Ontario council debates contract

By JESSICA KELLER
ARGUS OBSERVER
JessicaK@argusobserver.com
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 12:10 PM PDT

ONTARIO — What would have otherwise been a routine move to renew a contract turned into a debate about hiring methods at the Ontario City Council meeting Monday night.

The contract — a renewal of an intergovernmental agreement with the State Fire Marshal’s Office for the Regional Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Team Services  — was eventually renewed but not before a few council members expressed concerns about language regarding nondiscrimination in the contract, which had previously gone unchallenged.

Without the agreement, which the city has entered into with the state since 1992, Ontario would have had to forfeit the existing equipment and inventory — worth approximately $750,000 — provided by the state to the city.

Councilman Norm Crume first raised concerns about the language in one of the sections that stated, “Contractors are encouraged to recruit qualified women and minorities...”

Crume said he would feel more comfortable if the language was changed to say the city would hire best qualified personnel regardless of sex, creed, or race, etc. because he harbored concerns over the current language and the possibility for the state to come back and dictate who the city hires. While Crume was assured by other council members and the city’s attorney the current language does not bind the city in any way, and is just a recommendation, Crume and Councilwoman Susann Millls were not satisfied with leaving the language as it stood.

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“I just don’t care for the wording of this at all,” Mills said.

While other members of the council were content to leave the language as it was, Councilman John Gaskill proposed the board pass a motion separate from the contract to be returned to the state to reaffirm the city’s intention of hiring based on best-qualified personnel, even though it was already the city’s policy to do so.

When asked why, Gaskill said, it was a way to satisfy the concerns raised by the other council members.

“I don’t know that it does any good, (but) I don’t know that it does any harm,” he said.

Councilman David Sullivan expressed frustration with the episode.

“I just don’t see why we have to pass a resolution that says we’re going to follow our own policy,” Sullivan said.

Eventually, in a 4-3 vote, the council passed a motion stating the City Council chose to interpret the specific section of the intergovernmental agreement as permitting the City of Ontario to hire the most qualified candidate regardless of sex or minority status. Immediately following, the council unanimously approved the intergovernmental agreement.

On the other hand, a resolution to support the possible return of daily passenger rail service by Amtrak on the Pioneer route garnered little discussion. Prior to approving the resolution, the council did remove language that stated the city has a “fully-functioning train depot, which could provide shelter and restroom facilities for Amtrak travellers.” The only reason that section was removed is the city is currently leasing the majority of the Ontario Train Depot to the Ontario Basque Club and, in addition, agreed to turn over management of the entire facility to the club.

Prior to the meeting, Ontario Mayor Joe Dominick said, he had some reservations but was going to support the resolution anyway. His reservations centered around the possibility of the City of Ontario being required to put up a portion of funding for the venture, he said, but the initial idea, which the resolution addressed, he did not oppose.