HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Minutes 02/24/2001~`~
February 24, 2001 Vol. 35, Page 479
1
2
3 City of Petaluma, California
4 Minutes of a Special
5 City Council Meeting
6 City Council /Management Team Workshop
7
8
9 Saturday, February 24, 2001
10 Petaiuma Community Center
11
12
13 The Petaluma City Council met on this day at 8:30 A.M. at the Petaluma Community
14 Center, 320 North McDowell Boulevard, in the Crafts Room.
15
16 ROLL CALL
17
18 PRESENT: Vice Mayor Cader-Thompson (arrived 8:40 A.M.), Council Members Healy
19 (departed at 9:20 A.M.), Maguire, O'Brien, Moynihan (arrived 8:40 A.M.),
20 Mayor Thompson, and Council Member Torliatt (arrived 8:40-A.M.)
21
22 ABSENT: None
23
24 PUBLIC COMMENT
25
26 Tom McCaw, Airport Commissioner, was present along with fellow Commissioner, Dave
27 Hansen. Mr. McCaw presented the Council with a letter addressed to Mayor Thompson
28 dated February 23, 2001 regarding "Municipal Airport Budget Projections and Hanger
29 Project." He highlighted items addressed in the letter and corresponding spreadsheets
30 for the Council's consideration.
31
32 Mayor Thompson asked City Management to place an item on the Council's agenda
33 within the next 30-60 days for a discussion regarding the possibility of the public hangar
34 project.
35
36 Mayor Thompson read an excerpt of a letter received from Terence Garvey, 83 Maria
37 Drive, dated February 24, 2001, addressed to the Mayor and City Council as follows:
38
39 "It would take no longer than a month to make a comparison with the earlier plant
40 design proposed by Carollo for U. S. Filter. A few years ago the cost was quoted as $32
41 million dollars, and even with inflation, a considerable savings on the basic conventional
42 plant. The tertiary processes of wetlands or DAF need to be exhibited as effective at
43 operating plants where presently installed. Another fault of this proposed plant is the
44 need for continued discharge of effluent to the River."
45
~~~
Vol. 35, Page 480 February 24, 2001
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
Geoff Cartwright, 56 Rocca Drive, announced an upcoming free public forum entitled,
"Your Water, Your Wallet, Your Health!" to take place on March 9, 2001, 7:00-9:30 P.M.
at the Santa Rosa Veterans Building, 1315 Maple Avenue, in the Lodge Room.
CORRESPONDENCE
COUNCIL:
• Council Member Moynihan addressed to City Attorney Rich Rudnansky, dated
February 23, 200, re: Revise "Draft" Rules, Policies and Procedures.
• Council Member Moynihan, not addressed to anyone, not dated, entitled: "Priority
Goals."
• Council Member Torliatt, not addressed to anyone, not dated, entitled: "Petaluma
City Council Goals 2001."
Clerks' Note: The foregoing items were received from the City Manager's Office on the
day of the meeting.
PUBLIC:
• Tom McCaw, Budget Review Sub-Committee, Petaluma Airport Commission,
addressed to E. Clark Thompson, Mayor, dated February 23, 2001, re: Municipal
Airport Budget Projections and Hangar Project.
• Terence Garvey, 83 Maria Drive, addressed to Mayor and City Council, dated
February 24, 2001, re: the City's water recycling plant.
• Geoff Cartwright, 56 Rocca .Drive, a flyer announcing an upcoming free public forum
entitled, "Your 1Nater, Your Wallet, Your Health."
Clerk's Mote: The foregoing items were received by the Clerk at places at the
workshop.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Council Policies and Procedures
Discussion and Possible Direction Regarding the Council's Policies and Procedures
(Kline/Rudnansky/Stouder)
City Attorney Richard Rudnansky presented the amended document from the Council's
workshop of January 27, 2001 for review, comment and direction.
Council's main discussion included:
• What constituted a "Special Meeting" and how to handle "urgency items;" and
® How items are placed on an agenda.
R.? L? ~.
February 24, 2001 Vol. 35, Page 481
1
2
Mr. Rudnansky agreed to meet with Council Members Healy and Torliatt to wordsmith
3 the document and have it return to the Council for adoption.
