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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/07/2008 04A-2 Draft Minutes 01-26-2008 Adjourned Meeting - City Council RetreatC 0 ADJOURNED MEETING CITY COUNCIL RETREAT JANUARY 26, 2008 - 8:30 A.M. YAKIMA CONVENTION CENTER 1. Roll Call I*- A -'2- Present: Council: Mayor Dave Edler, presiding, Assistant Mayor Micah Cawley, Council Members Kathy Coffey, Rick Ensey, Norm Johnson, Bill Lover and Neil McClure Staff: City Manager Dick Zais, Assistant City Manager Dave Zabell, Community Relations Manager Randy Beehler and City Clerk Deborah Moore Randy Beehler, Community Relations Manager, facilitated the meeting. He said that the agenda was designed to allow Council Members to: • Hear from and get to know each other • Determine how they would like to work as a group to make City policy • Set up the Council committee structure • Prioritize the key tasks facing the city 2. Council Strategic Direction Priorities Randy gave background on the development of the strategic direction priorities. They were originated in 2004 and amended in 2006 and 2007. They were designed to serve as concise statements about primary policy directives of the Council. Today's goal is to review the .current versions of the mission and vision statements and strategic direction priorities for potential revisions. A mission statement was defined as task oriented versus the broadness of a vision statement. Strategic direction priorities are concise policy statements about the primary policy directives of the Council. Council Member Lover suggested that "Quality of Life" should be under the mission statement rather than the vision statement, and he felt "Continually Improve Services" should move under the mission statement. He also suggested reference to a positive image for the community be under the vision statement. He read a sample mission /vision statement that he had prepared: . The mission of the City of Yakima is to focus on preserving and improving public safety, promote a ,regional approach and continuously improve service and act as a catalyst for economic development and enhance our quality of life. The vision of the City of Yakima is to govern responsibly with cooperative diverse leadership and build a positive image of the community. Mayor Edler was concerned with the phrase "improving public safety" referenced at the beginning of the current statement. It seems to emphasize safety as our biggest issue. JANUARY 26,2008 - ADJOURNED MEETING COUNCIL STRATEGIC PLANNING REVIEW WORKSHOP 0 He agreed with the idea of moving the statement "enhancing quality of life" up to the mission statement. One of the greatest battles we face in the community is our self image and he feels we need to keep the self image idea in both the mission and the vision statements. The discussion went into the public's image of the community. Points made were: • Place "Quality. of Life" first in the mission statement and use it as a filter. • Impress upon staff that customer service will impact our image. • Get the message out to the community of the positive things that are happening. The Mission and Vision Strategic Priorities Committee will be charged with reviewing the information and bringing an updated version back to Council. Discussion continued on whether the strategic direction priorities should be in any order. Randy reminded them that resources will be allocated based on these policies. It was the consensus of Council to m*aintain the five priorities. Council Member Johnson suggested Council get involved in directing where grant resources be spent and using some of it for preventive measures. Council Member Lover responded that the Council does that as a part of their fiduciary responsibilities. He also warned that the more detail put into the priorities, the more "micromanaging" the statements become. Council agreed that the Mission and Vision Strategic Prioriti ' es Committee can start working on this and can solicit ideas from individual Council members rather than continue discussion on it today. Mayor Edler brought up whether the idea of controlling government should be in the strategic priorities.