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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/01/19 PUBLIC SAFETY/VITAL SERVICES MINUTESB A K E R S F I E L D Special Meeting of the Citizens Oversight Committee for Bakersfield Public Safety and Vital Services Measure (PSVS) Of the City Council - City of Bakersfield Monday, April 1, 2019 5:15 p.m. City Hall South 1501 Truxtun Avenue, Bakersfield CA 93301 Council Chambers MINUTES 1. ROLL CALL Present: Chair Sanders, Vice -Chair Hibbard, Committee Members Holt, Prince, Rowland, Louie, Tobias Absent: Committee Member Keller 2. ADOPTION OF MINUTES FROM THE MARCH 25, 2019 OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE MEETING Motion by Committee Member Tobias, second by Committee Member Prince, to adopt the minutes from the March 25, 2019 Oversight Committee meeting. The motion was approved with Committee member Keller absent. 3. PUBLIC COMMENTS Curtis James Bingham offered blessings to the Committee and commented on the benefits to the members of serving on the Committee. He expressed his support for public safety, city management and the Mayor. Michael Turnipseed, Kern County Taxpayer's Association, provided public comments and written materials. He commented on the need for the presentations to have more detailed data and outcomes. Expressed concern regarding hiring people for economic development and stated the city should focus on their branding initiative. He further stated that although he is in support of the city's efforts as they relate to homelessness, he would like additional information regarding who the partners will be and what services they would provide. He requested the development of a deferred maintenance list and he thanked the city for the light study and requested an additional study for the urban trails program. Tee Daniels, President of the Bakersfield Senior Center, provided comments regarding the comprehensive services provided by the senior center, requested that the committee not forget the senior citizens and requested additional financial resources. 4. NEW BUSINESS A. Human Resources Support Function - Assistant City Manager Huot Assistant City Manager Huot made staff comments and provided a PowerPoint presentation and Human Resources Manager McGranahan answered additional questions from the committee. Committee Member Louie confirmed with Assistant City Manager Huot that the three HR position requests were not currently filled but were already approved by the City Council outside of the Measure N requests and are currently in the process of being filled to assist in the recruitment needs for positions added as a result of Measure N. Committee Member Rowland asked and Assistant City Manager Huot confirmed that the positions will be filled regardless of whether the Council approved Measure N funding using the general fund. Committee Member Prince asked questions regarding the number of supervisor positions and their roles. Human Resources Manager McGranahan explained that the department currently has only one newly promoted supervisor and the intent is when the new supervisor position is filled, that the current supervisor would focus on employee relations issues, investigations and recruitments and the new supervisor would assume oversight over the front office operations, leaves of absence, retiree benefits and all other benefits administration. outsourcing certain non-core functions such as fixed costs that may not be needed once initial Vice -Chair Hibbard asked regarding general recruitment in order to avoid hiring efforts were complete. Human Resources Manager McGranahan explained that the expense of such a service and the education and certification requirements for conducting recruitments for certain positions such as police make it inefficient for regular and ongoing recruitments. She further explained that outsourcing had been explored and due to the complexity of civil service rules it is not a model that really suits the business. B. Public Works Department Proposal - Director Fidler Public Works Director Fidler made staff comments regarding the Public Works Department proposal including Capital Projects, Fleet and General Services Support Functions; and provided a PowerPoint presentation. Public Works Director Fidler explained that the 7.5 year return on investment is based on a PG&E estimate of the fixtures that are proposed to be replaced, that the 1.1 million dollars request includes contingencies and that rebates following the project completion were also included in the return rate following a question by Committee Member Prince. Committee Member Prince asked regarding future plans to increase the lighting of the bicycle or walking paths to improve safety. Citizens Oversight Committee Meeting Monday, April 1, 2019 Page 2 Director Fidler explained that lighting along the multi -use trail, Kern River Parkway, has been studied and there are some limitations to installing lighting but in the future there is the possibility to add some additional lighting. He further explained that it would be included in the proposed streetlight study. Committee Member Tobias asked whether the streetlight study will be done based on our current standards which he believes are too low. City Manager Tandy explained that that the study will analyze police records regarding crime, bicycle and vehicular accident information and traffic engineering records to address safety and crime related concerns. In response to a question from Committee Member Tobias regarding whether the street lighting standards were low, Public Works Director Fidler stated that the city's standards are pretty robust. He further explained that due to rapid development and annexations we have areas that are not consistent. Following a question from Committee Member Louie, Director Fidler explained that solar lights are not ideal as they do not provide adequate lighting