Politics & Government

Council Votes to Rehire Wireless Consultant

Jonathan Kramer to retain post for at least another year, despite doubts of some council members.

The voted 3-2 Wednesday to retain Jonathan Kramer as the city's wireless telecommunications consultant for at least one more year. In addition, the council stipulated that Kramer face a performance review when his new deal with the city expires.

On contract with the city since 1997, Kramer has been chiefly responsible for reviewing applications for wireless telecommunication facilities, also known as cellphone towers, to ensure that wireless service providers are complying with federal, state and local regulations.

He has 19 years of experience providing wireless consulting services to dozens of local governments, and recently earned contract-renewal support from the Communications & Technology Commission.

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Councilmen Jonathan Wolfson and Fred Gaines and Mayor Pro Tem Mary Sue Maurer voted in favor of keeping Kramer on contract.

Wolfson said he respects the commission's recommendations because of the time it invested in reviewing not only Kramer's work but also resumes from a pool of applicants, in case renewal was not granted.

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"I think that we need to support the decision that they made because they're the ones that went through all of the data, went through the RFQ (request for quotation) process," Wolfson said.

But more than a dozen residents told the council that they would rather see someone new hired because Kramer was doing an inadequate job.

In a presentation to the council, the group of homeowners wrote that pro-active advice about cellphone towers from the consultant has not been forthcoming.

Mayor James Bozajian, who cast one of the dissenting votes, echoed those sentiments and referred back to the May 25 council meeting when New York-based attorney Andrew Campanelli appeared before council members in hopes of being selected to conduct a peer review of the city's draft of an updated wireless telecommunications ordinance.

Campanelli said that the city has the right to inspect cellphone towers to make sure they are in compliance with federally mandated radio frequency emission levels.

At the May 25 meeting, Bozajian said he was unaware of that fact, then turned to Kramer and asked him whether Campanelli's statement was true. Kramer said yes.

At Wednesday's meeting, Bozajian said that Kramer should have told the council or staff in the past about conducting compliance checks on cellphone towers.

"I cannot in good concious vote to extend your being here, I just think that there are things that could have been," Bozajian said.

Kramer said he had discussed compliance checks with various commissioners in the past, but is not sure why the idea never arrived at the council level.

He said the direction he was given in the past did not require him to address council members, but that he would welcome such a condition in his new contract.

"I don't have a direct interface with the City Council; it's never been in my contract," Kramer said. "If you'd like that, I would love to do it."

Councilwoman Lucy Martin cast the second dissenting vote, stating that she sided with the concerns of residents.

The council also stated in its motion to rehire Kramer that the Communications & Technology Commission is to conduct a performance review after Oct. 26, 2012. Kramer is to be paid $240 an hour for his services, according to a city staff report.

The city's updated wireless telecommunications ordinance is currently being peer reviewed by Campanelli and could be adopted by the city by the end of this year or early next year.

The revised document establishes stricter guidelines for wireless providers seeking to install cellphone towers such as demonstrating a significant gap in service coverage and prohibiting cellphone tower construction within 1,500 feet of a residence.

"If you choose my firm or any other, we'll follow [the new ordinance]," Kramer told the council before the vote.


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