The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutNOVEMBER 25,1997 I I I OIIO..sO 39:028lltJ.( 9 j cc. CITY COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS ARE AUDIO AND VIDEO TAPE RECORDED AND ON FILE IN THE OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK MINUTES CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ARCADIA ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING NOVEMBER 25,1997 The City Council met in an Adjoumed Regular Meeting on Tuesday, November 25,1997, at 6:00 p.m. in the Conference Room of the Arcadia City Hall Council Chambers. 1. ROLL CALL PRESENT: Councilmembers Chang, Kovacic. Kuhn, Young, and Harbicht ABSENT: None 2. SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION FROM STAFF REGARDING AGENDA ITEMS None 3. QUESTIONS FROM CITY COUNCIL REGARDING AGENDA ITEMS I None 4. AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION No one spoke. 5. MATTERS FROM ELECTED OFFICIALS None 6. CLOSED SESSION 6a. 0110 /0 Pursuant to Government Code Section 54957.6 to confer with the City labor negotiators, Dan Cassidy and William R. Kelly, regarding Teamsters Local 911, AFSCME Local 2264, AFFA, APOA, Management and non-represented employees. At 6:03 p.m. the City COuncil RECESSED to the Closed Session and RECONVENED the Adjourned Regular Meeting in the Conference Room at 6:20 p.m. 7. CITY GOALS, City Manager Kelly reviewed the November 25, 1997 staff report regarding City goals, PRIORITIES priorities and communications, and outlined processes for reviewing the mission & COMMUNIC. statement and goals to form a vision for the City. Mr. Kelly also stated that direction and Oil.) .}. information from this meeting will be utilized in staff's consideration for preparation and prioritization of objectives, work programs and specific goals to be achieved in the coming fiscal year, 1998-99. Benefits of the process will be to serve as a guide to staff enabling each department to focus on achieving the City Council's goals, to inform the community in a cohesive manner that will make sense to them, and provide a better understanding of the decisions made by Council. The completed goals will also assist Council in budget planning, ensuring desired goal achievement will match budget expenditures and a monitoring system for such goals, 11/25/97 39:0289 Council reviewed and discussed the City's current Mission Statement adopted in 1994. Comments from Council consisted partly of interest in how Arcadia's mission statement I compared to other cities', that the mission statement should be general and somewhat generic in nature and that the goals should be more specific. Mayor Harbicht distributed and reviewed with Council his November 25, 1997 draft of a new mission statement and goals prepared for this meeting. Initial discussion on each of the goals listed in the Mayor's handout followed: City Council, City employees, fiscal responsibility, economic development, education, quality of life, public safety, public infrastructure. and transportation. Council's discussion also included incorporating new concepts and eliminating outdated perspectives which should be considered when defining the goals. Each goal listed in the Mayor's handout was then discussed in greater detail. Within the goal of "City Council" it was determined that this statement contain the concept that decision making should always be based on fact and incorporate all comments received by the Council; these decisions should be independent and based on what ;s ;n the best interest of the entire City. Council suggested adding the words effective/efficient to the last sentence regarding fiscal responsibility within the goal of "City Employees". Verbiage in the "Fiscal Responsibility" goal should consider all the various segments within the community in its fair allocation of resources to meet the needs of the community as a whole. Council determined that revenue producing economic development needed to be stressed in the "Economic Development" goal. I "Education" was a new separate goal listed. Council fell that the Board of Education should be included with the goal containing a statement that they work in concert with the Board of Education, using them as a resource, and seeking their support in achieving this goal. Suggestions from Council regarding the "Quality of Life" goal included adding that the City provides service to residents of all ages, quality medical/health care facilities, and promotes community pride and spirit. The Council had no immediate modifications or changes to the wording of the "Public Safety", PubliC Infrastructure", and "Transportation" goals. Another goal suggested was "Communication", which could be considered separately or incorporated into all other goals suggested in Mayor Harbichl's draft. The communication goal would be to enhance the interaction of the Council with the community. This suggestion was discussed in greater detail later in the meeting (see page 3). City Manager Kelly stated in part that staff would incorporate Council's suggested changes to the City goals, finalize and return them to Council for re-establishment and approval. The changes in the goals provided for more definition and specificity; however the real measurement for the City will be in the objectives, projects and programs reviewed and re-e'stablished to achieve the goals. Staff will suggest to Council specific projects and programs to achieve these goals. The City Manager also stated that I shifting of objectives, projects and programs throughout the year can detour the City in achieving its goals, but are necessary sometimes. Setting priorities for the objectives. projects and programs will facilitate the budget process for Council. 