Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/16/2010 04A Draft Minutes 01-23-2010 City Council Retreat • YAKIMA CITY COUNCIL RETREAT JANUARY 23, 2010 YAKIMA CONVENTION CENTER 8:30 A.M — 2:30 P.M. 1. Roll Call Present: Council: Mayor Micah Cawley, presiding, Assistant Mayor Kathy Coffey, Council Members Maureen Adkison, Dave Edler, Rick Ensey, Dave Ettl and Bill Lover (absent after 10:28 a.m.) Staff: • City Manager Zais, Assistant City Manager Zabel!, Community Relations Manager Beehler, and City Clerk Kloster Facilitator: John Cooper, President and CEO of YVVC John Cooper gave opening statements and defined his role as facilitator. Each Council Member introduced themselves for the benefit of the television audience. 2. Retreat guidelines and desired outcomes Council Member Lover commented that he believes in government by majority not by consensus and felt that if they were going to discuss policy issues he expects there to be debate. Mayor Cawley commented that they were not going to discuss the issue of • "lingerie" baristas at this meeting, but were hoping to determine what venue will be used for that discussion, e.g. a study session or a Council meeting. Following discussion it appeared to be the consensus to hold a study session on this issue. ACTION STEP: Schedule a study session on the Adult Business Ordinance. Mr. Cooper described the recommended procedure for the retreat and the goal to establish action steps from the discussions. 3. Roles and responsibilities of the City Council, City administration, and City staff Discussed throughout the retreat. 4. Yakima City Council Rules of Procedure Assistant Mayor Coffey pointed out that, according to the "Standard Motions and - Rules of Procedure of Yakima City. Council," a motion cannot be withdrawn by the mover without majority approval. That is different than the way the Council has been handling withdrawn motions. Also discussed was "a call for the question" noting it requires a super majority vote to stop debate. It was suggested that Mayor Cawley, Assistant Mayor Coffey, Community Relations Manager Beehler and City Attorney Cutter take time to review and discuss Roberts Rules of Orders and how they apply to Council meetings. It was also noted that the City Council Rules of Procedure was last updated in March 2007. Having the Rules and Procedures Committee review the rules and procedures and make recommendations to the full Council was suggested. They will schedule a work session with Randy Beehler and Jeff Cutter. ACTION STEP: — Review the rules and procedures at the committee level and recommend any necessary revisions to the full council. JANUARY 23, 2010 — COUNCIL RETREAT 5. Council member priorities The following priorities were listed when each Council member was solicited for input: (note: the issues of gang violence and budget challenges were set aside as they have already been established as high priorities for the Council) Dave Eftl - To be in touch with Yakima, champion things from the people to the Council. Be a source of communication and facilitation; an ombudsman. Also clean up the garbage on the highways around the city. He asked how we can use the media to get information to the public. Maureen Adkison — More collaboration with other cities, other departments and the County so we are not replicating services or reinventing the wheel. She also sees a need to develop a plan to replace City Manager Zais when he retires in the future. Bill Lover — Fair Avenue and N. 1 Street. We need an interconnector between downtown and the fairgrounds. Those are in addition to the list of fifteen future challenges and opportunities all of which he considers as priorities. Micah Cawley Aquatics program, a street bond, and privatization. Dave Edler — Sustainable funding, e.g. reformation of government; regionalizing, e.g. possibility of a park district or fire authority; infrastructure, public safety Rick Ensey'— Common codes between City/County, clean up N. 1 Street, and fix 4111 . the broken culture at City Hall. Kathy Coffey — Coordinate and maximize City-owned public facilities such as the Southeast Community Center and Police Athletic League building. Revitalize N. 1 Street. Renovate historic homes in east Yakima. We need to develop a 3-5 year plan to look at infrastructure issues. Council Member Ensey elaborated. He believes the organizational, culture at City Hall is broken and that both Council and staff are responsible. There is a misunderstanding as to roles and there are respect issues that need to be improved. He clarified that, as electeds, he sees their roles are 1) policy makers setting strategy with staff carrying out the taCtics, 2) representing constituents, 3) oversight. Council does not relinquish responsibility when they refer matters to staff, but continues to oversee the issue. Staffs major role is an information resource. He said he doesn't always believe the information he is given; that some is omitted and other information is biased in order to influence policy. He gave examples: • EMS levy — a sunset clause in particular. He felt we could have been more successful if there had been a sunset clause. Staff should have come to Council with a variety of alternatives and, let them make the decision. Instead, they said this was the only option. • The question on ambulance response times — he didn't think Council ever got a straight answer. • Priorities of Government budget model — he had the overall feeling that staff dragged their feet because they didn't want to change the current process. 