City Council

City Hall Meeting Minutes 601 4th Avenue E Olympia, WA 98501 City Council Information: 360.753.8447 Saturday, June 20, 2015 9:00 AM LOTT Board Room, 500 Adams St. NE, Olympia, WA City Council Mid-Year Retreat 1. ROLL CALL Present: 7 - Mayor Stephen H. Buxbaum, Mayor Pro Tem Nathaniel Jones, Councilmember Jim Cooper, Councilmember Julie Hankins, Councilmember Steve Langer, Councilmember Jeannine Roe and Councilmember Cheryl Selby 2. BUSINESS ITEMS 2.A 15-0636 Olympia City Council’s Mid-Year Retreat The meeting was called to order at 9:00 a.m. WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS Retreat Facilitator Kendra Dahlen welcomed everyone and provided a brief overview of the agenda and the plan for the day. 2015 GOALS DISCUSSION Ms. Dahlen provided each of the Councilmembers with some post-it notes and a pen, and asked them to write down what they see as the strengths of the Council in how they work together. Strengths listed included: - Citizen oriented - Thorough - Diplomatic - Deliberate - Fun - Work hard for community - Individually care about the City of Olympia - Respect - Downtown Project - Professional - Creative and open to ideas - Care about community - Intelligence - Realistic expectations of staff - Set policy for staff - Value one another City of Olympia Page 1 City Council Meeting Minutes June 20, 2015 - Gotten a lot accomplished in five years - Work together most of time - come to agreement - Listen well to the public - Overall consensus on issues before us - Respect different views - Diversity of community connections - Strong skill sets for this job - Eager to learn - Unique backgrounds that we bring to Council - Respect different views - Collaborative independence - Willingness to work on tough issues - We’re fairly respectful of each other - Clever and humorous - We have balanced strengths - Involved in a wide variety of community groups - Appreciate others’ views 2015 ACCOMPLISHMENTS Assistant City Manager Jay Burney presented a PowerPoint of the City’s accomplishments from the first half of 2015, and what staff believes are the focus areas for the remainder of the year. Ms. Dahlen asked the Council to discuss anything missing from staff’s list of priorities, or additional items that need focus and/or attention the remainder of the year. Councilmembers commented on the great work done so far this year and provided the following additional comments: - Excited about the work accomplished so far this year - Acknowledged the significant amount of staff time and effort put forth - Recognized Keith Stahley & CP&D staff for an incredible amount of work accomplished (CRA, Comp Plan, DT Plan) - The pictures in the PowerPoint tell a great story - Worked toward stronger Communications Plan: Acknowledged Cathie Butler’s work and that of the Communications Team - We have made solid strides in outreach and communication - CRA - Huge effort/closer to meaningful projects o Example of compromise among Council - Isthmus Demo - good progress - Many examples of departments working together PRIORITIES AND EMERGENT ISSUES - Shoreline Master Program - Parks - Community Policing City of Olympia Page 2 City Council Meeting Minutes June 20, 2015 - Equity Lens - Comprehensive Plan Action Plan - Artesian Commons improvements, action plans - Downtown Strategy - Links with Port Plan & State Capital, TC Courthouse, Bike Corridor project - Solid Grounding in December o Prep for new Council - Economic Development Plan o New Economic Development Director - focus on economic priorities o Water Taxi - Capitol Campus Relationship o Radar - State Master Plan § Parking § Capitol Lake Environment § Keith report back to Council on State Master Plan § Coordinate City efforts/action related to the State - Community Renewal Area Adoption - Sub Area Planning - Sustainable Budget - Replace Downtown Liaison - Percival Landing o Fix Percival to make it more viable for boating community - West Bay - Connect to Percival and Deschutes Parkway - Tree Management Plan/Staff o Multiple benefits of expanding urban forestry efforts - Artesian Commons this summer o Role of Council/Committee o Monitor progress o Programming is key - Critical Areas Ordinance o Habitat o Arborist/Tree Management o Park Plan - Parks o Metropolitan Park District/Utility Tax - new funding needed o Connections to Sustainable Budget o Community Priorities - Clarify, reconcile what is most important o Percival Landing (Not Part of Metropolitan Park District or Condition Assesment and Major Maintenace Program) § Maintenance or replacement plans · Redesign next phases · Cost of maintenance is known o Options for funding Percival Landing? o Need context clear framing for funding and implications o Money for maintenance operations City of Olympia Page 3 City Council Meeting Minutes June 20, 2015 o Two ordinances and interlocal agreement being considerd for MPD § Seattle and Kirkland o Need from Council: § What are the deal killers about Parks funding? § Bottom line o Outcomes