Council Special Meeting

MINUTES CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL CITY OF MONTEREY Wednesday, April 27, 2011 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. 7:00 - 11:00 p.m. COUNCIL CHAMBERS, FEW MEMORIAL HALL OF RECORDS MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA Councilmembers Present: Councilmembers Downey, Haferman, Selfridge, Sollecito, Della Sala Absent: None City Staff City Manager, City Attorney, Director of Information Resources/City Clerk, Present: Assistant City Manager, Fire Chief, Police Chief, Human Resources Director, Community Services Director, Recreation & Community Services Director, Assistant Finance Director, Assistant Director Plans and Public Works, Chief of Planning, Engineering, and Environmental Compliance, Housing & Property Manager, Administrative Analyst - Real Estate CALL TO ORDER PUBLIC COMMENTS Mayor Della Sala opened the floor for public comments on items not on the agenda. Tom Rowley said that North Fremont is a critical arterial street, not a minor arterial as stated at a recent Planning Commission meeting. He said that it should not be a pedestrian mall, and mixed use is out of control. He suggested a five to ten year moratorium on mixed use projects to evaluate the success of existing projects. Vice Mayor Haferman clarified that the "minor arterial" label was applied to Fremont Street based on traffic counts. City Manager Meurer reminded Council that the mixed use strategy is part of the City's General Plan. Having no further requests to speak, Mayor Della Sala closed public comments and adjourned the meeting to closed session at 4:10 p.m. 1. Conference with Legal Counsel Existing Litigation Pursuant to Government Code § 54956.9(a); Marina Coast Water District v. Superior Court (6th District Court of Appeals) (City Attorney - 703- 06 City Attorney) Continued from the 4/19/2011 meeting. Action: On a roll call vote, the City Council gave confidential direction to their legal counsel (4-1; Downey voting no) 2. Closed Session Conference Pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.8 with City Real Property Negotiators, Rick Marvin and Chip Rerig to Provide Direction to Respond to Request to Extend Tidelands Leases Adjoining 400 Cannery Row (Monterey Plaza Hotel) for the Purpose of Refinancing (Plans and Public Works - 206-03) Continued from the 4/19/2011 meeting Action: On a roll call vote, the City Council gave confidential direction to their negotiators (3-1-1; Selfridge voting no, Downey abstaining) 3. Conference Pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.8 with City Real Property Negotiating Team – City-Owned Property at 595 Munras Avenue – Negotiations Originally Authorized in Open Session on February 6, 2007 – City Negotiators are Don Rhoads, Rick Marvin, and Chip Rerig (Plans & Public Works - 206-03) continued from the 4/19/2011 meeting Action: Continued to evening session 4. Conference with Labor Negotiators Pursuant to Government Code Section 54957.6 - Agency Negotiators: Mike McCarthy, Debbie Jones - Employee Organization: General Employees of Monterey (GEM) (Human Resources - 507-01) Action: Continued to evening session  City Council Minutes Wednesday, April 27, 2011 Mayor Della Sala reconvened the meeting in open session at 7:00 p.m. ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM CLOSED SESSION Information Resources Director/City Clerk Gawf made the announcements as noted above. CONTINUED PUBLIC COMMENTS Mayor Della Sala reopened public comments on items not on the agenda. Mr. Dunham suggested re instituting Glass-Steagall legislation that would separate banks from Wall Street investment houses and solve the current budget problems. Having no further requests to speak, Mayor Della Sala closed public comments. PUBLIC APPEARANCE 5. Questions and Discussion regarding the Draft Proposed Budget Reduction Strategy (Finance - 406-03) Action: Council provided feedback to staff regarding the preliminary budget plan for closing the $5 million general fund operating shortfall for FY 2011-12 Assistant City Manager Cohn introduced the item. Mayor Della Sala opened the floor for public comment. Nelson Vega asked for additional information regarding unfunded liabilities and if the strategy would include a tax increase. He suggested mentoring people who are being laid off so they could form a business and continue to provide services to the City. He asked why the City does not let the employees' contracts run out and suggested that if too many people retire it might create additional financial difficulty. City Manager Meurer provided additional information and explained that CalPERS is