* He has heard conversations from this group, and others, regarding the size of our government and there is no reference to that in the mission and vision statement. That triggered a discussion with the following key points: • Downsizelconirol government • Use money wisely • Take advantage of technology • Add "live within our means" 0 Obtain funding for our priorities to the best of our ability Randy summarized that, based on comments made, the strategic priorities will probably be re-ordered on the list There may also be some wording changes and some priorities may be added from an infrastructure standpoint. The committee will work on draft language and bring it back to ft group for discussion. Funding. responsibilities were discussed but what specifically surfaced the top was the need to say "fiscally effective and efficient." City Manager Zais emphasized the importance of the strategic priorities stating that they represent the governing direction for the community and direct how we manage our work throughout the year. 0 F, JANUARY 26, 2008 -ADJOURNED MEETING COUNCIL STRATEGIC PLANNING REVIEW WORKSHOP 3. Council Roundtable Part 1 Standard Motions and Rules of Procedure — Randy Beehler Council's rules of procedure supersede all other parliamentary authority, but in instances where Council's rules are silent, Roberts Rules of Order govern how business is conducted for the Council. Duties of the Mayor -the mayor serves as a chair for the meeting and has responsibility of making sure business is conducted in an orderly manner. That includes giving members the floor, calling for votes, announcing votes, applying rules, etc. Something that is commonly misunderstood is that the mayor is able to fully participate in the meeting. The mayor can make motions, can second motions, can participate in debate, etc. There is no need for the mayor to "pass the gavel" to participate. The only time it would be necessary is if there were some other reason, e.g. a conflict of interest. There is a basic process to bring an issue before Council and to vote on it An item that is subject to vote by the Council is not on the table and, therefore, not open to discussion or debate until a motion on the item has been made. The Council's rules are straightforward on the process. Randy reviewed the details shown on page 12 under Order of Discussion/Debate. Points emphasized during discussion were: • The initial motion and second places the item on the table and allows for discussion. • Motions should be clean and simple. • "So moved" is not acceptable as it is very difficult to figure out what part of the discussion is actually the motion Another issue; discussed was the desire of a Council member to not vote on a certain issue. A Council member can only be excused from voting if other Council members agree to it A Council member can make a brief statement as to why he wants to abstain and then the rest of the Council must vote on the request. Point of order- is a statement by a member of the group who thinks the rules are being misinterpreted or violated. By calling for a point of order, the member is asking the Chair to make a ruling or to enforce the rules. Frequently this is confused with a point of information or point of privilege. Common motions: • Motion to Table - simply sets aside an issue that the group is dealing with at the moment so it can address an issue that is more pressing. The motion to table should be made only if the group fully expects to return and deal with the item that the motion applies to during the same meeting. The motion table is misused 99.9% of the time. It is not appropriate to use the motion to table to permanently set aside an issue. A motion to table is not debatable. • Motion to postpone is the proper way to move an item from one meeting to ® another after it has been brought before the Council. That can be done two ways, motion to postpone to a time certain, or motion to postpone indefinitely. With time certain you designate a date when Council will take up the item again. K JANUARY 26, 2008 - ADJOURNED MEETING COUNCIL STRATEGIC PLANNING REVIEW WORKSHOP • A motion to postpone indefinitely is what is commonly confused with a motion to table. A motion to postpone is debatable. The effect of postponing indefinitely is killing a motion. Mayor Edler suggested the Rules and Procedures Committee review those points. • Call for the question is referred to by parliamentarians as a previous question motion. It is a way to bring debate to an end immediately. Properly applied, a previous question motion requires a second, and