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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/18/2011, COUNCIL LIAISON REPORTS - LIAISON REPORT AND COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES 9-21-11 TO 10-18-11 RED FILE MEETING AGENDA To: San Luis Obispo City Council DATE �OI It ITEM #At--�e From: Jan Marx, Mayor 4�AtSok) Re: Liaison Report and Community activities 9-21-11 TO 10-18-11 2c�� 9-21-23-11 League of California Cities in San Francisco Channel Counties Meeting Attended "Signs of a Successful Downtown," City Attorney legal update, "Using Council Protocols to Build Consensus and Make Ethical Decisions," "Got Nightlife? Harness Sociability as an Economic Engine," "Pension Adequacy," "Guide to Crisis Communications and Strategic Solutions," (see notes below) "Twitter and Social Media,"and Voting Delegate Meeting. 9-28-11 Air Pollution Control District Fugitive Dust Rule Parks and Recreation Volunteer Recognition event hand tow, emalb o 06UNM a CDD DM 9-30-11 Froom Ranch Donor Celebration at Laguna Park. a CnYMCR a FrrDM 0 ASST CM aMDECHMF a ATrORM a PWD1R o CLERKIORIO o POLICECHIM 10-1-11 Savour Dinner a PM- 0PARSSBRECDDt a TRDWn o UTO.DIR a NEWTOM a HRD1R 10-2-11 ASI Pizza with your neighbors at my home a SLocrrs'NM a MUNcn. a CRY MOR RQN annual meeting a CLEAR 10-5-11 Regional Transportation Agency Board meeting Ride to Recovery Proclamation 10-6 & 7 Town Gown Conference in Berkeley Attended: Leadership Panel, Keynote address by Robert Reich, Buying and Hiring Locally, Balancing Nightlife and Safety in Your Town, Green Light on Transportation Planning.. 10-10-11 Celebration of 100 year anniversary of women securing the right to vote in California. 10-12-11 City/University Lunch SLOCOG Transit Center Workshop 10-13-11 Opening of the Noor Free Medical Clinic Advisory Body Quarterly Meeting& report by Ken Hampian on Bell Cal Poly Entrepreneurship Conference ` � O 10-14-11 Meeting with Bob Linschied CSU alumni representative, President Armstrong and community members interested in promoting green technology jobs in our area. 10-15-11 Addressed the Alzheimer's Association fundraising for research walk at Laguna Park 10-16-11 Attended Cal Poly's Culturefest at Mitchell Park. Celebration of Diversity 10-17-11 Addressed students and community members at Cuesta regarding the 100 year anniversary of women securing the vote in California. *Guide to Crisis Communications and Strategic Solutions (League Conference) Every city's affairs are being more closely scrutinized with a bias toward what's going wrong versus what's working well. This results in community and city council reputational damage, intense media scrutiny and personal liability. Advice from the panel in a crisis: Your city needs a plan—use a simulated crisis. Be Calm. Be very thoughtful. Have a plan and think about it before you say it. Don't assign blame, admit mistakes, resolve issues, communicate openly with council and staff, formulate a clear and concise message, identify the right person to convey the message, apologize if necessary, rebuild trust,highlight the successes, keep communicating with the public. The bigger the crisis the more you need to communicate. Council must be unified around a common goal. Decide on what the theme of response to a crisis will be (broad or narrow?) and get ahead of the story in the media. Educate the reporters. Utilize social media, mind the details. Keep the public trust first thing in your mind.. The worst case result is undermining trust in council and staff and government in general. You may need to shift the debate. Every crisis is also an opportunity. Celebrate successes ,J O From: Ashbaugh, John RED FILE Sent: Friday, October 14, 20112:43 PM To: Lichtig, Katie MEETING AGENDA Cc: Walter, Jay; Webster, John; Richardson, April PATE: �16` 1 ITEM # C L— Subject: Coordinated Transit Center workshop Wednesday "A-150A) COUNCIL LIAISON REPORT—FOR 10/18 MEETING (Please feel free to distribute this as a red-file to other Council members if appropriate.) I attended the workshop on Wednesday, 10/12 conducted by SLOCOG/RTA and its consultants, Dokken Engineering,to present early conceptual alternatives for a new/improved regional transit center in downtown SLO to serve both RTA and SLO Transit. The parameters for this new center were explained, and the basic goal would be to develop a facility that would accommodate 16 transit routes(8 for each system). One of the key deficiencies of the current"center"on Osos and Palm Streets is that only the City's transit bays operate independently; the bus spaces along the Courthouse side of Palm and Osos Street require that if one bus is parked ahead of another bus, the second bus cannot leave independently and must wait for the bus in front to depart—thus causing cumulative delays and