for the amount of time that it is needed. C. Return on Investment Memorandums - City Manager Tandy City Manager Tandy provided staff comments regarding the return on investment memos. Committee Member Tobias requested that outcomes are measured geographically, to show how the funds are used throughout the different districts. City Manager Tandy noted that Police, Fire, homelessness issues and economic development are distributed throughout the city, but certain capital outlays such as the sports complexes are located on the periphery of the northeast and southwest. Assistant City Manager Huot pointed out that although the sports complexes are located on the periphery they benefit the community as a whole. Following a discussion with Mr. Tandy, Committee Member Prince requested that the current actuals along with the percentage increase be provided for the performance indicators. Committee Member Rowland questioned when the Committee will be able to look at whether goals have been met and where the money was allocated. Mr. Tandy stated that the expenses can be viewed monthly on the online system and stressed that six months would be needed to provide data regarding how the funds have affected services. He offered that the Committee could meet should the City Council make changes and further reminded the Committee that they would meet to review the year end audit reports which contain the expenditure information in detail and the analysis from the auditor. In response to a question regarding the timeline of the 2021 budget from Committee Member Rowland, Mr. Tandy indicated that the Committee would meet around the same time the following year to address that budget. Vice Chair Hibbard and Committee Member Holt requested clarification regarding the Committee's role. Citizens Oversight Committee Meeting Monday, April 1, 2019 Page 3 City Manager Tandy advised that the Committee's role was to decide whether the department requests fit within the scope of the thirteen spending priorities and to provide comments. D. Proposed Budget Amendments - City Manager Tandy City Manager Tandy provided staff comments regarding the proposed amendments including the streetlight study, expansion of the police maintenance garage, and the Spectrum Amphitheater seating proposals. Chair Sanders requested that the new chairs for the Spectrum Amphitheater be tried out by multiple people to make sure they are comfortable. Committee Member Prince expressed concern regarding the low number of events at the Spectrum Amphitheater and mentioned that comments he has received from the community indicate it is cost prohibitive. Committee Member Prince and Committee Member Rowland asked questions regarding the Spectrum Amphitheater and AEG General Manager Eckerson provided comments regarding the number of events and seating. Concern was expressed by Committee Member Louie regarding the small increase of 35 ticket sales projected and Mr. Eckerson explained that it is a conservative estimate and reminded the Committee that this will not add additional seats. Troy Hightower, Independent Consultant, provided comments regarding the need to increase the scope of the streetlight study, and requested that existing streetlight programs are funded. He further expressed concern regarding the rapid pace to spend the money and expressed his support for geographic outcomes. Committee Member Rowland and Committee Member Prince discussed with City Manager Tandy the streetlight study including the cost of such a study and the inclusion of street crossing lighting. Committee Member Tobias requested that development standards are examined in conjunction with the streetlight study. Finance Director Smith summarized information regarding the timing of funding received and detailed data from the CDTFA in response to a request from Committee Member Louie. Committee Member Louie and Mr. Tandy discussed what would happen if the projections were not met. Chair Sanders called for a brief recess at 7:07 pm. Meeting reconvened at 7:14 p.m. 1 Citizens Oversight Committee Meeting Monday, April 1, 2019 Page 4 1 5. DEFERRED BUSINESS A. Fiscal Year 19-20 Measure Revenue Allocation - City Manager Tandy Staff recommended that the Committee find that the proposals are consistent with the Spending Priorities within the ballot Measure Assistant City Manager Huot provided staff comments and a PowerPoint presentation. The Committee discussed the Fire Department requests with City Manager Tandy and Fire Chief Galagaza providing responses. Chair Sanders opened up the discussion for general dialogue. Committee Member Rowland stated that he would like more of the Measure N money set aside in reserves. He further expressed his concern regarding the amount of money going toward the expansion of the sports complexes in particular the Kaiser Permanente complex and suggested putting off the expansion of that facility. City Manager Tandy provided clarification regarding the $1.5 million dollars proposed to go towards the Kaiser Permanente Sports Village. Committee Member Rowland recommended to trim money from other areas and do additional street maintenance. City Manager Tandy explained that street maintenance wasn't high on the citizen's list of needs and additionally, several positive changes in the city's economic circumstances for road related revenues will eliminate the need to use Measure N funds. Committee Member Holt expressed concern regarding the proposed funding for the sports complexes and questioned who the outside service providers were going to be to address the homelessness issue and asked whether the $450,000 would be enough. Committee Member Prince spoke in support of Committee Member Rowland's recommendation for street maintenance and also spoke in support of setting aside additional reserve funds. Committee Member Tobias also offered his support of additional reserve funds and commented that we