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2003/12/22 City Council MinutesCITY OF ROHNERT PARK CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING December 22, 2003 Monday The City Council of the City of Rohnert Park met this date for a Special Meeting to commence at 7:00 p.m. at the Rohnert Park City Hall Council Chambers, 6750 Commerce Boulevard, Rohnert Park, with Mayor Flores presiding. CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Flores CALLED the Regular Session to order at 7:01 p.m. and led the pledge of allegiance. ROLL CALL: Present: (3) Councilmember Spradlin; Vice Mayor Nordin; and Mayor Flores Absent: (2) Councilmembers Mackenzie and Vidak- Martinez Mayor Flores noted that Councilmember Mackenzie would not be in attendance and that Councilmember Vidak- Martinez was tending to business. Staff present for all or part of the Regular Session: City Manager Leivo and City Attorney Strauss. UNSCHEDULED PUBLIC APPEARANCES: Mayor Flores called forward members of the public desiring to speak. 1. Stephanie Bodi, 7498 Burton Avenue, was recognized and acknowledged Mayor Flores' last time as mayor. She also thanked him for his years of service as a councilmember. CEREMONY FOR CITY COUNCIL SELECTION OF OFFICERS FOR THE YEAR 2004 -- 000 - -- REFLECTIONS OF 2003 & PERSPECTIVES FOR 2004 COMMENTS BY COUNCILMEMBERS *City Council City of Rohnert Park *SPECIAL MEETING December 22, 2003 Page(2 ) Councilmembers shared written and /or verbal comments of their reflections of the past year and their perspectives for the new year. ATTACHED TO THE ORIGINAL SET OF MINUTES are Councilmember Mackenzie's "Reflections on 2003 and Perspectives for 2004," which were read by City Manager Leivo in his absence. Councilmembers acknowledged the difficulties and the challenges of the past year, in particular the budget and the casino issue, thanked City staff members for their dedicated efforts. and rPrngn;earl the support of their family and friends. PRESENTATION FOR VICKI -VIDAK MARTINEZ FOR FIRST HALF OF YEAR 2003 AS MAYOR Mayor Flores SUBMITTED a gift for Councilmember Vidak- Martinez to City Manager Leivo after he acknowledged her work as mayor. PRESENTATION FOR MAYOR ARMANDO F. FLORES FOR SECOND HALF OF YEAR 2003 AS MAYOR Vice Mayor Nordin thanked Mayor Flores for his service as mayor, and he PRESENTED Mayor Flores with a gift. RECOGNITION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OFFICER SELECTIONS FOR THE YEAR 2004 - -000 -- VICE MAYOR AMIE L. SPRADLIN Mayor Flores introduced Councilmember Spradlin as the new vice mayor, and Vice Mayor Spradlin expressed her honor to serve the City in such a position. MAYOR GREGORY A. NORDIN Mayor Flores introduced Vice Mayor Nordin as the new mayor, and Mayor Nordin recognized his family, discussed the strengths of the Rohnert Park community, and reviewed the upcoming challenges for the City Council in 2004. Mayor Nordin's written comments are ATTACHED TO THE ORIGINAL SET OF MINUTES. OTHER UNSCHEDULED PUBLIC APPEARANCES: Mayor Flores called forward members of the public desiring to speak. No members of the public responded. *City Council City of Rohnert Park *SPECIAL MEETING December 22, 2003 Page(3 ) ADJOURN TO REFRESHMENTS: There being no further business, former Mayor Flores extended invitations for refreshments to members of the audience, and Mayor Nordin ADJOURNED the meeting at 7:38 p.m. Katy Leonard Certified Shorthand Reporter CSR No. 11599 C *City Council ry A. Nordin Mayor of Rohnert Park City of Rohnert Park ACCOMPLISHMENTS /PROJECTS YEAR 2003 C' M /zJ�z /n 3 � t; • Appointed new ity anager • City Reorganization accomplished via Golden Handshakes, Attritions, etc. • Increased Parks & Recreation Commission from 5 to 7 members to include efforts of dissolved Families & Children Commission • Golf Course Renovations - Both South & North Courses Completed for full play • New Library Project Completed & Opened • Economic Development Strategic Plan - Approved Agreement with Economics Research Associates for Design and Development • Purchased additional house for COTS Shared Living Homes for a total of 5 • Teen Center Building sold to CDC for Affordable Housing Project • Approved Sale of Wine Center Location at 5000 Roberts Lake Road • Approved Sale of NW 40 acres stadium /ponds /KRCB location • Approved Funding Agreement w /SCWA for Rohnert Park Storm Drain Master Plan • Approved City Engineering Svcs Agreement w/Winzler & Kelly Engineers • Approved County of Sonoma MOU Creating the Russian River Watershed Assn. • Amended ZONING Ordinance & determined that the update is within the Scope of the EIR approved for the Rohnert Park General Plan 2000 • Completed Camino Colegio Reconstruction, Project No. 2000 -03 • Completed Various Street Overlays 2000, Project No. 2000 -07 • Completed Sidewalk Handicap Ramps, Phase 11, Project No. 2001 -01 • Approved Water Model Study Phase 1 • Approved Purchase of ID Badging System for Department of Public Safety • Approved Purchase of Thermal Imaging Cameras for Department of Public Safety • Approved City Department Name Change (Personnel Department renamed Human Resources Department) • Approved Amendment to Interim Agreement w /City of Santa Rosa for Transfer of Wastewater Allocation • Approved Study for Removal of Two Wastewater Ponds on City -Owned Property • Bond Series 2003 - Approved Refunding of 1994 & 1999 Master Equipment Lease COPs • Bond Series 2003 A & B - Approved Sale of Rancho Feliz Mobile Home Park to Millennium Housing • Approved Sewer Model Study Phase 1 & 2 • Approved Storm Water System Model Study Phase I, 11 & III • KISCO Development Agreements Approved for (1) Independent Senior Living & (2) Assisted Living Facility • Approved Purchase Agreement for Sale of Old Library Building, 6600 Hunter Drive • Approved Agreement w /Comcast for Cable TV Upgrade /Rebuild • Approved Matricula Consular I.D. Cards • Approved 5 -Year Capital Improvement Program 2003 -2008 • Hosted National League of Cities' 111h Annual Leadership Summit at DoubleTree Hotel in August • Approved Spanos construction of 232 aptmnt units- Redwood Creek Apartments at RP Expressway & Labath Avenue • Approved Commerce Blvd. Bike Path Project No. 2000 -08 • Completed Residential Water Meter Installation Project No. 2001 -05 • Completed PAC Electronic Message Center Project No. 2001 -04 • Completed At -Grade Railroad Crossings Project No. 1995 -07 • Approved Project Management & Implementation of FY 03 -04 Storm Water Management Program • Approved Implementation Public Safety Neighborhood Enforcement Team Program • Approved Burton Avenue Recreation Building Improvements Project No. 2002 -02 • Approved Winzler & Kelly Agreement for Commercial and Multi - Family Meter Replacement Project No. 2003 -03 • Approved MOU w /the Federated Indians of the Graton Rancheria • Approved Agreement for Preparation of EIR for University District Specific Plan Area • Approved Agreement for Preparation of EIR for Southeast Specific Plan Area • Approved Agreement for Internet Based Data Sharing of Geographic Information System (GIS) • Approved Traffic Calming Measures • Approved Establishing Growth Management Allocation System for Ordinance Implementation • Approved Sonoma County Integrated Waste Management Plan • Approved 2nd Amendment to JPA to Deal with Waste Management Issues • Approved new design for City Seal • Approved Preparation of Safety Study for a Median Opening on Rohnert Park Expressway • Approved Contract for Benicia Pool Filter Replacement Project No. 2003 -08 • Approved Agreement for Design of Beam Replacement Project No. 2000 -06 • Approved Preliminary Engineering and Architectural Design of the Proposed Sports Center Improvements • Approved Contract for 2003 Traffic Signal Maintenance Program • Approved Agreement for Traffic Calming Phase 1 Project No. 2002 -4 JH -h: 122203 Accomplishments Year 2003 . Costco opened Fall 2002 .Business License Tax Validated in Nov 2002 Election Transient Occupancy Tax validated and increased to 12% Teen Center building sold to the CDC for $1.3M for affordable housing project Received a deposit on the sale of the wine center Both golf courses open for full play Installed residential meters and established rates Completed construction on -the new City library Completed construction of the electronic sign Completed street overlays Purchased an additional house for shared living Agreement to sell stadium /ponds /KRCB Leivo, Carl From: Donley, Steve Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2003 2:50 PM To: Leivo, Carl Subject: Bullet Points for Mayor Nordin's Speech Carl Here are some items Greg may want to talk about in his speech: Development of City Center • Burbank Housing Project • City Center Townhomes Establishment of a proactive Code enforcement program • initial code enforcement focus on problem landlords and multi- family units with a historical trend of multiple public safety responses B Improvements • Little League baseball stadium (reuse of RP Stadium equipment /seating) • Construction of basketball courts adjacent to Boys and Girls Club (CDBG funded, construction