hampering the operation of the center. There are essentially two sets of site alternatives that are being explored at this time: One set would move the transit center from its current location to Higuera Street between Santa Rosa and Toro Streets. The second set would retain the site at its present location and expand it.Three alternative designs are being proposed for each site,and all six options would provide 16 independent transit bus bays as well as a 5,000+s.f. Transit Center for passengers and drivers in the vicinity of the transit bays. For more information, the web site for this study is http://maiicconsulting_com/DP.htmi.Additionally, I recommend that you visit the Technical Report#5 which provides several Design Options under consideration, some of which affect our City Hall in very direct ways: http://maiicconsulting.com/T&ch5.pdf The SLOCOG staff and their consultant will also be making a presentation to the Council within the next few months, as I understand it. John B. Ashbaugh, Vice-Mayor San Luis Obispo City Council herd cotm. email: o COUNCH. o CDDDIR o CITY MGR a FITDIR o ASS[CM O FIRE CRIEF o ATTORNEY O PW DIR o CLERKIORIG o POLICE CHIEF o PIH o PARKS&RECDIR o TRIBUNE o unLDIR o NEWTUM 0HRDIR o SLD CITY NEWS o COUNCIL o crrY MGR 0 CLERK RED FILE (� — MEETING AGENDA PATE,WS11L ITEM # ��& C)W*441 tC,4nrv,s League of California Cities Annual Conference Andrew Carter San Francisco, 9/21-9/23/11 My report on the break-out sessions I attended at the League conference. I haven't bothered to report on the general session presentations. Hot Topics on Labor Negotiations Presentation by Peter Brown of Liebert, Cassidy, & Whitmore (law firm) and Jeff Kolin, City Manager of Beverly Hills. Focus was on concession bargaining—how to achieve financial cuts needed while maintaining employee morale. Discussion took place on pay and pay scales, pensions, retiree healthcare, overtime, furloughs, and health insurance. Surprisingly, many local elected officials are still uninformed about the rapidly escalating costs of pensions and retiree healthcare. Storm Drain Costs Presentation by Jeanette Hahn of NBS (financial consulting firm), Dan Schaaf of Schaaf& Wheeler(engineering firm), and Joe Teresi, City of Palo Alto Public Works. Impact,of global warming means fewer, more intense storms. The 10-year storm will now be the 5-year storm. The 20-year storm, the 10-year storm. Another key issue is the significant increase in sea level which will take place and have major financial consequences to coastal communities—predicted 18" rise in sea level by 2050 and potential 55" rise by 2100. NPDES standards are being increased by RWQCB's everywhere. There is a tremendous need to invest in storm water systems, but where will the money come from? Realistically, most communities need to form a storm water utility, but the requirement of voter approval makes that difficult particularly in this economy. Engaging Public Employees in Uncertain Times Presentation by Serena Wright, HR Director, Culver City, and Mamie Green of Management Education Group. Topics covered included employee training,job security, managed competition, regionalization of services, organizational change, restructures, and generational differences among public employees. Based on group discussion, it's clear that staff and elected officials often have different views on these topics.. Leadership Strategies in Times of Economic Meltdown Presentation by Alice Fredericks, Tiburon City Council; Greg Larson, Los Gatos City Manager; and Frank Benest, ICMA. Focus was on"10 Rules for City Leaders." These include: 1) Identify the core. What are the core services you and your citizens expect? 2) Focus on a few priorities. 3) Subtract. Eliminate the extraneous. Figure out how to do key things more quickly with fewer resources, particularly staff resources. 4) Limit requests for staff analysis and reports. 5) Say "No"to constituents when the request is not a core priority. 6) Avoid a no-risk environment. Support staff when prudent risks are taken and results aren't what is hoped for. Value the word, "pilot." It lowers expectations. It encourages stakeholders to be partners in a"pilot" program. 7) Pursue non-governmental solutions. 8) Free up funds for targeted investments. "Cut and invest." 9) Support your staff. Recognize the challenges they face, especially the hyper-critical environment they work in. Demonstrate appreciation. 