2007/12/11 City Council MinutesCITY OF ROHNERT PARK CONCURRENT MEETING MINUTES FOR:
City Council
Community Development Commission
Rohnert Park Financing Authority
December 11, 2007
Tuesday
The Concurrent Meetings of the City of Rohnert Park for the City Council, the Community Development
Commission, and the Rohnert Park Financing Authority met this date for a Regular Meeting to
commence at 6:00 p.m. at the Rohnert Park City Hall, 6750 Commerce Boulevard, Rohnert Park, with
Mayor Vidak- Martinez presiding.
REGULAR MEETING
Call to Order: Mayor Vidak- Martinez called the Regular Meeting to order at 6:03 p.m.
Roll Call: Breeze (6:05 p.m.), Mackenzie, Smith, Stafford, Vidak- Martinez
Staff present for all or part of the Regular Meeting: City Manager Donley, City Attorney Kenyon,
Assistant City Manager Schwarz, Director of Community Development Bendorff, Building
Official Bruck, Director of Public Works /City Engineer Jenkins, Director of Public Safety
Bullard, City Clerk Hauff, Deputy City Clerk Griffin, and Videographer Beltz.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE:
Erica Botello, student from Evergreen Elementary School, led the Pledge of Allegiance. Mayor
Vidak - Martinez PRESENTED Erica with a card and a pen.
1. SONOMA STATE UNIVERSITY (SSU) STUDENT REPORT:
Mayor Vidak- Martinez stated that at the request of Nicole Schlossberg, .SSU Associated Students,
Inc., Legislative Representative, said report shall be deferred to the City Council meeting on
January 8, 2008.
2. UNSCHEDULED PUBLIC APPEARANCE /COMMENTS:
Peter Tscherneff shared a variety of comments on topics including the new City mayor and avian
bird flu.
City of Rohnert Park CONCURRENT MEETINGS Minutes (2 of 5) December 11, 2007
_for City CounciUCommunity Development Commission/Rohnert Park Financing Authority
3. CONSENT CALENDAR:
1. Approval of Minutes for:
City Council Portion of Regular Concurrent Meetings — November 27, 2007
2. Approval of City Bills /Demands for Payment in the amount of $902,514.65
3. Resolutions for Adoption:
2007 -205 Rejecting the Claim of Canon Manor West Citizens Group (CMW)
2007 -206 Endorsing the Community Housing Development Corporation of Santa
Rosa's Application for Home Community Housing Development
Organization Investment Partnership Funds for the Vida Nueva Project
2007 -207 Approving Job Description and Salary Range for Project Manager and
Authorizing Recruitment for Three Positions
2007 -208 Authorizing a Deferral of Payment of Development Related Fees for the
Jewish Free Clinic
Upon MOTION by Council Member Smith, seconded by Council Member Breeze, and
UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED, reading was waived and the Consent Calendar was ADOPTED.
4. COMMUNICATIONS:
No communications were raised.
5. MATTERS FROM/FOR COUNCIL:
1. Calendar of Events: Document provided to Council Members in their agenda packet.
2. City Council Agenda Forecast: Document provided to Council Members in their agenda
packet.
3. Other informational items, if any: None.
6. CITY MANAGER'S /CITY ATTORNEY'S REPORTS:
1. Other informational items, if any: None.
7. PUBLIC COMMENTS:
None.
ADJOURNMENT: Mayor Vidak - Martinez adjourned the City Council meeting at 6:08 p.m. to
consecutively and separately convene the meetings of the Community
Development Commission and the Rohnert Park Financing Authority.
City of Rohnert Park CONCURRENT MEETINGS Minutes Q of 5) December 11, 2007
for City Council/Community Development Commission / Rohnert Park Financing Authority
MINUTES FOR THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
OF THE CITY OF ROHNERT PARK
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Call to Order: 6:08 p.m.
Roll Call: Breeze, Mackenzie, Smith, Stafford, Vidak- Martinez
Also present: Executive Director Donley, General Counsel Kenyon, and Assistant Executive Director
Schwarz
Unscheduled public appearances: None.
1. CDC CONSENT CALENDAR:
1. Approval of Meeting Minutes for:
CDC Portion of Regular Concurrent Meetings — November 27, 2007
2. Approval of CDC Bills /Demands for Payment in the amount of $62,459.17
A MOTION was made by Vice Chair Mackenzie, seconded by Commissioner Breeze, to
approve the Consent Calendar. After the motion, reading was waived, and the CDC Consent
Calendar, as outlined in the agenda, was UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED.
2. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, Chairperson Vidak- Martinez adjourned the
CDC meeting at 6:09 p.m.
MINUTES FOR THE
ROHNERT PARK FINANCING AUTHORITY
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Call to Order: 6:09 p.m.
