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HomeMy WebLinkAboutcc min 1980/03/15 MINUTES OF A WORKSHOP OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHULA VISTA, CALIFORNIA Held Saturda7 8:30 a.m. March 15, 1980 A workshop was held by the City Council of the City of Chula Vista, California, on the above date beginning at 8:30 a.m. in Conference Rooms 2 and 3, Public Services Building, 276 Fourth Avenue. ROLL CALL Councilmen present: Mayor Hyde, Councilmen Gillow, Cox, McCandliss, Scott Councilmen absent: None Staff present: City Manager Cole, Assistant City Manager Asmus, Development Services Administrator Robens, Director of Public Safety Winters, City Attorney Lindberg, All Department Heads PURPOSE OF MEETING City Manager Cole in his introductory remarks, commented that the purpose of the meeting will be to (1) provide information regarding City programs and comparative costs and revenues; (2) to foster consideration and discussion of programs -- comparisons and emphasis; (3) to help develop a concensus of emphasis for City programs and services. Council Emphasis Survey Development Services Administrator Robens monitored the re- marks of the Council regarding each of the 72 programs pre- sented in their survey. The Councilmen, in turn, ex¢lained their individual ratings. In summary, the comments made by the Councilmen were as follows: Town Centre and Bayfront Council: Reiterated past action to increase the Community Projects Development Department staff; voted "1" on the survey because of the feeling that the Bayfront was bogged down in litigation and not getting anywhere at the present time; emphasis should be directed instead on Town Centre Projects I and II. In answer to Councilman Cox's suggestion that the Town Centre development be accomplished area by area, Community Develop- ment Director Desrochers stated that in order to have it done right, an outside consultant should be hired; staff is trying to come up with a CHIP-type loan for businesses; more staff time is needed to devise a new plan for the Bayfront as recommended by the Coastal Commission. Council discussion The Council noted various viewpoints: (1) the City should not come up with a new concept for the Bayfront until the Coastal Commission changes its criteria; (2) developments in the Bay- front area should be concentrated on the freeway front areas first; (3) Town Centres 1 and 2 should be given immediate em- phasis and after that go back to the Bay£ront;(4) entrances to Chula Vista should be enhanced. Council Concensus Concensus: More emphasis on Town Centre I, II and more staff in the Community Development Department. Housing Director of Building and Housing Grady remarked that the money coming into housing is increasing and there is a need for another Housing Rehabilitation Inspector. Community Develop- ment Director Desrochers stated that the City needs a coordina- tor of the housing program since a great degree of monitoring will be required. Council discussion The Council noted that no new housing programs are needed; and the City has one million dollars for housing and there is no concrete plans to use it. Council Concensus: "Get on with it!" PLANNING: ADVANCED PLANNING AND SPECIAL STUDIES Council coimnents The Council commented that the City is reacting, rather than preparing for changes; there is concern regarding the developed areas in the City where there is a need for change in the zon- ing pattern (Broadway strip) -- the commercial depth is un- realistic; "H" Street~ between freeway and Broadway~ is another strip to study; more studies should be centered on the economic aspects. City Council Workshop -2- March 15, 1980 Zoning Enforcement Should concentrate on enforcing the exisitng laws; (recreational vehicle was cited as an example); when the zoning laws are not enforced, the quality of businesses is lost; it reflects on the total community; in the redevelopment areas, pay for the en- forcement out of redevelopment funds. RECESS A recess was called at 10:10 a.m. and the meeting reconvened at 10:22 a.m. Uniform Patrol and Council noted that more staff may be needed to obtain better Investigations response time; as demands for services increase, emphasis should be raised; level of services should not go down. Director of Public Safety Hinters commented that the level of service has been going down for the past two years -- it used to be 55% of an officer's time was spent on patrol -- now it is 30%. He added that you cannot base the number of officers needed on the population. "Neighborhood Watch" Director of Public Safety Winters advised that increasing staff Program would not help. The problem is in motivating the citizens to participate. The Council made several suggestions: More information should be distributed to the public on the Neighborhood Watch Program; make it a part of the City's Annual Calendar. It was noted that other cities report that the Neighborhood Watch Program has reduced crime up to 60%. Economic Development The Council noted that emphasis should be taken to bring additional revenue into the City; look into the City's market- ing program; feeling that the City is running "full speed" in this direction -- cited the redevelopment projects. Council advised it would be more supportive of "specific" programs. Energy Management Council cited that more emphasis is needed here(referring to the recent earthquake and flooding problem~; the need to evaluate the current measures; looking into the idea of involv- ing volunteers to be prepared during disasters. Council sug- tested having an area in the Annual Calendar to alert the citizens