Special City Council Meeting

Special City Council Meeting

Special City Council Meeting

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

CITY HALL

1666 N. MAIN STREET, WALNUT CREEK

CouncilMembers:

SILVA

RAINEY

Abrams

mAYOR pRO tEM SKREL

mayor REGALIA

1.

CLOSED SESSION - City Manager’s Conference Room - 3rd Floor (No recording)

a.

Following the opening of the meeting and an opportunity for public comment, the City Council met in closed session to confer with its legal counsel regarding pending litigation pursuant to Government Code section 54956.9(b)(1).

2.

ADJOURNMENT OF SPECIAL MEETING at 5:45 p.m.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1.

OPENING OF SPECIAL MEETING - 3rd Floor Conference Room (Recording begins - no video)

a.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

b.

ROLL CALL - all councilmembers were present.

2.

PUBLIC COMMENT

There were no speakers.

3.

PROPOSED RESTRUCTURING PROCESS: Balancing for Walnut Creek’s Future

Assistant City Manager Lorie Tinfow presented the proposed budget process. She noted the 2008-10 budget development process concluded with Council direction to staff to prepare a ten-year Capital Investment Plan (CIP) and begin the "restructuring" operations so that future budget shortfalls could be anticipated and addressed in advance.

Councilmembers asked questions regarding the proposed budget process.

Council received clarification that the fee and cost allocation study will evaluate the services the City provides by examining the amount of time tasks take, looking at all components involved in pricing including overhead, facility costs, and will include inter-departmental costs along with a comparison to other cities. It was noted that cities cannot charge more than their services cost them. A consultant is recommended because their expertise in data collection and analysis, needed objectivity, and the amount of time required to produce this type of report cannot be handled by staff.

Staff is proposing to project up to six years out, through 2014-2016 budget, for revenue and expenditure estimates and stated longer time frames venture into guesswork.

Council suggested involving the public in this process in a very structured way, similar to the community conversations that took place in 2001 and encouraged bringing that component forward early as it has an impact on identifying capital investment programs.

Staff clarified the involvement of employees is seen as a critical element to the budget balancing process and noted that meetings that are planned to ensure employee input and full involvement throughout the action plan. City Manager Gary Pokorny noted that the council, staff and community are the three key sets of stakeholders and he concurs with the suggestion to align community input earlier in the process in tandem with the staff input process.

Concern regarding the nexus between revenue and expenditure projections and upcoming labor negotiations was identified.

Council noted the City’s history of paying cash for major projects and purchases and that other ways of funding may be required in the future.

Council encouraged brainstorming on generating revenue sources in addition to making smart expenditure decisions.

Staff clarified that they will begin the process to identify and define core services, first within departments and then in cross-departmental teams to avoid missing opportunities. Council noted a need to include the community in identifying what the core services are but cautioned about responding too heavily to special interest groups.

Council encouraged out-of-the box thinking and looking for efficiency along with integration and collaboration between departments in terms of providing services and talent sharing.