Roll Call: Breeze, Mackenzie, Smith, Stafford, Vidak- Martinez
Also present: Executive Director Donley, General Counsel Kenyon, and Assistant Executive Director
Schwarz
Unscheduled public appearances: None.
City of Rohnert Park CONCURRENT MEETINGS Minutes (4 of 5) December 11, 2007
for City CounciUCommunity Development Commission / Rohnert Park Financing Authority
1. RPFA CONSENT CALENDAR:
1. Approval of Minutes for:
RPFA Portion of Regular Concurrent Meetings — November 27, 2007
A MOTION was made by Vice Chair Mackenzie, seconded by Member Breeze, to approve the
RPFA Consent Calendar. After the motion, reading was waived, and the RPFA Consent
Calendar, as outlined in the agenda, was UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED.
2. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, Chairperson Vidak- Martinez adjourned the
meeting of the RPFA at 6:09 p.m.
Mayor Vidak - Martinez reconvened the City Council meeting at 6:09 p.m.
� CEREMONY FOR &
CITY COUNCIL SELECTION OF OFFICERS
FOR THE YEAR 2008
❖ Reflections of 2007.
I. Mayor's Review of 2007 Milestones: Mayor Vidak - Martinez highlighted
City Council 2007 milestones.
2. Comments by Other Council Members: Council Member Smith read written
comments, ATTACHED TO THE ORIGINAL SET OF MINUTES.
Council Member Breeze read written comments and departed the meeting at
6:41 p.m. Council Member Stafford shared brief comments. Vice Mayor
Mackenzie DISTRIBUTED AND REVIEWED written comments,
ATTACHED TO THE ORIGINAL SET OF MINUTES.
❖ Presentation to Mayor Vicki Vidak - Martinez for 2007 Year as Mayor.
Vice Mayor Mackenzie shared brief comments and PRESENTED Mayor
Vidak - Martinez with a ceramic compost crock.
❖ Recognition of the City Council Officer Selections for Year 2008:
Mayor Jake Mackenzie
Vice Mayor Pam Stafford
City of Rohnert Park CONCURRENT MEETINGS Agex (5 of 5) December 11, 2007
for City Council /Community Development Commission/Rohnert Park Financins Authoritv
Mayor Vidak- Martinez recognized Jake Mackenzie as Mayor and Pam
Stafford as Vice Mayor. Mayor Mackenzie and Vice Mayor Stafford
assumed their new seats for 2008.
Perspectives for Future:
1. New Mayor's Perspectives for 2008: Mayor Mackenzie DISTRIBUTED
AND REVIEWED written comments, ATTACHED TO THE ORIGINAL
SET OF MINUTES.
2. Other Council Members' Perspectives for 2008: Council Members Smith and
Vidak - Martinez shared brief comments. Vice Mayor Stafford made brief
comments. At the request of Mayor Mackenzie, City Manager Donley and
City Attorney Kenyon shared additional comments.
❖ Other Unscheduled Public Appearances:
Tom Martinez commented on Council Member Breeze's dissenting vote
against the recent labor agreement resolutions.
❖ Adjournment to Refreshments:
Mayor Mackenzie adjourned the City Council Ceremony for City Council
Selection of Officers for the Year 2008 at 7:30 p.m., and he invited members
of the public to join City Council and staff for refreshments.
�l&
PF-<D
Katy Leonard
Certified Shorthand Reporter
C.S.R. 11599
ake Mackenzie
Mayor
City of Rohnert Park
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As a City Council, our most important task. is to be forward - thinking, con with
long -term sustainable future of Rohnert Park:
We provide guidance with the policies we set, as demonstrated by our discussions and the
votes we cast.
No matter what goals we set or strategies we pursue, we have to do so in a way that takes
into account the need for balanced budgets with sufficient reserves to operate during
difficult times.
In January of 2007 we unanimously directed our management staff to negotiate fair
contracts with our bargaining units, with special attention to be paid to the costs of
medical care coverage for our employees and retirees.
At our last meeting we acknowledged the hard work of our staff and the acceptance b.y
membership vote of every bargaining unit to implement generous and fairly bargained
compensation packages that will allow us the opportunity to achieve balanced budgets in
the foreseeable future.
A majority of us never doubted that this needed to be done and its accomplishment
reflects well upon each Councilmember who supported staff and the membership of our
bargaining units who voted in accordance with well- established collective bargaining
principles for the fair resolution of these negotiations.
During this past year the City of Rohnert Park lost some valuable employees, through
either retirement or seeking a better personal opportunity.
We owe a special debt of gratitude to Cas Ellena for her excellent, albeit too brief, service
on behalf of Rohnert Park residents prior to her leaving to serve the community of
Winters.