2 JANUARY 23, 2010 — COUNCIL RETREAT S . • He referred to the recent article in the Herald Republic about the exchange between Bill Lover and Police Chief Granato at the recent Public Safety Committee meeting regarding the crime analyst position. The Chief said he is the one responsible for what happens in his department. Rick did not agree. He believes Council is to oversee staff to ensure tactics used are in line with what they want: He thought the Chief and Deputy Chief have both been out of line in dealing with the Council. Assistant Mayor Coffey commented that she believed it was not the Council's place - to publicly question department heads or staff. They should direct their issues to the City Manager. Council Member Ettl expressed concern with having to go through the City Manager first. Council Member Lover explained his view of what happened in the Public Safety Committee meeting. Council Member Ensey stated that because we are going to replace the City Manager soon, the most important thing this Council can do is set the culture in City Hall. He said we need to determine how we want our government to relate to its citizens and then choose a City Manager that can do that. . Council Member Lover left at 10:28 a.m. The North First Street priority was discussed in more detail. Assistant Mayor Coffey suggested an architectural study and streetscape be prepared in case anything can 40 be done during the legislative session. She also suggested preparing a request for funding from SIED to do the study; assisting the North First Street Association with organizational issues, and having the Community and Economic Development Department research potential funding sources for the streetscape and economic development. Mayor Cawley and Council Member Edler noted the need to seek input from area business owners. A question was asked about whether there was something the City could do to help sell the old Lariat drive-in restaurant that is such an eyesore. Mayor Cawley and Council Member Adkison spoke about the potential of putting a physical presence of City government into the area, ACTION STEP: • Determine what steps can be taken immediately • Seek input from area business owners • Continue/accelerate public safety emphasis in the area • • Provide technical/organization support to North First Street Association • Pursue potential funding (SIED, state, etc.) for initial streetscape design and eventual implementation • Explore potential physical presence of City government in the area • Conversation then turned to street failures and the need for a street bond. It was suggested that we need to identify for the voters the top ten areas needing attention. This may be an item for the Bicycle/Pedestrian Committee or part of the Six-Year Plan. The Council then discussed infrastructure. City Manager Zais spoke of the • 'multiple layers of public infrastructure of which many plans have been adopted but not been reviewed together. • 3 JANUARY 23, 2010 — COUNCIL RETREAT ACTION STEP: Hold a study session to look at the various capital facilities/infrastructure plans, determine what exists, where they are in the updating process and then have Council determine their priorities. The priority of reqional collaboration was discussed and the need to eliminate duplication of services. It was suggested that we need to work towards coordinating with the County on quality of life issues for the valley. ACTION STEP: Seek opportunities for regional collaboration with Yakima County, other cities, and other agencies in order to maximize available resources. The next priority discussed was communication between citizens and the City. We should look at some best practices to see what we can do to improve communications and impact accurate media presentation. ACTION STEP: Explore potential improvements to City communications/outreach efforts. The culture at City Hall as a priority and a transition plan for replacing the City Manager was the next discussion topic. The importance of the decision was identified. Council discussed the potential of using a professional search firm, and emphasized the need to determine what the Council expects the "culture" to look like in order to develop a transition process. Council Member Ensey clarified what he meant by "culture" as the general feel of the environment; shared beliefs; buy-ins; acceptance of operational methods for the good of all; and respect for customers. Les Schwab and various hotels were used as examples for good customer service. 