4
5 Council Member Healy left at 9:20 A.M.
6
7 Recess: 9:55 A.M.
8
9 Reconvene: 10:05 A.M.
10
11 IVEW BUSIfVESS
12
13 Joint Council/Management Team Workshop (Lopez/Stouder)
14
15 Organizational Development Consultant Juan Lopez began the session by introducing
16 City Manager Fred Stouder.
17
18 City Manager Stouder provided background information regarding the purpose of the
19 meeting, which was to develop:
20
21 Open, straightforward communications to improve organizational productivity;
22 Friendly and professional relationships; and
23 Humor and Commitment
24
25 in order to achieve 98% of the work plan, it was important to improve efficiency and
26 communications. This in turn impacted the organization's:
27
28 Beliefs -expectations
29 ® Norms
30 Values and
31 ® Practices
32
33 Mr. Lopez then reviewed the:
34
35 "Ground Rules" for participation, and
36 "Tips for Better Communication."
37
38 Economic Development Director Paul Marangella referred to a "Relationship Building
39 Model," that was reflected in practices of an organization; that is, its beliefs, norms,
40 values and practices. He then facilitated a presentation by members of the Management
41 Team that reviewed a model depicting what was and wasn't working in the organization.
42
43 1. Healthy community at the workplace; the entire organization
44
45 Parks and Recreation Director Jim Carr presented background information and
46 summarized symptoms as:
3~~
Vol. 35, Page 482 February 24, 2001
1
2 • Workload.
3 Leadership.
4 • Goals.
5 Communications.
6 • Core Values -caring not valued.
7
8 Community Development Director Mike Moore addressed perception -what was
9 not working.
10
® Workload -Council was not aware of the needs.
• Reorganization -not completed, created organizational problems.
• Fear of making mistakes.
• Employee response to stress, increased workload.
• Lack of appreciation -previous focus on the General Plan as the main
project.
• 85% - 15% rule -put most effort into the 85% that could be accomplished.
• "No" is not an acceptable answer. Individual Council Members abuse staff
with unreasonable requests, which had an impact on individuals, and had
been used against staff. There was a general feeling of being bogged down
in the detail, a lack of implementation, lack of a home-run agenda. The
thought was that the Council should make decisions, move on; trust
generates workload, "process over product."
• Distractions -multiple issues distracted Council.
Mr. Marangella continued that this was an opportunity to create the future and
encouraged participants not to be pushed by the past. He stressed the
importance of knowing where the organization wanted to go and then defining
how to get there. He asked what an "extraordinary organization"would be. Ideas
followed:
• Supportive.
• Trusting.
• Productive.
• Proactive/Forward Thinking.
® More Community Awareness and Involvement.
• Resourceful.
• Respectful.
• Relaxed.
• Focused on a Superior Product.
He stated, "Work was a fulfillment of core values." Other thoughts expressed
included:
t
th
i
b
L
t
e
r jo
s.
•
managers
o
e
~~
February 24, 2001 Vol. 35, Page 483
1
2 Shorter agendas.
Council to work on policy to talk to each other not at/to department directors.
3 Encourage staff to have the courage of their convictions.
. 4 Leadership by support.
5 m "We get what we Tolerate."
6
7 Specific Comments follow:
8
9 Council Member Torliatt:
10 ® Help to accomplish job.
11 Be there for support.
12 ® Making you (Directors) be successful.
13 Working together to stay on issues - "walk the walk."
14
15 Council Member Maguire:
16 Focus on priorities.
17 ® Not being the problem to getting the business done.
18 Liking vs. trusting the answers.
19
20 Mayor Thompson:
21 Let department heads/staff do their jobs.
22 ® Trust what department heads say regardless if in agreement or not.
23
24 Community Development Director Mike Moore:
25 Echoed Council Member Torliatt -help to succeed -assistance appreciated.
26 Integrity.
27 Vision -assist in developing.
28
29 Vice Mayor Cader-Thompson:
30 Honesty.
31 Go to source to resolve issues.
32
33 Water Resources and Conservation Director Tom Hargis:
34 Would stick neck out.
35 ® Be open.
36
37 Assistant City Manager Gene Beatty:
38 Equal attention and information.
39 ® Participation.
40
41 City Attorney Rich Rudnansky:
42 Recommit to doing best efforts with Council to reach objectives.
43 Treat everyone with respect and dignity.
44
45 Council Member O'Brien:
~~~
Vol. 35, Page 484 February 24, 2001
1 ® Work in honest, open manner.
2 e Start fresh from today .