Through her efforts, the Community Development Commission was re- energized and
with the funds available from the bonds issued in 2007, Much good has already been done
in Rohnert Park and even more will be accomplished in the years ahead.
Much more can be said about 2007 and I will now listen as others do so. Thank you.
During the year ahead many choices will be made that we cannot even anticipate at this
time.
It is clear that it will be a difficult budget year for the State of California and we will
share in that pain locally as well.
Early in 2007 we engaged in facilitated discussions among the Council with Dr. Mathis,
which were valuable sessions for us all.
It is my hope that further sessions with Dr. Mathis will take place during 2008 as we seek
to continuously improve.
In 2008, we will be moving into our new City Hall, renovating an existing office building
OR Avram Avenue to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold
standards, thus setting an example for effective governmental use of capital
improvements to reduce future operational costs in an efficient manner.
The environment for our residents coming to City Hall and our staff working in City Hall
will be significantly improved by the completion of this project.
There will be much more for us to report upon a year .from now and I look forward to
listen to my fellow Councilmembers forecast for 2008. Thank,you.
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Reflections on 2007 File:
It's now 10 years since I first started writing down
these reviews of the year gone by.. Are they any the
better for the passage of time- some amongst you
clearly think not. That, as you know, has never
deterred me from speaking my mind. So here's what
I see in my rearview mirror as we covered many a
mile in 2007.
Revenues
Yes , we , at least most of us, supported our Chamber
of Commerce and. their efforts to encourage and
welcome new businesses to our city. And it would
seem that Economic Development is not dead in our
city e.g.
Incubator businesses at SMV, a new hotel across the
freeway, a new childrens' party store in our Sonoma
Gateway shopping area and many more.
Partnerships /Cooperation
This is a tricky area to discuss— we have intricate
relationships as a city not just with our businesses
and our business people, but also with our neighbours
and our partners in governance and public
enterprises. SSU is such a neighbour and partner. Our
success as a city in the future is inextricably linked to
the university . Our success in the future depends on
our schoolchildren and their education. Our success
in the future depends on intergovernmental
cooperation , whether it be a tribe , a city or a county.
We had substantive discussions on issues yet
unresolved with S SU. We did not have sufficient
discussions with others.
Increase Safety
We see a continuing effort on the part of Public
Safety to make us the safest city on the 101. We also
recognize the needs of other communities and we
can truly be proud of our officers' work in this year's
Southern California fires. As our sworn officers and
special units work to expand our efforts, recruitment
continues to challenge the city as it does other
jurisdictions The recently signed contract will keep
us competitive in this challenging area.And the
swearing in of 8 new officers is cause for
congratulations.
Maintain/Increase Infrastructure
This year has seen a number of efforts come to
fruition or get underway. I'm sure the Mayor will
have mentioned these. Let me just emphasize that the
continuing efforts of our engineering and community
development staff are creating the structure we need
to implement our plans and house our citizens.
Sustainability
We are now the Green and Friendly City. This is no
empty boast. We are past the tipping point; the years
to come will show that these efforts were correct and'
important. I'm particularly proud of our SSU /City
connection, forged by Building Official Peter Bruck
as he completed his Masters degree and drafted our
Green Building ordinance all in one fell swoop.
Oh , by the way , during this year we didn't find any
secret stashes of dollars anywhere. We did work
towards stabilizing the city's financial status. The
need to do this has been and remains clear. What a
pity the clear desire and consistent direction of the
council over months of difficult negotiations was
repudiated in a public vote by one council member at
the very end of the process.
Other events throughout the year show us as a local
government body actively engaged in issues of
importance to our city and disengaged from
issues which do not concern us.
Finally as we enter Election Year 2008 remember the
words of Edmund Burke, " It is a general popular
error to imagine the loudest complainers for the
public to be the most anxious for its welfare"
By the way, despite what you may have heard, it is
my intention to run for office in this city in next years
election.
4A
Outlook for 2008
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These, remarks are personal and represent my views
as I am seated for the third time as your mayor Sorry
,Jud ,it's going to seem like a long time one more
time..
First of all and as is only fitting I will thank my wife
and friend and counselor Barbara Mackenzie for
being all of the above. As is our wont, on November
3 oth, we celebrated our 23 rd Anniversary of being
together in Hawaii . As always we reflected on our
good fortune . It is certainly mine to be with Barbara.
I love you..
Staff have been thanked .I add my thank you It was
a difficult year. I believe we have survived. The
agreements reached finally bring us back on the road
to fiscal:. sanity. For us on the council all we debate is
for nought until it is executed by the staff of the City
of Rohnert Park. Thank you Steve and Dan and .