The Council then shifted its discussion to emergent issues that will require attention in the immediate future. Items included: - Evaluation of Council pay and benefits for future Councils - Community Policing o Public awareness/education - Share recent OPD presentation with community groups o Public engagement actions § Recognize Police Dept. - Accomplishments § Elevate Accomplishments - Community need for discussions about Equity: Race, Gender issues - Race, Power, Privilege - Equity o Minimum wage o No best practice o Validated, safe and secure - goal for everyone o Community that is “Welcome for all” o Equipped for changes in world o Positive perspective/social norm o Power and influence - Community Convener Group - Several issues to be addressed o Equity values go beyond border of City of Olympia - Greater social equity is needed o Multiple aspects - define outcomes - Community Expectations o Appetite to do more NEW COUNCIL MEETING FORMAT DISCUSSION Councilmembers discussed how the new Council meeting format has been working over the first half of the year. City Manager Steve Hall shared that from a staff perspective it has been difficult at times to find times in the schedule to fit everything in, but there were some positives in terms of having more time on Study Session nights to have concentrated discussions on significant issues. The Council and Mr. Hall listed the following pros/cons: Pros - Concentrated time for big issues - Able to add Executive Sessions - Meeting concludes earlier - Better interactive process among Council City of Olympia Page 4 City Council Meeting Minutes June 20, 2015 Cons - Confusing for public about start time - Only one item per session - Transitions between Study Session and Business Meeting are awkward - No 5:30 Study Sessions available on 2nd and 4th Tuesdays - Vacation weeks make it hard to fit things in - Public confused about where to enter into Public Comment - Break between 6:30 - 7:00 pm is too long - Not televised - Some items on Study Sessions are not Study Sessions - Hard on families (schedule) - Study Sessions in Council Chambers are televised - Longer Study Sessions (opportunity) - Acknowledge a very busy Council schedule - Standing Committee Sessions as full Council meetings? The Council agreed on the following format moving forward: o Move back to 7:00 p.m. Council business meetings every week the Council meets o Schedule 5:30 Study Sessions as needed - On these nights, conclude the business meeting at 10:00 p.m., unless extension is agreed to by Councilmembers - Televise all Study Sessions if possible (in Council Chambers) o Quarterly or Bi-Monthly schedule a long Study Session with short Consent Agenda and no public comment GENERAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION FOR COUNCIL REPORTS Councilmember Roe, as Chair of the General Government Committee, shared the discussions held at the General Government Committee meeting about Council Reports. Their recommendations were to eliminate oral reports and post written reports online, or reduce them to three minutes with a time-up timer to stay on track. Council discussed other options, including: - Review the Port Townsend - “Rules of Order” for dealing with reports - Definitive ‘Cut-off’ time - Continued next meeting - Reports in minutes - draft - Time delay reduced by ‘draft’ - Chair decides to highlight meeting information - What is critical to report out? - Action: Staff will develop a template for reporting Committee highlights to help City of Olympia Page 5 City Council Meeting Minutes June 20, 2015 reporting o Standardize format o Include in packet as a written summary (when possible) Council also discussed what should be included in reports and referrals: - When something is important/interjurisdictional, put it under OTHER BUSINESS - scheduled o Unless specific questions to Chair - Report vs. referral - Be specific - which is it? - Action: Move to a two-step process for referrals - When referring to Advisory Committee, it needs to be clear - What? And Why? 1) Staff will develop a referral template 2) Staff works with Councilmembers to clarify - General Government Committee - Discuss/review new template/process for referrals at July meeting - Reports - Talk less to do more - Reports from Interjurisdictionals - Get synopsis in packet from interjurisdictionals in one week - 2016 - Look at Committee reports - efficiency o Reduce redundancy - Give TCTV heads-up for transition to new meeting schedule - Discussed challenges of managing Public Communication - Public Comment Challenge - no change decided - Add Department Reports to Council meetings o Regularly scheduled o Balance with the number of Special Recognitions on agenda o Five to ten minutes of good news - Tell our Story Staff will work on some templates for referrals to committees and a process for bringing them forward for reporting. The discussion was completed. 3. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 1:00 p.m. City of Olympia Page 6