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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-31-1997 Minutes MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING MAYOR AND COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO SPECIAL MEETING MARCH 31, 1997 COUNCIL CHAMBERS NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Mayor and Common Council of the City of San Bernardino have called a special meeting of the Mayor and Common Council for 9:00 a.m., Monday, March 31, 1997, in the Council Chambers of City Hall, 300 North "D" Street, San Bernardino, California. The purpose for which this meeting was called was to discuss and consider proposed budget alternatives to Measure S. The special meeting of the Mayor and Common Council was called to order by Mayor Minor at 9:04 a.m., Monday, March 31, 1997, in the Council Chambers of City Hall. ROLL CALL Roll call was taken by City Clerk Rachel Clark with the following being present: Mayor Minor; Council Members Negrete, Curlin, Arias, Oberhelman, Devlin, Anderson, Miller; City Attorney Penman, City Clerk Rachel Clark, Acting City Administrator Wilson. Absent: None. PUBLIC COMMENTS - CHERYL BROWN Cheryl Brown, 1626 Pennsylvania Street, San Bernardino, CA, questioned how a facility for the behaviorally and mentally challenged could be established at the corner of 16th Street and Medical Center Drive without any of the surrounding residents receiving notification. She questioned how this was advertised and asked for a meeting between the Council and residents of the area. City Attorney Penman stated that this is a facility established by the state, and the state passed a law that prohibits cities from having any impact on where this type of facility is located. PUBLIC COMMENTS - NORMA ARCHIE Norma Archie, 1902 West 15th Street, San Bernardino, CA, expressed her displeasure at the proposed half-way house at 16th Street and Medical Center Drive. 1 3/31/1997 DISCUSS/CONSIDER MEASURE S PROPOSED BUDGET ALTERNATIVES TO (1) Fred Wilson, Acting City Administrator, Report dated March 25, 1997, regarding alternatives to Measure S. submitted a Staff proposed funding The following individuals spoke regarding the budget: Mrs. Willie Duran, 2325 North Osbun Road, #15, San Bernardino, CA, opposed cutting any senior programs and suggested other alternatives. Susan Lien, 1833 Kenwood Avenue, San Bernardino, CA, urged the Council to use reason and sound judgment, and to conduct audits of the Fire and Police Departments before rushing into anything. Jack President will lose Hill, 1033 West Tenth Street, San Bernardino, CA, of the Library Board of Trustees, stated that the library subsidies from the state if drastic cuts are made. Bill Rogers, 1482 East Davidson Street, San Bernardino, CA, spoke in opposition to selling the refuse service and denounced guaranteed pay raises for police and fire personnel. Gary Kirby, 1505 Yardley Street, San Bernardino, CA, suggested that the City stop subsidizing community activities and waiving fees for various organizations, and that the automatic pay raises for police and fire personnel be suspended for three years. Bob Miller, Vice President of Programs, Easter Seal Society, 241 East Ninth Street, San Bernardino, CA, expressed opposition to cuts in the Telecommunications Division. Heck Thomas, 600 West Fifth Street, San Bernardino, CA, Chairman, RSVP Advisory Council, requested that the Council consider the impact of budget cuts on the seniors. Michelle Boso, 1937 Mallory Street, San Bernardino, CA, Vice President, Advisory Board for Delmann Heights Community Center, spoke in opposition to closing the community centers. Roberta Chavez, 252 South K Street, San Bernardino, CA, spoke against closing the community/senior centers. Harold Duffy, 5028 Wyche Court, San Bernardino, that youth are our future and spoke in opposition to libraries and senior/community centers. CA, stated closing the 2 3/31/1997 Elliott Livingston, property owner of 1473 East Davidson Street, San Bernardino, CA, stated he supported adequate and affordable police and fire services; however, he was in favor of eliminating automatic, guaranteed pay raises for fire and police personnel as dictated by Charter Section 186. Pete Pasquale, President, Neighborhood Improvement Association, stated that he worked for the passage of Measure S; however, it was now time to sit down and converse with the other side and look at cutting the fat out of the police and fire budgets. Cheryl Brown, 1626 Pennsylvania Street, San Bernardino, CA, spoke against unwise spending, stating that if Measure S was specifically for fire and police, why are these other budget cuts being recommended. She spoke in opposition to deleting Telecommunications and the youth/senior programs. Skip Kulikoff, President, San Bernardino Firefighters Association, congratulated those who won in their efforts against Measure S. He stated that he would like to see a task force of paid fire professionals, Howard Duffy, and Tim Prince to determine the level of service those who were opposed to Measure S want to see for the city. Robert Rego, 853-A Lynwood Drive, San Bernardino, CA, stated that everyone needs to look forward and work together to form citizen committees to work on and review the budget. He stated that a special meeting was scheduled to be held at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 23, at Joe's Country Corner in Devore and invited everyone to participate in this effort to move forward together. Angel, a resident of West Congress Street in San Bernardino, asked the Council not to close the community centers. Patrick, a local student, 745 Manchester Avenue, San Bernardino, CA, asked