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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-22-2006 MinutesSan CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO 300 N. `D" Street San Bernardino, CA 92418 Website: www.sbcitv.org MINUTES MAYOR AND COMMON COUNCIL AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO Mayor Patrick J. Morris Council Members: Esther Estrada Dennis Baxter Gordon McGinnis Neil Derry Chas Kelley Rikke Van Johnson Wendy McCammack JOINT ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING MONDAY, MAY 22, 2006 - 5:00 P.M. CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY SAN BERNARDINO 5500 UNIVERSITY PARKWAY FOUNDATION BOARD ROOM SAN BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA This is the time and place designated for a joint adjourned regular meeting of the Mayor and Common Council and Community Development Commission of the City of San Bernardino from the joint regular meeting of the Mayor and Common Council and Community Development Commission held at 1:30 p.m., Monday, May 15, 2006, in the Council Chambers of City Hall, 300 North "D" Street, San Bernardino, California. The City Clerk has caused to be posted the order of adjournment of said meeting held on Monday, May 15, 2006, and has on file in the office of the City Clerk an affidavit of said posting together with a copy of said order which was posted at 12:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 16, 2006, in a conspicuous place on the bulletin board of the place at which said meeting was held. The joint adjourned regular meeting of the Mayor and Common Council and Community Development Commission of the City of San Bernardino was called to order by Mayor/Chairman Morris at 5:06 p.m. Monday, May 22, 2006, in the Foundation Board Room, California State University, San Bernardino, California Roll Call Roll Call was taken by City Clerk Clark with the following being present: Mayor/Chairman Morris; Council Members/Commissioners Estrada, Baxter, McGinnis, Derry, Kelley, Johnson; Sr. Deputy City Attorney Empeno; City Manager Wilson; City Clerk Clark. Absent: Council Member/Commissioner McCammack. 1 05/22/2006 Also present: Assistant to the City Manager Teri Baker; Code Compliance Director Glenn Baude; Police Chief Michael Billdt; Deputy City Attorney III Jolena Grider; Assistant to the Mayor D'Ann Lanning; Mayor's Chief of Staff Jim Morris; Economic Development Agency Executive Director Maggie Pacheco; Director of Finance Barbara Pachon; Fire Chief Larry Pitzer; Director of Parks, Recreation and Community Services Lemuel Randolph; Director of Development Services Valerie Ross; Assistant City Manager Lori Sassoon. COUNCIL MEMBER/COMMISSIONER MC CAMMACK ARRIVED At 5:18 p.m., Council Member/Commissioner McCammack arrived at the workshop. CITY ATTORNEY PENMAN ARRIVED At 5:22 p.m., City Attorney Penman arrived at the workshop. 1. Closed Session The Mayor and Council did not go into closed session even though it was included on the agenda. 2. Workshop - Projected Goals & Priorities Mayor/Chairman Morris stated that he welcomed the opportunity to join the Council to talk about the City's priorities and to talk about setting priorities for the next fiscal year. He thanked Lee Hanson for facilitating the workshop and also thanked Dr. Al Karnig, President of CSUSB, for hosting the event. City Manager Wilson explained that the goal setting process is something management staff has done each year as they put together priorities for the following year. He noted that a lot of advance work was done prior to the workshop, and that he would like for the Mayor and Council to come up with a set of priorities that they all agreed on. City Manager Wilson then called on Lee Hanson to proceed with the workshop. Mr. Hanson explained the process for the workshop. He stated that the priorities were not set in concrete and that anyone could suggest additional priorities that had not already been identified. Dr. Hanson invited the Mayor and Council to identify the goals and objectives that were met for last year and the following were noted: 1. Upscale housing - Watson project across the street from the University 2. Ten new police officers hired in 2005-06 3. Completed General Plan 4. Development at The Hub/Hospitality Lane 5. Sale of Carousel Mall 2 05/22/2006 6. Completion of Lakes EIR 7. I-215/University improvements 8. Wells Fargo building 9. Verdemont development 10. Regional Fire Training Center 11. Three new hotels 12. Rebuilding in Old Fire area 13. Completed first new park in 10 years 14. Ongoing progress at NAFB 15. Old Fire Reports completed 16. DIF update 17. Tear down/relocate Salvation Army 18. Expanded development at University and Kendall 19. Operation Phoenix underway 20. I Bank loan/$10 million in new rehab 21. Pension Obligation Bond issuance 22. Work completed/in progress at Arden Guthrie; development, and expansion of Emmerton School 23. $2 million grants for parks 24. Trail system open 25. Million dollar homes in Verdemont 26. Implementation of new City Charter 27. Expansion of housing in Meadowbrook 28. Completed renovation of California Theatre 29. Progress in Old Towne i.e., demos, new Mr. Hanson then proceeded to review the Preliminary List of the Mayor/ Council's top 10 Priorities and 10 Second -Level Priorities (Blue Sheet). 1. Increase police staffing. Police Chief Billdt stated that an effective police structure has to be built on three components: first, must be response able; second, must be led and managed in such a way that resources are used in an efficient manner to identify ten percenters; third, has to be built on differential police response—must have a structure so that when citizens call you can respond to their needs and that is the Beat Plan. He noted that with the Crime Impact Teams, they have assigned personnel to be proactive in solving crime—there is a collaborative partnership with stakeholders. Chief Billdt stated that he hired three police officers last week and has recommended hiring 14 police officers during the next fiscal year and that will increase sworn staffing level to 326. 