Council Retreat Meeting

MINUTES CITY COUNCIL RETREAT MEETING CITY OF MONTEREY Wednesday, January 15, 2014 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. LARKIN ROOM, ONE PORTOLA PLAZA, MONTEREY CONFERENCE CENTER MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA Councilmembers Present: Councilmembers Downey, Haffa, Selfridge, Sollecito, Della Sala Absent: None City Staff Interim City Manager, City Attorney, Director of Information Resources/City Present: Clerk, Deputy City Manager Plans & Public Works CALL TO ORDER Mayor Della Sala called the meeting to order at 1:08 p.m. RETREAT 1. Discuss Council Members' Priorities and Build Relationships in Preparation for a Future Goal Setting Meeting Mayor Della Sala opened public comments for items not on the agenda, no one came forward, and he closed Public comments. Interim City Manager McCarthy stated that the purpose of today’s meeting is to hear individual Councilmembers’ priorities so staff can bring back a list at a future goal setting meeting. He reviewed budget projections, saying that there is a structural deficit of $500,000 this year and an additional $500,000 next year. On question, he explained that it is a result of unrealized revenues, as well as changes in how PERS sets their rates. Councilmembers discussed the list of items presented by the Assistant City Manager. No Smoking Downtown – Councilmember Downey said that she would like to move forward now and the OMBA board should not make this decision. Councilmember Sollecito said that there is no chance of the merchants agreeing. Mayor Della Sala recommended moving forward with a survey of OMBA, given the small amount of staff time needed. Councilmember Haffa said that it is an effective way to deal with the transient issues. Councilmembers discussed establishing designated smoking areas. Infrastructure Investment and Renewal — Councilmember Selfridge suggested that Council allow the new City Manager time to look at this. Mayor Della Sala stated that a revenue measure needs to be initiated now, and infrastructure investment is critically important no matter how it’s funded. Councilmember Haffa agreed that this is a major decision and it would be nice to have permanent City Manager when it’s made, but he hears what Mayor Della Sala is saying regarding the revenue measure. He asked if the money could be directed to specific uses and would there be a sunset. Mayor Della Sala agreed that there should be a sunset, and said that a specifically targeted measure would need a 2/3 vote to pass. Councilmember Haffa suggested doing some polling. Councilmember Sollecito emphasized that this would not be a City Manager or Council decision, rather it’s a vote of the citizenry. He stated that common sense says we need it. Mayor Della Sala said that the infrastructure requires annual expenditures of seven million dollars, and budget cuts won’t cover it. Councilmember Selfridge said that a new City Manager  City Council Minutes Wednesday, January 15, 2014 should review it first, but right now people will ask if belts have really been tightened. Councilmember Haffa suggested that while a budget committee would take time, it would ultimately pay off. Interim City Manager McCarthy said that the timing for a revenue measure is now because of an opportunity to pay off the public safety pension side fund, and he reviewed the numbers associated with paying off the side fund early. Councilmember Haffa suggested that some of the added revenue could be used to assist low income housing. Interim City Manager McCarthy said that it could also be used to implement the Downtown Specific Plan and make up for the ‘dark’ period at Conference Center. Councilmember Sollecito stated that infrastructure is important, and the tax should be a general tax. On question, Interim City Manager McCarthy estimated that 2/3 of the sales tax revenue comes from nonresidents. City Attorney Davi clarified that the City cannot spend public funds on a tax measure, but can give information. Councilmember Selfridge said that the infrastructure is important and the side fund is important, but 2014 is the wrong timing for a tax measure. Pension Side Fund—see above discussion. State Theatre—Councilmember Selfridge noted that the Kiwanis had good questions about this topic. Councilmember Haffa said that it is worthwhile to look into it. Mayor Della Sala stated that he is interested to find out how much the public supports this issue. He voiced concerns regarding the amount of money it would take to purchase the theater, saying that it is not wise to spend millions to purchase and more to renovate it. He suggested that a major donor is needed, and subsidizing operations could cost over $700,000 each year. Councilmember Downey said that we don’t know what it would cost to operate. Councilmember Haffa suggested public financing. Mayor Della Sala asked where public money would come from. Councilmember Downey suggested that maybe revenue generated by a tax could cover it. Councilmember Sollecito said that half of the citizens might want tax to pay