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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 2010-09-14 SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES �� °?x �% CITY COUNCIL , r r _ OF THE CITY OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO `4i F P.O. Box 711 (City Hall, 400 Grand Avenue) South San Francisco, California 94083 Meeting to be held at: CITY HALL LARGE CONFERENCE ROOM 400 GRAND AVENUE SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2010 6:00 P.M. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, pursuant to Section 54956 of the Government Code of the State of California, the City Council of the City of South San Francisco will hold a Special Meeting on Tuesday, the 14 day of September, 2010, at 6:00 p.m., at City Hall, in the Large Conference Room, 400 Grand Ave, South San Francisco, California. Purpose of the meeting: 1. Call to Order Time: 6:04 p.m. 2. Roll Call. Present: Councilmemebers Garbarino, Gonzalez, Matsumoto, Vice Mayor Mullin and Mayor Addiego Absent: None 3. Agenda Review. No changes 4. Public Comments — comments are limited to items on the Special Meeting Agenda. None. 5. Study Session: Five (5) Year Budget Realignment Plan. Cit Manager Nagel began staff report and noted talks with the Budget Subcommittee about the issues and budget forecast ahead. Staff identified the need to realign $5.0 -$6.0 million annually in order to: (1) add back roughly $1 million per year in annual deferred maintenance costs, (2) reinvest in an annual Capital Improvement Plan ( "CIP ") of approximately $1 million to sustain facilities and infrastructure over time, and (3) provide for CalPers cost increase of roughly $3 million previously mentioned. This evening, staff would be looking at and identifying core services for each department in order to prioritize whether costs are mandated or more discretionary, clarify the impact of City services, and indicate if there are alternative options for providing these services (i.e. by other levels of government, private sector, consolidation with other cities or outsourcing). Feed back and direction from Council was needed to proceed. Department heads were there to give 15 minute presentations on the services in question. Mayor Addiego asked what year was the high water mark fiscally in terms of revenue for the City. Director Steele responded the FY of 2007/2008. Mayor Addiego noted that had also corresponded with a high water mark for fees. Councilwoman Matsumoto questioned the $5 million/5 year target. What was the thought on where the money should come from? Manager Nagel stated the sources could vary and CalPers expenses would definitely hit 2 -3 years from now. The City had to be mindful. Do some cuts have to be phased in? Should we lose employees through attrition or lay offs? As for services, do we start raising fees now? At least $1 million worth of starters were needed for the next fiscal year. Vice Mayor Mullin noted the revenue side of equation would have to be addressed. On going revenue discussions were out there, but right now we are just looking at operations. Department heads presented summaries of the core services offered by their departments. FIRE DEPARTMENT — Fire Chief, Phil White, prioritized the department's core services between one and three within the divisions of Fire Administration, Training, Fire Suppression and Stations, Emergency Medical Services ( "EMS "), Fire Prevention/Code Enforcement, and Disaster Preparedness. The Chief gave a brief description of each division's functions, how they are interrelated, which are and are not mandated and alternative options to provide their functions. Options discussed included looking into a master or multi -city purchasing agreement or purchasing through a Joint Powers Agreement ( "JPA "), eliminating Basic Life Support services ( "BLS "), and elimination of CERT funding. POLICE DEPARTMENT — Chief of Police Mike Massoni prioritized the department's core services between one (1) and five (5) within the divisions of Operations and Services, and Administration. Operations and Services included uniformed and investigating patrols, the biggest part of the budget. K9 and Traffic units were also significant numbers. Elimination of programs would not show significant savings as officers would not be eliminated, but duties would be shifted. Elimination of K9 unit would also net little savings as again, officers would not be eliminated and they make up the majority of the budget for that. Lowest ranking items listed were the K9 program, Police Service Technicians, Detentions Services and Police Reserves. Chief Massoni explained the functions performed by the various positions /programs and noted their elimination would present more of a quality of life issue. PARKS AND RECREATION — Parks and Recreation Director Sharon Ranals prioritized the department's core services between one (1) and five (5) within the divisions of Facilities, Parks, Commons Greens, and Recreation. Options discussed