needs a 2/3 majority vote in order to pass. The way it is commonly used is that one person says call for the question, debate ends and a vote on the issue at hand is taken. Council service expectations vs. reality Characteristics of an effective Council Policy vs. administration Mayor Edler commented that a pamphlet, "Local Government Policy Making Process," from the Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington, was included in the packets. It defines several types of government. He urged Council members to read it to help understand our form of government. He believes that when a City Council tries to micromanage a city, it is a hindrance to the process. He has learned that, when you • give something away, it won't be done your way. Staff is accountable for the end result. When we look at our strategic direction priorities each year, we should be.able to determine that things we requested staff to do were done. Council Member Lover spoke about items that go through committees. He said he would like to insist that something be written in the Boards /Committee /Commission's recommendation block of the agenda statements. City Manager Zais talked about priority setting, responsiveness and deadlines. Staff is very focused on deadlines, both those imposed by law /statute /regulatory requirements and those set by City Council. Next, he spoke about Council/administration/staff communication. He tries to be sure that Council has freedom of access across the board to the management team, the departments, and to key support staff. He asks his managers to be sure they are informing him when there is communication and inquiries from Council about issues that need follow up. Another point City Manager Zais made was when there are requests for major tasks involving staff, he needs to know that a majority of the Council is behind the effort. This is one of the challenges within the committee structure. The committees can cause a large amount of work to be done on behalf of the collective body. There are times that Council members may need to double check with their peers on whether we really want to go down a path. Council Member McClure referred back to the heading "Characteristics of an Effective Council." As a Council member he wants to I look back years from now and see how effective we were in economic development, in our policing and in giving our professionals the tools that make them effective. He wants to be giving our professionals the opportunities to be successful and be judged by their results. He believes the closer he gets to the • 0 JANUARY 26, 2008 - ADJOURNED MEETING COUNCIL STRATEGIC PLANNING REVIEW WORKSHOP • details, the more he is failing as.a leader. It is his philosophy that wonting with City staff is a privilege, not part of his job description. Council Member Cawley questioned how the Council determines the workload of committees. He asked if there was a method for Council members to submit an agenda item if they have ideas. Council Member Lover responded that he would take it to a committee and have them take it to Council. Council Member Johnson confirmed that the role of a Council member can easily get blurred; they need to be cognizant of what their job is and put staff on the spot by approaching them directly. 4. Council Committees Randy Beehler noted that three years ago, during a Council retreat, a policy decision was made to increase the number of Council committees and have preliminary policy work done through those committees. The result is that there has been earlier involvement in issues by the Council and there have also been more streamlined agendas for the business meetings. Recently, there has been some interest to revisit the Council committee structure. Because of the quantity of committees, Mayor Edler questioned whether some could be consolidated, based on the strategic priorities, He pointed out that having so many committees consumes much of Council and staffs time. ® committee should be Councr! members first reviewed the list to determine if any of the co m s eliminated: Public Safety Committee — Keep Economic Development Committee — Discussion included putting the Downtown Futures Oversight Committee under the Economic Development Committee. At this point, there was a discussion on the number of Council members that can attend the committee meetings. It was emphasized