for it, and half would not vote for a tax to be spent on the State Theatre. He said that Hanford’s facility does not have the same type of competition as there is here. Councilmember Selfridge reviewed some entities that have come forward with offers to operate it. Councilmember Haffa said that the upcoming fundraiser will indicate how much support there is. Councilmember Selfridge stated that community support is very favorable suggested several fundraising ideas. Councilmember Downey said that she hopes that Council would be supportive in the public until a decision is made. She suggested that the City could sell other property in order to pay for it. Councilmember Haffa expressed interest in that approach. Mayor Della Sala reviewed a past study that was done regarding City-owned properties. Interim Assistant City Manager Uslar said that the City has received an unsolicited offer to buy 595 Munras. Councilmember Haffa asked if it is possible to borrow from the Parking Fund for this purpose. Mr. McCarthy said that there would have to be enough revenue and a plan to pay back the loan. Councilmember Selfridge said that a ticket surcharge would be helpful. She stated that the Council’s stance would be clearer after the January 21st public meeting and the fundraiser on February 1. Homelessness—Interim City Manager McCarthy reviewed the ambassador program that is being discussed for the Downtown and the proposed regional safe parking program. Councilmember Haffa reported that he has been meeting with Mike Marotta and Chris Shake and homeless advocates, and the ambassador program was a compromise idea instead implementing of a sit-lie ordinance. He said that ambassadors would welcome everyone, provide escort in the evening, and be the eyes and ears for the Downtown community. Mr. Haffa said that businesses should pay part of the cost. 2  City Council Minutes Wednesday, January 15, 2014 Councilmember Downey asked if public funding is a legal issue. City Attorney Davi said that it is possible but not recommended by risk management. Councilmember Downey said that there is a “cushion” in every department’s budget that could help pay for these programs. Interim City Manager McCarthy that was true a few years ago, but it has been tightened up with recent budget cuts. Councilmember Haffa reviewed the safe parking program proposal, and said that he is confident that Pacific Grove and Marina would join, along with other agencies that would be needed. He explained that participating cities would pay a non-profit to run the program. Sister Cities Activities—Councilmember Selfridge reported that several activities are happening and she would like the City to sponsor the financially. Conference Center—Interim Assistant City Manager Uslar outlined the need to structure a loan to start project with a Conference Center Facilities District paying it back. Councilmember Haffa asked for clarity on the $50 million cap, and Interim City Manager McCarthy said that he would respond with the details in an email. Councilmember Selfridge stated concerns that a loan would come from the Parking Fund. Councilmember Sollecito it is remarkable that the hotels are willing to pay for the renovation of a public facility. Mayor Della Sala the bond would come back to Council for approval and the $50 million figure will be better defined at that time. Development at Ryan Ranch—Councilmember Haffa would like to have input from a local businessman, such as Mr. Outzen or Mr. Marotta, so he would feel more comfortable regarding Mr. Orosco’s proposal. Interim City Manager McCarthy said that staff would bring experts into the discussion. Councilmember Downey stated that Mr. Mosebach told her that the City does not need Orosco to build commercial space. Mayor Della Sala said that one has to look at the absorption rate of commercial property and consider how to best phase in development. City Attorney Davi Adam reported that Mr. Lundgren with Meyers Naïve has been retained, and the team has reached an agreement on the ENA. Councilmember Downey suggested letting other local business people look at it. Water—Councilmember Haffa suggested that Council should stay out of the issue of the public water initiative because there might be a difference of opinion. Councilmember Sollecito agreed that others are working on it and there would be no benefit for Council to weigh in at this point. Councilmember Downey said that Pacific Grove is doing some storm water reclamation and asked if Monterey could take a more active role in that project. Interim Assistant City Manager Uslar reported that Monterey is spearheading that project. Councilmember Haffa asked if El Estero and other City reservoirs could be used for collecting storm water. Mr. Uslar said that those are already being used in that way. Mayor Della Sala said that the sewer agency is looking at using some of that storm water. Councilmember Haffa said that this might be worth pursuing, but he would not necessarily support dedicating more staff for it at this time Employee Compensation—Councilmember