HomeMy WebLinkAboutcc min 1997/01/09 MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETINGFvVORKSESSION
OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHULA VISTA
Thursday, January 9, 1997
4:45 p.m.
Council Chambers
Public Services Building
CALL TO ORDER
1. ROLL CALL:
PRESENT:
Councilmembers Moot, Padilia, Rindone (arrived at 5:23 p.m.), Salas; and
Mayor Horton.
ABSENT:
ALSO PRESENT:
John D. Goss, City Manager; Sid W. Morris, Assistant City Manager; George
Krempl, Deputy City Manager; John M. Kaheny, City Attorney; Dawn Herring,
Budget Manager; Beverly A. Authelet, City Clerk; and Michelle Moomaugh,
Facilitator.
BUSINESS
2. REPORT ESTABLISHING CITY COUNCIL PRIORITIES - The City Council has requested
that they have a worksession to discuss City priorities. In preparation for this worksession, staff has prepared
information at several different levels of detail so that Council may focus on big picture issues, setting policy
direction, and also have more detailed information available to assist in the process. Staff recommends that Council
evaluate the information, add or subtract projects or priorities and give staff direction on its priorities so that staff
may then focus departmental work plans and budget discussions to meet these priorities. (City Manager)
John Goss presented the staff report stating that his proposed top priorities were:
Improving the City's fiscal health
Improving economic conditions
Promoting "business projects" of the City
Process land use plans efficiently and effectively, but at the same time implementing and
protecting the City's policy interests as defined by the City Council
Complete the annexation of the Otay Ranch
Complete the next generation of Otay Ranch planning
Proposition 218 compliance
Improve community outreach
Michelle Moomaugh summarized her role and went over the ground rules for working together which were: agree
to make decisions by consensus (may not completely agree, but can live with it and support it); discuss only one
issue at a time; avoid interrupting others; actively listen to their ideas; constrnctively resolve your differences; use
your "air time" responsibly. She asked what were Council's expectations for tonight from the process.
Mayor Horton stated it would be beneficial to come up with a set of goals to accomplish within the next six to
twelve months; a framework for staff of a few goals to provide top priorities.
Councilman Moot stated he was interested in identifying some longer term goals of two to three years with one year
milestones.
Minutes
January 9, 1997
Page 2
Councilmember Salas stated that Council should build in an annual review process for the goals.
Councilmember Padilia felt that this evening Council should examine the goals presented by the City Manager and
staff and pare them down.
Mayor Horton felt that Council did not feel comfortable with all the staff present. She did not feel it would be
beneficial tonight to have staff on hand to answer questions. Therefore, departmental staff was excused.
Ms. Moomaugh felt that as a staffing point, Council could take a look at the eight goals listed by the Manager.
Council needs to decide what and how many goals to focus on for the next year. The Manager's list is only a
suggestion; Council may wish to drop some and add others. These do not have to be ranked in a priority order.
Councilman Padilia suggested that Council consider consolidating a lot of these to make it easier. There are a lot
of individual items and which have interrelating common themes. For example, a lot of these are administrative
while others are economic development. He felt Council should come up with a few very broad policy areas such
as economic development, then come up with some specific policy objectives that fall under each umbrella. An
important component in doing this fills under definitions; i.e. once Council looks at two or three broad policy areas,
Council has to arrive at a common definition or understanding of what that means. For example, economic
development could mean five different things depending upon what you are talking about. Therefore, he suggested
that Council start putting these in broader and fewer categories and start working on a common consensus definition
of what Council thinks that means so project can be plugged in.
Councilman Moot stated that not every goal is solvable in one year. For example, he would like to see the Council
arrive at a point to be able to balance the budget without depending on one-time revenues; where the expected
revenues and expected expenses balanced. This may not be solved in two or three years.
* * * Councilman Rindone arrived at 5:23 p.m.)
The Council considered some 'umbrella~ goal areas as follows:
4.
5.
6.
7.
Long-term Financial Viability
Municipal Administration (policies and procedures; planning review - looking at our resources and
our processes for processing plans and how Council can do that better to benefit the community
and applicants and better use our resources)
Economic Development
Land Use and Planning
Infrastructure Development
Quality of Life
Community Promotion (to include the image of the City exterior to the other parts of the County
through PR and promoting it internally by making it a more healthy, viable community that has
more active and better citizen participation)
Council examined these to see if any could be combined. Councilmembers Moot and Padilia felt Quality of Life
and Community Promotion were similar and could be combined.