concerning disaster preparedness. Director of Public Safety Winters said that staff is working on a Disaster Preparedness Manual so that the employees will know what to do if a disaster strikes after 5:00 p.m. Program Budgeting and Director of Policy Analysis and Program Evaluation Thomson Performance Measure explained the different types of budgets and the present form used by the City which depicts measures, needs and productivity He recommended that more attention be focused on City output and results and move toward measures and effectiveness. The Council commented that the City is"working in a vacuum" in determining specific departmental budgets such as the Planning Department; the City should know what is funded, the output, the programs and what programs would be cut if the money is not there; efficiency needs to be shown in addition to inefficiency so that the Council can, more effectively, decide what should be cut; should determine what is absolutely essential and what is not; functions of the PAPE Department and its limited capa- bilities because of the number of staff members; give some thought to allocating staff by programs. DECREASED EMPHASIS Park Development Council suggested: continue with the existing programs (no new programs); Community Block Grant funds should be used to develop neighborhood areas; maintenance of the park areas and school involvement; the fact that the City has had the most aggressive park development of any conununity in the State and it is now time to pause; general funds should not be expended for park development. City Council Workshop -3- March 15, 1980 Aquatics Council: City should decrease its emphasis; place more em- phasis on users' fees; one aspect of aquatics is geared to special groups (ballet). Mr. Hall, Director of Parks and Recreation, explained that the City no longer supports the ballet program. Audio Visual Council: Audio visual items are considered more of a luxury; books are more important than films; cannot budget for ~oth books and audio visual items; current emphasis on audio visual is appropriate. City Librarian Simon noted that audio visual includes micro- filming, cassettes, photo records, films etc, and the demand is increasing toward audio visual material. Land Use Regulations After a brief general discussion, the Council concensus was that the emphasis should be a "5". State and Federal Grants The Council expressed concern for the programs involving CETA workers - having to stop the programs due to cutbacks; revenue sharing money may stop and then everything will be cut back; City should develop its techniques and get more involved in applying for grants; the City needs to be more selective in applying for the grants. Legislative Analysis Council discussed the need to do something more in this area; have a luncheon meeting with the legislators at least once a month; the importance of letters and telegrams going out to the legislators; and staff to advise the Council if additional Council action and emphasis is needed. Tourism Promotion The Council made several notations: The City does not have a specific program; the City has only funded two centers; does not have all the facts on what should be done; the com- mitment made for tourism; waiting for the report to be com- pleted; concurrence: would support a good tourist program. General comments Councilwoman McCandliss felt that the City should address its administration where, in some departments, it may be "top heavy". She added that she is interested in cutting administra tion and cutting direct services if at ali possible. She re- ferred to an example where some departments have supervisors who supervise 20 to 30 members and other departments having a supervisor supervise merely 2 or 3 people. Motion to recess It was moved by Mayor Hyde and seconded by Councilman GJllow that the meeting be recessed for lunch and return at 1:30 p.m. Development Services Administrator Robens indicated that the Council could finish the meeting within the next half-hour as the only item left is the "wrap-up comments". Motion withdrawn Mayor Hyde withdrew his motion; Councilman Gillow agreed to the second. Councilman Gillow said that he would like to have this type of on a regular basis, involving the department heads meeting more so than they were today. Councilman Cox stated that the department heads have had the opportunity to interact today on the Council's discussions and that this type of meeting should take place on an annual basis. Councilman Scott said that depending on what the staff is seeking:' a concensus on the emphasis or a concensus between the Council and staff, the department heads should be at the meeting as resource people. Mayor Hyde added that the staff should evaluate what has been brought out today and return to the Council with their con- clusions. City Council Workshop -4- March 15, 1980 Director of Planning Peterson and Assistant City Manager Asmus suggested having another Saturday meeting with just the department heads working under Development Services Administrator Robens, followed by another meeting which could be arranged for other departments. Councilman Gillow, referring to the increased and decreased emphasis survey, said that it appears there ]~s a need for additional money because the Council has given more dmphasis to the high-cost programs - those receiving less emphasis were the iow-cost programs. The members of the Council expressed appreciation to the City Manager and the department heads for the excellent meeting. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Hyde adjourned the meeting at 12:30 p.m.