scheduled for Spring '04) • Burton Avenue Recreation Center Improvements (CDBG funding of kitchen reconstruction) Recreation capital improvements • Use of $4.8 million in bond funds for Community Center, other City facilities Rotary landscape improvements innovative public /private partnerships (e.g., cooperative relationship with University of Sports) traffic calming projects construction of Kisco Senior Living Housing units, development of Wellness Center construction of General Plan areas Stadium Land development Construction of Dog Park at Roberts Lake Re- establishment of Public Safety Building on Southwest Blvd. Steve Donley Assistant City Manager City of Rohnert Park 6750 Commerce Blvd. Rohnert Park, CA 94928 voice: (707) 588 -2212 fax: (707) 588 -2274 www.rpcity.org Page 1 of 2 Leivo, Carl From: Bullard, Tom Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2003 4:14 PM To: Leivo, Carl Cc: Lidster, Beth; Hauff, Judy Subject: Bullets regarding Department Accomplishments in 2003, and Projections Things Anticipated for 2004 Importance: High Public Safety Accomplishments during 2003 • Two Gang related murders were solved • Of the violent crimes against persons cases we handled this year, we arrested over 1/3 of the perpetrators • Saved $650,000 in 2002 -2003 budget • Our portion of the Sonoma County Law Enforcement CAD /RMS /MDC Project is up and running successfully • Participating in the following grants; $18,000 Hi -Tech Grant, $50,000 Alcohol Beverage Control Grant, DUI Grant, and participating with other law enforcement agencies in the "Avoid the 13" Grant, as well as a $69,000 FEMA Grant • We are participating with Sonoma County in receiving equipment through an Emergency Preparedness Grant • Our decoy program with ABC has been very successful in curbing illegal purchases of alcohol to our younger population • Successfully reorganized portions of the department due to personnel cutbacks • Incredible effort on our recruitment and hiring process • Added a full time animal shelter employee; through this we also are in contract with the City of Sebastopol to take in their stray animals • Expanded our Police Service Aide Program from 15 members to 25; through this program we have increased yearly revenues by approximately $50,000 through our parking enforcement efforts • Conducted Rapid Intervention Training utilizing live burn situations, bringing a sense of realism to the officers -- a very rare training opportunity • Notable property saves during fire fighting situations; quality training has proven to be beneficial • We had representation a two major wild land fires within California • Officers saved a life through the use of our defibulator Looking toward a expectation for 2004 • We plan to begin implementation of "Making Rohnert Park the Safest City Along the US 101 Corridor" • The final component of the CAD /RMS /MDC -- Field Reporting, will be rolled out to our officers at the beginning of the year • We will be purchasing a new fire engine • We hope to begin remodeling station number 3 • We plan to have two promotional processes -- promoting one Lieutenant and two Sergeants, each is a current vacant position • We will have three new PSO Trainees in the Police Academy, and will fill the remaining positions with lateral officers • We will reinstate the Gun Information for Teens Program (GIFT) • We will complete the re- writing process for our policies and procedures -- essentially a monumental project 12/15/2003 Page 2 of 2 • We will have a ceremony officially adopting our Department Core Values • Several officers will be attending the Fire Academy 12/15/2003 Reflections on 2003 and Perspectives for 2004 Monday, December 22, 2003 Jake Mackenzie Last year at this time, the grim reality of what was to be, in my old monarch's words, an " annus horribilis ", had started to sink into my consciousness. My pleas in last year's Perspectives and Reflections for a reasonable, cooperative approach to be utilized in our dealings with one another was to be rejected and ignored starting December 10'', 2002, the day this council was seated. I have been consistent in my condemnation of this council's callous approach to governance which relies on secrecy, consistent violation of the Brown Act among at least 3 council members (those seating themselves tonight), and a general disregard for the truth - Mayor Flores' repeated disavowal of knowledge of the ownership of the proposed 360 acre casino site being the most egregious. The political vendetta waged against a number of senior managers (now