3 05/22/2006 Police Chief Billdt then stated the short term strategies he has proposed: a) Need additional officers in the City; b) Have to use officers a little differently in dealing with crime issue. Have to develop strategies to prevent crime from occurring; identify at risk corridors and develop strategies to deal with them; auxiliary motor team and identify areas that are hot spots 2. Focus on job creation, business recruitment and retention. Mayor/Chairman Morris stated that the city is in need of additional infrastructure at the airport, and until we have that in place we will not obtain cargo or passenger carriers. He advised that the runway has to be increased by 1000 feet; and they are also looking at including a fuel farm. The Mayor noted that last week he met with the worlds 4' largest cargo company and they are interested in coming here. That company carries 747s and would require a longer runway, and they cannot locate here until we have an expanded runway. The Mayor noted that LAX will soon max out in terms of passengers and we are next best option. The Mayor stated that we will become the base of operations for the East Valley and high speed rail connections. Councilman Derry noted that one of the reasons DHL did not come to the base here was partly because NAFB was built in the 1940s when we were flying D17s. He stated that Ontario Airport is at 18% capacity and NAFB is poorly positioned because of its nearness to the mountains and nearness to Ontario and LAX. He stated that the military does not care about the proximity to the mountains. Councilman Derry also stated that he believes it will be decades, if ever, that we have any major carrier operating out of NAFB and that we are also competing with March and Victorville. Councilman Kelley stated that we need to be right at the table recruiting businesses. Councilwoman McCammack state that if what Councilman Derry is saying is true, why did we hire Hillwood? Mayor/Chairman Morris responded by saying that LAX is interested in the operations out here and they would love to take over operations of the airport. Councilwoman McCammack stated that a big portion of business retention links directly with code enforcement. She commented that if we are going to retain businesses, we need to put more teeth behind what Code Enforcement is doing. 4 05/22/2006 City Manager Wilson stated that the City is looking into an Enterprise Zone application and putting together a joint application with the County, IVDA, and the City of Colton. 3. Facilitate downtown redevelopment progress (Carousel Mall, 51"/G redevelopment, 4' & E development, etc.) and focus on a cohesive development strategy for the downtown area, including enhancing green space; facilitate the retention of County offices in the City, and the potential development of a new County Justice Center in the downtown area. Director of Development Services Valerie Ross described the projects taking place or that will be taking place. She noted that a new school is proposed to be built in the Meadowbrook area; and the former Hanford Foundry site, between Arrowhead and Sierra Way on Rialto Avenue, is being considered as the site for an incubator. 4. Provide incentives and strategies to promote home ownership, improve rental housing, and reduce the proportion of rental units by encouraging infill housing and apartment to condo conversions. Goal is to create incentives for those who are good landlords. It was noted that 80% of the homes in the Operation Phoenix area are rentals. 5. Move forward with economic development opportunities surrounding the North Lake Project Area. Mayor/Chairman Morris noted that staff had just issued an RFQ to see who would be interested in working with the City on a JPA to develop land surrounding the lake. He stated that we have opened the door to developers. 6. Increase security infrastructure by improving street lighting and installing surveillance cameras on City streets, alleys, and apartment complexes. Mayor/Chairman Morris stated that he would like to see staff research the possibility of abandoning alleyways in older sections of the City. He noted that they have become roots for crime and blight, trash dumping sites, etc. Councilman McGinnis stated that there may be problems with easement rights. Police Chief Billdt suggested that the City look into crime mapping programs to identify the areas most in need of lighting. He also recommended looking into providing citizens with a way of reporting crime on line or by mailing in crime reports. It was noted that I.T. is looking into on-line crime reports. 5 05/22/2006 7. Focus on organizational development (training, succession planning, etc.) to attract and retain quality employees. City Manager Wilson commented that there is a committee looking at a succession program and this is an ongoing effort. 8. Conduct a city-wide organizational review. Consensus was that a top to bottom audit of departments needs to be conducted. City Manager Wilson noted that plans are underway to hire a firm to do the audit. 9. Develop collaborative relationships with the County, SBUSD, and other community partners to address the root causes of crime. Mayor/Chairman Morris stated that this is already taking place and we have partners that span all community services. 