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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/25/1983City Council Minutes Tuesday, January 25, 1983 - 5:30 p.m. Page 2 rest of the fiscal year 1982 =83. As apart of this they had authorized the Chamber of Commerce to re- publish both the.city.map and Heritage Home brochures. He assured the Council that any additional agreements with an advertising agency would include a requirement for reporting provisions. Rob Sexton then reviewed the Advertising Subcommittee's role in looking at the advertising program. He commended retired member Sally "Punches as having been a "saint" in doing the legwork required to continue with the advertising program that the City has had for-so-many-years...-He stated they have been unable to find many of the past ads and his main reason for pushing for an advertising agency was the need to provide for better accounting. Any agency chosen would also be required to work closely with the Chamber of Commerce. Margaret Bond, P.C.C. member, agreed with comments by Mr. Sexton and stated that in addition they did -not have the time to devote to doing a proper advertising job or the expertise in judging demographics, etc. She stated the Committee had placed two RFP's and received 13 responses. The presentations were made by the 13 agencies to the Advertising Subcommittee. The top three then interviewed by the full committee were: 1) Karlen Design, 2) Johnson Design, and 3) Advantage Advertising. These agencies gave their presentations to the full P.C.C. and, upon general consensus, the P.C.C. forwarded its recommendation of Karlen Design to the City Council. Charles Long, P.C.C. member, stated one reason they looked to Karlen Design was- because they felt this agency. could give a fresh approach for new ideas in advertising of tourism. LaVerne Schneider, P.C.C. member, agreed that a new approach was one of the main requirements the committee looked for. Councilman Settle questioned who the second firm was and if the committee was desirous of entering into a contract with'them as a stop -gap measure. Councilman Dunin felt the main issue was the advertising policy itself. He questioned if the P.C.C. had established what should constitute an acceptable agency. Rob Sexton stated the committee had discussed several items, including the possibility of TV commercials.- They needed a-full- service advertising program. They did not have a written statement but he did feel that the committee had a good perception of the type of agency they were looking for. Councilman Dunin felt the committee was acting more on feelings instead of on an agreed policy. He felt the important questions that the agency needed to address were their expertise and advertising qualifications, professional experience, their worth, artwork abilities, market areas and market contacts. - Rob Sexton stated they had asked many of these.same questions, including insertions, how long these people had been in business, basically, the very concerns that the Council was asking this evening., Councilman Dunin stated that in the future, agencies should.bring a portfolio and give a full'presentatiori to the Council. Without this, it was almost impossible for the Council to approve a contractiwhen they ' know so little about a firm. Councilman Settle stated he could support an, interim action and would be willing to support the negotiation of a temporary advertising contract to get the City through this fiscal year. Councilman Griffin stated he could support either of the two-recommenda- tions made by staff that: 1) The P.C.C. members return to the practice of creating and placing all media advertisements; or 2) authorize the City Council Minutes Tuesday, January 25, 1983 - 5:30 p.m. Page 3 development of a new RFP for the purposes of attracting an advertising agency or a combination thereof. He felt that a well conceived promotional program needed to be in place first. Five concerns he had were: 1) Is the funding.level adequate and what are the objectives the P.C.C. would like,to: see come out.of it;-2) what would be desired to farm out; 3) how would those activities interface with the other P.C.C. activities (B: :I:A., Chamber of Commerce);:4) who among the P.C.C. would be the coordinator; 5) the ability to report and evaluate how well the program is being implemented. This type of an outline needed to be constructed first.. He felt part of the program should be farmed out. He would prefer to spend the balance of this fiscal year getting this program into place. Councilwoman Dovey agreed with comments made by Councilman Griffin and felt the City needed to look at the whole picture. The Council must make.a.decision and communicate to.the committee as well. No agency can b.e!told exactly what is wanted. Some.flexibility must be there. She -felt there had been a lack-of direction by the Council to the P.C.C. She did recognize those members and their hard efforts in trying to put this advertising program together but she, too, would support the committee spending the remainder of this fiscal year putting an over -all program together. Jim Chaney.felt it would be better for the.agency to put together the exact program that they felt they could do for the City. It was almost an impossible task to ask the committee to do such a thing. Councilman-Settle stated he could.support the-P.C.C.:s efforts to continue their advertising program as they.have:in the past and would also support Councilman Griffin's suggestion that an over -all program be worked on for the remainder of the year. After brief discussion and upon general consensus the P.C.C. goals and objectives were outlined as follows: 1) Preparation of an outline of the advertising proposal; 2) review of the five programs for line items; and 3) budget for the Promotional Coordinating Committee. Upon question Leslie Ramsey, P.C.C. member, stated that the County Band had indicated its willingness to play for the noon concerts at Mission Plaza during next spring. Mayor Billig agreed with comments made by Councilman Griffin and Council- woman Dovey and felt the committee or subcommittee should put together not only a well- conceived.program but also a comprehensive and cohesive program that included everything from funding to the reporting system. After brief discussion and upon general consensus, Council directed the Promotional Coordinating Committee to put .together a comprehensive and cohesive advertising program, including funding and reporting system, for•the remainder of this fiscal year and that no additional funds be spent on advertising (3 -2).. i 1B. P.C.C.'s Role in Reviewing Community Groups Who Have Received :Grants -in -Aid -on a Line Item Basis Mayor:.