Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-17-1998 Minutes -- MINUTES MAYOR AND COMMON COUNCIL AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO JOINT SPECIAL MEETING JUNE 17, 1998 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AGENCY BOARD ROOM NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Mayor and Common Council of the City of San Bernardino have called a joint special meeting of the Mayor and Common Council and Community Development Commission for 9:00 a.m., Wednesday, June 17, 1998, in the Economic Development Agency Board Room, 201 North "E" Street, San Bernardino, California. The purpose for which deliberation, discussion, and year 1998/99 budget. this meeting was called was for possible action regarding the fiscal The joint special meeting of the Mayor and Common Council and Community Development Commission was called to order by Mayor Valles at 9:03 a.m., Wednesday, June 17, 1998, in the Economic Development Agency Board Room. ROLL CALL Roll call was taken by Deputy City Clerk Medina with the following being present: Mayor Valles; Council Members Lien, Schnetz, Devlin, Anderson, Miller; Deputy City Clerk Medina, City Administrator Wilson. Absent: Council Members Estrada, Arias; City Attorney Penman. BUDGET DELIBERATIONS - FISCAL YEAR 1998/99 - DISCUSS/ POSSIBLE ACTION (1) City Administrator Wilson stated that during today's meeting, staff would be reporting on various issues and concerns raised by the Council at previous meetings. Capital Improvement Plan Michael Hays, Acting Director of Public Works/City Engineer, distributed draft copies of the City's five-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), stating that Gene Klatt, Assistant City Engineer, Public Works Department, would present an overview of the plan and answer questions regarding same. 1 6/17/1998 SENIOR ASSISTANT CITY ATTORNEY CARLYLE ARRIVED At 9:06 a.m., Senior Assistant City Attorney Carlyle arrived at the Council meeting and took his place at the conference table. Gene Klatt, Assistant City Engineer, stated that the City has had a Capital Improvement Plan in place since 1975/76 and provided an overview of the plan, particularly in the area of streets and street lighting. He explained that a project must have an anticipated life of more than five years and cost more than $50,000 to be included in the plan. Mr. Klatt explained how projects and funding sources are identified and provided information on the street improvement projects being proposed for fiscal year 1998/99. SENIOR ASSISTANT CITY ATTORNEY CARLYLE EXCUSED At 9:31 a.m., Senior Assistant City Attorney Carlyle was excused from the conference table and replaced by City Attorney Penman. Charter Section 186 Ed Raya, Acting Director of Personnel, made an overhead presentation and distributed information regarding police and fire salary benchmarks for years 1993 through 1997. He explained that although 44 cities are actually surveyed when determining safety personnel increases, for today's presentation staff had included the following seven cities because they either have mandated increases or demographics similar to San Bernardino: Garden Grove, Irvine, Ontario, Pomona, Simi Valley, Sunnyvale, and Oxnard. City Attorney Penman pointed out that many cities have a number of litigations relative to labor activities; and to his knowledge, San Bernardino has had only one such litigation, which involved benefits. He stated that if the City was not governed by the mandates of Charter Section 186, it was very likely that the amount of money the City could lose on legal fees would equal or exceed the amount of the mandated salary increases. COUNCIL MEMBER ESTRADA ARRIVED At 10:18 a.m., Council Member Estrada arrived at the Council meeting and took her place at the conference table. Discussion ensued regarding the fact that public safety takes approximately 70 percent of the budget in almost all cities, and that San Bernardino citizens have ranked public safety as one of their number one priorities/concerns. It was the consensus of the Mayor and Council that they also have an obligation to be fair in compensating the general employees, including management and mid-management; and that an aggressive plan is needed to develop resources through revenue generating strategies to meet this obligation. 2 6/17/1998 RECESS MEETING At 10:22 a.m., Mayor Valles declared a five-minute recess. RECONVENE At 10:39 meeting of the Commission. MEETING a.m., Mayor Valles reconvened the joint special Mayor and Common Council and Community Development ROLL CALL Roll call was taken by Deputy City Clerk Medina with the following being present: Mayor Valles; Council Members Estrada, Schnetz, Devlin, Anderson, Miller; City Attorney Penman, Deputy City Clerk Medina, City Administrator Wilson. Absent: Council Members Lien, Arias. BUDGET DELIBERATIONS - FISCAL YEAR 1998/99 - DISCUSS/ POSSIBLE ACTION (1) City Administrator Wilson stated that at the last meeting the budget deficit had been $2,006,000. Since that time, however, maintenance of the Carousel Mall had been added in the amount of $330,000, equating to a total budget deficit of $2,336,000. Mr. Wilson stated that the Master Services Agreement between the City and the Economic Development Agency (EDA) was for $2.6 million; however, the City would assume $730,000 of this amount during fiscal year 1998/99. He also explained that the City Attorney's Office would be assuming certain general attorney duties currently performed by EDA Special Counsel Timothy Sabo. This would necessitate the hiring of one additional Deputy City Attorney I and one additional Legal Secretary I in the City Attorney's Office for a total cost of $136,400. The source of funding for these additional positions would come from the Liability Fund ($100,000) and from the Economic Development Agency ($36,400). City Attorney Penman noted that in the past, general counsel work had been done by Special Counsel Sabo at a much higher rate than what it would cost the City Attorney's Office to do the work. The following matters were discussed and considered as possible revenue enhancement measures: City Alarm Ordinance - Enact Annual Alarm Permit Fees Wayne Harp, Assistant Chief of Police, submitted a memorandum dated June 15, 1998, regarding the City's alarm ordinance. As noted in the memorandum, the City currently has authority in the ordinance to collect an annual alarm permit fee; however, the fee has not been collected since 1992 due to a change in the resolution which describes fees and fines for alarms. 