included cutting some recreational SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING SEPTEMBER 14, 2010 MINUTES PAGE 2 programs as well as deferring some responsibilities, such as tree maintenance, back to the homeowner, increasing fees for co- sponsored sport teams and keeping fees for other activities competitive. Outsourcing some Common Greens functions was discussed as well. PUBLIC WORKS — Public Works Director, Terry White prioritized the department's core services between one (1) and five (5) within the divisions of Garage, Signs, Electrical and Paints, Storm and Sewers, and Street Maintenance. When came to the water treatment plant, 99.9% of it is mandated by the state. Director White wanted to know where the focus should be directed. Lowest on the list of priorities were: street clean up crew, graffiti removal, street closures for special events or emergencies, stairs and ADA ramp installations, special projects such as statue installations. Alternatives suggested to provide the services listed included contracting out the services, researching volunteer programs and denying or deferring certain requests. HUMAN RESOURCES — Human Resources Director, Kathy Mount noted most functions in the department are mandated or required. Alternatives offered to performing/providing services included: contracting out, shifting duties to less experienced and less expensive employees, rethinking the municipal code that requires the Personnel Board and eliminating employee recognition events. Director Mount noted eliminating events would have a minimal impact and noted the lack of a holiday party in the years past. Vice Mayor Mullin felt employee recognition events contributed to morale. FINANCE — Finance Director, Jim Steele prioritized the department's core services between one (1) and seven (7). Those services deemed not critical included: paying bills weekly rather than biweekly, processing new business licenses after annex departments review and approve businesses, periodically picking up documents in storage for departments and delivering and picking up the mail for departments. Alternatives included contracting out mail service, having departments retrieve their own records, and relaying all business licensing functions to annex staff. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY — Director of Information Technology, Doug Hollis prioritized the department's core services between one (1) and five (5) within the divisions Operations, External Services and Geographical Information Systems ( "GIS "). Savings options involving telephone service, equipment, server consolidation, and carrying costs were discussed. LIBRARY — Library Director, Valerie Sommer prioritized the department's core services between one (1) and five (5) within the divisions Main Library operations, Grand Library operations, literacy services, and administrative and technical services. Director Sommer noted there had already been a lot of cuts made to the library budget, most notably through a reduction of library hours by 22 hours per week. Council appreciated the library greatly but felt, while Project Read and the Learning Center were commendable and something for the City to be proud of they were not sure if they could be considered core services. Council asked for Director Sommer to come back with further information and statistics as to the services provided, demographics served and alternatives available for these services. Economic and Community Development ( "ECD ") — Director of Economic and Community Development, Marty Van Duyn prioritized the department's core services between one (1) and five (5) within the divisions of Planning and Building. Explaining each of the division's functions, he noted the majority were mandated and required by law. Council expressed concern SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING SEPTEMBER 14, 2010 MINUTES PAGE 3 over the services shared between Code Enforcement and the Building Department. Residents often find the process of obtaining permits or clearing citations cumbersome and confusing. Streamlining of services and policies needed to be examined and could result in substantial savings. Director Van Duyn agreed there could be some savings in the shifting of functions without the denigration of service. Discussion of the elimination or modification of some of the Boards and Commissions was held however, Director Van Duyn felt the Design and Review Board should not be eliminated. Vice Mayor Mullin felt the boards and commission were useful and served functionality, but heard differently expressed from some of the Program Directors. Changes to the Board and Commissions could be explored. 6. Adjournment. Being no further business, Mayor Addiego adjourned the meeting at 9:41 p.m. Submitted by: Approved by: 0 Anna M. Brown evin Mullin Deputy City Clerk, City of South San Francisco Mayor, City of South San Francisco SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING SEPTEMBER 14, 2010 MINUTES PAGE 4