10) Develop talent. It's more important than ever. Training and development is inexpensive. Employee personal growth and learning can make up for lack of earnings growth. Look for"non traditional"talent, in particular older employees (often empty nesters) interested in transitioning from the private to public sector to close out their professional careers. Pension Adequacy Presentation by Terri Cassidy, HR Director,Newport Beach; John Bartel, Bartel & Associates (pension consultants); Travis Gaertner, Aon Hewitt (pension consultants); and Paul Navazio, Finance Director, City of Davis. Lots of numbers. Studies show that most retirees will need 80%of their final income to maintain their quality of life if they retire at 65. Most retirees in the private sector have not saved enough to accomplish that so they will need to retire later or continue to work while "retired." This is particularly true for women, who on average live longer. Also very true for lower income retirees due to cost of healthcare while retired. John Bartel recommends "2%@60" formula for Miscellaneous and "2%@50" formula for Public Safety, but notes that if either group wants to retire at 60 or 50, those employees will need their own personal savings. These PERS formulas rise to 2.418% @ 63 and to 2.7% @ 55. Employees in both groups should continue to work to those ages. In the private sector, except for public utilities, most companies are no longer offering defined benefit pensions. (If they have these plans, they are usually closed to new employees and have been so for years.) If PERS drops its expected rate of return from 7.75%to 7. 5%, employer contribution rates will rise 1.5 to 3 pp for Miscellaneous and 3 to 5 pp for Public Safety. If PERS drops its expected rate of return from 7.75% to 7.25%, employer contribution rates will rise 3.5 to 6 pp for Miscellaneous and 6 to 10 pp for Public Safety. Paradigm Shift: Employee Compensation Presentation by Art Hartinger, Meyers Nave (law firm), and Bob Deis, City Manager, Stockton. Focus was on the importance of setting compensation philosophy based on the concept of"fair" compensation, the importance of using the median of your actual marketplace to determine fair compensation and of using number of job applicants for open positions as a test. It's important to focus on total compensation, not just straight pay—in other words, look at add-ons to pay as well as the value of all benefits (health insurance, retirement, holidays, sick days, vacation days, etc.) bard comr. email: a COUNCD. o CDD DUL o crrYM(m aFWDIt o AWCM o MECWU o ATTORNEY o PW DDR o CURUMO oPOUCECMF o Pig oPAW&RECDIt 0 7RIDUNE o U M MR o ) WTWs o 8RDIR o sLOcrryNm aCOUNCD. n Crry mm o CLM & O Town-Gown Annual Conference Andrew Carter Berkeley, 10/06-10/07/11 My report on the break-out sessions I attended at the Town-Gown conference. I haven't bothered to report on the general session presentations. Technology's Response to the Unexpected Presentation by Charles Porch of Facebook and Richard Allen of the UC Berkeley Seismological Laboratory. Mr. Porch focused on how Facebook is being used as a resource after natural disasters through the creation of disaster relief pages. These pages can be established on either a temporary or permanent basis. Many disaster relief organizations like the American Red Cross have a strong presence on Facebook. Dr. Allen focused on the ability of seismologists to provide an early warning of earthquakes about to hit. This early warning is a matter of the seconds to tens of seconds depending on one's distance from the epicenter. This is enough time to take cover.. An early warning system is operational in Japan and did provide warnings during the Fukishima earthquake. TV networks and cellphone companies are part of that system in Japan. Dr. Allen is trying to establish a test network here in the US. College Access, Career Success Presentation by Mary Keipp, UCLA staff, Lizette Navarette, City of Riverside staff, Trina Ostrander, Bayer HealthCare, and Mohammad Qayoumi, president San Jose State. Of the ten students who start high school in California, only 7 will graduate. Only 4 will then start college.. Only 2 will graduate college. To deal with the fall-off between high school graduation and college start, the transition from high school to college needs to be more seamless. To increase success rates at college, the economic challenge many students face must be addressed. The economic status of a student's family of origin is the primary determinate of who will graduate college. The more that students have to split their time between work and education, the greater the likelihood they will not finish college. "Time is the enemy." Education was once seen as a public good, one in which society was willing to invest. It is now seen as a private good. Tuition costs now exceed the level of state support in the UC system. Balancing Nightlife and Safety in College Towns Presentation by Jim Peters of Responsible.Hospitality Institute. Mr. Peters has a background in restaurant management as well as counseling. His company is based in Santa Cruz. He has done consulting work here in SLO. His focus is on the "sociable" city