CITY OF ROHNERT PARK SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES FOR:

City Council

January 17, 2007

Wednesday

The Rohnert Park City Council met this date for a Special Meeting to commence at 9:00 a.m. at the Spreckels Performing Arts Center,

CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING

Call to Order:  Mayor Vidak-Martinez called the Special Meeting to order at 9:15 a.m.

Roll Call:  Breeze, Mackenzie, Smith, Stafford, Vidak-Martinez

Staff present for all or part of the Special Meeting:  City Manager Donley, City Attorney Marchetta Kenyon, Assistant City Manager Schwarz, Director of Community Development Bendorff, Housing and Redevelopment Manager Ellena, Director of Public Works/City Engineer Jenkins, Director of Administrative Services Lipitz, Director of Public Safety Bullard, City Clerk Hauff and Deputy City Clerk Griffin.

Also present for all or part of the Special Meeting:  Bill Mathis, Ph.D., Mathis & Associates and Bruce Heid, IEDA.

ADJOURN TO CLOSED SESSION

Council adjourned to Closed Session to discuss labor negotiations at approximately 9:16 a.m.

RECONVENE

Mayor Vidak-Martinez reconvened the Special Meeting at approximately 10:04 a.m.

MAYOR’S REPORT ON CLOSED SESSION

Mayor Vidak-Martinez stated that no reportable action was taken in Closed Session.

UNSCHEDULED PUBLIC APPEARANCES

Mayor Vidak-Martinez invited members of the public interested in speaking to come forward.  No members of the public responded.

WORK SESSION:  CITY COUNCIL GOAL SETTING

Dr. Mathis DISTRIBUTED an agenda (ATTACHED TO THE ORIGINAL SET OF MINUTES) and packets of additional materials.

      I.    INTRODUCTIONS

Mayor Vidak-Martinez reviewed the session’s themes as follows:

·         Developing a team attitude

·         Confronting the issues

·         Developing Council agreements and norms

·         Identifying and prioritizing 2007 goals

·         Agreements between City Council and staff

·         Ongoing process

Dr. Mathis defined organizational capacity and discussed the book entitled “The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey.”  In response to Dr. Mathis’s request, each member of the Council, City Manager Donley, and City Attorney Marchetta Kenyon provided personal and business examples that illustrate the quote “When you discover that you’re riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount.”

Dr. Mathis discussed staff’s responsibilities in communicating with Council and asked staff to consider the following factors:

·         Current capacity of department

·         Current projects and capacity to do work

·         Needs of the organization

·         Future issues – are they going to be costly

      II.   COUNCIL PROFILE AND UNDERSTANDING

Dr. Mathis discussed “profiling.”  At the request of Dr. Mathis, each member of the Council responded to the following questions:

·         What are the most important things I learned from the election?

·         Why I ran for office?

·         How do I make decisions?  What do I need from Council members and from staff?

·         What are my two best contribution areas or interests?

In response to questions by Dr. Mathis, Council discussed issues of concern, including:

·         Respect by members of staff

·         Timeliness of information

·         Lack of Council facilities at City Hall

·         Dishonesty

·         Council reports on attendance at community events and meetings

Mayor Vidak-Martinez RECESSED the Special Meeting at approximately 12:55 p.m. for lunch and RECONVENED the Special Meeting at approximately 1:45 p.m.

Dr. Mathis discussed the communications scorecard.  In response to questions by Dr. Mathis, Council members defined and scored each of the following communication strategies:

·         Honesty

·         Respect one another

·         Don’t personalize

·         Confront ideas

·         Don’t monopolize

Staff Presentations

City Engineer/Public Works Director Jenkins reviewed and responded to Council questions regarding a project list for Public Works/Engineering, including the following:

·         Engineer staffing

·         University District Specific Plan approval and related projects

·         Eastside trunk sewer

·        

·         Water pipe on Rohnert Park Expressway and

·         Major arterials

·         Water storage tank

·         Urban Water Management Plan

·         Sustainability Ordinance

·         Sewer lateral replacement ordinance

·         New City Hall

·         Development Agreements with Northeast and Southeast Specific Area Plans.

