Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-19-2020- Budget Hearing Questions1200N COUNTY-CITY BUILDING PHONE 574.235.9216 227 W. JEFFERSON BLVD. FAX 574.235.9928 SOUTH BEND, INDIANA 46601-1830 CITY OF SOUTH BEND, IN JAMES MUELLER, MAYOR DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE BUDGET HEARING 8/19 QUESTIONS: Councilmember Questions Sharon McBride 1. Where are we on the Diversity and Inclusion report? The City is currently in the process of discussions with the Office of Diversity & Inclusion, the Department of Innovation & Technology, and the Purchasing Division on the pulling of the relevant data and the putting together of the most recent report. The 2019 report will be the final report that utilizes the City’s old Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, from which data is notoriously difficult to come by. We have had extensive conversations on making this data easier to glean from the City’s new ERP system, so the hope is that this data will be much easier to pull in the future. Indeed, the ease of obtaining this data (and the desire to make it easy to utilize this data to drive outcomes) was the driving force behind several design decisions made while the City was implementing our new ERP. Canneth Lee 1. Why are full time employees being asked to go part time? From Jonathan Jones, Director of Recreation: Since February 2020, before the onset of the pandemic, the Recreation Division had been openly working on a long overdue division restructuring plan. Multiple meetings with staff were held on the matter and over 90% of the staff agree that a reorganization is necessary. The draft plan proposes the creation of some new positions, a new organization chart, as well as a reduction in the number of employees within the department and some positions transitioning to part time. A reduction in personnel spending is necessary to respond to two back to back years with significant tax revenue decreases – property tax caps and the virus impact. The result is over $1.5M loss in revenue causing a structural operational deficit. There are no surplus spending categories or “belt tightening” strategies remaining. All said, we seek to find a strategy that addresses the following: i. reduce operational expenses to reflect lower revenues, ii. adequately fund community center improvements, iii. address inequities in pay, iv. expand programming impact and reach. 2. Why are other organizations being brought in to fulfill programming? From Jonathan Jones, Director of Recreation: In late 2017 the Recreation Division established a mission that focused on cultivating recreational opportunities to unite South Bend. A key value of this mission involved the building of connections and partnerships with outside organizations. Another value involves a desire to serve where gaps exist. Since the adoption of this mission roughly 3 years ago, moves have been made to seek partnerships in some areas in lieu of utilizing resources on redundant community programming. This in turn has allowed us to turn efforts towards working on unmet community needs and introducing new amenities and programs (things like our mobile programming initiatives). We view partnerships as an opportunity to achieve increased community Page 2 of 6 reach, economic sustainability, and an opportunity to tap into resources and in some cases sources of expertise beyond that of our team. In addition, it will also allow us to draw attention to our baseline care, maintenance and improvement of our community’s major physical assets while collaborating with valuable community organizations. Partnerships are not new to us. For decades, there is no possible way any of our recreation programming would be as impactful if we didn’t have strong cooperation and collaboration throughout the community. We’d like to go ALL IN on true no borders collaboration. Karen White 1. What is the philosophy that this administration has in terms of looking at the recreational centers? From Jonathan Jones, Director of Recreation: As we see it, Venues Parks & Arts’ Recreation Division has six major facilities from which programming takes place. However, they are not all categorized as “recreational centers”, due primarily to differences in programming and how the public interacts with these spaces. • Community Centers (3): Charles Black, Martin Luther King Jr., and Pinhook Community Centers • Event Center (1) – Howard Park Event Center • Nature Center (1) – Rum Village Nature Center • Recreation Center (1) – O’Brien Fitness Center Community Centers operate first and foremost as spaces that bring people together. These spaces are not defined by the activities that take place within but rather by the people frequenting the space and community in which the facility is located. Activities, events, and programs are a direct reflection of the relevant, desired needs and wants of its community. Though community led programming is present and happens regularly throughout the week, our Event Center sees a greater concentration of service as spaces for rentals and special events (both large and small) and was built/aligned in such a way to support such an operation. Our Nature Center could also be referred to as an environmental education center due to its primary use as a space for informational presentations and