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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Operations - 04/06/1992 y OPERATIONS COMMITTEE MTNUITES City Clerk. Apri16, 1992 COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT: Christi Houser Leona Orr Jim White COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Jon Johnson STAFF PRESENT: Norm Angelo Tim Heydon Jim Hansen Charles Lindsey Tony McCarthy Alana McIalwain Rose Nelson Kelli O'Donnell Barney Wilson MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC: Bill Doolittle Vern Dwight Dick King Ted Loudenback Jean Parietti The meeting was called to order at 5:35 p.m. by Chairperson Houser. Approval of Vouchers All claims for the period ending March 16, 1992, in the amount of$2,623,020.48 and for March 31, 1992, in the amount of$1,206,563.20 were approved for payment. Lonz Term Debt Refinance Finance Director McCarthy informed the Committee that he had been working with; Lehman Brothers to analyze the possibility of refinancing the City's debt with the decreasing interest rate$. He stated that they had begun looking at this process last summer with the golf debt. McCarthy noted that the rest of the City's outstanding debt has been analyzed in March with the recommendation for refinancing three Councilmanic issues and the 1985 Water Revenue Bonds. Other outstanding debt has been analyzed but the limitations of the Revenue Code Rulings which only allow a one time refinance and the cost of issuing bonds does not seem to be worth the amount of savings generated. The refinance of the Councilmanic bonds will save 3% interest at a savings of approximately$325,000 in 1992. He informed the Finance Department and the Executive Committee recommend the 1992 savings be used to pay off the Lake Fenwick Woods property which is currently at 9% with the balance being applied to the City share of outstanding LID's which are averaging 7.45%. He introduced Dick King of Lehman Brothers to the Committee for any questions. Committeemember White stated that they have received good advice in the past and is willing to go with the recommendations presented. 1 White moved to accept the recommendation to refinance the three Councilmanic boAd issues and the 1985 Water Revenue bonds and use the 1992 Councilmanic bond proceeds to pay off the 14ke Fenwick Woods property with the remainder applied to the LID's. Orr seconded the motion which posed with a vote of 3-0. McCarthy explained that the general obligation bonds should be ready for approval at the April 21st Council meeting and the Water refinance at the May meeting. He further clarified that he needed the authorization to proceed ahead; the bonds are usually prepared the day before the Council meeting for issuance but if the market is unfavorable at that time it may need to be delayed for two weeks. The Committee concurred to give Finance Director McCarthy authorization to proceed. Equipment Rental Contract with Multiforce Finance Director Spang informed the Committee of the considerable interest in the fleet management program. A committee of 15 prepared the RFP which received three responses. One response which looked good was withdrawn due to a traffic accident suffered by a key person in the organization. Of the two remaining responses, the Fleet Management System Committee voted unanimously in favor of MULTIFORCE. This system is used by King County, the Port of Tacoma and other businesses in the area. White asked where the company was located. Spang responded that they were out of Princeton, New Jersey which was reflected in higher travel costs. Spang stated that the company may be willing to consolidate trips with other municipalities in the area. White asked if this was a budgeted item. Spang replied that it was. McCarthy added that there are currently two remaining programs on the old Sperry computer at a cost of$27,000 a year. The special assessments will be looked at next so that the budget may be freed up as well as space in the computer room. Orr moved to accept the Fleet Management Services Committee recommendation. White seconded the motion which passed with a vote of 3-0. Funds for Police Remodel Furniture Assistant City Administrator Hansen recapped for the Committee that when the original bids for the police remodel were received higher than expected, the budget was reduced to keep the project within the original budgeted amount. The understanding was that the money for workstations as equipment needs would be addressed in the future when additional funds were available. He informed the Committee that the Public Safety Bond issue for$12 million plus$2.2 million of accrued interest have paid for the East Hill Fire Station,the Fire Training Center,the North Eud station,and on-line equipment. The budget currently has $175,000 of unallocated funds. Hansen requested authorization to transfer these funds to the CIP for use on the police remodel for furnishings. He noted that if the furniture is purchased now, it can be purchased at last year's prices. In addition, it can be installed before the move if it is ordered now. Hansen reminded the Committee of the Centennial Building move and the additional costs associated with receiving the furniture late. Hansen noted that the funds would also pay for furniture for a public lobby and miscellaneous equipment. Hansen informed the Committee that there are some outstanding issues on the Pub*Safety Bond projects which need to be resolved. There-is a risk that there may be insufficient funds to cover those areas. He noted that this was a relatively low risk. He stated that due to the timeliness of the police remodel,he was comfortable with the change and will closely monitor the outstanding issues and overall it was an acceptable risk. 2 Committee Chairperson Houser asked if there were any questions. Whitened that had no problem with doing this for Police but had two concerns: 1) An inventory of the old police furniture. 