should have a 90 -day reserve within five years. He stated that he was in support of the two large regional parks but would like to see some balance with the neighborhood parks in the next two years. He requested additional information regarding street repairs and potholes and requested a review of the standards for streetlights. He commented on homelessness and encouraged staff to work closely with the providers and look for best practices throughout the state. Vice -Chair Hibbard encouraged staff to engage in disruptive thinking and to find ways to bring private and government ideas together in the discussion on how we maximize the dollars to get our city elevated to where we all want to be. Citizens Oversight Committee Meeting Monday, April 1, 2019 Page 5 Mr. Tandy reiterated that streets was not one of the thirteen items and would not be in harmony with the ballot measure. He affirmed that increasing the reserves to the $36 million -dollar level within the next three years and the balance between the regional and neighborhood parks is appropriate and could be incorporated in the future budget. Committee Member Louie stated that although he is in agreement with saving money, it is not necessarily good to have money sitting in reserves if we have a better use for operational purposes. In response to a question from the Chair, Mr. Tandy and Mr. Huot explained that saving money was not part of the survey results from the public but occurred as an internal discussion regarding fiscal stability and the need to build reserves back up to an acceptable level. Following a request for clarification by Committee Members Rowland and Prince and further discussion with Finance Director Smith, Committee Member Tobias suggested that the committee make the recommendation to the City Council to develop a plan that will increase the general fund reserves to a 60 -day reserve of $34 million within the next three years. Committee Member Tobias made a motion, to recommend to the City Council to develop a plan to develop a 60 -day minimum cash reserve. Vice -Chair Hibbard seconded. Motion was approved with Committee Member Keller absent. Vice -Chair Hibbard made a motion that the $20,362,950 proposal from the Police Department is consistent with the spending priorities of Measure N and that it be approved. Committee Member Rowland seconded. Motion passed with Committee Member Keller absent. Committee Member Prince made a motion, that the $3,344,375 proposal from the Fire Department is consistent with the spending priorities of Measure N and that it be approved. Committee Member Rowland seconded. Motion was approved with Committee Member Keller absent. Vice -Chair Hibbard requested that the Fire Department provide the City Council with a benchmarking showing how efficient we are in comparison to other fire departments to inform the voters that the Fire Chief and his leadership team are doing everything they can to produce an efficient product on the street that still meets the safety needs and eliminates waste. He requested that his comments be forwarded to the Council. Vice -Chair Hibbard made the motion that the Rapid Response Team/Security proposal from the Recreation and Parks Department of $1,235,289 is within the spending priorities of Measure N and that it be approved. Committee Member Louie seconded. Motion was approved with Committee Member Keller absent. Committee Member Rowland made a motion that the Reforestation of Trees and Shrubs proposal from the Recreation and Parks Department of $1,550,000 is within the spending priorities of Measure N and that it be approved. Committee Member Rowland seconded. Motion was approved with Chair Sanders and Committee Member Louie voting No and Committee Member Keller absent. Citizens Oversight Committee Meeting Monday, April 1, 2019 Page 6 n L Committee Member Louie and Chair Sanders stated that replacing trees and shrubs should not be a priority at this time due to comments received from the public and because part of this item was the drip or the sprinkler irrigation which has an underestimated long-term cost. Committee Member Tobias made the motion that the Kaiser Permanente Sports Village proposal by the Parks and Recreation Department of $1,550,000 is within the spending priorities of Measure N and that it be approved with a recommendation that the Council over the next three years look at more evenly spreading the dollars from the Measure N funding to the local neighborhood parks throughout the community. Committee Member Louie seconded. Motion failed with Chair Sanders, Vice -Chair Hibbard and Committee Members Holt and Rowland voting no and Committee Member Keller absent. Vice -Chair Hibbard suggested that the City Council look at the best use of those funds as the budgets are inflated significantly from where they need to be. Committee Member Louie made a motion that the Mesa Marin Sports Complex proposal from the Recreation and Parks Department for $7,852,000 is within the spending priorities of Measure N and that it be approved. Committee Member Prince seconded. Motion was approved with Chair Sanders, Vice -Chair Hibbard and Committee Member Holt voting no and Committee Member Keller absent. Comments by the opposition were received stating that although the proposal was in line with the spending priorities there may be more efficient ways to achieve the same result by looking at public-private partnerships and as a large percentage of taxpayers would not use the sports complex the money could be better spent elsewhere. Vice -Chair Hibbard made a motion to approve the Homeless Rapid Response Team proposal by the Development Services Department of $1,795,899 and that it falls within the spending priorities of Measure N. Committee Member Prince seconded. Motion was approved with Committee Member Keller absent. Committee Member Prince made a motion that proposals by the Development Services