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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/26/19 PUBLIC SAFETY/VITAL SERVICES MINUTES• /Awlw�� ' B 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 Wednesday, June 26, 2019 4:00 p.m. City Hall North 1600 Truxtun Avenue, Bakersfield CA 93301 Confere Minutes The meeting was convened at 4:00pm 1. ROLL CALL Present: Chair Sanders, Vice -Chair Hibbard, Committee Members Holt, Louie, Perez-Andreeson, Prince, Rowland, Tobias Absent: Committee Member Keller 2. ADOPTION OF MINUTES FROM THE April 1, 2019 OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE MEETING Motion by Committee Member Tobias, second by Committee Member Louie, to adopt the minutes from the April 1, 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 law enforcement, city management and the Mayor. Lois Gill from the Bakersfield Homeless Shelter offered comments regarding Measure N Allocation and the need for additional funding for the upcoming year and anticipated increase in demand for the fiscal year 2019/2020. 4. NEW BUSINESS A. Budget Process Update and Measure Related Adjustments - Newly Drafted Reserve Policy - Tandy/Huot Initial comments made by City Manager Mr. Tandy. Assistant City Manager Huot provided a PowerPoint Presentation and made staff comments. Committee Member Rowland confirmed with Chief of Police Lyle Martin and City Manager Mr. Tandy that the Community Prosecution Unit will not deal with violent crimes, but address the lax enforcement of property crimes and drug offenses. Committee Member Perez-Andreesen further verified with Mr. Tandy that there is not a timeline at this time due to pending advocacy from the Kern County Sheriff. Committee Members Tobias, Rowland, and Vice -Chair Hibbard questioned Mr. Tandy and Public Works Director Mr. Fidler whether the PD butler building on California Ave would be esthetically pleasant for those driving down California Ave and would not detract from the community enhancement. Mr. Tandy clarified that the PD butler building will be in the back with landscaping and a privacy fence installed. Mr. Tandy additionally clarified the building and the layout are POST approved and will be for training purposes only. Committee Member Prince and Member Perez-Andreesen confirmed with Mr. Tandy making the City's reserve fund larger will not make the reserve more attractive to state takeaways. Mr. Tandy discussed the state's practice regarding revenue takeaways and the state has never taken local generated/allocated funds tax. They have taken money through the County, complicated triple flip. Mr. Tandy clarified the states procedure in taking funds it has control over and the size of the cities reserve fund will not detour future state funds being allocated to the city. Mr. Tandy further clarified most cities try to have a 10% reserve and Bakersfield currently has a reserve of 16%. Committee Member Holt confirmed with Mr. Tandy the funds being allocated in accordance with the issues voters are in favor of and referred to Mr. Gill's comments. Mr. Tandy elaborated on the homelessness issue and the $11.5 million dollars dedicated to the issue and the complexity of coordinating service providers. Mr. Huot added that there could be additional funding to facilitate the homeless issue. Committee Member Louie confirmed with Mr. Tandy that if the community prosecution program does not take place then funds would be reallocated. Audyinka Glover from the Leadership. and Accountability Counsel made comments regarding participatory budgeting and the importance of public participation in the city's budget process. She additionally stated she did not see a clear portion of the meeting that allows the public to speak. Chair Sanders confirmed the committee welcomes comments and invited public attendance at the council meeting on Friday (June 28, 2109.) Citizens Oversight Committee Meeting Wednesday, June 26, 2019 Page 2 Committee Members Rowland and Hibbard confirmed with Chief Martin that the city is not spending money to have the butler building up and running quickly in order to meet the timeline of the new police academy in August 2019. Chief Martin additionally stated, the quality of training is not effected by the design of the building. Chief Martin and Assistant police Chief Demestihaus further explained that the building is the appropriate size for growth and it is in a prime location for the officers to be able to respond quickly if there were an emergency. Committee Member Prince clarified with Chief Martin the Community Prosecution Program funding is to hire two prosecutors in the Kern county District Attorney's Office to handle the quality of life crimes. He further clarified that the DA does not have the staffing for the drug diversion and low level crimes division. This creates an issue for the police department because if there is no prosecution for the arrests the police are making. Committee Member Sanders confirmed with Chief Martin the building would accommodate 700 or more police academy participants. Committee Members Hibbard and Sanders clarified with Financial Manager Randy McKeegan the recommended reserve for the city is 10% and 16% is where we ideally want to be. Mr. McKeegan further clarified that the city's actual reserve is currently a little over 10%. Mr. Tandy stated the priorities right now are police and homelessness. He further stated that during the early days of these programs the city can continue to build a reserve. Mr. Huot expanded on Mr. Tandy's comments. Committee Member Louie and Tobias clarified with Mr. Tandy the homelessness issue and the council's primary deriving interest is to address the negative impact the issue has taken on the community. He additionally elaborated on homeless services contracts and building. Assistant City Manager Jacqui