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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018 Personnel and Finance �4S013 TE8��0 N U C W PFACE r" a + 1865 OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK KAREEMAH FOWLER,CITY CLERK PERSONNEL &FINANCE MARCH 7, 2018 3:32 P.M. (ORGANIZATIONAL) Committee Members Present: Karen White Committee Members Absent: Gavin Ferlic, Regina Williams-Preston, John Voorde Other Council Present: Tim Scott,Jo M. Broden Other Council Absent: Dr. David Varner, Oliver Davis, Sharon L. McBride Others Present: Kareemah Fowler, Graham Sparks,Bob Palmer Agenda: Personnel and Finance Committee Organizational Meeting (Kickoff) Miscellaneous Committee Chair Karen White called to order the Personnel and Finance Committee Organizational meeting at 3:32 p.m. She introduced members of the Committee and proceeded with the meeting. Personnel and Finance Committee Organizational Meeting (Kickoff) Committee Chair White stated, This meeting's focus is to review our Committee's past accomplishments as well as set forth our direction. Firstly, we will go over our 2017 Annual Report. She then provided hard copies to the Committee and public (available in the City Clerk's Office.)She continued,As we look at the Annual Report,it talks about the duties of this Committee as well as the four (4) Committee members. The second page talks about the preparation for the 2018 budget hearings. Council members were asked to submit their priorities and what is listed are those priorities. They are not in any specific order. The City budget priorities are listed there as well and there was some overlap between the Council's priorities and the City Administration's priorities. The third page spends time on the 2017 activities of the Committee, specifically regarding the approval of scrap metal and junk dealers. Our Committee conducted fourteen (14) Budget Hearings. I would like to thank the Committee, the Council members,the Administration and the Clerk's Office for all the work we did to have a successful process. I believe that this past budget really addresses Quality of Life issues more than any other budget process I have been a part o£ 455 County-City Building•227 W.Jefferson Boulevard•South Bend,Indiana 46601 Phone 574-235-9221 •Fax 574-235-9173•TDD 574-235-5567•www.SouthBendrN.gov JENNIFER M.COFFMAN BIANCA L.TIRADO JOSEPH R.MOLNAR CHIEF DEPUTY/DIRECTOR OF DEPUTY/DIRECTOR OF POLICY ORDINANCE VIOLATION CLERK OPERATIONS She continued, Council members were asked to give feedback regarding the process. An email went out to all Council members and asked questions such as, `What was the level of transparency and communication from the Administration as well as the Council? How was citizen involvement?' Citizen involvement is something we really want to work on. The questions also asked about the budget preparation and the quality of the budget hearings. We are going to be looking at the paring of Departments for each budget hearing. It was also clear that we need to receive the information earlier. It is difficult to have an effective level of conversation when the information was given the same day as the hearing. Another area we are looking at are the parameters of positions and salaries. That is a brief overview of our Report. She went on, I would now like to open discussion on the goals and objectives for 2018. I have reached out to Dianna Hess who is the President/Director of the NRC to help us talk about how this Committee can begin to see the level of feedback from the leaderships of our various neighborhood associations. I wanted to get feedback from those associations and we will then put that information together. A meeting has been scheduled for March 29th,2018 and it will be at the public library from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. We will be focusing on the 2018 budget process. Some of the other topics we will discuss are TIF Funds, as that continues to be an area of question and interest. We will have follow up meetings about that as well as tax abatements. We will also talk about CDBG Funds. We will also be reconvening the Utilization Board. We have met with Administration to schedule times to start those conversations as well. Committee Chair White opened the floor to members of the Committee and Council for discussion. Councilmember Tim Scott stated, I know this came up but at the time we were getting ready to vote, there were Council members that wanted to look at a different pay raise scale. I think we should have that meeting soon. I know they are not here and I know you only received feedback from a few Council members. Committee Chair White interjected, Two (2). Councilmember Scott continued, You got my ideas on that. Committee Chair White stated, That is correct. Only you and Councilmember Broden. Councilmember Scott went on, Right, and I think we should have that public meeting on an off- night but give Jen Hockenhull and her staff time to prepare for that. Last term, almost five (5) years ago, it came up last minute from a few Council members as was something that `broke the bank' as far as raises in dollar amounts as opposed to percentages. I think what we need to do is allow the Finance Department to run some scenarios of what that would look like and then present to us. Because if we are going to try and push for something like that,they need to start figuring it out now. I think doing some off-site meetings will be beneficial. Councilmember Jo M. Broden stated, I concur with Councilmember Scott. We need to see what those specific Council members concerns are with regard to salaries and benefits. I think we need to hear what they would like to propose to get there. I do think one (1) of the points that I was 2 encouraged by was the sheer amount of information that came in that was more specific to each change in salary or in job descriptions. I think getting that information early for a salary change or a change in job description is important. We should actually see the old organizational chart and then understand the new formation. I think it is very difficult to make smart decisions in this area without having that broader picture per-Department.I do think,getting to the level of transparency, it should be something the public is aware of and understands. I think we should look at the demographics within the departments. Those things, by right, are within the tax payers purview. The more the information,the earlier the information,the better. She continued, Connected to that, I