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2019-12-18 Special CC Minutes - ATTACHMENT December 2019 City of Alameda City Council Workshop December 18, 2019 City Council Workshop Table of Contents Management Partners i Table of Contents Workshop Report ...................................................................................................................................... 1 Workshop Overview ........................................................................................................................ 1 Workshop Objectives ................................................................................................................... 1 Participants ................................................................................................................................. 1 Workshop Agenda ....................................................................................................................... 2 Ground Rules .............................................................................................................................. 2 Workshop Preparation ................................................................................................................ 2 Welcome by the Mayor and Call to Order .................................................................................... 3 Comments from the City Manager ................................................................................................ 3 Icebreaker – Hidden Gems.............................................................................................................. 3 Establish Priorities for FY 2020-21 ................................................................................................. 3 Review Effective Practices for Elected Officials ........................................................................... 7 Review of Articles ....................................................................................................................... 7 Council Norms Discussion ......................................................................................................... 8 Wrap-Up and Next Steps .............................................................................................................. 10 Evaluation Summary ................................................................................................................ 10 Attachment A – Workshop Articles ..................................................................................................... 11 Attachment B – Workshop Evaluation ................................................................................................ 28 City Council Workshop Workshop Report Management Partners 1 Workshop Report Workshop Overview The City of Alameda held a Council workshop on Wednesday, December 18, 2019, from 12:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Alameda City Hall West. The purpose of the workshop was to have a collaborative discussion about City priorities for the next year and to identify Council norms. Workshop Objectives • Reach agreement on norms for working together and working with staff on behalf of the community. • Clarify roles and enhance trust. • Discuss opportunities and challenges on the horizon for the City of Alameda. • Set priorities for 2020-21. Participants Active workshop participants included the following: • Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft • Vice Mayor John Knox White • Councilmember Jim Oddie • Councilmember Malia Vella • Councilmember Tony Daysog • City Manager Eric Levitt • City Attorney Yibin Shen City Clerk Lara Weisiger opened and recorded the meeting and department heads were present for the discussion of priorities to hear the discussion and provide information as requested by Councilmembers. City Council Workshop Workshop Report Management Partners 2 Facilitation Nancy Hetrick of Management Partners facilitated the workshop with support from Lisa Phan. Workshop Agenda • Welcome by the Mayor and Call to Order • Public Comment • Workshop Overview • Icebreaker – Hidden Gems • FY 2020-21 Priorities • Effective Practices for Elected Officials • Wrap-Up and Next Steps • Adjournment by the Mayor Ground Rules • Seek consensus • Listen to understand • Participate • Stay focused • Assume good intent • Speak up if we need a course correction Workshop Preparation Before the workshop, Nancy Hetrick discussed workshop objectives with the City Manager and used an online survey to obtain input about Councilmembers’ priorities to help develop workshop materials. The Mayor provided feedback on the draft survey and agenda before they were finalized. City Council Workshop Workshop Report Management Partners 3 Welcome by the Mayor and Call to Order The workshop began with a welcome and a call to order by Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft and opened public comment. No members from the public were present, so Mayor Ashcraft turned the session over to the facilitator and City Manager Eric Levitt. Comments from the City Manager City Manager Levitt welcomed and thanked everyone for taking the time to attend the workshop. He highlighted the value of investing time away to discuss priorities. Eric underscored the importance of aligning Council priorities to the budget and shared that he and department heads are preparing their workplan using the Council priorities as a framework. Icebreaker – Hidden Gems Councilmembers were asked to identify a hidden gem in the City; something they enjoy or are most proud of. City Manager Levitt and City Attorney Shen were also invited to share hidden gems. Below are highlights from the icebreaker. Proud of: • City staff/team • Alameda transportation plans and projects Enjoy: • Little jetty path next to Crab Cove • West-end Library • Mosley’s Café on the water (before it closed) • Jean Sweeney Open Space Park • Having the ability to bike all around town • People of the community adding to the City’s quality of life • City Hall building that has a rich historical background • Children’s story hour at the Library Establish Priorities for FY 2020-21 In advance of the workshop, Management Partners administered a short survey to seek input on which of the City’s current initiatives (identified by staff) are the highest priority for the coming year. The City Manager observed that with limited staffing resources available, affirming Council priorities and ensuring a shared understanding of what can be accomplished is essential. The initiatives identified as a “high priority” by three or more Councilmembers were the focus of discussion at the workshop. For those initiatives, Nancy asked Councilmembers to discuss what they would City Council Workshop Workshop Report Management Partners 4 consider to be success and what can be accomplished in the next year. Table 1 summarizes the discussion. Table 1. Priorities Discussion on Survey Results Focus Area (Goals) Initiative(s) What success looks like in the next year Focus Area 1. Preparing Alameda for the Future *Traffic safety/ Vision Zero • Reduce the number of collisions to zero. • Implement recommendations and changes provided by staff: o Daylighting o Getting rid of push buttons o Painting crosswalks o Traffic lighting solutions • Improve communication with the community regarding traffic safety improvements and changes that are implemented. • Implement short-term strategies while pursuing long-term goals. • Partner with the school district to improve traffic safety around schools. • Promote discussions about carpools and safe routes to school. • Transform streets by being strategic and innovative about finding new/ different ways of approaching traffic safety problem(s). • Continue infrastructure improvements (i.e., is street lighting bright enough?). • Identify resources needed to address traffic safety and improvements o Staff. Need professional staff to conduct research and gather data to recommend changes and implement them. o Data. Data provides focus to solve the problem. Long-term financial strategies • Need to anticipate the next economic downtown by understanding in advance the City’s core services. o City’s core services need to be identified o Review City spending • Develop a longer-term financial plan after working with a financial planner. • Identify values for financial planning – values-based budgeting. • Identify a dashboard model for financial spending and investments. Focus Area 2. Encouraging Economic Development Across the Island New ferry terminal at Seaplane Lagoon • Identify funding for parking management at the new terminal. Development at Alameda Point • Define/identify a shared vision (City Council and staff) about how to accomplish short- and long-term goals for Alameda Point. • Create a plan for infrastructure needs; look at underground infrastructure for improvements. • Maintain the choice to provide affordable housing. • Increase array of options for potential developers (economic development). • Figure out how to move current plans forward (RESHAP housing). Maintain active business districts • Provide safety for business districts. • Explore vacancy tax. • Shopping mall challenges: o Identify what the City can provide for commercial landowners. o Identify business incentives and how they impact large/small businesses. City Council Workshop Workshop Report Management Partners 5 Focus Area (Goals) Initiative(s) What success looks like in the next year • Recognize the dichotomy between large and small businesses. Code enforcement can impact small businesses more significantly than large businesses. • Identify new partnerships with businesses. • Support business districts versus commercial districts and identify strategies available to help them. • Identify business improvement areas (BIA) • Enlist the support of the City prosecutor to enforce laws related to code enforcement. Focus Area 3. Supporting Enhanced Livability and Quality of Life Housing • Understand that the City is losing rental housing units. • Address housing costs by limiting the number of licenses for short-term housing. • Consider options for more housing units (although this is a of more long-term plan). • Consider donating City land to a nonprofit to offset the cost of building affordable housing. • Have a focus of “housing first.” • Develop a housing plan by identifying what will be in the housing plan, number of units, land, etc. • Develop a funding plan. • Identify temporary shelters for the homeless population. • Support the Planning Board’s review of Article 26 in the City Charter (Measure A in 1973). o Look at the density limit and see how it factors into the housing plan. o Look at the capacity issue with all services, (i.e., businesses, bike, transportation choices plan, etc.). o Look into how live/work mixed-use services fit. • Evaluate the City’s short-term housing plan particularly as it relates to the military community, which has shorter-term rental needs. • Develop a deeper partnership with Housing Authority to the make the City’s needs known. o The Section 8 housing waitlist is long. Evaluate the requirements for allowing room rentals by homeowners to be funded through Section 8 (to increase supply). o Discuss services associated with transitional/supportive housing. Homelessness • Obtain more regular reports from the homeless outreach team (police and service providers) to measure progress and to increase communication and transparency between staff and City Council. • Since the City was chosen by the State of California to conduct the state’s first pilot program, the Community Paramedicine Program, consider advocating for the program at a statewide level. The program has been beneficial for the City. • Consider providing street medical services (not just medications), such as mental health and housing outreach to build relationships with the community. Focus Area 4. Protecting Core Services *Public safety; public safety recruitments; traffic enforcement • Support recruitment and retention by identifying