Haffa said that Council needs to hire an outside negotiator for the Executive Management Group and maybe Police, but not for other groups. City Attorney Davi reported that she has retained an attorney from San Francisco and will need to schedule a closed session at the second February or first March meeting. Councilmember Sollecito said that he does not think outside negotiators are needed at this time, but Council should revisit the matter when the economy gets better. Mayor Della Sala said that Council has positive relationships with the groups, and should not change the way we are doing business with them. He said it might make sense for the Execs, but not others. Councilmember Sollecito said that the Police gave up some of what was asked of them, and it is not good to bad mouth them. He said that until there is a problem we should not change the process. He stated that Council has a lot to be proud of, and the employees should be proud. 3  City Council Minutes Wednesday, January 15, 2014 Mayor Della Sala called a recess at 2:45 p.m. and reconvened the meeting at 2:51 p.m. Downtown Lighting—Interim Assistant City Manager Uslar said that staff is looking at historic street lights with LED. City Attorney Davi reported that Turn Down the Lights will support the fixtures but maybe not the LEDs. Councilmember Haffa suggested asking NIP for funding. Councilmember Downey supported better tree lighting, and Mr. Uslar said that he is checking on that. Property Management—Staff reported that we already contract out a portion of this function, and there is a potential to contract more of it. Councilmember Haffa asked how the City avoids a conflict of interest by contractors, and Mr. Uslar assured that our agents have to represent us the City. Councilmember Haffa said that he might be interested in contracting out the property leasing function if it would save money and increase revenue. Mr. Uslar explained that Council would still be in charge of the leases and the cost would be between 5 and 8 percent of revenues. He said that the advantage is that the professionals are held accountable for keeping the leases up to date. Councilmember Downey supports that idea. Councilmember Haffa said that we would need to insure adequate oversight and that there could be no corruption. On question from the Mayor, Mr. Uslar said that the current revenue stream is $2.5 million. Councilmember Selfridge said that this approach would speed up the lease renewals. Mayor Della Sala suggested not moving forward this year, but possibly in the future. Councilmember Downey and Councilmember Selfridge disagreed because there is so much on the plate. Mayor Della Sala said that putting a new company in place at this time would slow things down. Councilmember Haffa suggested that having an outside agent would help mitigate some of the more political decisions. Councilmember Selfridge suggested an RFP now to have someone in place in six months. Councilmembers Haffa and Downey agreed. Recreation Fees—Interim City Manager McCarthy said that an item would coming to Council on January 21. Councilmember Haffa asked to review the amount of revenues versus operational costs. Councilmember Selfridge said that she does not want to do a study now. Councilmember Downey said that this is only an internal study, and Monterey’s classes and Sports Center are better than most. Councilmember Haffa said that he favors a policy to increase all fees by the CPI each year. Mayor Della Sala said that it is important to do this regularly so huge increases are not necessary. Councilmember Haffa asked about additional charges for non-citizens. Mayor Della Sala explained that outside money was used to develop the Sports Center and there is a stipulation as to how much can be charged. Library Extended Hours—Councilmember Downey said that Library will get Sunday hours if they ask. Councilmember Selfridge said that the Library advance a proposal. Councilmember Downey suggested that additional money could come from the staffing reorganization. BRAC—Councilmember Sollecito said that the military is a billion dollar business in this county and we have to fund a process to deal with the next BRAC. He noted that people are being taken out of Fleet Numerical, and the Navy wants to close NPS. Councilmember Downey said that this is not an immediate concern. Mayor Della Sala disagreed, saying that we need to start on a County wide consortium as soon as possible. He said that it should start with the Board of Supervisors, and he has already broached this topic with the Mayors to consider a line item for BRAC. He stressed that it is ripe to move forward at this time, and he will attend an event Friday morning where he will start to move this forward at the Board of Supervisors level. 