Committee of the Whole

Office of the Clerk of Council City of Gahanna 200 South Hamilton Road Gahanna, Ohio 43230 Meeting Minutes Committee of the Whole Stephen A. Renner, Chair, Karen J. Angelou, Ryan P. Jolley, Thomas R. Kneeland Brian D. Larick, Jamie Leeseberg, Michael Schnetzer Kimberly McWilliams, CMC, Clerk of Council Monday, February 23, 2015 7:00 PM Council Committee Rooms Members - Present 7 - Thomas R. Kneeland, Brian D. Larick, Jamie Leeseberg, Karen J. Angelou, Michael Schnetzer, Stephen A. Renner, and Ryan P. Jolley Additional Attendees - Present: Mayor Becky Stinchcomb, Clerk of Council Kim McWilliams, Sue Wadley, Chief Murphy, Rory Gaydos, Jennifer Teal, Joann Bury, Dottie Franey, Rob Priestas, Anthony Jones, Tony Collins, Press, Scout Troop, Residents. Renner called the Committee of the Whole to order at 7:00 p.m. ITEMS - From the Director of Finance Director of Finance Supporting Documents 1. Motion Resolution to Transfer Appropriations for Payroll Adjustments Teal brought forth first item, a motion resolution request to transfer appropriations related with payroll; number of reclassifications at the end of 2014; final adjustment to pay associated with those positions; Motion Resolution detailed in memorandum. RECOMMENDATION: Consent Agenda 2. Supplemental Appropriation: Police Duty Weapons Teal noted in an attempt to avoid crossover from yearly POs, closed police duty weapons PO when it was still required; requesting Council authorize the appropriation; it is within the budget; requesting to be made available with then and now language; Renner inquired if this is the fund the police officers pay back; Teal confirmed. City of Gahanna Page 1 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes February 23, 2015 RECOMMENDATION: Consent Agenda with then and now language. 3. Creation of a Park Rental Escrow Agency Fund Teal noted the creation of a Park Rental Escrow Agency Fund; Agency Fund is when the City holds money on behalf of others; for example, if someone rents a park they submit a deposit and the City needs to be able to return the money to them; if there is damage, the dollars would be deposited into the general fund; the book keeping will be clean with an escrow fund; trouble with tracking without; will keep it clean and from an auditing standpoint very good idea. RECOMMENDATION: Consent Agenda 4. Reauthorize and Confirm Planned Transfers as Appropriated in ORD-0163-2014 Teal noted language required by Ohio Revised Code to require Council to offically authorize the transfer of funds between accounts; from a timing standpoint this request is earlier than normal, but this is an annual request; requesting Council approval for passage tonight. RECOMMENDATION: Consent Agenda ITEMS - From Administration Administration Supporting Documents 1. Finance Coordinator - Motion Resolution to Transfer Funds from Council Office Stinchcomb introduced staffing changes with the intent to bring Jennifer Teal into the Assistant City Administrator position; also proposing a Finance Coordinator to assist Finance as Jennifer works the capacity of two positions; Larick raised concerns that the City's long term staffing projections to hire at around $65,000-$70,000; recognizes metrics, performance, and improving processes on how we do things; not enough to identify that we will do metrics and update information; raised concerned we are not going to the final step by addressing the reduction hours, saving money, improving a service through adding these positions; in order to support a permanent ongoing expenditure an important question is: what are we trying to accomplish by adding these positions; the end goal is the betterment City of Gahanna Page 2 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes February 23, 2015 to the City by adding those things; Stinchcomb clarified that through hiring another position we will be able to achieve the tasks that have been laid out, however the initial onset of employment will not address all of these issues at once; is also concerned with metrics development and making a permanent position by doing metrics work; Teal noted we could have provided information as in City will save $70,000 per year by adding this position; but doesn't feel comfortable adding that information now as it may be incorrect in practice; Teal noted the initial step is hiring someone to quantify how are we working; how much does it cost; and by assessing the current state will we be able to better make a decision on what we should do; Larick suggested gathering data kinds of work typically done; once quantification of work is complete we can get the proper resources; to pause and do the front end work to understand the ability to support covering the costs; Stinchcomb noted this is an at will job and at any time we deem the position unnecessary we could terminate the position; respectfully at this point we have noted why the position is important; Larick noted if we cant provide a minimum level of support then we have not successfully proven the need for the position; Jolley noted support for the position; purpose is two fold; implementing the need for the lean Gahanna program; and as we have not partitioned for the significant amount of work required to collect additional data required to evaluate the City; without first analyzing what City currently does and what it needs to do an efficient job, we cannot be against these positions; next step is to develop a strategic plan to further the City of Gahanna; feels this person will be spending time to develop a strategic plan for the City; talked about this plan at the end of last year; we have lost time on this process; we aren't going to have anymore hard data until we get someone to collect the hard data; will support putting on the agenda; and hope Schnetzer noted the mechanics of the position; inquired when will we begin progress with this positions; Stinchcomb noted as soon as possible; Schnetzer inquired how quickly can we get someone in place; Wadley