former senior managers) by the new city manager and public employee union representatives, some of whom attempted to hound former Public Safety Chief, Jeff Miller, as he sought a job in Hollister, reflects nothing but discredit upon Rohnert Park and its City Council, which employs these people. I am on record in condemning the methods by which the City agreed with the Federated Indians in a MOU, which will not stand the tests of the next few months, far less that of time. For an object lesson in how not to involve ,the citizenry in a critical community decision, the events of this past summer as orchestrated by the "Second Half Mayor" will replace EPA's handling of Love Canal in the annals of public incompetence, lack of transparency and prevarication. I apologize to no one for suggesting the exploration of a casino ONLY within our development boundaries. I take no responsibility for events after June 20`", 2003, at which point I introduced the Mayor and the City Manager to tribal representatives to discuss possible sites in the Rohnert Park area. There's little else to say about 2003. I continued to vote against ill - advised salary increases for all staff and will do so as long as the current crisis prevails. I would, if I had had a vote in the matter, have counseled deliberation rather than unseemly haste in reducing the number of senior managers and offering costly "golden handshakes" to key senior employees. Robert Burns, as always had words for it, in his "Address to the Unco Guid ": "One point must still be greatly dark, The moving WHY they do it; And just as lamely can ye mark, How far perhaps they rue it." One hesitates to even give a perspective on 2004. I'm clearly eager to find out if my complaining will do any good at all. I believe the State's fiscal crisis will lead to a renegotiation of the MOU with Federated Indians before it is even voted down in a referendum election, which the courts will undoubtedly require. Public employees will be offered salary increase which they will accept - which we cannot afford. Hell will not freeze over and California will survive - but barely. Life will go on. I will continue to argue for open, discursive government — the best kind. To not debate the 21 sections of the MOU before its signature this past September and October was a massive abdication of responsibility by this council. That inaction bodes ill for 2004. RECEIVED N � DEC 2 2 2003 CITY OF ROHNERT PARK 6v f� I believe Rohnert Park is truly a unique place to live in Sonoma County. In fact, I am confident Rohnert Park citizens will agree that Rohnert Park is the greatest community in Sonoma County. We are. a great community not just because we have an outstanding university, beautiful parks and wonderful public facilities — We are a great community because Rohnert Park is about people! Citizens willing to stand up for what they believe Citizens who give back to their community through volunteering, reaching out to others and caring for others. We are a great community because we have city employees who are dedicated to public service and who ultimately help to protect the health, safety and well being of our Rohnert Park community. Our city council, city employees and citizens of past and present have successfully worked together toward a common goal, That goal is to keep our city a great place to live, work, raise families and retire. 2 During the coming year, we will need to be an even stronger community standing united to face the challenges that lie ahead. The most immediate challenge is the state deficit and the loss of the vehicle license fee revenues. While legislators are taking a holiday break, cities and counties statewide are losing approximately $12 million each day – about $350 million a month. The impacts Rohnert Park faces are -- - Loss of $1,813,702 annually - VLF backfill represents 20% pf the taxes received by the city. - These taxes fund critical non - revenue generating activities of the city -- ( Police— Fire — Senior services – Street maintenance – Park maintenance) Last Friday, the governor took emergency action which released $40 million to assist hardship cities. Rohnert Park will not receive any additional funding as Rohnert Park does not qualify as a hard ship city. The City Manager and the City Council will once again be challenged to make difficult decisions as the loss of the VLF Backfill will result in substancial cuts in all city operations. 