4  City Council Minutes Wednesday, January 15, 2014 Councilmember Downey wondered about consultant costs and suggested researching potential consultants. Councilmember Selfridge said that this is down the road, and the City should talk to Leon Panetta. Councilmember Downey suggested that the Interim City Manager could do it and Councilmember Haffa said that would not be the best use of resources. Mayor Della Sala said that this is a high priority that needs to move forward now, keeping in mind that a budget line item would be needed to pay for it. Councilmember Sollecito some areas have a commission still intact from the last round. Museum—Councilmember Downey said that the City owns many paintings that do not have a home. Councilmember Selfridge said that the City needs to hire two full time staff members for the Museum. Councilmember Haffa suggested partnering with the Monterey Museum of Art. Mayor Della Sala said that this is not a high priority. Councilmember Haffa talked to one of our Colton Hall Museum Commissioners who says some of the works are at risk Parking Strategies—Mayor Della Sala said that streets should be metered and the price lowered in the garages. Councilmember Haffa said that negative feedback should be expected from that approach. Councilmember Downey said that she has had trouble getting Doug Weile to work with his employees in the past, but it has gotten better since Cooper Molera came under discussion. She said that she will only support it if valet parking plan is in the plan. Councilmember Haffa supported that idea. Interim Assistant City Manager Uslar said that staff would evaluate a Parking Maintenance District for infrastructure improvement in the Downtown area. Councilmember Sollecito voiced concerns about Charter provisions regarding the Parking enterprise. Mayor Della Sala said that he supports moving ahead with Downtown Specific Plan. Strategies for Promoting Tourism—Councilmember Downey voiced concerns that the most recent marketing brochure has no substance, so maybe someone should hire another firm to do this. Councilmember Sollecito said that they have hired another sales manager and the Asia connection has come from the State instructions to focus on Pacific Rim, which is a huge opportunity to generate more tourism. Councilmember Haffa said that it makes sense to market to Asia and it is important to emphasize the Chinese influence in Monterey’s history. Councilmembers Haffa and Sollecito asked to have the MCCVB do a presentation on their strategy. Councilmember Selfridge said that Council needs to look at the amount of investment, because she does not think it is worth $1 million. Councilmember Haffa said he would like to see more emphasis on historic assets. Councilmember Sollecito suggested getting the historic organizations together. Mayor Della Sala said Council should ask MCCVB why they market the way they do. Councilmember Downey expressed concern that they have been negative about the Conference Center. Mr. McCarthy said will invite them to a Council Meeting Shared Services—Mayor Della Sala said that the next logical shared service would be Police. Councilmember Haffa expressed concerns regarding sharing police services. Councilmember Sollecito said that it would be a natural to take on Airport Police services. Councilmember Downey supported moving to a Joint Powers Agency. Councilmember Sollecito agreed, saying that should be done with Fire first. Councilmember Haffa said that he would support expanding Fire services to Seaside. Councilmember Selfridge suggested sharing police with Del Rey Oaks. Mayor Della Sala said that he does not think there is a chance of shared services with Del Rey Oaks at this time, and he supported continued talks with Seaside. Interim City Manager McCarthy said that Pebble Beach is a possibility. Councilmember Sollecito said that every merger that Monterey has been done has had the full support of the employees, but Seaside employees don’t want it. Councilmember Haffa suggested that pursuing the entire Airport operations might be feasible and would give more control regarding fly overs. Councilmember Sollecito said that the Airport relies solely on fees and if Monterey takes over they would get taxes, so landing fees could be lowered to get more commercial flights. 5  City Council Minutes Wednesday, January 15, 2014 North Fremont Specific Plan—Interim City Manager McCarthy said that this matter would be coming to Council in February, and staff has talked with Mr. Ruccello regarding his concerns. Councilmember Haffa and Councilmember Selfridge stated that there is concern regarding the third story addition. Councilmember Sollecito said that North Fremont is becoming an eyesore and is going downhill fast. Mayor Della Sala said that the more you reduce the density of what is allowed to be built, the less valuable the property becomes. Councilmember Downey said that Council needs to move forward with the plan or it will get worse. Interim Assistant City Manager Uslar said staff is actively trying to get something in place that all parties can live with. Priority of Implementing DT Plan—Councilmembers agreed to talk about this later. NIP Backlog—Interim City Manager McCarthy reported that staff is actively working on how to work the projects. Councilmember Selfridge suggested hiring a project manager to work only on NIP. Councilmember