CITY OF SHORELINE
SHORELINE CITY COUNCIL
Monday, November 13, 2006 Shoreline Conference Center
6:00 p.m. Highlander Room
PRESENT: Deputy Mayor Fimia and Councilmembers Gustafson, Hansen, McGlashan, Ryu, and Way
ABSENT: Mayor Ransom
STAFF: Julie Modrzejewski, Assistant City Manager; Ian Sievers, City Attorney; Joyce Nichols, Communications and Intergovernmental Relations Director; Paul Haines, Public Works Director; Marci Wright, Human Resources Director; Dick Deal, Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Director; Debbie Tarry, Finance Director; Joe Tovar, Planning and Development Services Director
Deputy Mayor Fimia called the meeting to order at 6:15 p.m.
Julie Modrzejewski, Assistant City Manager, noted that the Comprehensive Housing Strategy Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) is on tonight’s Consent Calendar. She outlined the item and inquired if the Council wanted to keep the item on the Consent Calendar. Councilmembers discussed the issue of how the issue of Fircrest should be handled vis-à-vis representatives on the CAC.
Deputy Mayor Fimia said there are two issues related to the Fircrest campus: 1) whether or not it remains open; and 2) how to develop this very large parcel if its use should change.
Councilmember Hansen asked staff to define the role of the CAC.
Steve Cohn, Planner, said the CAC is designed to develop strategies for all types of housing and look at demographics and housing types as they consider strategies. They will select a few concrete strategies to recommend to the City Council. Once the CAC recommends its strategies and Council reviews and approves them, projects would move into the implementation phase.
Ms. Modrejewski added that one option for the second CAC meeting is to invite all the people who applied to serve on the CAC to join a discussion of the many issues related to housing.
Councilmember Gustafson said he would prefer to pull the item from tonight’s Consent Calendar and have more discussion before voting on the composition of the committee.
Deputy Mayor Fimia moved to the next agenda item, a roundtable discussion with the Leadership Team. Each Leadership Team member was asked to describe the challenges their departments face in the coming years.
Dick Deal, Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Director, said he was seeking guidance on how best to communicate and keep the City Council and the public informed and involved. A discussion followed regarding the methods of getting information out to various groups via Web lists and other communication tools.
Joe Tovar, Planning and Development Services Director, said it is an exciting time and many good projects are coming up, such as Ridgecrest, Housing CAC, and projects related to Economic Development. He felt a primary challenge will be to manage expectations on our projects. Discussion involved issues such as scope of work, list of tasks, and accountability. The way we gather stakeholder input will vary based on the task at hand.
Paul Haines, Public Works Director, said that in the past, work plans mostly focused on large capital projects (the “Big 5”). In the coming years, the focus will be on getting Aurora Phase 2 finished. Also, there are many environmental projects that are underway that will involve the Neighborhoods Energy (NEST). Sidewalks, and how to fund them, will continue to be an issue. Water and sewer utilities will become an issue if the City decides to become a purveyor. Mr. Haines noted that City Hall and transportation planning do not have a central focus, but we need to have one to address many issues such as transit, City projects, economic development, NPDES permits, and so on. Higher education is also an issue in the state legislature, as there are more engineering positions opening at the state level. Incentives are being offered for such positions, such as student loan repayment in exchange for a multi-year service commitment. Additional issues include mandatory curbside pickup for solid waste removal and recycling as it relates to franchises. He emphasized the need to retain technical employees and to have adequate operations and maintenance facilities.
Marci Wright, Human Resources Director, responded that this is a common problem across the board in other public agencies as well.
Debbie Tarry, Finance Director, said the City’s financial software management system needs to be kept current, noting that it is nearly ten years old. The same holds true for record-keeping software. There is also a need to help department staff use technology to its fullest potential, as well as centralizing our cash receipting and customer-based systems. Long-term financial planning strategies need to be maintained. Performance audits will now be done by the State Auditor’s Office, but they will involve staff time to meet this need.
Ms. Wright said Human Resources is looking at the changing work force, generational issues, and providing more training for supervisors and managers.
Ian Sievers, City Attorney, noted that the City will be engaged in buying properties authorized by the bond vote. The City must also continue updating its codes because many are still King County ordinances. Other legal issues include the Seattle City Light franchise and fire hydrants.
Joyce Nichols, Communications and Intergovernmental Relations Director, emphasized the need for communications tools, blending information from all the departments, City Council goals, and general information about City issues. She said the City must ensure our residents have the information they need to be involved in the City’s decision-making processes.
Deputy Mayor Fimia thought it was a productive meeting productive and expressed a desire to have this kind of discussion more often.
The meeting adjourned at 7:25 p.m.
/S/ Joyce Nichols, Communications and Intergovernmental Relations Director