the Council to keep the centers open. Acting City Administrator Wilson presented an overview of the projected fiscal year 1997-98 budget, stating that the City is faced with a projected budget deficit of $7.2 million. He explained some of the causes for the deficit including the loss of the cemetery sale and the end of Assessment District No. 994. He stated that all departments have been instructed to submit proposed budgets which include a 5 percent reduction overall. It was also noted that .5 percent of the current utility tax, which provides $800,000 to the City, must be put to a vote of the people. Administrator Wilson outlined three options currently being considered which would potentially close some of the budget gap, as follows: 3 3/31/1997 1. Propose a new maintenance assessment district to fund street sweeping, traffic signal maintenance, street lighting, and graffiti abatement. 2. Make significant reductions in City services such as eliminating the Telecommunications Division; reducing library funding; closing all community centers, senior centers, and the Center for Individuals with Disabilities; eliminate funding for crossing guards, Little League ball field lights, and fee waivers for nonprofit organizations; and reduce funding for certain civic and promotional events. 3. Privatize City services such as the police records bureau and dispatch, park maintenance, refuse collection, cemetery operations, etc. Mayor Minor announced that he had asked City Attorney Penman to look into possible privatization of the refuse operations, and he had asked Acting City Administrator Wilson to explore how much it would cost to get out of the ambulance service at this time. Discussion ensued regarding the options presented to the Council to facilitate balancing the budget. Council Member Curlin stated that the Council needed to take a broad and detailed view of the suggested recommendations and employ due diligence in making the budget decisions. It was suggested that an ad hoc committee be formed to perform an in-depth review and study. Council Member Curlin made a motion, seconded by Council Member Arias, that consideration of these items be continued to the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Mayor and Council on April 7,1997. Council Member Arias removed her second. The motion failed for lack of a second. Council Member Arias stated she had reservations about privatizing some of the services mentioned in Option No.3. Council Member Negrete stated he wanted to go on record as saying that before he would vote to curtail any public services, he would do everything within his power to find other ways of balancing the budget. Council Member Oberhelman commended Mayor Minor for calling the meeting and stated he hoped it would be just the first of many meetings to allow time to get dialogue started. He stated it was time to reinvent government; that there were many avenues which could be used to initiate dialogue, including the idea of a Blue .- 4 3/31/1997 Ribbon Citizen's Committee. He stated he would support continuance of all three motions on the agenda after everyone had an opportunity to address the issue. City Attorney Penman stated that the first thing which needed to be done was to have the Finance Director available to answer some questions. He stated that there needed to be a detailed questioning of Finance and Administration. He added that the City Attorney's Office could save approximately $83,000 and will be making a 10 percent cut this year. Faye Rodgers stated she is probably the most ardent of the senior citizens and asked the Council to keep in mind that to cut successful programs like the Library, Telecommunications, and senior programs is almost as bad as having the fire crews arrive late to a fire. She urged the Council to deliberate long and hard before generating any cuts. Mayor Minor noted that the 5 percent budget cuts required of each department would take care of approximately $2 million of the deficit. He also pointed out that Charter Section 186 has been around for approximately 40 years, and three attempts to remove it have failed miserably. He stated that even if Council started today to begin removal of Section 186, it could not be done in time to be used for this year's budget cuts. Council Member Devlin made a motion, seconded by Council Member Miller, that staff be directed to develop budget reduction alternatives in the amount of $4.3 million (this is in addition to the $2.9 million that will be reduced from the FY 1997-98 budget based on the mid-year budget report); and that the Acting City Administrator be directed to pursue the feasibility of privatization of city services that are outlined in the attached Staff Report from Acting City Administrator Fred Wilson, dated March 25, 1997, and instruct the Director of Personnel to meet with the appropriate bargaining units to discuss staffing considerations and impact on jobs performed by bargaining unit employees. Council Members Curlin and Arias both stated that they could not support the motion as stated. Council Member Negrete made a substitute motion, seconded by Council Member Curlin, that the matter be continued for two weeks, with information coming forth as soon as possible from staff, and the Mayor to call meetings of the Council whenever necessary and as often as possible to achieve the budget objectives. The substitute motion failed by the following vote: Council Members Negrete, Curlin, Arias. Nays: Council Oberhelman, Devlin, Anderson, Miller. Absent: None. Ayes: Members 5 3/31/1997 Council Member Oberhelman made a motion, seconded by Council Member Curlin, that the Mayor appoint a Blue