Sollecito suggested reducing the bond requirement for small projects. Widening Recreation Trail—Interim City Manager McCarthy reported that staff is researching this topic and might present a proposal to widen parts of it. Councilmember Selfridge said that the bicycles travel way too fast and maybe there should be areas where bikes must be walked. Councilmember Haffa said that this is the bike corridor in the multi modal plan and that would cause less bike riders. Mayor Della Sala suggested rerouting them up to lighthouse. Interim Assistant City Manager Uslar said that there is a project to divert some of the traffic, widening could create two sections to separate bikes and pedestrians, and there is an NIP project to address signage and other safety concerns. Fire Training Officer—Mr. McCarthy reported that staff is reviewing potential sources of funding through a fee structure. Councilmember Haffa asked why the Chief or Assistant Chief can’t do it, or suggested doing it through MPCs training facility. Interim City Manager McCarthy said that staff is looking at options. Councilmember Selfridge said that they have all been trained differently and no one person coordinates how the training works, so there is a problem with coordination at actual events. She said that the Firefighters think it is really important, Political Signs—Councilmember Downey said that she would like to seen an ordinance brought forward before the election. Councilmember Haffa voiced concerns, saying that signs show public interest and promote more participation. Mayor Della Sala suggested limiting the number of locations and having specific places for them. Councilmember Downey said that she wants no political signs on public property. Staff reported that it would take 20-30 hours to draft an ordinance and take it through the approval process. Councilmember Haffa said that it is not a priority for him. Mayor Della Sala said he would like to see a presentation sooner than later so the policy decision could be made. City Attorney Davi said that banning signs on public property most likely would be challenged. Councilmember Selfridge said that the rules were not followed at the last election. Councilmember Haffa asked if Council could limit the number of signs that a campaign can put up, and Ms. Davi said that would be speech limitation. Councilmember Downey asked if this bothers anyone else. Mayor Della Sala and Councilmember Sollecito agreed that it is bothersome, but is not a high priority. City Attorney Davi said that staff will do a presentation to Council on the topic. Garage Sale Ordinance—Councilmember Sollecito said that only one person has complained about this, and the person is a chronic complainer. He said that he does not want to move forward on this matter. Councilmember Haffa suggested seeing if there is support from other neighbors, and asking the neighborhood association to make suggestions. 6  City Council Minutes Wednesday, January 15, 2014 Code Compliance—Mayor Della Sala said that Council has heard complaints and we only have a part time staff person. Councilmember Haffa suggested enforcement on a complaint basis. Councilmember Downey described the short term rental problems in her neighborhood, saying that the fine is insignificant. She suggested making violation a misdemeanor and raising the fine. City Attorney Davi said that the offending party faces up to six months in jail and a fine. Councilmember Haffa agreed that the fine could be bumped up. Councilmember Downey asked staff to bring an increase recommendation to the Council. Retirement Incentive Plan—Interim City Manager McCarthy reported that in the past the City offered employees three years of medical insurance as an incentive to retire early, and it was very successful at that time. Councilmember Downey said that this has been the most rewarding meeting she has attended in years, and she offered kudos to the Interim City Manager. Mayor Della Sala gave his list of top priorities, as follows—Conference Center, Revenue Enhancement to fund the needed programs, BRAC, Infrastructure Investment and Renewal, and Downtown Specific Plan Implementation Councilmember Sollecito agreed with the Mayor’s list of priorities. Councilmember Downey said that they are important, but she wants consider the matter further. Councilmember Haffa agreed with Mayor Della Sala, and added the Golden State Theatre and Homelessness as numbers 6 and 7. Councilmember Downey added Property Management to the list. Councilmember Selfridge said that starting a Budget and Economic Development Committee should be added Councilmember Downey said that she would like to take advantage of Clay Larson’s offer to help Council by giving a businessman’s perspectives on business matters. City Attorney Davi cautioned Council not to disclose confidential information. ADJOURNMENT With no further business to come before the City Council, Mayor Della Sala adjourned the meeting at 4:57 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Approved, Bonnie Gawf Chuck Della Sala City Clerk Mayor 7