to attend the special meeting cannot simply walk onto the YPG base. Due to security concerns, visitors must stop at the Visitor Control Center on Imperial Dam Road and show their driver’s license, car registration and proof of insurance. After a brief computer background check, visitors are given a pass that allows them to access to the base.
The Arizona Ombudsman website notes that a public body such as a city council cannot require members of the public to sign an attendance sheet in order to attend the meeting. However, a city meeting at the base would require people to show their ID to the venue.
Some citizens have also noted that open meeting law indicates that public bodies, which includes city councils, must provide public access to public meetings. “This requirement is not met if the public body uses any procedure or device that obstructs or inhibits public attendance at public meetings, such as holding the meeting in a geographically isolated location, in a room too small to accommodate the reasonably anticipated number of observers, in a place to which the public does not have access, such as private clubs, or at an unreasonable time,” according to the Ombudsman’s Open Meeting Law booklet.
In explaining why the city had initially chosen YPG as the site for this year’s retreat, Wilkinson said in an email to the Yuma Sun: “Last year, when considering locations for a possible retreat, the City became aware of some struggles with the club systems at our local military installations. The decision was made to use the club facility at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma last year, with the idea being to then to go to Yuma Proving Ground the following year.
“The City of Yuma supports the local military installations and appreciates our excellent working relationships with both facilities,” Wilkinson added. “The locations are well within both Arizona law and the practice of other Arizona cities and counties.”