currently funded at 81%, and he outlined some of the assumptions that are used by that organization. Jim Cullem, Monterey resident, suggested that it is time for a TOT increase that could be sunsetted. He suggested relooking at the budget with an assumption of a 2% increase in TOT. Having no further requests to speak, Mayor Della Sala closed public comments on the item. Councilmember Downey said that she is struggling with the idea of laying off the tree trimmers. On question, Assistant City Manager Cohn confirmed that the figure in the budget documents is the net amount that would be saved and includes an estimated cost of contracting out tree trimming. City Manager Meurer said that he has asked the tree crew to consider how they might reduce the cost of a crew day. Councilmember Downey said that she would like to see the details behind the numbers presented. She suggested reducing jobs from full time to part time. On question, City Manager Meurer clarified that he makes considerably more than any Executive Manager in the City, and some Executives are paid less than middle managers. Councilmember Selfridge said that she would like the managers to take a pay cut, possibly reducing their hours. She suggested offering retirement incentives. City Manager Meurer said that PERS retirement packages are very expensive, but the Council might want to consider offering a stipend as an incentive. He explained the necessity of adequate supervision, and noted that Executives already have been cut 45% and are being asked to do more. He said it is not realistic to expect them to work less hours. Councilmember Downey said that she thinks the City has a great Executive Management team and 2  City Council Minutes Wednesday, April 27, 2011 her comments are not meant to be derogatory. She said that she appreciates the groups agreeing to the two-tier system. Councilmember Selfridge confirmed that she is talking about an honorarium in terms of early retirement. She suggested a 3-5 year budget plan. Ms. Selfridge suggested alternatives in lieu of stipends for commissioners. She agreed with Councilmember Downey regarding Executive Managers. Councilmember Haferman agreed that potential layoffs are the most difficult part of this process. He said that he would like to have a table that shows the positions that are potentially being affected and how much each one would save. He said that there have been a number of efforts to increase sales tax in the past, but it has not been discussed during this budget cycle. He noted that large conventions look at the TOT rate of the cities that they are considering for their conferences. Mayor Della Sala said that he was unable to attend the last budget presentation, but watched on television. He said he was impressed at how well the Executive Managers came together as a team, and they were professional and competent. He suggested waiting to see how many dollars are saved through employee concessions before moving forward. Mayor Della Sala said that he is troubled by the number of layoffs, but he believes the number will be reduced through the process. He said he does not believe that the savings realized by reducing the Communications Division budget would be worth it since Monterey is a tourist town, and the work on the website is important for transparency. Councilmembers agreed that there has been good public outreach on this issue. Mayor Della Sala adjourned the meeting to a closed session at 8:34 p.m. 3. Conference Pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.8 with City Real Property Negotiating Team – City-Owned Property at 595 Munras Avenue – Negotiations Originally Authorized in Open Session on February 6, 2007 – City Negotiators are Don Rhoads, Rick Marvin, and Chip Rerig (Plans & Public Works - 206-03) continued from the 4/19/2011 meeting) Action: On a roll call vote, the City Council gave confidential direction to their negotiators (4-0-1; Della Sala not participating) 4. Conference with Labor Negotiators Pursuant to Government Code Section 54957.6 - Agency Negotiators: Mike McCarthy, Debbie Jones - Employee Organization: General Employees of Monterey (GEM) (Human Resources - 507-01) Action: On a roll call vote, the City Council gave confidential direction to their negotiators (4-1; Downey voting no) ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM CLOSED SESSION Information Resources Director/City Clerk Gawf made the announcements as noted above. ADJOURNMENT Vice Mayor Haferman adjourned the meeting at 10:16 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Approved, Bonnie L. Gawf Chuck Della Sala Information Resources Director/City Clerk Mayor 3