HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/29/1988 Adjourned Meeting 278
MARCH 29, 1988
ADJOURNED COUNCIL MEETING -- COUNCIL WORKSHOP
The City Council met in session on this date 7:00 A.M. in
Johnny's VIP Room at•the Towne Plaza, Yakima, Washington in order
to continue the special Council workshop initiated March 12, 1988.
Council members present were Mayor Pat Berndt, Clarence Barnett,
• Henry Beauchamp, Lynn Buchanan, Lynn Carmichael, Jerry Foy, and
• Bernard Staff - members present were City Manager_ Zais,
Assistant City Manager Stouder, and. City Clerk Roberts. Also
present was Jay Grandy, President, Snokist Growers and today's
Workshop Facilitator.
For the benefit of those Council members unable to attend the
March 12th meeting,.Mr.. Grandy described the process used at that
workshop to develop a mission. statement and vision statement for
the City.. He stated he spent about an hour and a half going
through the strategic management process with Council. He stated
he understands Council has all received copies of the charts used
during his presentation. He referred to these charts, commenting
that a lot of the time you can use the word "goals" for "vision
He stated he wanted Council to look to. the future and see, where
they would like to be. He reported -when Snokist went through this
process they developed six statements about vision; three of them
,very specific, having dollars and cents to them; the other three
were'very nebulous. If we reached the dollar and cents goals, we
can say we met our goals. He stated you can't always measure your
success by dollars and cents. The next step of the process would
be, once Council agrees that this is its mission and vision
statements, then say how you are going to get there; and that is
the strategy. He stated Council did not spend any time regarding
strategy or environment in that meeting on the 12th. He stated
each of the Council members wrote down their thoughts on the
mission and vision'and then put it on a computerized large screen.
He stated it should be fairly precise and Council can give it to
staff and let them know what the mission and vision is. He stated
we then had Council take their ideas and forge them into written
words to describe the mission, and vision. He stated he is not sure
• whether the other Council members, have seen what those at the
meeting produced. City Manager Zais stated that information has
not been provided to the three Council members who were absent at
that meeting. Mr. Grandy stated staff and the four Council members
at the meeting wanted the other Council members to have an
opportunity to write out their own ideas before they were shown
what was developed at that meeting. He stated that, assuming the
Council feels this process in worthwhile, the next thing would be
to get the staff more involved in defining the environment that you
are trying to operate in and analyze that, and put that information
in the mission and vision statements.
Council member Barnett asked how Mr. Grandy would direct staff to
get beyond their own little "turfs ". He stated that so frequently,
they are only interested in their own individual area and don't
want to see the entire picture. Mr. Grandy commented that if staff
is a party to the mission statement, in development, they are more
receptive to it. If they just are handed it, they will say, "OK, I
• have to go do this". If they have ownership in it, they are more
likely to get beyond their own area. He stated there is a meeting
scheduled tomorrow to share this preliminary information with the
Department Heads and give them some understanding of where Council
came from and see if they think anything is missing. He stated he
thinks Council is in a better position to lead the development of
these than staff is. In this case, staff is in a better position
to look at the environment and strategy. He stated he is not an
expert in running a city. He stated this is a process Council has .
to feel its own way in doing. As a Council, with staff, you
need to decide with them, how this can work for you. When you
think of vision, do you think two or ten years; when you look at
water supplies, do you think of two or ten years? He stated you
probably would look at 20 years. He stated he thought in our last
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discussion, we were' looking at'about ten years. He stated saw
• • this as a control position, because your environment-might change
' your vision. Maybe one year is too fast, but if you are an elected
party, there could be replacements and eventually they have to
• agree with these mission and vision statements. Referring back to •
'Mr. statement 'concerning - Snokist's six ' vision
• statements,' Council member Foy asked if they make a progress report •
•on'their'goals on a monthly basis. Mr: Grandy stated they do it
yearly,` - although they do look at their business monthly. Council
- member Foy commented that sometimes that monthly graph can trigger
additional thoughts about the goals and keep people on track to
reach the vision..
Council member Beauchamp asked Mr. Grandy how long this:process
took Snokist. Mr. Grandy stated it took almost a year, calendar
time; involved time was : -much - less. He spoke about the process
he used to develop Snokist's statements. Council member
Barnett asked Mr ;-Grandy how he would have resolved two extremely
opposite views on his Board. Mr:= Grandy stated it would have been
his .job to find - the c ommon ground on which they each could agree.
He commented it is a negotiating process, or a consensus building
process. He stated the toughest part in this process is getting
your staff involved and .'then establishing how to get there.
Council member Beauchamp asked how much time. is involved in the
annual review for this program. Mr. Grandy stated the annual •
follow -up sessions took about a day each; mostly the mission and
vision did not change, so most 'of the discussion involved the
environment and.strategy._ Council_ member Foy _ informed Council_
about the'process his firm uses for goal setting'.
Council member Barnett commented he thought a lot about the
question on whether the Council is weak or responsive and decided
it is based upon a citizen's contact with the City. He asked how
that situation could be overcame. Mr. Grandy stated that question
is a "how -to" question. He stated the thing you talk about is
your successes, rather than your lack of successes. Council
member Sims stated the City gets a bad image due to misquotes, etc.
in the paper. He stated we let them deal with nothing but the bad
things. Council member Beauchamp stated we need to be more pro-
active ourselves and publicize the good things the City does.
Mr. Grandy stated that if Council has a common mission and vision,
what will happen, is that when you get into a "bickering" session,
someone will say, "now how does this. fit into our mission or
vision".
City Manager Zais distributed copies of the mission and vision
statements developed at the meeting of the 12th. Mr. Grandy asked
Council members Barnett, Beauchamp and Foy to look at their notes
and compare them with these statements to see if they think .
anything is missing. Council members discussed the process they
•
went through to develop these statements. Council member Beauchamp
stated he wants to make sure the vision statement contains
Council's views on the drug problem. Mayor Berndt stated
that was included in the statement about a safe environment.
Council member Beauchamp also stated he would like to see something
included in the vision statement indicating the City is an equal
opportunity employer and making sure this community truly reflects
the diversified population in its workforce. Council member Foy
stated he thinks the City's record sets a tone for the business -
community. Assistant City Manager Stouder suggested the wording
"promoting equal opportunity" could be inserted into the vision
statement following "supportive work environment ". Discussion
• followed regarding the phrases about the economy and boundaries in
the mission statement.
Discussion followed regarding the employees' participation in this
process. Council member Foy stated he would like to hear what the
department heads have to say. He stated he would like to hear what
they envision and what they think this might mean. Council member
Sims stated staff has to come back to Council and tell us what
"superior service" means. Mr. Grandy referred to the Council's
statements and stated this is our working copy and it can be
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reviewed with staff, then you can look at it again and then adopt
it. Council member Carmichael stated that before the staff spends
any time on this, she thought staff needs to know that Council
agrees with these statements. Mr. Grandy suggested the statements
be presented to staff as a draft statement, developed through
Council consensus: It was the general consensus of the Council to
accept this as a draft mission and vision •statement, with the
addition of the statement, "promoting equal opportunity" in the
vision statement, so it would read, "A clean, safe and
aesthetically pleasing social, cultural, educational, recreational
and diversified economic center, with a challenging and supportive
work environment, promoting equal opportunities and motivated,
effective employees, recognized for their contributions and
• expertise."
The meeting was-adjourned at the hour of 8:40 a.m.
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READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE ,
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KAREN S. ROBERTS, CITY CLERK, CMC •'PATRICIA A. BERNDT, MAYOR
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