HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Operations and Public Safety Committee - 01/18/2022 (2) Approved
Operations and Public Safety
KENT Committee
WA9H... CC Ops and PS Special Meeting
Minutes
January 18, 2022
Date: January 18, 2022
Time: 3:30 p.m.
Place: Chambers
Attending: Bill Boyce, Chair
Brenda Fincher, Councilmember
Satwinder Kaur, Councilmember
Marli Larimer, Councilmember
Zandria Michaud, Councilmember
Les Thomas, Councilmember
Toni Troutner Councilmember
Agenda:
1. Call to Order 3:30 p.m.
Council President Boyce called the meeting to order.
2. Roll Call
Attendee Name Title Status Arrived
Bill Boyce Chair Present
Brenda Fincher Councilmember Remote
Satwinder Kaur Councilmember Remote
Marli Larimer Councilmember Present
Zandria Michaud Councilmember Present
Les Thomas Councilmember Present
Toni Troutner Councilmember Present
3. Agenda Approval
No changes were made to the agenda.
4. Approval of Minutes
1. Approval of Minutes dated January 4, 2022
I move to approve the minutes of January 4, 2022.
MOTION: Move to approve the Minutes dated January 4, 2022
RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Les Thomas, Councilmember
SECONDER: Toni Troutner, Councilmember
AYES: Boyce, Fincher, Kaur, Larimer, Michaud, Thomas, Troutner
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Operations and Public Safety Committee CC Ops January 18, 2022
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Minutes
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S. Business
A. Payment of Bills - Authorize
MOTION: I move to authorize the payment of bills received through
1/15/2022 and paid on 1/15/2022 and approve the checks issued
for payroll 1/1/2022-1/15/2022 and paid on 1/20/2022, all audited
by the Operations and Public Safety Committee on 1/18/2022.
RESULT: MOTION PASSES [UNANIMOUS] Next: 2/1/2022 7:00 PM
MOVER: Les Thomas, Councilmember
SECONDER: Toni Troutner, Councilmember
AYES: Boyce, Fincher, Kaur, Larimer, Michaud, Thomas, Troutner
B. INFO ONLY: Utility Shut-Off Update
Customer Services Manager, Molly Bartlemay presented the Water Shut-Off
Moratorium - Impacts to City Water Utility Accounts program.
Proclamation 20-03 prohibited:
Disconnecting residential customer water service
Charging late fees
History of Proclamation 20-23:
Issued March 18, 2020
Extended multiple times
Expired on September 30, 2021
Shut-off statistics included comparisons from 2019 (pre-COVID) to 2020. The
biggest jump - March 2020 = 133, April = 404. Trend continued into 2021
Bartlemay detailed the Finance Department's required changes:
Updated Mailer
Retitled from Shut Off' Notice to Urgent' Notice and changed language on
the template
Discontinued Late Fees
Stopped Charging $10 Late Fees Effective April 2020
Charges Assessed in 2019: $128,630 and lost late fees (April 2020-January
2022): $281,090
Bartlemay details what the City has done:
Collaboration With Neighboring Cites and Hosted virtual meetings with some
neighboring cities:
Shared ideas to help navigate the pandemic, provided consistency
when possible. Cities consistently encountered similar issues/concerns.
Used CARES Funding for Utility Assistance
Public Outreach:
Mayor Ralph's weekly newsletter, Called and emailed directly known
customers in need and notified customers as they called Customer Service
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about the program
Results:
32 customers received direct utility assistance
Total awards: $17,542
Payment Arrangements/Liens
Updated to address delinquent balances incurred during the moratorium.
Liens for those charges had to be filed by December 31, 2021
Allowed time to file liens against those not honoring their payment
arrangements that was entered into by December 31, 2021
Liens cannot be assessed against charges incurred after the moratorium.
To secure the debt owed to the city, liens were filed on all water accounts
that had moratorium-period charges past due that were not on a payment
plan.
Bills stay with the property, not the person - unpaid tenant bills go back to
the property owner.
What's next:
Resume Charging Late Fees: February 2022 - Notification sent January 2022
Resume Shut Offs January 2022
Accounts that are four-months delinquent
Begin shut off of some accounts that have liens based on set criteria
• Review Payment Arrangement Accounts:
• Ensure agreed payments are being made
• Connect with customers that are behind on arrangement plans
• If shut off, will allow one opportunity to have service re-stored if past due
payment arrangement charges are brought current.
C. INFO ONLY: November 2021 Financial Report
Michelle Ferguson, Financial Planning Manager, presented the November
2021 financial report.
Ferguson detailed sales tax, utility tax and general fund revenues and
highlighted prior year revenues with actual revenues.
Revenues came in continually strong over 2021 and it is estimated to come
in $5M above budget. Excluding annexation sales tax revenues, the 2021
sales and use tax revenues are estimated to come in $3M over 2020
revenues. It is unlikely these variances will continue in 2022.
It is anticipated that utility tax revenues will come in at budget or slightly
over. Telephone utility tax is coming in under budget as people continue to
get rid of landline phones.
2021 General Fund revenues show some recovery from 2020. Overall, 2021
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Operations and Public Safety Committee CC Ops January 18, 2022
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revenues are estimated to come in about $2.2M over 2020 revenues and
$4M over the 2021 adjusted budget.
Ferguson indicated all departments are anticipated to come in under budget
expenditures in 2021 saving $3.7M.
Ferguson provided details on the following funds that are estimated to have
large changes from budget to estimated actuals for net revenues, less
expenditures:
Capital resource fund
Criminal justice fund
Fleet services fund
Facilities fund
Liability insurance fund.