school field trips to educate visitors about environmental interpretation and teach about energy use, lifestyles, pollution, consumption, conservation, resources, etc. Lastly, our Recreation Centers serve as spaces for very specific recreational activities. The facilities, as well as the people who frequent them, are often defined by the activities that take place within (swimmers visit pool, people interested in physical fitness and wellness visit fitness center, tennis players go to tennis center, etc.). Though only one of our “six primary facilities” is categorized as this, all of our recreational attractions (aquatic facilities, ice trail, tennis complex, softball complex) fall under this categorization. All facilities would be staffed by a full-time, primary manager who would assume ownership of the space and work on the overall cultivation of strategic programming for the community in which the facility resides. In addition, they would be accompanied by a few part-time staff to help manage day-to-day operations. 2. How much time has been spent with the leadership of these centers regarding expectations for programming? From Jonathan Jones, Director of Recreation: a. Leadership from the centers have strategy meetings at the end of each year with the Director of Recreation where goals and objectives for the upcoming year are established for their upcoming facilities. b. Bi-weekly meetings are held throughout the year with direct supervisors (director of recreation or assistant director of recreation) to provide opportunities for regular communication, updates, and progress reports Page 3 of 6 c. Quarterly departmental leadership meetings are held where center directors have the opportunity to meet collectively with all other directors across division and receive updates from Executive Director in regards to overarching, departmental strategic objectives. d. Leadership from the centers have been provided with various documents and frameworks to aid in outlining expectations for programming and operations: i. 5-year strategic plan ii. Departmental Impact Drivers iii. Cost Recovery Modeling (a resource allocation philosophy) iv. Drucker Playbook modeled divisional mission statement v. Event/program planning models 1. Positive emotional response modeling 2. Pyramid of fun vi. Program planning spreadsheet vii. Concessions Inventory tracking spreadsheet We also make available state and national training programs for our leadership, including conferences, networking opportunities, online forums and tools Public Questions Jorden Giger 1. How much is being cut from staff? Where? Why? From Jonathan Jones, Director of Recreation: This is still being considered in the context of the whole budget, however, there will be a proposal coming forth at a future budget meeting that includes a reduction in staffing levels from multiple areas within the department. There would be an ensuing reorganization that would also create some new positions to help meet our mission. Again, the plan is currently under review and will be presented in full soon. A reduction in staffing is necessary to respond to two back to back years with significant tax revenue decreases – property tax caps and the virus impact. The result is over $1.5M loss in revenue causing a structural operational deficit. The strategic goals we need to meet are: i. reduce operational expenses to reflect lower revenues, ii. adequately fund community center improvements, iii. address inequities in pay, iv. expand programming impact and reach. 2. Why were postcards sent out to the Miami Hills residents rather than direct contact? From Tim Corcoran, Director of Planning: Post cards were used as the primary method of contact with residents and property owners throughout the plan area (the plan area is bounded by: Ireland Rd, Miami St, Fellows St,and Donmoyer Ave) because there were no other options available to us as the City began to shut down and the stay at home order was in effect. Under normal circumstances we would have held a series of in person meetings. We did receive about 60 responses/participants to the survey questions which is in line with other meetings we have held for similar sized projects. In all, we sent 3 different mailings at different points of the process to all residents and property owners. Each mailing consisted of 800 postcards for a total of 2400 postcards. The first round announced the planning process and where to go to fill out the survey, the second was a follow up reminder, and the third round announced the Draft Plan in which we were seeking comments. In each phase we offered to deliver a paper copy of the survey if a resident could not or did not want to fill out the online forms. Page 4 of 6 3. What are some updates on the Home Repair program? What are some of the specific areas being targeted? How many minority contractors have been hired? How many homes have been renovated? From Pam Meyer, Director of Neighborhoods: The South Bend/UEA Home Repair Program changed in 2018 by adding City funding to what had been only CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) funding. Based on this, there are two funding sources for this program, one requiring a household to be income qualified. Additionally, the City contracted with the UEA (Urban Enterprise Association of South