3
4 Council Member Moynihan:
5 Commit to community service.
6 Two meetings a month.
7
8 Economic Development Director Paul Marangella:
9 Don't let the 2% of items disagreed upon outweigh the 98% agreed upon.
10
11 City Manager Fred Stouder:
12 Leading by listening.
13
14 Finance Director William Thomas:
15 Give the best information possible.
16 Make recommendations, not give opinions.
17
18 Mr. Lopez then presented and reviewed his handout, "The Changing
19 Organizational Mindset. "
20 -
21 Recess: 12:15 P.M.
22
23 Reconvene: 12:30 P.M.
24
25 Clerk's Note: The following notes were taken by the Executive Assistant to the City
26 Manager, Katie Crump.
27
28 Mr. Stouder presented a comparison of goals/priorities from 1999, 2000 and 2001 -all
29 about the same, just in different order.
30
31 Status of Current Projects by the Directors:
32
33 Tom Hargis: gave short status report on Water Resources & Conservation Department.
34
35 Jim Carr: short discussion on Park Bond issue - is supported by the Parks & Rec.
36 Commission, as is the Parks Plan. Jim's opinion is that infrastructure needs are greater
37 right now; there is no money budgeted to maintain new park areas (and bonds don't
38 provide money for maintenance).
39
40 Pamela Tuft: gave overview of General Plan status including community visioning,
41 photo montage boards, business plan for the organization and community; 478 people
42 now involved, and hoping for 1000;, her commitment is to follow the schedule, and
43 complete workbooks, program evaluation and mission/vision statements.
44
45
Economic Vision of the General Plan -yet to be begun; intent is to educate citizens on
46 projects, budget, obtain community buy-in.
~~~
February 24, 2001 Vol. 35, Page 485
1
2 Traffic counts: working on three seasons of counts; traffic model - GIS -needs/uses
3
4 Rick Skladzien: (on streets): applying for grant for street surveying. Commitment: to
5 not rush, complete within a proper timeframe (what do we need, information to the
6 community, etc.); within a couple of months will have report and funding mechanisms.
7
8 Local transportation, as one topic, really equates to 3 or 4 projects. If capital if available,
9 projects could be accelerated.
10
11 Bond issue -okay but may not have time/resources to complete.
12
13 Cross-Town Connector: need traffic model completed; it will give steps and provide
14 alternatives. By fall, will have the data, the working model. The existing conditions report
15 is expected by late fall, early winter (approx. end of November).
16
17 It was suggested that a workshop be held vs. a City Council meeting to discuss further.
18 Clark Thompson, Fred Stouder and Juan Lopez will meet to craft issues into a context
19 in which to bring back to the Council.
20
21 Fred Stouder: other issues include Floodplain; zero net fill policy; regional water policy;.
22 General Fund reserve policy (not sure if we can meet 7-1/2% goal). In his three years
23 with City, has spent time trying to stop the zig-zagging on a few projects, such as
24 privatization, flood project, etc.
25
26 Bill Thomas: Finance Plan -general ledger by 2002 and payroll by 2003.
27
28 CPSP (timeline passed out). Number of City Council meetings may change as per
29 Council' direction.
30
31 Paul Marangella: Redevelopment Agency -working on plans and amendments. Late
32 March/early April, proposal for implementation of the River Plan by CSW Stuber Stroh -
33 final design. Hoping to complete project by summer of 2002. Is part of 5-year
34 implementation plan. Dollar amounts are current cash -not bond proceeds.
35
36 Question to Council: on need for shift in direction/policy/priorities. Are we committed to
37 this?
38
39 On Redevelopment/Economic Development, what is going to be needed to create a
40 sales tax base? Projects in the pipeline include River Plan, McNear land acquisition.
41 Can they be funded today?
42
43 Fear of losing staff.
44 Other general comments:
45
46 taking ownership of community
~~~
Vol. 35, Page 486 February 24, 2001
1 lack of honesty in afternoon
2
what can be dropped _
3 change does not occur overnight
4 quit positioning; quit playing games
5 how people behave
6
7 Clark Thompson, Fred Stouder, and Juan Lopez to meet and create an agenda for a
8 policy discussion (prefer off-Monday to meet as opposed to a Saturday workshop);
9 create astructure-for discussion.
10
11 Workshop ended 3:20 PM.
12
13
14
15 E. Clark Thompson, Mayor
16
17
18 ATTEST:
19
20
1
Beverly J. Kline, City Cle
23
24
25
26
27
28 Katie ~ rump, Clerk o Tem
29
30
31 *****.***
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
1