Michelle. and Beth and Judy and Terri —the list goes
on.
It is the best political job to be the Mayor of one's
home town said local commentator Dick Spotswood
but this past weekend he added,
" Serving as a town's mayor can be either
tremendously rewarding or maddeningly frustrating.
It all depends on tinning and the town's condition
when the .new mayor takes the gavel."
As always we the seated council will be debating ,in
public and as warranted in closed session, matters
which are our purview under the laws of the state and
our own policies and ordinances. Cities in California
can continue to heed the words of the late Dan
Curtin, "a city need not go to the Legislature every
time it has a problem: more likely the city has that
power in its own hands ...powers that encompass
building, aesthetics, sign abatement, growth control
and the like. This power is a broad expansive power.
There is NO right to develop in California; it is a
privilege
We've just heard reflections on our city's condition
in 2007. We find it generally to be in good condition
structurally in good heart politically but have
legitimate concerns about our future. Concerns in
2008 can be looked at through our chosen lenses ,
ever present behind and above us. I guess we're;
going to have them engraved in our new City Council
Chambers, possibly in gold or platinum leaf.
Revenues
Partnerships
Safety
Infrastructure
Sustainability
Revenues
"It's the Economy, stupid was a slogan from 15
years ago. Still holds true. In our case it's also the
Lawsuits. We will be greatly impacted by the
resolution of the OWL suit against our city. In blunt
terms , we cannot implement our General Plan with
its economic benefits until we resolve this issue with
our Water Supply assessment. We will implement
our Economic Development Action Plan.
Partnerships
We will need to resolve issues dealing with waste
water treatment with SSU and the City of Santa
Rosa. We will attempt to close out the CTS
Implementation Plan activities- hope springs eternal ,
does it not! The County of Sonoma must be engaged
on .issues dealing with Canon Manor, the Casino,
Open Space and revenues as they attempt to
implement a strategy calling on us the cities to do
more and they, the county, to do less..The FIGR
represents another government with whom we will be
dealing. Their offices are in our city , we have an
MOU with them and we will deal openly with their
tribal council.
Safety
Recruitment of new officers will be continue to be a
major task as well as the re- creation of our command
staff. As befits a program which represents more than
half of our budget we will pay close attention
throughout the year.
Infrastructure
The sinews of our city are being expanded. The new
Eastside Trunk Sewer project is under way
,aggressively using Redevelopment monies in order
that we will be ready to take advantage of legal relief
hopefully granted to us in this new year. Go down the
street and see the frame work of our new council
chambers — hopefully next year this ceremony will be
in our new ,green digs.
Sustainability
This is the keystone to our efforts for future citizens
of Rohnert Park. We are the green and friendly city .
Our efforts are being recognized . We will measure
our progress and report back regularly.
In all of these efforts , we , as a council , have agreed
to give budgetary priority to these five areas and to
measure the performance of our city manager
according to a Work Plan agreed to by us as a
council.
. As the year progresses , so will we measure our
performance and carefully examine our financial
state. At our first meeting of 2008 , I expect to
elaborate on our direction for the coming year. With
Vice mayor Stafford and the rest of the council , I
look forward to a happy and prosperous 2008.
And I ask for 3 wishes to be granted Aladdin
evidently had all the wishes he wanted. We Rohnert
Park mayors with our one year term of office have
more modest allocations in the wish department.
Wish #I
I wish that our critics in the media and in the public
realm would do their homework and not rely upon
selective memory of recent events and outmoded
models of civic finance. Mayoral succession and city
hall financing legal constraints come to mind.
Wish #2
I wish for continued success in our efforts to combat
Greenhouse Gas. Emissions and to develop a
sustainable community . Under our past Mayor's
leadership we've let our figurative light shine .
We must be pragmatic in. our search for sensible
solutions to our environmental problems . The
council should continue to push for actions by
regulatory bodies which. do not increase our footprint
on this planet
Wish, #3
I wish ,above all, fora collaborative and fiscally
conservative approach to solving our problems . We
can no longer pretend that there's enough money to
continue the multiplicity of jurisdictions and special
districts in this county. Why not start by creating the
City Of Rancho Cotate?
And of course one final wish
the mayoral
prerogative , you know!
" And all is over that could come to pass
Last Year; excepting this: the mind is free
One moment to compute, refute , amass,
Catalogue, question ,contemplate and see"
From Mine the Harvest by Edna St. Vicent Millay
Let's see if we can celebrate our 46th year as a city by
contemplation of the year ahead over these holidays
and come back refreshed to see anew our vision for
the future.
" O wad some pow'r the giftie gie us
to see oursels as ithers see us!
It would frae mony a blunder free us
And foolish notion.", Robert Burns. To a Louse
Thank you all for being here tonight