Measure P Committee Meeting

Measure P Oversight Committee Meeting Minutes February 13, 2014 The Measure P Oversight Committee Meeting was called to order by Fire Chief Guintini at the hour of 5:30 p.m. at Los Banos Fire Station No. 1, 333 7th Street, Los Banos, CA. Committee Members and staff present: Hoang (Ichabod) Nguyen; Tom Neeb; Rhonda Rusk; Gerry Giesel; Mark Bodley; Chet Guintini, Fire Chief; Gary Brizzee, Police Chief; Tim Marrison, Asst. Fire Chief; Steve Carrigan, City Manager; Sonya Williams, Finance Director; Kim Tomas, Staff Accountant; Mason Hurley, Fire Captain and Mary Lou Gilardi, Administrative Assistant. Committee Members Absent: Diana Ingram and Arlene Cardoza Chief Guintini started off the meeting by asking if the committee would mind starting off the meeting with Item II on the Agenda as Committee Member Neeb needs to leave early for another meeting. It was the consensus of the committee to move forward with Agenda Item II. Agenda Item II Chief Guintini apologized for having to bring this meeting together so quickly, but there are some changes that we are trying to make within the City and there are some funding sources that need to be addressed. Chief Brizzee explained to the committee what was going to be taking place with Code Enforcement Division. He indicated that Police Department was going to take over Code Enforcement and combine Animal Control and Code Enforcement. This move would entail the Animal Control Officer being reclassified as a Code Enforcement Officer, but still handling the Animal Control portion of it. A Sergeant would be added to give a little more oversight to the Division, and the fire clerk who works at Fire Dept under Code Enforcement would also be moved. This is all a result of the City Council’s desire to see a bigger effort from Code Enforcement. Chief Brizzee indicated that the Fire Clerk II will be reclassified as an Administrative Clerk for this move. The specific request is to take the 50% of her salary out of Measure P – Police instead of Measure P – Fire. The other 50% of her salary will remain out of Code Enforcement – General Fund. In addition to this request, Fire Department is requesting funding for a part time employee out of Measure P to replace the current Fire Clerk II position to help with the work load. Chief Brizzee was asked to explain the responsibilities of Code Enforcement. Basic responsibilities of Code Enforcement are the neighborhood quality of life issues that have to do with the Municipal Code for the City, (i.e. garbage can, signage issues, vehicle abatement, business license issues, etc.) Code Enforcement does not enforce criminal law. City Manager Carrigan indicated that he feels this is the best solution to address the issue of adding a second Code Enforcement Officer. Chief Guintini added that we need the full-time position for the Fire Clerk; we just don’t have the funding from the general fund to fund this position at this particular time. We will be looking to hire a part-time clerical person, and hopefully, we will be able to find funding in the future to be able to bring that position back full-time. Ich inquired about the cost of funding that part-time position. Sonya replied that she calculated an hourly rate of $10 - $12/hr to hire a part time person. A part time employee can work no more than 1000 hours in a year. This is how she arrived at an annual cost of $12,000 for part time. Chet interjected that if we can’t keep up with what we are doing in our office today, we may need to hire a second part time individual. If that were to happen, then the amount funded from Measure P Fire would go up to cover that second person. It was explained that one officer will be promoted to a sergeant in order to oversee the Code Enforcement Division. Ich asked if this approval that the City is looking for is just for the remainder of this fiscal year or if this will be ongoing? Sonya advised that, if approved, this would be ongoing until further notice. It was moved by Tom Neeb, seconded by Mark Bodley to approve the request as proposed by staff. Motion carried unanimously. At this time, Tom Neeb got up and left for his other commitment. There still was a quorum so the meeting continued. Agenda Item I Chief Guintini reviewed the Quarterly Reports that were sent out to the Committee for approval. He asked if there were any questions regarding the reports. Ich inquired about the building amount shown. It hasn’t changed over the last few quarters. Kim and Sonya explained that the issue needs to be looked at. Ich stated that it’s very confusing to have that dollar amount shown. Sonya advised that it would be changed before next quarterly report. Chief Guintini advised that staff is currently working on 14-15 Budget and we’ll get that in there. 2 It was mentioned that the Oversight Committee will be invited to attend budget workshops toward the end of May to review everything. It was moved by Gerry Giesel, seconded by Ich Nguyen to approve the 12/13 4 th Quarter Final Measure P Report; 13/14 1st and 2nd Quarter Measure P Reports as submitted by staff. Motion carried unanimously. Agenda Item III Committee Member Reports: Chief Guintini indicated that Tom Neeb has requested that we do not schedule these meetings on Thursday. Mark Bodley indicated that the 3rd and 4th Tuesdays of the month are bad for him. Gerry Giesel suggested that these meetings be done as an off-shoot before the City Council Meetings and Planning Commission Meetings. There was a lengthy discussion regarding the economy. The committee inquired as to when the City Manager thought we might be seeing an improvement. Ich did mention that he is happy to see that we have high revenues and lower expenditures in the Quarterly Reports than originally expected. Agenda Item IV Chief Brizzee indicated that 2013 has been the year for ongoing recruitment. The City has had the best luck with hiring and sending people to the academy. The Police Department will be sending two more employees to academy very soon. The entire organization is looking good. Chief Guintini stated that the Fire Department is doing ok. We’ll hire a part-time employee for now, and hopefully get the funding shortly to put a full-time person on board again. He added that volunteers are doing good; we’ll try to keep levels where they are. We are busy with running calls; approximately 70% of our calls being medical calls. We do have funding and are putting specs together for new engine. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:08 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Chet Guintini Fire Chief Measure P Min140214.doc 3