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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-25-1997 City Council Minutes MINUTES SARATOGA CITY COUNCIL TIME: Tuesday, March 25, 1997 - 7:00 p.m. PLACE: Senior Day Care Center, 19655 Allendale Avenue .TYPE: Adjourned Regular Meeting 1. Roll Call Councilmembers Bogosian, Jacobs, Shaw, Wolfe and Mayor Moran were present. Also present: Acting City Manager Perlin, Finance Director Fil. 2. Report of City Clerk on Posting Of Agenda Pursuant to Government Code 54954.2, the agenda for this meeting was properly posted on March 21. The notice of adjournment from the March 19 Council meeting was properly posted on March 20. 3. Oral Communications from the Public on Non-Agendized Items - None. a 4. Budget Workshop A. Proposed Restructuring of City Organization Councilmembers discussed the chart showing the proposed restructuring. Concern was expressed about the duties of the Volunteer Coordinator, which would be taken over by an Administrative Analyst after the Volunteer Coordinator position is cut. There was agreement that the function was very important and should not be sent into oblivion. Sufficient human resources should be devoted to the program so that it can function effectively. Rick Van Hoesen spoke as Chair of the Finance Advisory Committee. He suggested the possibility of two managers instead of three in the Community Environment Department. He also noted that the organizational charts do not show the exact chain of command all the way down the line. He suggested that the Council consider setting up a separate'facility rental fund and charging all costs to the fund to gauge the full cost of the facilities. Jim Ousley spoke as a member of the Finance Advisory Committee. He was concerned about splitting the Community Services Officer from Law Enforcement. He believed that all should report to one place and not be buried in the organization. Grace Cory spoke as a member of the Saratoga Employees Association. She noted that the .6 FTE Assistant to the City Manager position is shown in'the current organizational chart as a managerial position, although the position is not technically management. Similarly, the .6 FTE Administrative Services Manager, presumably the same person, is shown as management in the proposed reorganizational chart. If that position becomes management, additional perquisites and benefits would need to be budgeted. Jack Mallory, a Saratoga resident, asked what the reorganization would mean for service delivery. He expressed concern about the accessibility of staff to residents. Councilmember Shaw expressed concern about explaining how the transfer of the management of the public safety programs will actually be handled. Joe Oncay, City Codes Administrator, brought up questions about building division costs versus building permit revenues. Councilmember Jacobs asked how building permit fee increases figure into the total picture and how we know that we are not collecting more than we should. City council Minutes 2 March 25# 1997 Councilmember Bogosian requested that Mr. Oncay prepare a memo out- lining his concerns and share it with Mr. Perlin and Mr. Fil. It should also be discussed with the City Attorney to resolve the legal issues. Kathy Weiner spoke as a member of the Parks and Recreation Commission. She brought up the question of allocation of interest from the Park Maintenance Fund. Mr. Fil said that interest from the Park Development Fund goes to the General Fund to pay for Park Maintenance activities, which is the appropriate and proper thing to do. Irene Jacobs, Administrative Analyst, asked whether there would be a need for new job descriptions for the new positions. Councilmember Bogosian said that the restructuring proposal is going in the right direction. However, he believed it relies too much on shifting Recreation to the side and shedding responsibility for Hakone Gardens. He suggested eliminating the Recreation Director and including Recreation in the City Manager's office. In addition, responsibility for Hakone Gardens could also move to the City Manager's office and create a lower level position which would handle all facility rentals. He requested a cost analysis of not transferring Hakone to the Hakone Foundation. Councilmember Jac~bs believed that Hakone Gardens should go to the Foundation. He suggested eliminating the Community Environment Director. He believed Recreation should be kept separate so its costs c~nnot be hidden. He favored allowing Recreation to be operated like a private organization. The staff could earn whatever they could, but they should be charged the full cost of using all facilities. There should be no taxpayer subsidy for Recreation. Joan Pisani, Recreation Director, felt her salary is not excessive when compared with other agencies. She noted that many contract positions and programs would be eliminated. The goal is to achieve full cost recovery with slight fee increases. Councilmember Jacobs suggested that the theatre ticket surcharge be moved from the ~Recreation fund into a separate trust fund. In its current location it distorts the true cost of Recreation. Councilmember WOlfe pointed out that Saratoga was founded as a minimum service city but has now become an essential service city. Elaine Hocker stated that other cities have cut staff and reorganized, and their experience should be considered in order to avoid their mistakes. B. Revenue Projeotions for FY97-98 end FY98-99 Finance Director Fil reported that property taxes are up. TEA has a new base of about $200,000 per year. Sales taxes, however, are down. the County plans to apply the full reduction of TEA funding due to the loss of the Utility User Tax in FY97-98. Construction tax will trend down, as will other development-related fees. There should be a 10% fee increase for Planning and Building related fees. C. Major Revenue end Expenditure Budget Adjustments for FY97-98 Acting City Manager Perlin reviewed the major changes. He stated that there were 8657,000 in revenue additions and $805,000 in expenditure reductions, and $50,000 in reduced transfers to Recreation. The total savings amount to $1.5 million. Councilmember Shaw suggested looking at further consolidation in Recreation. The staff should also look at alternatives fo~ Hakone Gardens to keep!it under the City's control. Management staffing in the proposed Community Environment Department should be examined. He also noted that we need to point out what we are no longer going to do with less staff and which services will be eliminated or scaled back. D. Revised Budget Master Calendar City Council Minutes 3 ](arch 25, 1997 There was consensus to approve the budget calendar revisions as submitted. 5. 8elf-Evaluation of Previous Meeting Councilmember Wolfe objected to having been characterized as not allowing Dr. Rosenblum to speak to the City Council. He noted that he had been willing to have Dr. Rosenblumspeak at some meeting other than the March 19 meeting, which had a very full agenda. Councilmember Bogosian objected to Councilmember Wolfe's statement by stating that the Council should have allowed Dr. Rosenblum to address them on March 19. 6. Agency Assignment Reports Councilmember Wolfe reported that valet parking had been discussed at the Saratoga Business Development Council. He also reported on the Honor Saratoga USA Project and on his visit to Washington D.C. as a representative of the Valley Transportation Authority. He also noted that he had discussed requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act with several officials in connection with the Council's desire to provide public access to the stage. Councilmember Bcgosian asked the City Manager to determine how much money had actually been spent to research the issue of providing handicapped access to the stage. Councilmember Shaw stated there may be a misunderstanding with the Cable Television Board concerning who has control of restitution fund monies. The Board will be sending the Council a letter. Mayor Moran reported that San Jose Councilmember Trixie Johnson had been reappointed to the Bay Area Air Quality Management Board as representative of the Cities Association. Regarding West Valley Sanitation District, she expressed concern about the turnover of district directors. She is willing to serve as Saratoga's representative for another year. If she is reappointed she will then serve on the Management Committee. 7. Other It was noted that the meeting with the Interim Manager candidate scheduled for March 26 has been cancelled. There was consensus to authorize the staff to send the letter to recruitment firms for the permanent City Manager position this week. 8. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 9:58 p.m. Respectfully submitted,