·         Sonoma Mountain Village

·         Water supply assessment

In response to questions by Dr. Mathis, staff and Council discussed project prioritizing and factors that should be considered in determining priorities.  Council CONCURRED to direct staff to conduct further analysis and bring priorities forward for Council consideration within 60 days based on organizational capacity and other factors.

Councilmember Breeze left the meeting at approximately 3:36 pm.

Director of Community Development Bendorff reviewed and responded to Council questions regarding a project list for Community Development (ATTACHED TO THE ORIGINAL SET OF MINUTES), including the following:

·         Sustainability Ordinance - Green Building Ordinance

·         Northeast and Southeast Specific Plans

·         Public Art Ordinance

·         Medical marijuana

·         Beginning General Plan update

·         Planning and building fee study

·         Building inspection staffing

·         Community Center Plaza

·         Expansion of code enforcement program;

·         Document imaging project

·         Three corridor studies

Housing and Redevelopment Manager Ellena DISTRIBUTED a project list for Housing and Redevelopment (ATTACHED TO THE ORIGINAL SET OF MINUTES), and reviewed the following projects:

·         Bond issuance

·         City Center Plaza and pedestrian improvement project

·         Community Center Campus plaza rehabilitation and master plan

·         Arbors

·         Vida Nueva           

·         City Hall site and adjacent properties for potential affordable housing development

Director of Public Safety Bullard reviewed and responded to Council questions regarding a project list for Public Safety (ATTACHED TO THE ORIGINAL SET OF MINUTES), including:

·         Staffing

• Reduction in crime and traffic collisions

• Recruiting difficulties and current Public Safety Officer vacancies

• Retention of employees

·         Increasing public awareness/education

• Police and fire equipment fair

• Student fair with emphasis on computer vulnerability

• “Alive at 25”

• Increase neighborhood watch programs

• Emergency response training

• Increase public outreach to Hispanic community and senior citizens

• Re-establish citizen’s academy

• Recruit public service aides

• Gang Resistance Education and Training (GRET) program. 

• High school campus training

• Instruct all city employees in National Incident Management System and Standardized Incident Systems

• Increase truck operations and develop procedures for mid-rise buildings

·         Improve community relations

• “Take Ten Program”

• Community relations with press

·         Increase traffic enforcement

• Pedestrian safety grant

• New Special Enforcement Unit (SEU) focus

·         Modernization of Public Safety facilities

• New and relocated fire stations

·         Grant to deter binge drinking

·         Crime analysis project

·         Field reporting technology

·         Increase fire prevention program

·         Public Safety Model

Staff and Council discussed the City’s Public Safety Model and the advantages and disadvantages of splitting police and fire services.

Councilmember Mackenzie left the meeting at approximately 4:02 p.m. and returned at approximately 4:07 p.m.

In response to questions from Dr. Mathis, Council discussed the evaluation process for the City Manager and City Attorney.  Council CONCURRED to complete facilitated evaluations of the City Manager and City Attorney by the end of the fiscal year

In response to questions by Dr. Mathis, Council and staff provided positive feedback regarding the work session.

Director of Administrative Services Lipitz DISTRIBUTED, reviewed and responded to Council questions regarding a project list for Human Resources, Information Systems and Finance (ATTACHED TO THE ORIGINAL SET OF MINUTES), including the following:

·         Retiree medical plan

·         Balancing budget

·         Successful labor negotiations

·         Succession planning

Assistant City Manager Schwarz indicated that he will be seeking policy direction from Council regarding the 2007 goals for the Performing Arts Center and Parks and Recreation Department.

Council CONCURRED to schedule an additional work session with Dr. Mathis within 60 days.

ADJOURNMENT

Mayor Vidak-Martinez adjourned the Special Meeting at 4:50 p.m.