and developing a vibrant nighttime economy that can appeal to all ages, not just the young. Green Transportation Planning Presentation by various town-gown transportation planners with a focus on walking, bicycling, and public transit. Research shows that people will only reliably walk 10 to 15 minutes and bicycle 15 to 30 minutes. Distance, directness, and connectivity (walking and bicycling to public transit) are key. Also important is separating walkers, bikers, and cars on city streets for safety. O O Liaison-Communications Report Kathy Smith - October 18, 2011 9/28 - Cal Poly Business Development Center for Innovation Grand Opening - 11 a.m. PACE Program - 12 noon, Ludwick Center Ken Hampian speaking about his experiences managing the City of Bell Annual Volunteer & Sponsor Appreciation Dinner - Parks & Rea Dept. 5:30 p.m. - Ludwick Center 9/21- 23 - California League of Cities Conference - San Francisco 9/30 - Froom Ranch Donor Event - 2 p.m., Laguna Lake Park 10/1 - Savor the Central Coast - Mission Plaza, 6 - 10 p.m. 10/2 - Annual Meeting, Residents for Quality Neighborhoods 6 p.m. San Luis Obispo Country Club 10/3 - Homeless Services Oversight Council, Goal Setting Retreat 1-5 p.m. SLO County Government Center 10/5 - Town Hall Meeting sponsored by Friday Night Live & Creative Mediation 7 - 9 p.m., Monday Club Cal Poly/Cuesta - Neighborhood Conversations 10/6 - Performing Arts Center Commission - 8 a.m., PAC Founders Room 10/6 & 7 - Final arguments in PMC Court Case - County Government Center 10/11 SLO Downtown Board of Directors - 7:30 a.m., DA Office COMMUNICATIONS: - Council consideration of Adele Mansfield letter - protocol for allowing sharing of minutes at podium? - Local Government positive ratings 111 V.J., Lvv4a uuu uuaw vv.vaaaauvaaw awwaaa a vsau.v aw.ua�,v - ^p- - -- - October 3, 2011 In U.S., Local and State Governments Retain Positive Ratings In contrast to low trust in Washington, majorities trust state and local governments by Lvdia Saad This story is part of an ongoing series on Gallup.cont on Americans'vietvs on the role and performance of government. PRINCETON,NJ--Two-thirds of Americans have a great deal or fair amount of confidence in their local governments to handle local problems,and a solid majority feel the same way about their state government. Trust and Confidence in Each Type of Government to Handle Problems—Recent Trend Great deal/Fair amount of trust and confidence ® 1,ocal government State government 12 fig 69 ,8 58 70 69 ( 69 70:' 68 68 I Ifi5 67 67 f i 57 i 5352 5i 5I i 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 20ll GALLUP' Confidence in state government matched confidence in local government as recently as 2oo8; however,the former fell sharply in 2oo9 as statehouses across the country began to grapple with major budgetary problems,and it has yet to fully recover. Still,Americans remain more confident in state and local government than in the two policymaking branches of the federal government,according to findings from the Sept.8-11 update of Gallup's annual Governance poll. Currently,less than a third of Americans have solid confidence in the legislative branch,with just 5 saying they have a great deal of confidence in it. Overall confidence in the executive branch is also muted,at 47%. http://www.gallup.com/poll/14988 8/Local-State-Governments-Retain-Positive-Ratings.asp... 10/4/2011 Q � 0 TnLst and Confidence in Government Entities to Handle Problems Sept.8-n,2011 OEM State Executive Legislative government branch branch Great deal 19 LS 17 5 Eau amount 4.9 42 30 26 Notverymuch 21 28 29 50 None at'all u 23 - 19 No opinion Great deal/Fair amount S7 47 31 Not much/None _ �' 52 69 ° Leser than o.5:6 GALLUP Americans'persistent high confidence in local government contrasts with their generally diminishing confidence in the legislative and executive branches over the past five or so years. Confidence in the executive branch fell annually during George W. Bush's presidency from 2002 through 2oo8;it then surged in 2009 after President Barack Obama took office,but has since declined. Juxtaposing all four trend lines makes it clear that local government has fared particularly well over time,being the only governmental entity not to have lost any of Americans'trust since 1997.Trust in state government is now 11 percentage points lower than in 1997,while trust in the executive and legislative branches is down by 15 points or more. http://www.gallup.com/poll/149888/Local-State-Governments-Retain-Positive-Ratings.asp... 10/4/2011 i Trust and Confidence in Government Entities to Handle Problems—Recent Trend %Great deal/Fair amount o! ® Local government �2 E3 State government 69 69 68 68; 70 69 69 70 68 . Executive branch 6 � 68 67 61 Legislative branch 62 61 63 62 57 54 g3 4 3 58 50 $2 52 � i al 49 4? 