Kitchen added that the city is planning an RFP for operational costs. Mr. Tandy provided further clarification to the committee regarding Mr. Gills request for funds. Committee Member Louie confirmed with Mr. Gill that the emergency meal program is for any one in need of the service. Committee Member Prince clarified with Mr. Tandy the first quarter budget projections from last year's budget and this year's budget are 14%, but the annualized increase is only 6% and the forecast for next year is 2% growth. Mr. McKeegan additionally commented on some of the issues causing the increase are oil production, new car sales, and retail sales are top contributors. Committee Member Hibbard confirmed with Mr. McKeegan the city will continue to monitor the projected 2% growth and will adjust accordingly. Citizens Oversight Committee Meeting Wednesday, June 26, 2019 Page 3 Committee Member Rowland proposed a motion that these recommendations fall in line with Measure N. Rowlands additional emphasized that it is not the job of the committee to strike down proposals because they are not higher priorities. If the" is an opinion regarding other higher priorities the committee can make recommendation to the council. Committee Member Holt insisted that is not how the committee previously handled the issues. Motion failed due to lack of second. Committee chair Sanders recommended the votes be done by line item and members make comments for the minority report. Committee Member Prince made a motion move to approve the cash reserve of $1 million for 2018-19 as it is within the spending priorities and recommend to city council. Second Hibbard. Motion was approved with member Holt voting no. Committee Member Holt requesting more money be allocated to service providers for the homelessness issue. Committee Member Tobias motion proposal of $3.3 million to cash reserve meets the requirements of measure and recommend to the council. Committee Member Prince second. Motion is approved with member Holt, Perez-Andreesen, and Louie voting no. Committee Members are requesting additional funds be allocated to service providers for the homelessness issue. Committee Member Louie proposed a motion approving the community prosecution program. Committee Member Holt second. Motion was unanimously approved. Committee Member Rowland proposed a motion approving funding for the police department. Committee Member Perez-Andreesen second. Motion was unanimously approved. 5. BOARD COMMENTS Chair Sanders asked the committee if any of the members planned on attending the upcoming council meeting. Committee Member Rowland replied yes. Committee Member Perez-Andreesen, the brief funds for is it possible to get monthly or quarterly reports to review? Mr. Huot, it is in our open budget platform. Also we come back to the committee to report, separate audit. Committee Member Perez-Andreesen confirmed with Mr. Huot these reports are separate from one another. Mr. Tandy, if anyone has trouble navigating Huot will help. Citizens Oversight Committee Meeting Wednesday, June 26, 2019 Page 4 Mr. Huot it is easy to use, it is updated monthly. He elaborated that there are three funds to account for the revenue, 14 main operating fund. Fund 14 designations where you will see that. Fund 312 is a separate fund, all capital projects have fund 312 designation, only measure related capital funding are there. Fund 19 is the reserve fund where reserve funds are allocating. Separating and not comingling. Committee Member Perez- Andreesen requested clarification regarding whether the committee will get a report for this last quarter and what is being paid out of the measure N. Mr. Tandy clarified it will be early equipment purchases and 12 million dollar initial will be in the report. Mr. McKeegan informed the committee the report will be finalized along with CAFR sometime in November. Committee Member Perez-Andreesen requested permission to see the work plan. Mr. McKeegan informed they are still in discussions. Committee Member Perez-Andreesen commented that committee may want to add to the work plan. Committee Member Louie requested clarification as to whether fund 19 monies are facility reserve funds. Mr. Huot clarified that fund 19 is just measure related funds in the cash reserve. Allocated funds, non -measure funds separate. Fund 19 are just measure funds. Committee Member Louie, at the end of last meeting we were told to the disposition of the proposals specifically interest on the ones that were not approved. Mr. Tandy, informed the committee that Friday is final motion, one thing wasn't done, subsequent to Kaiser Sport village we received notice of a grant $3 million grant matching, and funds you did not recommend will now be part of matching funds for expansion. Mr. Tandy's guess would be that the council is highly likely to fund the improvements of the convention center and bright house. Committee Member Rowland requested clarification on the projected $3 million grant and the councils anticipated approval of the money. Mr. Tandy explained the initial obligation for $1.5 million was so the city would not have to fund the matching. It is likely to be approved. The council will not be voting on the future funds at this time. The $27 million was given out in state and we got $3 million. Doubling your money is something the council has valued. Committee Member Sanders thanked everyone for coming out and the way vote and minority report was prepared. Thanked Gill for being here. Citizens Oversight Committee Meeting Wednesday, June 26, 2019 Page 5 Tandy, more information 6. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 5:50 p.m. ATTEST: A A k lilft� JUL E DRIMAKIS, CMC CITY CLERK and Ex Officio Clerk of the Council of the City of Bakersfield Citizens Oversight Committee Meeting Wednesday, June 26, 2019 Page 6 1 1 1