Bend, Inc.) to be the fiscal entity/grantor for the City funding. This is similar to how the City runs several other programs, including the Façade Matching Grant Program. Applications As of 8/21/2020: # of Applications: 139 # withdrawn: 4 # denied 6 # addresses with work completed 17 # addresses with signed contracts (waiting for work to start) 6 # in inspection phase * 106 *No inspections occurred from Nov. 2019-July 12, 2020 Funding CDBG Funding (2018, 2019, 2020) Total Contracted (Available) $ 849,112 CDBG Funding Expended 97,708 CDBG Balance 751,404 UEA/City Funding (2018, 2019, 2020) Total Contracted (Available) 1,150,000 UEA/City Funding Expended 136,105 UEA/City Balance 1,013,895 Areas Targeted Beginning with the 2018 September application process, the program was targeted to a specific geography shown in red on the map below. In 2019, the additional area in blue was added (so both areas were eligible to apply); applications were taken in February/March of 2020. Page 5 of 6 Contractors Currently, 1 MWBE and 2 MBE contractors are on the list from which solicitation of bids are requested. Any contractor interested in and able to participate in the Home Repair program is asked to complete a one-page reference form. References are checked as is the HUD disbarred list. Contractors must be licensed and bonded with the Building Department and provide documentation of such. They are then included, per their specialty, in the appropriate solicitation of work. 4.Why are we cutting funding from the Charles Black Center instead of Howard Park? From Jonathan Jones, Director of Recreation: Many strategies are being considered within the context of the VPA budget, however, Howard Park is operating as lean as it possibly can. a.Howard Park has very minimal funding dedicated to programming. i.Beyond the seasonal ice-skating staff, there is only one Full Time staff position assigned to Howard Park. ii.Even including ice skating, expenses for programming at Howard are less than half that of Charles Black or MLK. Any additional cuts from Howard Park would affect basic operations of the space and would result in very minimal cost savings, perhaps even putting revenue opportunities at risk. Over 90% of the programming that takes place at Howard Park is made available to the public by way of partnerships. Essentially, there are no programmatic or personnel funds to reduce at Howard Park. Jacques Black 1.Why are minorities especially women not being hired under the Diversity and Inclusion program when they are educated, qualified, and lifelong South Bend residents? The City is proud of the work being done to expand access to opportunities for minority- and women-owned businesses to bid on and secure City procurement contracts. This work takes many forms, and includes outreach and education to MWBE contractors as well as direct review and input from the Office of Diversity and Inclusion of all City contracts in excess of $50,000. 2.When “partnering” is mentioned for the Boys & Girls Club, La Casa, etc. can you verify if we’re partnering or outsourcing? If we are “partnering” what are we contributing? From Jonathan Jones, Director of Recreation: Yes, we are partnering. Our staff has been and will continue to be hands-on in the establishing of the services that take place in our spaces. All partnership would be guided/ governed by mutually accepted MOU agreements to ensure the programming that ensues from such agreements falls in line with strategic departmental objectives and meets the relevant needs of the community as outlined by the Director of Community Programming and Center Managers. The primary things we could contribute to the partnership are our spaces, expertise, and community reach. Lynn Coleman 1.To refer to Jacques Black’s question, what are we doing to help partner with the Charles Black Center and the Martin Luther King Center? From Jonathan Jones, Director of Recreation: A new director level position is proposed to be created to support these facilities, overseeing all strategy, resources, and partnerships. This position would ideally be hired from within the organization to take leverage the experience and relationships that already exist. Community Center Managers would also be in place to ensure the mission of the centers and the needs of the neighborhoods are valued and protected. Our community centers have seen, and will continue to see, investments in their physical space. Page 6 of 6 Proportionally, our community centers will continue to see more programmatic financial resources than any other segment of the recreation division. We’re working through a draft plan that serves to continue to grow the impact and reach of the centers. 2. Which 2 parks or restrooms have not been completed? We were able to successfully upgrade 22 park restrooms last year – modernizing them, making them safer, making them more attractive, and adding ADA accessibility to all of them (none previously were compliant). Muessel Grove & Walker Field Restrooms were the only two not addressed last year due to structural issues with the buildings. We have since commenced work on the Muessel Grove restroom facility and will have that finished by next season. The Walker Field facility is in the planning and financing phases, with added complexities due its historic designation.