43 42 45 36 I 31 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 GALLUP' Southerners and Easterners Give States Highest Ratings Residents of the South and East currently express the most confidence in their state governments and those in the Midwest and West,the least. Over the past decade,Gallup has generally found Southern residents on the upper end of trust in state government and Western residents on the lower end. Trust and Confidence in State Gouernment—Recent Trend by Region %Great deal/Fair amount I ® South I East 64 I 65 66 �2 64 � Dlidtiest J � 62 6 6i 58 West 5? I 5p 48 �3 i � I i I 485 37 38 0 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 GALLUP' http://www.gallup.com/poll/149888/Local-State-Governments-Retain-Positive-Ratings.asp... 10/4/2011 With the two major political parties broadly sharing control of the nation's statehouses and governors'mansions,national ratings of state government are far less partisan than are ratings of the legislative and executive branches of the federal government.Majorities of Republicans(6o%), independents(59%),and Democrats(52%)say they have a great deal or fair amount of confidence in their state government. Bottom Line Americans'confidence in local government remains high,as it has for more than a decade,amid plunimeting ratings for the presidency and Congress,and occasional downturns in ratings of state governments.Currently, both local and state governments receive more public trust than does either the executive or the legislative branch. More broadly,recent Gallup polling shows Americans'faith in several aspects of the federal government at historical lows. State and local governments cannot perform many of the policy roles for which the federal government is responsible.Yet state and local officials could find that the public trust they enjoy would provide them strong public support for taking more control from Washington of the areas they are already involved in,such as education,health and human services,transportation, environmental regulations,and crime control. . Survey Methods Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted Sept. 8-11, 2011, with a random sample of 1,017 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95%confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is t4 percentage points. Interviews are conducted with respondents on landline telephones and cellular phones, with interviews conducted in Spanish for respondents who are primarily Spanish-speaking. Each sample includes a minimum quota of 400 cell phone respondents and 600 landline respondents per 1,000 national adults,with additional minimum quotas among landline respondents by region. landline telephone numbers are chosen at.random among listed telephone numbers. Cell phone numbers are selected using random-digit-dial methods. Landline respondents are chosen at random within each household on the basis of which member had the most recent birthday. Samples are weighted by gender, age, race, Hispanic ethnicity, education, region, adults in the household, and phone status (cell phone only/landline only/both, cell phone mostly, and having an unlisted landline number). Demographic weighting targets are based on the March 2010 Current Population Survey figures for the aged 18 and older non-institutionalized population living in U.S.telephone households. All reported margins of sampling error include the computed design effects for weighting and sample design. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls. View methodology,full question results, and trend data. http://www.gallup.com/poll/149888/Local-State-Governments-Retain-Positive-Ratings.asp... 10/4/2011 For more details on Gallup's polling methodology, visit www.aallup.com. Sign up for Gallup e-mail alerts or RSS feeds Get Gallup news on Facebook and Twitter Copyright©2011 Gallup,Inc.All rights reserved. Gallup©,Asp,Business Impact Analysis',CEie,Clifton StrengthsFinder0,the 34 Clifton StrengthsFinder theme names, Customer Engagement Index—,Drop ClubO,Emotioral,Economyt",Employee Engagement Index—,Employee Outlook Index—,Follow This Path'",Gallup BrainO,Gallup Consulting0,Gallup Management Journal0,GMJO,Gallup Press©,Gallup Publishing—,Gallup Tuesday Brief n e,Gallup Universie,HumanSigmaO,I i0'.,L3—,PrincipalInsight' ,Qise,SEZs'",SF340, SRIO,Strengths Spotlight',Strengths-Based Selling",,StrengthsCoach—,StrengthsFinder0,StrengthsQuest", TeacherInsighC,The Gallup Pathe,The Gallup Poll®,and Wellbeing FinderT"are trademarks of Gallup,Inc.All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.These materials are provided for noncommercial,personal use only. Reproduction prohibited without the express permission of Gallup,Inc. http://www.gallup.com/poll/149888/Local-State-Governments-Retain-Positive-Ratingsiasp... 10/4/2011