that if more than three Council members are present, it requires proper meeting notification and the City Clerk would have to record official minutes. Discussion continued on the impacts of combining the two committees. Mayor Edler said the decision would be revisited at a later point in the meeting. Intergovernmental Committee — Keep Budget Committee — After a long discussion, the decision was to keep it Downtown Yakima Futures Initiative Oversight Committee — already discussed, for now it will remain. Neighborhood Development Committee — Keep Transit Committee — Combine with the Transportation Committee. IJ JANUARY 26, 2008 - ADJOURNED MEETING COUNCIL STRATEGIC PLANNING REVIEW WORKSHOP • Aquatic Task Force - Keep Stormwater Task Force - Consensus to eliminate here as it is in another place as well Community Relations Committee— Eliminate Rules & Procedures Committee - Keep Utility Code Committee - Eliminate Labor Management Committee - Required Hearing Examiner Review Committee - Required Litter Committee - Eliminated Capital Facilities Committee - Eliminated, the work of this committee can fold into two other committees; Economic Development and Budget. Strategic Priorities/Mission & Vision Committee - Keep r NOMINATING COMMITTEE FOR CITIZENS BOARDSICOM M ISSIONS /COMMITTEES It was agreed to have only one Council committee for all appointments. OUTSIDE BOARDS & COMMISSIONS Yakima Valley Conference of Governments (YVCOG) General Membership - Keep Yakima Valley Conference of Governments (YVCOG) Executive Board - Keep County -Wide Planning Policy Committee - It was questioned whether this could be tied to the Interlocal Governmental Committee, if so do it. Yakima Downtown Association - Already eliminated Downtown Parking Commission - Still being formed and will not have a Council position. ONDS- Consolidated Plan Development - Suggested this be put into the Neighborhood Development Committee Police Athletic League - Research whether a Council representative is required. Commercial Revitalization Deduction Board - Keep N. �J • • JANUARY 26, 2008 - ADJOURNED MEETING COUNCIL STRATEGIC PLANNING REVIEW WORKSHOP Citizen Police Advisory Committee — Disbanded EDLER MOVED AND CAWLEY SECONDED TO REPEAL THE CITIZENS POLICE ADVISORY COMMITTEE. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote. BY INVITATION Discussion closed with Council consensus that they would not accept requests for specific people, but the Council would decide who the representative would be. Major points were: • 2020 Master Facilities Advisory Team — finished. • Pacific Power Customer Advisory Board — Eliminate Yakima Sunfair, Inc. — Eliminate It was suggested that the remaining committees be put under Outside Boards and Commissions rather than categorized "By Invitation ". APPOINTMENTS CITY OF YAKIMA COUNCIL COMMITTEES The next task of the Council was to assign Council designates for each committee: Public Safety — Johnson/Edler /Lover, Alt Ensey Economic Development Committee — Cawley /McClure /Ensey, Alt Coffey Intergovernmental Committee — Edler/Johnson/McClure, Alt: Ensey Budget Committee- Cawley /Coffey/McClure, Alt: Lover Downtown Yakima Futures Initiative Oversight Committee — Johnson/Coffey /Ensey, Alt: McClure Neighborhood Development Committee — Ensey /Coffey /McClure, Alt: Cawley Transit/Transportation Planning Committee — McClure /Cawley /Ensey, Alt Lover Aquatics Task Force — Edler /Coffey, Alt McClure (Moved under Outside Agency) Stormwater Task Force — McClure /Lover (Moved under Outside Agency) Rules & Procedures Committee — Johnson/Cawley/McClure, Alt: Lover 7 JANUARY 26, 2008 - ADJOURNED MEETING COUNCIL STRATEGIC PLANNING REVIEW WORKSHOP �J Labor Management Committee — Lover / Edler Hearing Examiner Review Committee — Edler /Cawley Strategic Priorities/Mission & Vision Committee — Coffey /Cawley / Edler, Alt: McClure COUNCIL NOMINATING COMMITTEE FOR APPOINTMENTS TO BOARDS, COMMISSIONS, AND COMMITTEES Cawley /McClure /Johnson, Alt Coffey OUTSIDE BOARDS /COMMITTEES /COMMISSIONS YVCOG (Membership) — Lover, Alt: McClure YVCOG (Executive Board) —Johnson County -Wide Planning Policy Committee — Johnson/Edler/McClure (same as the Intergovernmental Committee) Joint Board for Urban Area Planning —Edler /McClure Alt: Lover — (potential overlap with the Intergovernmental Committee) Local Emergency Planning Committee: Edler Yakima Basin Fish & Wildlife