clarified a minimum of four weeks; Schnetzer noted it has run through the due process; would adding emergency language be supported; Leeseberg inquired how soon can we contract; Wadley noted twice as long as getting someone in place; probably eight weeks; Stinchcomb clarified a specialized position and would take time to find the right person; Angelou noted we are getting a performance modeling from metrics; Teal confirmed; will be coming soon; Angelou noted that process is part of the data gathering project; coming to some kind of significant position; we will have some data as to what will happen with taking a quarter of the process away from permitting and what will be required to get into a better positions and know what exactly is necessary for the betterment of the residents of Gahanna; Angelou comfortable with that level; Stinchcomb noted several staff members want to attend Lean Ohio training; Renner noted understanding how we got to this City of Gahanna Page 3 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes February 23, 2015 moment is important; noted the position added would be at the clerical level; Teal clarified that is slightly misunderstood, it is a career level four-year degree with experience position; still requires a background in our environment and when compiling submissions into a particular document; will require decisions to be made interdepartmentally; has a high level of expectations; noted the bar keeps rising on the production of Finance Department; position also needs to be the "boots on the ground person" to manage the day-to-day functions of the office; more than just a clerical, but not at the high level executive; Wadley noted it is a professional level position doing professional level work; Renner noted more tactical than strategic; Teal agreed; Renner noted real reason we are discussing the position is Teal filling the position with a focus on strategic initiatives; noted trying to balance do we fill positions without data; City structure is lean; could contact an outside temporary service firm to gain support for Teal to teach the new positions; Teal noted this is what we have wanted to do since the Lean Ohio training; can't say for sure how much production, but position will foster continuous lean-thinking improvement; important to keep in mind we bring a contract in to buy strategic, buy production, but we can't buy culture; noted one position will probably not change everything, but will help make considerable strides to catch up and leap forward; Renner noted interesting point why we are discussion is that we are a service organization, we are struggling in that regard as we do have a budget problem and we are trying to figure out how to provide more services from what we already have; Kneeland noted discussion for a long time; all of Council has a good point; noted it is an affordability issue; if conforms to strategic directions City is going, we will have met our goals; if it is an at-will position going into this that can be used as a gate keeper as to how we adjust moving forward; outcome may show there is an upside to this; maybe we can expand this role to a more strategic position; Angelou noted there will be people over to move the pieces around for the coordinator; will be a good service to the community; Larick noted conceptually this is all good; structure is a good solution generally; doesn't need to be a director level position; good at working with the groups; when you go to the table that you need, you never proceed without determining the projected outcome; having the courage to say we can at least cover the cost will be important and that doesn't take large amounts of data or time; inquired if this position in some fashion will have a recognized level of training and experience within the quality spectrum; Teal noted in the job description's current draft format the position will be required to receive some "yellow belt" training; noted if we are running a class of "green belts" they are expected to be at that level as we move through; do we bring in someone with a technical degree and teach them government; or do we bring in government experience and teach them quality; can see a wide range of candidates; Larick clarified a yellow belt is technically executive level; green belt does one project at City of Gahanna Page 4 Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes February 23, 2015 a time and has wide range knowledge; black belt has considerable experience; master black belt leads the initiative; Jolley noted we often let the perfect stand in front of the possible; we need to move forward with what we'd like to get done; Angelou noted expectations are set out boldly around the table; finding the right person may be difficult; worked on sustainable model and got policies done; great esteem for people in administration. RECOMMENDATION: Motion Resolution on the Regular Agenda. 2. Assistant City Administrator/Director of Finance - Revision to the 2015 Unclassified Salary Ordinance RECOMMENDATION: Amend by Substitution with Emergency Language. ITEM - From Mayor's Court Clerk of Courts Supporting Documents 1. Supplemental Appropriation: Court Case Files Teal noted requesting a supplemental appropriation for the Court case files computers; assisting with an electronic solution to scan Court cases into the system; appropriate use for the Court case fund; at this time request supplemental for Mayor's Court case file computers. RECOMMENDATION: Consent Agenda Adjournment Kneeland updated Council on the Governance Commission; noted final receiving of resumes and interest for Governance Commission was on Friday; have 21 applicants for the Commission and there is a wide array of ways to make the interviews happen; could interview partial over a few days or all in the same day; will move forward with planning; Jolley inquired if we will add an executive session; Kneeland confirmed; Renner adjourned the Committee of the Whole at 7:42 p.m. City of Gahanna Page 5