3 6/17/1998 Discussion ensued regarding re-establishment of the annual alarm permit fee at a rate of $15 per residential system and $25 per commercial system, which would generate approximately $160,000 in revenue based on 8,000 permitted alarm systems. (Note: Al though Police Department records indicate 15,563 total alarm permits have been issued, it is impossible to determine how many of these are active.) Council also discussed the false alarm fee. Police Chief Dean advised that a residence or business is allowed three false alarm calls per year, and a $50 fine is assessed for each false alarm thereafter. Council expressed some concern with this practice, especially for residents with lower incomes. It was suggested that possibly the false alarm fee could be eliminated, and the annual alarm permit fee increased to offset the loss in revenue. Chief Dean stated that if the alarm permitting program was approved by the Council, he was requesting an additional employee to help administer the program. Council Member Anderson made a motion, seconded by Council Member Miller, to accept the police department recommendation for annual alarm permit fees of $15 for residential systems and $25 for commercial systems, and to leave the false alarm fine at $50 after the first three alarms. (Note: There was no vote taken.) ~ Discussion continued regarding the amount of the fees, whether to supplant the false alarm fine with higher annual permit fees, and the amount of projected revenue. Council Member Devlin expressed opposition to re-establishing the annual alarm permit fee, stating that it was not business friendly. Chief Dean suggested that staff could hold the false alarm fine in abeyance for one year, but continue to track the number of calls, possibly with some sort of notification after the third call. Council Member Devlin made a substitute motion, seconded by Council Member Miller, and unanimously carried, that the matter regarding enactment of an annual alarm permit fee be referred to the Legislative Review Committee. Citv Franchise Fee for Police Initiated Towinq/Storaqe Services Barbara Pachon, Director of Finance, submitted a memorandum dated June 16, 1998, regarding charging a City impound/franchise fee to tow operators for police initiated towing/storage services. 4 6/17/1998 City Administrator Wilson stated that there were three options available, and reviewed each option as outlined in Ms. Pachon's memorandum. Mayor Valles stated that the City was losing potential revenue by not addressing this matter. She pointed out that the $50 fee now collected by the City comes from the owner of the vehicle; however, the City is providing a source of income to six towing companies and getting nothing from them in return. Mayor Valles requested the City Attorney's Office to provide copies of the contracts the City has with the towing companies to each Council member, stating that she would like the matter referred to the Legislative Review Committee. Council Member Miller made a motion, seconded by Council Member Anderson, that the matter regarding establishment of a City franchise fee for police initiated towing/storage services be referred to the Legislative Review Committee. Council Member Anderson removed her second for purposes of discussion, and the motion failed for lack of a second. Council Member Schnetz stated that he had been contacted by a couple of the towing companies after they had read in the paper that the Council might be considering changes to their contracts. It was agreed that nobody wanted to place undue hardship on the towing companies, but wanted to meet with them in good faith to discuss this matter. Council Member Miller made a motion, seconded by Council Member Anderson, and unanimously carried, that the matter regarding establishment of a City franchise fee for police initiated towing/storage services be referred to the Legislative Review Committee. Consolidation of Personnel & Risk Manaqement Departments Edward Raya, Acting Director of Personnel, submitted a staff report dated June 11, 1998, regarding consolidation of the Personnel and Risk Management Departments, and presented an overview of the recommended changes, which would result in a projected savings of $99,028. Council Member Estrada made a motion, seconded by Council Member Miller, and unanimously carried, that the matter be referred to the Personnel Committee. 5 6/17/1998 Consolidation of Planninq and Buildinq Services &: Public Works Departments Edward Raya, Acting Director of Personnel, submitted a staff report dated June 16, 1998, regarding the proposed consolidation of the Planning and Building Services and Public Works Departments. Michael Hays, Acting Director of Public Works/City Engineer, itemized the proposed changes in the Planning and Building Services and Public Works Departments, which would result in a savings of $105,223. Finance Department Reorqanization Barbara Pachon, Director of Finance, submitted a staff report dated June 16, 1998, and presented an overview of the proposed changes in the Finance Department, which would result in a savings of $47,700. Citv Administrator's Office Edward Raya, Acting Director of Personnel, submitted a staff report dated June 16, 1998, regarding the reorganization of the City Administrator's Office. Fred Wilson, City Administrator, reviewed highlights of the proposed reorganization of the City Administrator's Office, which would result in a savings of $10,000. Council Member Devlin made a motion, seconded by Council Member Miller, and unanimously carried, that the consolidation of the Planning and Building Services and Public Works Departments, and the reorganizations of the Finance Department and the City Administrator's Office be referred to the Personnel Committee. ADJOURNMENT (2) At 11:55 a.m., the joint special meeting of the Mayor and Common Council and Community Development Commission was adjourned to 9:00 a.m., Tuesday, June 23, 1998, in the Economic Development Agency Board Room, 201 North "E" Street, San Bernardino, California. RACHEL G. CLARK City Clerk By 4d:-Half::P Deputy City Clerk No. of Items: 2 No. of Hours: 3 6 6/17/1998