2 11/25/97 39:0290 I To provide additional guidance and general direction for'staff, Council then brainstonned specifics for the goals established. The Council discussed promotion of innovative ideas, and not necessarily doing projects and programs a certain way because that is the way they have always been done, but finding new methods and ways of doing things. Transportation included discussion and suggestions related to investigating bus systems/routes/times, possibly fonning a cooperative effort with the school district to investigate potential reinstatement of their bus program, citizen's use of dial-a-ride, and utilization of Proposition A funds for transportation needs. These suggestions were made in an effort to facilitate greater traffic efficiency. Further discussion consisted of youth-related problems, the Youth Master Plan, working in concert with the school district, involving the entire community, volunteer programs, incentive/recognition programs, code enforcement and education, etcetera. Considerable discussion ensued regarding the "Communication" goal and communication-related projects. It was determined that cable television and newspapers were the two communication vehicles most citizens utilize to obtain City infonnation. Methods discussed to bring current infonnation to the public were: a press release program. citizen volunteers providing to the public preview/preparation of the City Council agenda prior to meetings, establishment of a City website currently ,being researched. a speakers bureau, the Centennial celebration. "University of Arcadia", and a "State of the City" address, City Hall Open House, and City infonnation articles in various community newslellers. . I A "State of the City" address is planned for January 1998; invited/open audience allendance, televising the program and a reception following address were related issues discussed. Educating the public on City mailers oCCurs through various methods; City Council meetings (the primary source of education) and newspaper articles. These were information disseminating systems that seem to be working. The Council then discussed how to educate the citizens by other means, particularly those citizens who do not necessarily feel it is crucial to know more unless an issue directly affects them. Budgeting for and utilization of available communication opportunities to disseminate information effectively on a regular basis was an area of concem to the Council. An additional communication program discussed by the Council included regularly scheduled public forums. Council discussed the proposed "University of Arcadia" program, which group or groups of people could be enlisted to initiate and test this program, and growth potential utilizing staff and volunteers. Discussion by Council regarding the nature of Infonnation disseminated to the citizens was that it should consist of real information citizens need to be informed about and not just information to say what a good job is being done by staff and Council. City staff and Council should provide positive information and true news that citizens should know about their community for a specific purpose. I Additional City programs on the cable channel and their content were considered, making these programs more interesting and entertaining to the residents, thus increasing the number of viewers getting the information being conveyed, Utilization of videotapes from and about various City departments for these additional programs was also examined. Supplementary input from Council consisted of maintaining updated 3 11/25/97 39:0291 information on the cable community bulletin board, camera close-ups of visual aids at Council meetings, use of street banners, and graphics on the railroad bridge. ADJOURNMENT At 8:24 p.m. the Adjoumed Regular Meeting of the City Council ADJOURNED to 6:00 (Dec. 2, 1997) p.m., Tuesday, December 2, 1997 in the Conference Room of the Council Chamber for a Regular meeting to conduct the business of the City Council and any Closed Session necessary to discuss personnel, litigation matters or evaluation of properties. .// dtK"~ Robert C. Harbicht, Mayor of the City of Arcadia ATTEST: J ~ 11/25/97 I I I 39:0292 I THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK. I I 5 11/25/97