Department of $14,734,472 falls within the spending priorities of Measure N and that it be approved. Vice -Chair Hibbard seconded. Motion was approved with Committee Member Holt voting no and Committee Member Keller absent. Committee Member Holt stated that he is okay with the item overall except he had concerns regarding the $450,000 and whether that amount would expand to meet future needs. Committee Member Louie made a motion that the Arena/Convention Center proposal of $2,353,548 is within the spending priorities of Measure N and that it be approved. Committee Member Tobias seconded. Motion failed with Chair Sanders, Vice -Chair Hibbard, Committee Members Prince and Rowland voting no and Committee Member Keller absent. Citizens Oversight Committee Meeting Monday, April 1, 2019 Page 7 Comments from the Committee Members who voted no were received stating that although the upgrades may be necessary in the long run they are not a priority at this time. It was further suggested that upgrades are prioritized and creative thinking used to find different sponsors or donations instead of having to pay from the general fund. Committee Member Rowland made a motion that the Human Resources proposal o $388,092 is within the spending priorities of Measure N and that it be approved. Committee Member Louie seconded. Motion was approved with Vice -Chair Hibbard and Committee Member Prince voting no and Committee Member Keller absent. Comments from the opposition were received stating that Council is encouraged to explore other options such as contracting for certain activities instead of hiring additional personnel. It was also stated that the addition of a supervisor position is unnecessary based on the type of work that will be performed. Committee Member Rowland made a motion that the Technology Services proposal of $1,023,546 is consistent with the spending priorities of Measure N and that it be approved. Committee Member Louie seconded. Motion was approved with Committee Member Keller absent. Committee Member Louie made a motion that the Fleet Services proposal of $384,416 is within the spending priorities of Measure N and that H be approved. Committee Member Prince seconded. Motion was approved with Vice -Chair Hibbard voting no and Committee Member Keller absent. Committee Member Hibbard recommended that the City Council request an analysis on buying new versus certified used vehicles particularly for non -police vehicles or vehicles that don't require a large modification. Committee Member Holt made a motion that the General Services proposal of $662,997 is consistent with the spending priorities within the ballot measure and that it be approved. Committee Member Louie seconded. Motion was approved with Vice -Chair Hibbard voting no and Committee Member Keller absent. Vice -Chair Hibbard recommended that the Council be provided a report showing how hiring a tenant improvement contractor can be more expensive than hiring full-time staff to do repairs as he does not believe that to be the case. Committee Member Tobias made the motion that the Fiscal Stability Energy Savings Project proposal by the Public Works department is within the spending priorities of Measure N and that it be approved. Committee Member Prince seconded. Motion was approved with Committee Member Keller absent. Committee Member Prince made the motion that the Street Light Study proposal of $100,000 is within the spending priorities of Measure N and that it be approved. Committee Member Hoff seconded. Motion was approved with Vice -Chair Hibbard voting no and Committee Member Keller absent. Committee Member Hibbard stated that he is concerned that the $100,000 to do the study is too high and that the Council may want to look at alternative vendors to produce that study and he questioned the scope of the study. Citizens Oversight Committee Meeting Monday, April 1, 2019 Page 8 Vice -Chair Hibbard made a motion that the Expansion of the Police Fleet Maintenance garage proposal of $30,000 is consistent with the spending priorities of Measure N and . that it be approved. Committee Member Prince seconded. Motion was approved with Committee Member Keller absent. Committee Member Louie made a motion that the Rabobank Arena, Convention Center, and Spectrum Amphitheater Stadium Seating proposal of $97,500 is within the spending priorities of Measure N and that it be approved. Committee Member Tobias seconded. Motion failed with Chair Sanders, Vice -Chair Hibbard, Committee Members Holt, Prince and Rowland voting no and Committee Member Keller absent. Comments from the Committee were received stating that the proposal was not the best use of funds. 6. BOARD COMMENTS Chair Sanders thanked her colleagues for their transparency and due diligence. City Manager Tandy thanked the Committee for the time, energy and effort invested. Committee Member Rowland made a motion that the Committee Members each be assigned a city email address to receive email comments from the public. Motion failed due to lack of second. City Attorney Gennaro explained that it is not the City's policy to assign emails due to the Brown Act and the Public Records Act. She further explained that as the item was not on the agenda it can't be voted on. She suggested that the Committee be assigned one email address managed by the City Clerk, similar to what the City Council use. In response to a question from Committee Member Louie, City Manager Tandy explained that the Committee would be advised as to the disposition of the proposals following Council action. The Committee would also meet for the mid -year budget consideration and to review the year- end report in January. 7. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9:05 p.m. ATTEST: �� %nmakl,�_ JULIE DRIMAKIS, CMC CITY CLERK and Ex Officio Clerk of the Council of the City of Bakersfield Citizens Oversight Committee Meeting Monday, April 1, 2019 Page 9