Planning Board — McClure, Alt: Cawley Regional Stormwater Policy Group — McClure/ Lover Intergovernmental Fire Service Committee — McClure /Cawley TRANS -Action — Johnson/Edler Union Gap /City of Yakima Intergovernmental Committee — McClure /Cawley, Alt: Ensey Yakima County Solid Waste Advisory Committee — Lover Yakima Basin Joint Board — Lover Yakima Basin Water Resource Agency — Lover, Alt: McClure Aquatics Feasibility Study Committee — Edler /Coffey, Alt: McClure Westside Merchants Assoc — Edler, Alt: Johnson Downtown Parking Commission — Lover E 40 JANUARY 26, 2008 - ADJOURNED MEETING COUNCIL STRATEGIC PLANNING REVIEW WORKSHOP (being formed) Sports Commission Subcommittee — Coffey, Alt: Lover Front Street Merchants — McClure /Johnson Lodging Tax Advisory Committee — Coffey Morelia Sister City Committee — Johnson Yakima Air Terminal Board — Edler, Alt: Lover Public Facilities District — Coffey /Johnson ONDS - Combined with Neighborhood Development Police Athletic League — Will check to see if there is a requirement Harman Center Board — Cawley Parks & Recreation Liaison - Eliminate HoteVMotel Commission/TPA — Johnson, Alt Coffey Commercial Revitalization Deduction Board — Lover MAYOR STIPULATED Yakama Nation Community Contribution Committee — Johnson, Alt: Edler Chamber of Commerce Board — Edler Fire Relief Pension Board — Johnson Board for Volunteer Firefighters — Johnson/Lover Board for Volunteer Police — Johnson/Lover Police Relief Pension Board — Johnson Yakima Valley Emergency Services Exec Bd, 911 Admin. Board, and EMS = Emergency Medical Services Committee — Edler, Alt Cawley JANUARY 26, 2008 - ADJOURNED MEETING COUNCIL STRATEGIC PLANNING REVIEW WORKSHOP BY INVITATION (all moved to Outside Boards) Capitol Theatre Board — Coffey Yakima Clean Air Authority Board — Lover, Alt: McClure. Yakima Valley Visitors and Convention Board of Directors — Johnson, Alt: Coffey SunDome Advisory Committee — Edler, Alt: McClure Supporting Investments in Economic Diversification Board (SIED) — Lover Yakima Greenway Foundation — McClure, Alt: Ensey YCDA Board of Directors — McClure YVCF -CAC (Yakima Valley Community Foundation Community Advisory Committee — CAC) — Edler Mayor Edler recommended Council members take the opportunity to get involved in AWC committees. LOVER MOVED AND ENSEY SECONDED TO HAVE ALL CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEES THAT MEET ON A MONTHLY SCHEDULE RECORDED AND TELEVISED BY YPAC. Council Member Lover said it would allow citizens, and Council members that are not on the committee, the opportunity to get the information without having to wait for the minutes. During discussion, Council member Ensey agreed. Council Member McClure expressed concern that holding meetings in the Council Chambers is too formal and discourages free flowing discussions. Randy Beehler said, if it was limited to just a few committees and they were conducted in the Chambers, YPAC should be able to support them. The question rose about costs associated with equipping other conference rooms in City Hall with cameras. Randy gave a rough estimate of $40- 50,000 to do one. JOHNSON MOVED AND McCLURE SECONDED TO POSTPONE THE DISCUSSION UNTIL IT IS DETERMINED WHAT IT WOULD COST TO EQUIP BOTH THE UPSTAIRS AND DOWNSTAIRS CONFERENCE ROOMS Council Member Coffey suggested asking the television stations if they have surplus equipment the City could purchase. The motion carried by a 43 roll call vote; Cawley, Ensey and Lover voting nay. 5. Challenges & Opportunities City Manager Zais suggested the Council members review the challenges and opportunities material, outside of this meeting, and identify the items as "Highest" and "High" priorities. LOVER MOVED AND JOHNSON SECONDED TO DEVOTE A STUDY SESSION TO ACCOMPLISH THIS RANKING. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote. 10 • • • • JANUARY 26, 2008 -ADJOURNED MEETING COUNCIL STRATEGIC PLANNING REVIEW WORKSHOP 6. Adjoumment ENSEY MOVED AND CAWLEY SECONDED TO ADJOURN TO JANUARY29, 2008 AT 8:00 A.M. FOR A STUDY SESSION ON PARKS AND RECREATION: The motion carried by unanimous voice vote. The meeting adjoumed at 3:14 p.m. READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE BY ATTEST: CITY CLERK COUNCIL MEMBER DATE COUNCIL MEMBER DATE DAVID EDLER, MAYOR Minutes prepared by Linda Watkins. An audio tape of this meeting is available in the City Clerk's Office 11