D. INFO ONLY: 2022 Insurance Program Update
Risk Manager Chris Hills presented the Council with the 2022 Insurance
programs review and update.
Issues currently affecting the insurance industry include social inflation,
increasing frequency/severity of large claims, the market risk capacity and
risk appetite and adequate pricing of risk.
Verdict/settlement inflation - Local impacts include:
Insurers leaving the market
Plaintiff Counsel tactics changing
Cost of trials and of settlements continues to escalate
No tort cap in WA
Courts and juries skeptical of government in general
Hills reviewed the insurance limits covered by each level of coverage.
Hills talked about things affecting the liability insurance renewal:
Major terms and conditions differences
Self-insured retention $750,000 to $1.25M
Premium cost increase $947,963 to $1,142,946
Hills reviewed the liability renewal premium history.
Excess Workers' Compensation was reviewed:
Excess workers' compensation:
Continue with Safety National as our partner despite negative loss experience
Premium increase of 25% to $150,000
Increase in police SIR from $750K to $1M
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Cyber/Privacy Liability:
• Renewal limits and coverages:
Breach response, first party coverage, third party coverage continue
$3M policy aggregate decreased from $5M
Self-insured retention $100,000, increased from $50,000
Premium increase from $54K to $120K
E. INFO ONLY: Race and Equity Strategic Plan Update
Race and Equity Manager, Uriel Varela provided the Race and Equity
Strategic Plan update.
BIPOC community engagement includes:
Community interviews in English and Spanish during Kent's co-sponsored
Health Fair in July.
Five community listening sessions in English, Spanish, Kurdish, and Arabic in
partnership with community-based organizations (CBOs) and,
One-on-one CBO partner interviews
Community Engagement Report
The CORE team used the data informed approach to select areas of focus for
the plan.
The areas of focus and plan goals are:
Communication - The City of Kent is committed to building an inclusive and
well-informed community, by working to improve communication about city
services in a manner that is culturally relevant and equitable.
In-language resources - The City of Kent is committed to providing culturally
relevant services and information in multiple languages.
Equitable representation - The City of Kent is committed to providing
culturally relevant services and information in multiple languages.
Training - The City of Kent is committed to providing culturally relevant
services and information in multiple languages.
Community Engagement - The City of Kent engages in relationship building
through ongoing dialogue, outreach and inclusion, centering racial equity in
our approach.
Total of 3 Vetting Sessions:
(Arabic/Kurdish) - December 1, 2021
(Spanish) - December 4, 2021
(CBOs) - December 9, 2021
The following items were vetted:
BIPOC engagement report
Areas of focus
Universal goals
Highlights from Vetting Sessions:
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Operations and Public Safety Committee CC Ops January 18, 2022
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• Areas of focus approved by participants in every session
• Need to be more explicit - Call out Race
Need to be more transparent - Funding
Include community throughout process
Communicate the "victories"
Acknowledge past harm
Implement action items while planning
Hire from the community - Interpreters
Partner w/CBOs for Job announcements
Report back to community
Varela reviewed the co-designing process and action items.
Varela reviewed the 2022 meeting schedule for updating council by area of
focus after action items & performance measures are finalized.
Varela walked the Council through the equity project matrix that included the
project and status of work and also indicated this project matrix will evolve
throughout the term of the project.
Human Resources Director Teri Smith provided information on the work on
the review of positions descriptions, including the work the vendor selected
to conduct the non-represented salary survey will do in reviewing those
descriptions.
F. INFO ONLY: Police Chief's Update
Chief Rafael Padilla provided the Council with an update on the Police
Department.
Chief Padilla has committed to providing information to the community on
some of the issues that have come to light, while at the same time,
identifying ways to make improvements moving forward.
Chief Padilla provided details on a use of force article that has been used for
training, but was not consistent with Kent Police Department values. The
training sergeant has received performance counseling and the training
materials are being revised for the onboarding process to ensure Kent is in
line with the high standards of diversity, equity and inclusion.
Chief Padilla provided details on an issue that involved an inappropriate email
sent by a sergeant. The inappropriate email was addressed immediately by
the Assistant Chief, but the formal performance counseling did not occur until
later.
Chief Padilla provided a response to an allegation from the Kent Police
Officer's Association union attorney relating to Chief Padilla.
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Operations and Public Safety Committee CC Ops January 18, 2022
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Chief Padilla advised the Police Department has completed a substantial
amount of trainings on race, equity and inclusion. The training were well-
received. Trainings will continue with a focus and sensitivity and awareness
of anti-Semitism.
The Kent Police Department is:
Reviewing investigation of disciplinary processes
Updating the Code of Conduct policy to specifically address racism.
Utilizing the assistance of the City's Race and Equity Manager
Chief Padilla provided details on standard disciplinary processes.
Chief Padilla provided responses to Councilmember Larimer's questions and
concerns over training.
Chief Padilla advised he is researching CJTC training courses and is
coordinating representatives from the American Jewish Community coming to
Kent to meet with command staff.
Chief Padilla talked about state and national training for officers.
Chief Padilla discussed officer mental health and peer support services.
Chief Padilla discussed methods for making a complaint against an officer
and also how the department handles any issues that may arise in response
to submitting a complaint.
Councilmember Larimer requested Chief Padilla follow-up with the Council on
how the department will monitor police officers for signs of extremism.
Larimer also requested a breakdown of the standard trainings officers are
required to complete.
6. Adjournment 5:21 p.m.
Council President Boyce adjourned the meeting.
K� lvy Komoto-
Committee Secretary
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