91 Our city will be in a much better position to weather the financial storm if we rely on the strength of our community. With everyone working together, our community will overcome the short term challenges and lay the foundation for an exciting future. We can achieve our goals by returning to the "CAN DO" spirit of community partnership — which formed the foundation of our community development during the early days of Rohnert Park. One of my goals for 2004 will be to focus on upgrading the first Rohnert Park neighborhoods. Many families have bought and upgraded homes in these neighborhoods. We should redouble our efforts to help these families improve the A -B -C -L neighborhoods. A partnership between residents and the city can achieve this ambition. For instance — the city is working with volunteers from the Cal - Ripken and Babe -Ruth Baseball leagues to renovate the Benecia Park ball fields — And this will include salvaging equipment from the old Crusher stadium. We will renovate the Burton Ave. Recreation Center.. and.. replace the Benecia Pool Filter. We also plan to renovate the Public Safety Building on Southwest Blvd. Once this is done, we will move the fire services from the M section station to the Southwest location. We will take major steps to implement the city's general plan in the next year by reviewing at least four specific plans. Northwest Specific Plan Northeast Specific Plan University Specific Plan Southeast Specific Plan We will need to identify financing methods so that new construction will pay for the infrastructure needed for each specific plan area and the New Community Fields. I am particularly interested in creating the community fields and hope that progress can be made in securing land for this project. Many of the amenities that we enjoy in our community today were built through such partnerships between the city and builders. Another partnership we must strengthen is with Sonoma State University. Construction will start on the Green Music Center in 2004. A healthy relationship will help make sure we maximize the potential of this new community treasure. We must continue to work closely with our partner agencies to secure adequate water supplies and wastewater treatment capacity for the needs. identified in the General Plan. 5 We hold members of the city staff in the highest esteem. Staff met the challenge this past year of maintaining city services with 30 less staff members. We will negotiate agreements with the bargaining units in the next few months. Given the financial limits of this year and next, these negotiations will be challenging. The City Council and City Employees must strengthen our partnership to shoulder the burdens of the next year. We must be clear about the roles of council and staff. A clear division of labor will help strengthen our partnership. Let us remind ourselves that the council's role is to formulate clear and effective public policy. The staff's role is to implement the public policies identified by the council. When the council or staff stray into each others roles, our partnership is less effective: Rohnert Park needs responsible leadership to guide our city to a stable financial future. I believe the five members of our city council posses the leadership necessary to carry us through the tough times ahead. To become a more effective city council, each member must be committed to respect the diversity of perspective and styles of each member on the council. Only then will our effort to build and sustain an effective governance prevail. I look forward to working together with all members of our city council and I challenge my fellow council members in the following way — We focus and remain on -task and consistent We communicate a common vision We operate with integrity and trust We treat everyone with dignity and respect We govern within city policies, standards and ethics We take collective responsibility for the councils performance We ensure that the multiple voices of the community inform council deliberations. 0 My message for the new year is this -- We are a great community because Rohnert Park is about people. We are made up of ... citizens, the school district, the business community, city employees and the city council of Rohnert Park. The responsibility of a better community is not of one person or one community group. The responsibility lies on all of our shoulders. Together WE are Rohnert Park. WE make Rohnert Park a great place to live, work, raise our families, and play. Tonight I challenge all citizens to find a positive way to give back to our community. Together we can make a difference! WE are Rohnert Park! THANK YOU