2) Where would money come from if necessary for the unresolved issues at East Hill? Hansen replied that he was confident that the issues can be resolved at the Training Center. He stated that decisions will have to be made whether to finish them ourselves; accept the level of completion; or,litigate over the next few months. During further discussion of the proposed timeline for completion,White noted his concern of acceptance of a facility not finished correctly as in the Senior Center which keeps going on and on. Fire Chief Angelo noted that there were three or four issues which will either be litigated, resolved or accepted. He noted that he may need to come back for additional funds in future but it was an acceptable risk. During further discussion, Hansen informed the Committee that he will report back progress. Angelo noted his main concern was with the functional items. Hansen added that he will give Council alternatives with collective recommendations when resolved. Orr pointed out that the savings on the furniture purchase at last years prices and the savings on having the furniture before the move is a trade-off that needs to be remembered in the future if more funds are needed for the fire station. Committeemember Orr moved to approve the transfer of funds to the CIP for the police remodel. Committeemember White seconded the motion which passed with a vote of 3-0. Full Time Mayor Proposal Assistant City Administrator Hansen noted the summary sheet that had been prepared by the Finance Department comparing Federal Way, Auburn, Renton and Kent. He pointed out that in some ways it was "apples and oranges"since Federal Way has a City Council/Manager form of government and Kent,Auburn and Renton are a Mayor/Council form. Committeemember White thanked McCarthy for compiling the information. He stated that Administration costs in the city are high and should be looked whether or not the Council decides in favor of a full-time mayor or not. He noted that this information presents two issues: 1) Full-time mayor. 2) Administration costs. He added that he is not comfortable with terminating anyone but there is the possibility of cross- training and moving people around. He also added that he preferred a full-time mayor to be responsible for Administration. He proposed the effective date should be January 1, 1994 with,other decisions being part of the budget process on staffing levels. Committeemember Orr questioned what was included in "other" under "wages, benefits and other". McCarthy replied that it included such things as supplies and services. He also noted that other civic affiliations which includes dues for Kent Downtown Association, etc., were backed,out. During further discussion McCarthy noted that some cities have a non-department for such items the city newsletter while Kent charges it to a department for accountability. Hansen pointed out that there is a great difference in the management styles of the cities surveyed. For example, Auburn's Administration is very lean but the full-time mayor utilizes dent heads to do research while others do it internally. In addition, Federal Way has two assistant ry managers who are the interim personnel and community development department heads and there cots are charged to the respective departments. After further discussion, Orr stated that she felt the need was here for a full-time mayor but questioned the timeline. Orr further stated that she felt it was in the city's best interest to have one before 1994. In addition candidates n,mmng for mayor could file in July and need to know what they are running for. She noted that a full-time mayor would attract different candidates than a part-time mayor. 3 White stated that he felt this was a "political football". He noted that as long as is n on the Council the Mayor did not want to go full-time. He expressed his concern that the Mayor OwgW4 his mind at the same time that he was considering running for Congress and that he has made no, ' of his intentions to run for King County Council. White stated that he didn't think it was fair to mace the position full-time for Mr. Kelleher to run for County Council because his current job will not allow him to run for a partisan job. He added that he was elected for part-time and changing it to full-time in the middle of his term is a breach of public confidence. Chairperson Houser stated that a decision needs to be reached before the filing date since the fee is based on the salary of the position. White suggested establishing the salary in next years budget to be effective January 1, 1994,and make the rest of the changes in the budget process. City Attorney Lubovich informed the Committee that the Mayor's salary is set by ordinance. Hansen added that the budget could be reviewed with the mayoral salary being set by ordinance. Then the Council could determine a budget allocation for the total department separately. Bill Doolittle stated that the print out confirmed his suspicion. He questioned making it effective in 1994 