4111 Council Member Ensey suggested the need for a philosophical conversation on corporate culture and the potential of having a college professor or some successful people in our business community provide free advice. ACTION STEPS: • Discuss culture of City government; consider getting expert input, review roles/definitions, models. • Develop city manager transition process. 6. Policy developments/consideration processes An attempt was made to define a policy issue. Examples given were: legal requirements, e.g. adopting the budget or deciding on a new strategic plan for Police. The overall direction of managing the city is an administrative issue. Assistant Mayor Coffey commented that sometimes committee meeting agendas deal with minutia that Council doesn't need to address. If we identified and prioritized the enormous challenges, we should be able to move the city forward more quickly. Some committee items should be delegated and not allowed to take up Council time. Council Member Edler noted that all seven Council members view items differently and what is minutia to one may be seen as critical to another. Discussion ensued on whether various committees should be continued. Committee meetings may be too focused on reporting rather than recommending action. Also discussed was the need to prioritize and to determine strategic priorities from today's discussions. Assistant Mayor Coffey stated she wanted action steps that are narrowly focused, that have benchmarks and are achievable with results. 4 JANUARY 23, 2010 — COUNCIL RETREAT ACTION STEPS: • Assign each Council committee to review committee mission/purpose and make a recommendation to the full City Council regarding continuation of the committee • Establish 5-10 Council priorities that will direct policy, including: o Reducing gang crime and gang violence O Address continuing economic challenges facing the City of Yakima Also discussed was the amount of staff time involved in committee meetings and the methods used for forwarding information to the Council. There were several suggestions to alert Council to upcoming issues that are being discussed at the committee level, but are not yet ready for full Council consideration. 1) committee chair could advise under the meeting agenda heading "Other Business"; 2) reference in the committee minutes and advise it will be coming to Council soon; 3) staff could submit a form or an email following the committee meeting advising Council members of the information; or 4) include the subject in the Weekly Issues Report prepared by the City Manager's office. 7. Existing City Council committee structure Discussed above. *8. Action steps Identified throughout the discussion. ACTION STEP: Schedule a six-month follow-up Council retreat to review status on the action steps identified. PARKING LOT: (a list of items that came up during the meeting to be discussed later) Council and staff relationships Visioning process Budget related to economic challenges. Council Staff Relationships Assistant Mayor Coffey said if she has a concern or question, it is her responsibility to inform the City Manager or Assistant City Manager and not go directly to the employee or the department head. Mayor Cawley agreed. City Manager Zais referred to the system in place for service requests. Visioning Process — The Next 20 Years. City Manager Zais pointed out that it has been twenty years since there was a comprehensive visioning process for the community. At that time it was a major undertaking that took about eighteen months. He noted that the process was created by business leaders, citizens, and constituencies from across the valley with City participation. Perhaps it is time to encourage the community to develop a new 20-year vision. Council Members Edler and Adkison suggested the Economic Development Committee consider the idea. 5 JANUARY 23, 2010 — COUNCIL RETREAT ACTION STEP: 0 • Supply Council with a copy of the last visioning document • Assign Council Economic Development Committee to explore potential for initiation of community visioning process Budget and Economic challenges City Manager Zais reviewed the current budget situation and economic forecast noting that circumstances are very challenging and the future looks daunting in terms of how long it will take our community to recover. He referenced the drop in sales tax revenue and said if December figures continue to drop, it would signal the potential for another shortfall in the budget of $800,000 to $1 million. We would need to take steps to reduce our costs and expenditures for the balance of this year. If the forecast continues to drop, we would have more serious choices to make about the services we provide and the priorities of government model we have created. It is very troubling and overshadows our capacity to meet community needs. *9. Adjournment Council Members applauded Mr. Cooper for his efforts at leading the retreat. COFFEY MOVED AND ETTL SECONDED TO ADJOURN. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote. The meeting adjourned at 2:28 p.m. READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE BY 4111 COUNCIL MEMBER DATE COUNCIL MEMBER DATE ATTEST: CITY CLERK MICAH CAWLEY, MAYOR Minutes prepared by Linda Watkins. A CD and DVD of this meeting are available in the City Clerk's Office 6