ways to maintain current levels of service. • Improve diversity of the department. • Need staff to let City Council know if they need more help. • Develop a Fire Services Plan to discuss levels of service. City Council Workshop Workshop Report Management Partners 6 Focus Area (Goals) Initiative(s) What success looks like in the next year • Identify ways to retain staff by considering compensation, and by improving the facilities and identifying what is needed (e.g., space capacity, women’s room, infrastructure maintenance, etc.). • Pay attention to the response time for public safety requests. • Identify innovative ways for developing the next fire station (i.e., as part of a mixed-use residential/commercial space.) Focus Area 5. Ensuring Effective and Efficient Operations *Balanced budget • Expenditures. Make sure the City Council continues to review spending above a certain limit/threshold. • Review the priorities and stay focused when reviewing/approving the budget. • Mid-cycle budget. Identify how the budget can be tied to priorities/ initiatives. • Find creative ways to increase revenue. • Voters may be maxed out with taxes. Council needs to be aware of limits. • Encourage the City Manager to be transparent when creating the budget. Make the budget easy to read when providing the departments and citywide budget. • Check-in on values of the budget (early check-in); mid-cycle (values will be tied in). • Finance ERP software is underway; it is a big project for staff and requires a lot of work. *Initiatives that were identified by all Councilmembers as a high priority for next year. In addition to the initiatives listed above, Councilmembers brought up some priorities they thought are equally important to keep in mind for the next year. Below highlights the remainder of the discussion. • Develop and finish a City Pool Facility Plan by the end of 2020. • Libraries. Identify ways to become a community center. • Recreation and Parks. Continuing the work on improvements and maintenance. • Parking program. Parking ties into many of the City initiatives (i.e., Seaplane Lagoon Ferry Terminal, Alameda Point, business districts, etc.) • Climate Action and Resiliency Plan. Addressing the following: o Unfunded plan to plant 325 trees o Address resiliency projects o Work with the City Manager to address what the first phase is in the budget • Develop a workload assessment between in-house staff compared with contractors when working on transportation safety projects. There might be a project overlap of goals and initiatives. City Council Workshop Workshop Report Management Partners 7 Review Effective Practices for Elected Officials During this part of the session, Nancy divided the discussion into two parts: 1) a discussion of the articles she shared with Council before the workshop, and 2) a discussion about Council agreements. Review of Articles To inform the discussion around Council norms and practices, Management Partners distributed the following two articles for the Council to review in advance of the workshop: • “Attributes of Exceptional Councils” from the Institute of Local Government, and • “A Key Ingredient for Success: An Effective City Council/City Manager Relationship” by Kevin Duggan. Both articles are included in Attachment A. During the workshop, Nancy asked Councilmembers to share their reactions to the articles. Below are highlights from the discussion. • Give the City Manager a clear direction of what the Councilmembers want. • The City Manager is doing a good job of listening to all Councilmembers without assuming and providing advice individually and collectively. • Recognize that you are now “different” from before you were elected. Councilmembers acknowledged the need to switch perspectives from campaigning to an elected official representing the City. • Collaboration. Work together to find a common solution. • Communication. There should be no “gotcha” or surprises when communicating with each other, and everyone should be open to listening to each other. • Liked the idea of having more Council teambuilding workshops/ retreats to continue to build trust. City Council Workshop Workshop Report Management Partners 8 • Understanding roles and responsibilities. Councilmembers expressed the need to have a better understanding of their roles and responsibilities compared to that of the City Manager/staff. o Councilmembers would like a better understanding of the City Manager’s role when working with Councilmembers individually and collectively as a group. o Have respect for Councilmembers’ outside life (work and capacity), even though they are also committed to the City and their constituents. This is a volunteer job. • Don’t burn bridges with peers and operate in a political/civic vacuum. Respect disagreement and support the Council’s final decision. • Focus on current City challenges and not on old battles. • Respect the Mayor’s role and the extra amount of time invested in the community. Council Norms Discussion Nancy distributed a Council norms worksheet to each Council member to review and complete. The worksheet listed attributes for effective governance and asked each participant to assess whether they are doing it well or could do better. Table 2 lists the attributes for which three or more Councilmembers self-reported the same opinion on the worksheets. City Council Workshop Workshop Report Management Partners 9 Table 2. Results from Council Norms Activity Areas we are currently doing well: Areas we can do better: • Maintain a citywide perspective. • Have well-run meetings and discussions where everyone is heard, with Councilmembers recognized to speak. • Do our homework before coming to Council meetings. • Respect each other’s opinions. Accept that we will not always agree, and then disagree respectfully and professionally. Do not make things personal. Do not criticize others for having a different point of view. • Find consensus when we can; find the area of agreement within the areas of disagreement. • Demonstrate honesty