Ribbon Commission consisting of a representative from the Mayor's Office, a representative from the City Council staff, eight members selected at large--one selected by the Mayor and one by each Council Member, and one from each of the five labor bargaining units; and that all three items be continued to the Mayor and Council meeting of April 21, 1997; and that the commission be formed and formally appointed at the Mayor and Council meeting of April 21, 1997. (Note: The motion was subsequently divided.) Discussion continued, including comments from the audience, regarding how much time would be lost in appointing a committee and continuing the recommended motions, the composition of the committee, and the fact that there should be a member on the committee from both the pro and con factions of Measure S. It was also noted that this should probably be an ad hoc committee, since commissions usually have on-going existence. Council Member Oberhelman made a substitute motion that the Mayor appoint a Blue Ribbon Commission consisting of a representative from the Mayor's Office, a representative from the City Council's staff, eight members selected at large--one selected by the Mayor and one by each Council Member, one from each of the five labor bargaining units, and one each from both the pro and con factions of Measure S; and that all three items be continued to the Mayor and Council meeting of April 21, 1997. r- The motion failed for lack of a second. Council Member Devlin stated that he did not want to vote for continuance of the items, and it was suggested that the formation of the committee be voted on separately from the continuation of the items. Council Member Oberhelman made a motion, seconded by Council Member Curlin, and unanimously carried, that the Mayor appoint a Blue Ribbon Commission consisting of a representative from the Mayor's Office, a representative from the City Council's staff, eight members selected at large--one selected by the Mayor and one by each Council Member, and one representative from each bargaining unit, as follows: General, Management -Confidential, Mid- Management, Fire Fighters Local 891, and San Bernardino Police Officers' Association; and that the committee be formed and formally appointed at the Mayor and Council meeting of April 21, 1997. 6 3/31/1997 Council Member Devlin made a motion, seconded by Council Member Oberhelman, to table Motion #1 on the agenda to authorize the Director of Public Works to proceed with the establishment of a city-wide assessment district for the purpose of funding street lighting, street sweeping, traffic signal maintenance, and graffiti abatement. The motion carried by the following vote: Ayes: Members Negrete, Curlin, Arias, Oberhelman, Devlin, Nays: Council Member Miller. Absent: None. Council Anderson. Council Member Devlin made a motion, seconded by Council Member Miller, that staff be directed to develop budget reduction alternatives in the amount of $4.3 million. This is in addition to the $2.9 million that will be reduced from the FY 1997-98 budget based on the mid-year budget report. Council Member Arias made a substitute motion, seconded by Council Member Oberhelman, that staff be directed to develop budget reduction alternatives. The substitute motion carried by the following vote: Ayes: Council Members Negrete, Curlin, Arias, Oberhelman, Devlin, Miller. Nays: Council Member Anderson. Absent: None. ~ Council Member Curlin made a motion, seconded by Council Member Oberhelman, and unanimously carried, to reconsider the previous action taken that the Mayor appoint a Blue Ribbon Commission consisting of a representative from the Mayor's Office, a representative from the City Council's staff, eight members selected at large- -one selected by the Mayor and one by each Council Member, and one representative from each bargaining unit, as follows: General, Management-Confidential, Mid-Management, Fire Fighters Local 891, San Bernardino Police Officers' Association; and that the commission be formed and formally appointed at the Mayor and Council meeting of April 21, 1997. Council Member Oberhelman made a motion, seconded by Council Member Curlin, and unanimously carried, that the Mayor appoint an ad hoc committee consisting of a representative from the Mayor's Office, a representative from the City Council's staff, eight members selected at large--one selected by the Mayor and one by each Council Member, and one representative from each bargaining unit, as follows: General, Management-Confidential, Mid- Management, Fire Fighters Local 891, and San Bernardino Police Officers' Association; and that the committee be formed and formally appointed at the Mayor and Council meeting of April 21, 1997. 7 3/31/1997 Council Member Devlin made a motion, seconded by Council Member Miller, that the Acting City Administrator be directed to pursue the feasibility of privatization of city services. The motion carried by the following vote: Members Arias, Oberhelman, Devlin, Anderson, Council Members Negrete, Curlin. Absent: None. Ayes: Miller. Council Nays: City Attorney Penman stated that last year his office had asked all departments for a list of their mandated programs. He noted that in considering budget reductions, the committee must look at nonmandated programs first. He stated that his office would provide this information to the committee. ADJOURNMENT (2) At 11:54 a.m. the meeting was adjourned. The next regular meeting will be held at 8:00 a.m., April 7, 1997, in the Council Chambers of City Hall, 300 North "D" Street, San Bernardino, California. RACHEL G. CLARK City Clerk By ~/!5d Deputy City Clerk No. of Items: 2 No. of Hours: 3 8 3/31/1997