Councilman Rindone felt they were totally different. The City has pretty well defined the quality of life items and
has eleven or twelve standards such as safety, good schools, good air quality which has been set. That is totally
different from community promotion which are various things such as the Park and Recreation, the Chamber which
the City does for the image.
Mayor Horton felt that Councilman Rindone was right.
Minutes
January 9, 1997
Page 3
Councilman Moot stated that Council has identified some long-term goals which there is consensus on. He felt
Council now has to say what is the most important thing to do to meet those goals. He did not feel that any of them
could be achieved without improving and maintaining the City's financial health because to one degree or another
all of the long-term goals are dependent upon our ability to be a viable economic unit.
Council concurred that this was tree.
Councilman Rindone felt that Council should develop a number of top priorities but there may be three or four
layers: layer one will be the highest priority that Council is expecfmg staff to work on and staff will be evaluated
on; the second layer are the items which Council desires to focus attention on; layer three will be other identified
projects that the Council feels is beneficial to the City but will work on them as you can get to them.
Councilman Moot expressed that not all projects have the same impact on improving the City's fiscal health. For
example, improvement of Third Avenue may initially end up costing the City as opposed to gaining income to the
City.
Councilwoman Salas stated that another example is the WESC (Workforce and Employer's Service Center) which
is an important investment in terms of human development for the City, but it will initially cost the City.
Councilman Rindone expressed that the review process should be bi-annual instead of annual.
Councilman Padilla felt you cannot define policy goals and priorities simply in terms of a list of projects or things
to do; you have to put them together in some context; you have to ask, what do they mean. It is an abstract
question; it is beyond saying we have twenty-five things going on, so how do we rank them. To him, it is the two
or three or four major areas to focus on; what are you trying to do as a City or Council; what are your goals. Then
try to find a way to define that so everyone concurs to what that means. Then say where do particular items fit into
those objectives. Are they helping, are they hurting, are they working, how can they be improved upon. Then
begin putting them under two or three broader goals areas. This is the way in which you give them priority. That
is the way in which you say this is a priority of the City Council to obtain or achieve this goal. You cannot view
this strictly in terms of the projects and arrange the projects in order.
Ms. Moomaugh asked Council how they felt about having broad categories to fit things under.
Councilmembers Moot, Salas, and Mayor Horton expressed concurrence with this approach; Councilmember
Rindone expressed a wait and see.
Council concurred that the "umbrella" goals were equally important and should not be placed in a numerical order.
Councilman Rindone felt that one major goal was missing which was "Regional Issues" and felt it would be
beneficial to add. If the City is going to be player, the City needs to be viable in interfacing with other cities and
agencies on certain issues.
Council concurred that it is another broad issue to be included although some of these may merge later on; the goals
goals listed are okay at this stage in the process.
Rod Davis, Chamber Manager, expressed that he had hoped Council would address what he sees daily as a major
problem in the City: that is that Council would tell staff that a top priority is what makes money for the City, a
second priority is what brings jobs, and a third priority is quality of life. If it involves selling City land, don't start
on the business deal until you get conceptual approval from the staff. The fourth thing is that Council would set
up a mechanism where staff would come to Council with projects with some definition mid-term. The most
frustrating thing for the business community is to spend forty thousand dollars in paying for time and fees and
having a project signed, sealed, and ready to be delivered to the Council, then the Council says no. Then the
applicant has to go back and spend another $40,000 meeting Council's requirements. This is what he would like
to see done tonight, which is strictly process.
Minutes
January 9, 1997
Page 4
Ms. Moomaugh stated that Council will eventually end up where Mr. Davis suggested; it simply was not doable
in an hour or two.
Councilmember Padilla suggested a title of economic development/financial viability.
Councilmember Rindone stated that this may falsely assume that economic development is the only way to fmancial
viability.
After further discussion, Council concurred to take one 'umbrella~ goal and put goals under it. The following is
what Council came up with for the first "umbrella~ goal to be titled Long-Term Financial Stability:
1. Balance budget for 97/98
2. Identify and target key revenue producing projects
3. Continue to bring Redevelopment Agency out of the red
Two additional goals were suggested: identify and target key revenue producing projects (which was later decided
it was information not a goal) and update and review of legislative issues (which was decided it should go under
policies and procedures).
After further discussion, Council concurred that the three listed under Long-Term Financial Stability was okay.
Council set the next session for Saturday, January 25 from 9:00 a.m. to noon. If Council needed more time, then
they would order lunch so they could continue. Council stated that only the City Manager, Assistant City Manager,
Deputy City Manager, Budget Manager, and City Clerk should be present.
The meeting adjourned at 6:35 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
~AuthLlet, CMC/AAE
City Clerk