when the 1993 budget hasn't even been established yet. He questioned the other category totalling $206,481 and noted that even with pulling out the City Clerk and Civil Service Kent Administration was more than Auburn and Renton. Houser asked that Doolittle limit his comments to the question of a full-time mayor at this time. Doolittle asked where the hue and cry was for a full-time mayor. He asked what was so wrung-that needs to be fixed and drawbacks to way we are going that justifies an additional $80,000. White responded that he would not support a proposal that increased the budget. White stated that there was i need for a full-time mayor with a reduced budget. McCarthy pointed out the proposal in the middle of the summary. Orr expressed her concern with using frozen positions to compensate for the mayor's salary as it presented a problem when other departments are not able to replace positions. She felt that a full-time mayor would be more responsive to keeping administrative costs down. Orr added that with the size of the City there was an increased need for accountability. Ted Loudenback stated that he supposed that if a full-time mayor was elected the City should get rid of the city administrator and assistant city administrator to offset the position. He noted,that, "The City never wants a reduction of force as business does." Hansen noted out that there are different alternatives. For example, Auburn ,appears to have no counterpart or on the opposite end Renton has a chief of staff to oversee details and allows the Mayor to focus on broader issues. Doolittle pointed out that Kent has 250 more employees than Auburn with the same population and 100 more than Renton and that he felt there were too many administrators. He further questioned using frozen positions when the Council had decided unanimously at the retreat to eliminate fro en positions. Houser responded that the positions eliminated were new positions that had never been filled not those due to attrition. After further discussion, Hansen stated that he would like to come back with a list of positions eliminated at the retreat so the Council may consider dealing with inequities between the various departments and achieve a balance. White noted that he was in favor of reduction by transfer. McCarthy noted that some positions were being filled that way such as a water position that was advertised in house. 4 Y Loudenback asked if the first step should be to decide on an organization chart #jan take the action to put it in to reality instead of through the budget process. City Council Member Johnson stated that his suggestion is for a full-time mayor e&ctive 1/1/94. He understands that the filing in July/August can be accomplished in conjunction with. the 1994 budget process with an allocation of a sum of money or set organization. He added that the"osal outlined on the summary should be rejected due to the budget situation. Johnson stated that with the largest Administration, it is time to look at reductions. Houser stated that she didn't feel a vote could wait until the budget process. White concurred that it was disruptive until a decision was made and that it seems to have bogged down decision making in Administration. During further comment, White suggested that a decision be made and everything else would follow. Orr agreed that it was important to make a decision but questioned if it can wait until 1/1/94 to make changes or a reorganization. She mentioned that a full-time mayor could be worked in through the budget process. Loudenback suggested that organization charts be prepared with the dollar figures associated with implementing them so the public at large can see and understand. White noted that he wanted to avoid a personality issue but there are some problems. He elaborated that changes need to be made. White mentioned that in years past the mayor's position was more of a figurehead with a professional running the City which is not the case with the current Mayor. He noted that this causes difficulty with the Mayor holding another job when Administration cannot make decisions or allow a professional manager to make decisions. Loudenback stated that changing to a full-time mayor before an election is unfair since in the next election an incumbent has more clout with the public at large. During further discussion, Orr asked that some other scenarios be presented other than using frozen positions for adding a full-time mayor and that the timeline for a 1/1/94 organization change be looked at for any problems. White suggested that the time line could be addressed though an ordinance establishing the salary for a full-time mayor with an effective date of 1/1/94. Hansen suggested establishing a position cap on Administration or some other form to leave some room for a new mayor to have some latitude. Doolittle asked for a current organization chart. He again noted that Kent has 250 more employees than Auburn and 100 more than Renton and Council was asking Administration for answers when they would be best served by half of Administration. White noted that they already have a$60,0 0 study and that he was comfortable with giving a new mayor "X" amount of dollars to run the City and do the best job possible. A discussion followed on what action. It was decided to continue the item at the next Operations Committee meeting in two weeks with addition information to assist the Committee+ The meeting was adjourned at 6:55 p.m. by Chairperson Houser. 5