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Home My WebLink AboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 04/16/2019 - RESOLUTION 2019-046 AUTHORIZING AN INTERGOVERNMENTAgenda Item 21 Item # 21 Page 1 AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY April 16, 2019 City Council STAFF Judge Kathleen M. Lane, Chief Judge Ingrid Decker, Legal SUBJECT Resolution 2019-046 Authorizing an Intergovernmental Agreement Between the Cities of Fort Collins and Loveland, With the Option to Add Greeley, for the Exchange of Judicial Services, and Appointing Temporary Judges. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The purpose of this item is to authorize an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with the City of Loveland for judicial services to be used in the event that a conflict of interest or other circumstance prevents the Municipal Judge and temporary judge from hearing a particular Municipal Court case. This agreement is intended to replace an existing 2017 IGA between Fort Collins, Loveland and Greeley. The City of Greeley is not included in this IGA due to residency requirements that Greeley currently has in place; however, the Resolution would approve adding Greeley to the IGA if its residency requirements change in the near future. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends adoption of the Resolution. BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION On occasion, the Municipal Judge may be prevented from sitting on the bench by reason of personal conflict of interest, illness, vacation, or other reason, and the Assistant Municipal Judge presiding over and conducting the Municipal Court in such event may also be unavailable. Executing an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) is a cost-effective method of providing for judicial services in the event of an absence of the Municipal Judge. The City Charter gives Council the authority to name the Municipal Judge and any alternate judge. The Resolution authorizes the Mayor to execute the agreement with the City of Loveland as described in the Resolution. The Resolution names the Loveland Municipal Judge, the Honorable Geri Joneson, and Loveland’s Deputy Municipal Judge, the Honorable Marco Scalise, attorneys who are both reputable and qualified to act as the Fort Collins Municipal Judge, to provide judicial services to the City in the absence of the current Municipal Judges, through calendar year 2020. The previous IGA for judicial services included Greeley as a third participant but Greeley is not included at this time due to residency requirements Greeley currently has in place. If that requirement changes, staff from the three cities would all like the ability to amend the IGA to add Greeley. Greeley’s Municipal Judge is the Honorable Mark Gonzales. The City Attorney’s Office has reviewed public records related to Judge Joneson’s, Judge Scalise’s and Judge Gonzales’s status and reputation and has confirmed their good standing as attorneys in Colorado and their reputations and qualifications. Judge Joneson has been a licensed attorney for 28 years and has been licensed in Colorado since 2000. She has been the Municipal Judge for Loveland since May 2015. Judge Agenda Item 21 Item # 21 Page 2 Scalise has been a licensed attorney in Colorado since 1994. He has had a private law practice in Loveland since 1998 and has been the Loveland Deputy Municipal Judge since July 2015. Judge Gonzales was admitted to the Colorado Bar in 2000 and has been the Greeley Municipal Judge since May 2018. Before that he served as a Weld County District Court Magistrate for nine years. He has also served as a Weld County Deputy District Attorney and a Greeley Assistant City Attorney. -1- RESOLUTION 2019-046 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS AUTHORIZING AN INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITIES OF FORT COLLINS AND LOVELAND, WITH THE OPTION TO ADD GREELEY, FOR THE EXCHANGE OF JUDICIAL SERVICES, AND APPOINTING TEMPORARY JUDGES WHEREAS, on occasion, Municipal Judges may be prevented from sitting on the bench by reason of personal conflict of interest, illness, vacation, or other reasons, and the Assistant Municipal Judge presiding over and conducting the Municipal Court in such event may also be unavailable; and WHEREAS, in order to provide cost-effective special judicial services to temporarily replace the services of its Municipal Judge in the event of a conflict of interest or other circumstance, the City should cooperatively exchange the services of the City’s Municipal Judge with those of other entities; and WHEREAS on March 21, 2017, the City Council approved Resolution 2017-034, authorizing an intergovernmental agreement (“IGA”) between the City, Loveland and Greeley for the exchange of judicial services through 2018; and WHEREAS, the 2017 IGA has expired and the Fort Collins and Loveland Municipal Judges recommend entering into a new IGA through the end of 2020; and WHEREAS, the City of Greeley has identified a residency requirement that presently prevents it from continuing to participate in the proposed exchange of judicial services, although if that requirement can be changed in the near future, Greeley would like the option to enter into an IGA with Fort Collins and Loveland; and WHEREAS, Article VII, Section 1 of the City Charter sets forth the requirements for the appointment of the Municipal Judge and temporary judge, including that the temporary judge be a reputable and qualified attorney; and WHEREAS, the City Council has the authority to designate reputable and qualified attorneys to serve as temporary judges through calendar year 2020; and WHEREAS, the City Council recognizes that the Loveland Municipal Judge, the Honorable Geri Joneson, the Loveland Deputy Municipal Judge, the Honorable Marco Scalise, and the Greeley Municipal Judge, the Honorable Mark Gonzales, are reputable and qualified attorneys; and WHEREAS, City staff has discussed with Loveland’s representatives the proposed terms of an intergovernmental agreement providing for the exchange of judicial services if needed to temporarily substitute when a Municipal Judge and temporary or assistant judges are unavailable, including the provision of replacement judicial services and compensation for costs directly incurred to provide such services; and -2- WHEREAS, pursuant to Colorado Revised Statutes Section 29-1-203, governments may cooperate or contract with one another to provide any function or service lawfully authorized to each of the cooperating or contracting units of government; and WHEREAS, the City Council has determined that it is in the best interests of the City that the Mayor be authorized to execute an IGA between the City and Loveland in support thereof with the option to amend the IGA in the future to add Greeley. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS as follows: Section 1. That the City Council hereby makes and adopts the determinations and findings contained in the recitals set forth above. Section 2. That the City Council hereby authorizes the Mayor to execute an intergovernmental agreement between the City and the City of Loveland, consistent with this Resolution, for the purpose of appointing Judge Geri Joneson and Judge Marco Scalise as the temporary judges for Fort Collins, with such language as the City Manager, in consultation with the City Attorney, determines necessary and appropriate to protect the interests of the City or further the purposes of this Resolution. Section 3. That if the City of Greeley wishes to participate in the intergovernmental agreement, the City Council further authorizes the Mayor to execute an amended intergovernmental agreement, consistent with this Resolution, for the purpose of adding Greeley as a party and appointing Judge Mark Gonzales as a temporary judge for Fort Collins, with such language as the City Manager, in consultation with the City Attorney, determines necessary and appropriate to protect the interests of the City or further the purposes of this Resolution. Passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the Council of the City of Fort Collins this 16th day of April, A.D. 2019. _________________________________ Mayor ATTEST: _____________________________ City Clerk