10. Improve street conditions through an aggressive capital improvement rp ogram. It was noted that the Governor has four separate bond initiatives and one is for city streets. If the initiatives are approved, we will be entitled to $6.5 million. It was suggested that we may want to consider not borrowing $10 million this year and hopefully have that money to use for local streets. Councilwoman McCammack stated that we should consider borrowing if interest rates are low this year and not have to borrow next year. Mr. Hanson then proceeded to review the second -level priorities listed on the blue sheet. The second -level priorities that have been identified are: 1. Improve development processing. 2. Enhance major entryways to the City. Mayor/Chairman Morris noted that he has talked to the Chamber of Commerce representatives and they are willing to take some responsibility in beautifying one or more of the entryways. Councilwoman Estrada suggested using water features to enhance our entryways. Mayor/Chairman Morris indicated that waterfalls are an interesting idea. The Mayor also noted that he has met with City Engineer Mark Lancaster and they have reviewed the murals that will be on the walls of the 215 Freeway. 6 05/22/2006 3. Develop a Parks Master Plan. It was noted that $200,000 has been allocated for the first update, since 1992, to the Parks Master Plan and it will include a master trail element. 4. Prepare appropriately for potential disasters (earthquakes, etc.). Mayor/Chairman Morris expressed a concern that we have turned a deaf ear to unreinforced masonry buildings. He stated that to ignore this is to expose ourselves to criticism and liability. Councilwoman McCammack stated that we should also be concerned about houses that are unreinforced. Councilwoman Estrada asked how prepared the City is to deal with future disasters. Mayor/Chairman Morris stated that he had met with Chief Pitzer on several occasions, and he believes that we are prepared to deal with future disasters. Chief Pitzer explained that, unlike back East, California has mutual aid response systems in place and we are much more prepared to handle future disasters. 6. Enhance code enforcement. 7. Plan for future financial security by increasing budget reserves. Councilwoman McCammack noted that we not only need to increase budget reserves, we need to be concerned about the City's overall financial condition. Time did not permit discussion on the remaining second -level priorities; however, they were identified as follows: 8. Expand after-school and recreational programs. 9. Develop a 30 -acre retail park in the Verdemont area. 10. Pursue annexations (County islands, Arrowhead Springs). 11. Address unreinforced masonry buildings (URM's). Mr. Hanson then asked Council members to rank their priorities. Following a short break to allow Council members to rank their priorities, Assistant City Manager Sassoon then listed the priorities in the following order as they were ranked by the Mayor and Members of the City Council: COUNCIL MEMBER/COMMISSIONER DERRY EXCUSED At 7:30 p.m, Council Member/Commissioner Derry left the workshop. 7 05/22/2006 • Police staffing - 9 votes • Job creation - 8 votes • Facilitate downtown development - 7 votes • Enhance Code enforcement - 6 votes • Improve development processing - 6 votes • State Street - 6 votes • Organizational review - 5 votes • Promote home ownership - 5 votes • Move forward with economic development - North Lake Project Area - 4 votes • Increase security infrastructure - 4 votes • Improve street conditions - 4 votes Councilwoman McCammack stated that she felt she had been baited and hooked, and that the goals were everyone else's goals. She stated that in her opinion this had been an unproductive goal setting session and that the goals listed were the Mayor's goals as had been listed in his campaign material. Mayor/Chairman Morris responded by saying that these were not necessarily his goals, that the list of priorities had been developed by the City Manager. He stated that everyone had had an opportunity to identify their goals and priorities and everyone had the opportunity to suggest any other priorities that had not already been identified. It was pointed out that State Street was one new priority that, for example, had been identified during the workshop. COUNCIL MEMBER/COMMISSIONER MC CAMMACK EXCUSED At 7:38 p.m, Council Member/Commissioner McCammack left the workshop. Councilman Kelley suggested that in the future we conduct two goal setting workshops for two hours each—that he believed it would work much better in allowing Council members to get their points across. Councilman Kelley stated that he preferred the shorter workshops as opposed to having a half day or full day of workshops. Councilman Baxter stated that this was the first time he had participated in or observed a goal setting session and he saw no instance where someone could not introduce something to the process. Councilwoman Estrada noted that the Council can penalize a Council member's actions if they get out of hand. Mayor/Chairman Morris commented that as a first timer he enjoyed the evening. He felt that the process was empowering and it could have been longer but he thought it was therapeutic. 8 05/22/2006 Councilman Johnson stated that he really enjoyed past workshops where they had an opportunity to sit down with staff in round table groups. Assistant City Manager Lori Sassoon stated that Lee Hanson conducted the process and workshop at no cost to the City. Mayor/Chairman Morris thanked Mr. Hanson for his work. No action was taken during the workshop. 1. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 7:46 p.m. The next joint regular meeting of the Mayor and Common Council/Community Development Commission is scheduled for 1:30 p.m., Monday, June 5, 2006, in the Council Chambers of City Hall, 300 North "D" Street, San Bernardino, California. No. of Item: 2 No. of Hours: 2.5 RAC EL G. CLARK City Clerk 9 05/22/2006