think we received an entire schedule but it came late. It was a salary schedule and it gives the whole picture. However, I think the Administration and the Department of Admin and Finance did an incredible job involving the public with information early in the process. The Clerk's Office and Kareemah did a great job of keeping track of the conversations and hearings. I think we have had low attendance from Council but the availability of the staff members from Departments was terrific. Relative to neighborhood involvement, it might help to have those priorities per area.Maybe it is not as much neighborhood as it is quadrants of the City. They might be something that might be a better way of looking at things. I think what might inform the public is the asset mapping that has been done by Community Investment. I think some of that might inform them of the priorities. That gets at what we have and what we don't have. They haven't released that yet. That, as it relates to the neighborhood plans, should help us find more strategic funding within neighborhoods. She went on, I do think taking our budget meetings, perhaps, on the road, would be a good thing. I know we have done that before. My last point, aside from what I had chased in early, was a request for a longer pause for airtime between when we receive the budget, as Council, to when we actually vote on it. I don't know if that is upping the tempo on the schedule but I do feel, especially because our Committee meetings lack attendance, it is important individuals are able to chime in after the formal budget is presented. I would like to see at least one (1) full meeting dedicated to the presentation by the Mayor,and then one(1)skewed to more input from the public. Councilmember Scott stated,Another thing this Committee needs to do is probably have Rosemary Mandrici here to do an update on assessments. Our whole budget relies on those assessments. There has been conflict there and we would like to know where we are at with that. City Clerk Kareemah Fowler, offices on the 4d' floor of the County-City Building stated, I agree with having Ms. Mandrici coming in to give an update on tax assessments. We are preparing to take meetings on the road,too.We are trying to secure some new equipment for that so by the time they start, we should be prepared. Bob Palmer, Council Attorney with offices on the 41 floor of the County-City Building, asked, Councilmember Broden,just to clarify, are you requesting the job descriptions and organizational charts be part of the Department's submission of their budget? Councilmember Broden confirmed, Exactly,that would be my preference. 3 Committee Chair White stated,We also need to have more Council members coming to the budget hearings. That is critical. Last ,year we had better attendance than years prior, but we need to do better. Miscellaneous Committee Chair White then opened the floor to members of the public. Sue Kesim, 4022 Kennedy Drive, stated, I'm probably the most active person on the budget and I want to say, it was a great education. I loved learning about the Fire Department. Oh my gosh, they do so much and it is so incredible. The Parks Department and all of the stuff they are doing, it was a great education. I didn't know about Central Services. I think the feedback I got because a lot of people asked me to ask questions is, if you do these and put them on YouTube,that would be great. People have childcare issues or work issues or whatever, they may interested in one (1) particular part. Maybe they want to know about the sewers, or the Fire Department or the Police Department.I don't know what their interest is but if you could YouTube them,the outreach would be better. That is what people are doing. Then, they could pause it, put the kid to bed and watch the rest of it or whatever they want to do. She went on, I would like to see, as a citizen, and I have so many questions, can we have some breakdown, and this is some extra work for the Admin and Finance Department, of the aggregate of what is being spent on a particular problem. For instance,homelessness,the opioid crisis,or the seniors, or transportation, or the rape kits. The TIF and abatements would be great too. It would be great to see a multi-year view because abatements cover six (6) years or whatever. It's not a one (1) year view, so I would appreciate, and I know this is extra work for everyone, but it would help me understand. Another thing I would like is a breakdown by project. So, how much TIF money went to this project, and this project, and so on. City Clerk Fowler stated,That information is already available in the Department's Annual Report. That can be found online on the City's website. Ms. Kesim continued, And then Sharon is not here and she is on the job side of things but,there is this title Director. And Director, by definition, would mean you are directing someone or you are a manger. There are a lot of positions that have that title and salary, but they aren't managing anyone. Committee Chair White stated, We will have a lot of time throughout this process to be sure individuals know where to access this information. Most of it is already available and is online for the public. A number of the Committees will be meeting jointly on these issues. Ms. Kesim interjected, And then another thing, and this is extra work for Kareemah and the IT people,but, could there be a grouping of tabs? So if people wanted to find out about all the Police budget stuff, there would just be a tab on the Council or budget page. They wouldn't have to sort through to find things. That would be incredibly helpful. Thank you. 4 Bill Dunn, 1620 Southwood Ave,stated,I think I would like to work with you on the neighborhood association development. Technically,according to the maps, I am a member of both Sunnymeade and Riverpark Associations. My point is, as far as communications and engagement, I think we need to remember that a lot of people simply live or die by their cellphone. They may not have the capacity to go to the City website and download fifty(50)page documents. Maybe,there is a way to talk to the neighborhood associations to allow us to post information of interest to the citizens on their Facebook pages. That way you would get some communication channels that, I think, don't exist right now. With no further business,Committee Chair White adj ourned the Personnel and Finance Committee Organizational meeting at 4:00 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Karen White, Committee Chair 5