and integrity in every action and statement. • Inspire public confidence in our City government. • Work for the common good, not personal interest. • Participate in scheduled activities to increase Council effectiveness. • Share information with other Councilmembers about committee meetings attended. • Honor “discussion” before “decisions;” reserve making formal motions until initial discussions have taken place. • Approach the business of governing in a professional manner; conduct business in a way that brings honor to the institution of government. • Work together as a body, modeling teamwork and civility for our community. • Being open to compromise; look for commonalities; focus on a “team” win, not the individual; move from I to we, and move from campaigning to governing. • Have respect for the roles of Council and staff in creating policy and in implementing policy; Council to set the “what” not the “how” to accomplish tasks; respect the council/manager form of government. • Listen, be open-minded to each other, staff, the public. Communicate with each other. Seek to understand. • Check egos and electronics at the door. • Keep confidential things confidential. • Seek to be efficient in comments at Council meetings. After completing the worksheet, Nancy asked if they had any thoughts. Councilmember Vella indicated she would have liked a third assessment option that indicated the attributes they are doing “adequately” but could still do better (or “we are doing better”). Discussion highlights are presented below. Areas where Council can do better – discussion highlights: • Seek to be efficient in making comments at Council meetings. Three Councilmembers agreed that Council could do better at this, and that questions on consent items should be addressed prior to City Council meetings. • Be open to compromise. • Seek discussions where everyone is heard. Time constraints need to be balanced so everyone has enough time to speak and be heard. City Council Workshop Workshop Report Management Partners 10 • Some Councilmembers think Council is doing better now than six to 12 months ago. • Suggest changing the worksheet columns for future use to: Are we doing this adequately? Better? Better than before? • The order of comments at a Council meeting can affect the discussion. It is important to allow time for response. Appreciation for the Mayor’s approach of “going down the line” was expressed. • It is harder to manage a discussion where one or more individuals are passionate about the topic. Some people are not given an equal amount of time to speak and be heard. Areas where the City Manager could do better – discussion highlights: • Come to Council early on things – no surprises. o It is helpful to get information early on regarding what staff is working on (i.e., projects); doesn’t need to be “fully baked.” o Without early input, staff may misunderstand or have unclear direction regarding Council expectations. • Tell the Council what resources are needed to do what the Council desires. Be empowered to provide full candor while providing supporting documents for clarity. • Follow through on Council priorities. Be transparent with the Council regarding the status of priorities and what can be accomplished. There was acknowledgement that staff wants to please. Wrap-Up and Next Steps The workshop concluded with Nancy sharing that a workshop summary report will be prepared by Management Partners to document the outcomes of the day. Evaluation Summary At the end of the meeting, all five Councilmembers completed an evaluation form. Attachment B provides the evaluation and all written comments. City Council Workshop Attachment A – Workshop Articles Management Partners 11 Attachment A – Workshop Articles City Council Workshop Attachment A – Workshop Articles Management Partners 12 City Council Workshop Attachment A – Workshop Articles Management Partners 13 City Council Workshop Attachment A – Workshop Articles Management Partners 14 City Council Workshop Attachment A – Workshop Articles Management Partners 15 City Council Workshop Attachment A – Workshop Articles Management Partners 16 City Council Workshop Attachment A – Workshop Articles Management Partners 17 City Council Workshop Attachment A – Workshop Articles Management Partners 18 City Council Workshop Attachment A – Workshop Articles Management Partners 19 City Council Workshop Attachment A – Workshop Articles Management Partners 20 City Council Workshop Attachment A – Workshop Articles Management Partners 21 City Council Workshop Attachment A – Workshop Articles Management Partners 22 City Council Workshop Attachment A – Workshop Articles Management Partners 23 City Council Workshop Attachment A – Workshop Articles Management Partners 24 City Council Workshop Attachment A – Workshop Articles Management Partners 25 City Council Workshop Attachment A – Workshop Articles Management Partners 26 City Council Workshop Attachment A – Workshop Articles Management Partners 27 City Council Workshop Attachment B – Workshop Evaluation Management Partners 28 Attachment B – Workshop Evaluation At the end of the workshop participants were asked to complete a workshop evaluation form. The following responses are a compilation of answers from five of the workshop participants. Overall usefulness of the workshop (4.7 average score) Not Useful Very Useful 1 2 3 4 5 Overall quality of the workshop (4.5 average score) Poor Quality High Quality 1 2 3 4 5 The best thing about this workshop was... • Having uninterrupted dialogue about our priorities. • Discussion of effectice practices for elected officials and establishing City Council norms. • Letting Council talk. • Well planned and organized. Open and honest dialouge. • Ability to talk through priorities. Some things that could have been better... • More time for communications discussion. • Room temperature. • Regarding establishing priorities, questionnaire may have had some redundancies. • A warmer room! Other Comments… • Need to do these two times a year.