•Billig stated that.a "communication was.being sent to the five groups that -the Council approved for line -item funding at the last budget session.. Those.groups were the Mozart:Festival, -the County .Symphony, Youth Symphony, the County Band and the Art Center (LaFiesta was contemplated:but had been removed from the:list until additional information could be received).. Af•ter•brief discussion Council reaffirmed that only those five named would: be .considered as 'line items. The P.C.-C; would not be giving a full evaluation to these but the Council would appreciate comments. on their applications (4 -1). 1C: .Goals and Objectives of the P.C:C. for the Remainder of Fiscal Year 1982 -83 After brief discussion and upon general consensus the P.C.C. goals and objectives were outlined as follows: 1) Preparation of an outline of the advertising proposal; 2) review of the five programs for line items; and 3) budget for the Promotional Coordinating Committee. Upon question Leslie Ramsey, P.C.C. member, stated that the County Band had indicated its willingness to play for the noon concerts at Mission Plaza during next spring. City Council Minutes Tuesday, January 25, 1983 - 5:30 p.m. Page 4 Rob Sexton stated that the Children',s Theatre and Civic Ballet, had also indicated their willingness-to participate. Councilman Griffin stated that:he.would hope that P.C.C:•would,•:as a parr of the budget evaluation, look at:the program description and the specific goals and objectives. `If they had any problems with them or had suggestions for 'revisions,; to bring•it to the Council's attention. Councilwoman'Dovey. also suggested that the P.C.C. use their staff member, Geoff Grote, -to give background on the evaluation and.understand- ing of goals and objectives. 1D. Relations Between P.C.C. and the Chamber of Commerce Jim Chaney, P.C.C. Chairman, felt that relations between the Chamber and the Promotional Coordinating Committee were fairly good; -the only problems .they had had in the past were the discussions of the Heritage Homes Brochures and.the city maps. They were now.being done by the Chamber, and he felt that.this issue was resolved. Dave Garth, Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce, stated the problem wasn't the brochure issue or the map printing but rather which agency should be doing it. He explained that the Chamber has never charged an administrative fee. He felt the brochure should be looked at as being a good product to.-sell, not only as.a promotional need of the City. . Margaret Bond stated.she had been unaware when she came on th_e. committee who prepared 'the.brochures.and the city maps. She felt that a more comprehensive and cohesive contract would be gained-by giving this function to the advertising agency for evaluation. Any agency hired would be required to work closely with the Chamber of Commerce. Councilman•Dunin emphasized that whenever there is to be a change of direction such as this one that the P.C.C. would be better off to get Council approval first. He suggested 'a joint study session be held at least once a year to review any suggested policy changes. Councilman Griffin agreed but felt that a comprehensive promotional Program needed to be established so that a framework would exist for the new members as there was still inconsistent communications. He also felt that the council subcommittee should-have a closer rapport with each advisory body to which they are liaison. Jim Chaney submitted his resignation on -the Promotional Coordinating Committee effective immediately. He stated that he had been following Council direction established since 1970, however he had been given nothing but rebukes by the Council. He-felt the Council did not have its act together except to say how nice they were. He felt a real mistake was ignoring the advertising program as proposed. He felt this would put the P.C.C. into a slide. It is a voluntary program and the Council must not expect the heavy demands that..they..do:from volunteers. The policy and the budget state that the P.C.C. is to conduct certain things and-he feels that the-Mayor is desirous of.telling,the committee how to enact everything that they do. He was critical of the Council for getting into the heavy details. He was also critical of the Execu- tive Director of the Chamber of Commerce in taking too active a role speaking for the - P.C.C. and the Council.. City Council accepted his resignation and it was received and filed. 7:40 p.m. Mayor Billig declared a recess. 7:50 p.m: City Council reconvened, all Councilmembers present. 1 LI 1 City Council Minutes Tuesday, January 25, 1983 - 5.:.30 p:m. Page 5 2. Goals and ReDorting- Svstem Update Geoff Grote, Assistant Administrative Officer, reported on the goals and reporting system as of December 31, 1982. He stated that the 1982 -83 budget objectives had listed a total of 220. They had been categorized into three areas: 1) Ongoing operations; 2) construction of capital projects; and 3) system refinements. The reporting system at -this point had total of 46 objectives, 39 objectives and 7 management team objectives. - The systems refinements for 1983 -84 included: 1) greater continuity and clarity of objectives; 2) finding Council agreement on objectives which would be included in the reporting system; and 3) linkage between reporting system and a two -year financial plan. He also highlighted a report submitted by the City Clerk on how the Council had spent the majority of their time and the significant allotments for 1982: 1) The Council had met 73 times for a total of 257 hours, spending 42 percent of their open-session time on Community.Development related agenda items; the next.largest amount of time was spent on Public Works - related items; hillside planning accounted for.12 hours and was the single largest time item in Community Development; 113� hours for flood control and 11 hours for parking. Councilman Griffin urged the Finance Department to see that timely revenue print -outs are available to the departments. He would also hope that important objectives, such as the parking program, not be omitted in future budget documents. Upon general consensus the Goals and Objectives were received and filed. 3. DISCUSSION OF UPCOMING BUDGET PROCESS Rudy Muravez, Finance Director, gave a status report on the possibility of going to a two -year budget. He stated the Management Subcommittee of Mike Dolder, Dave Romero and himself, were recommending that a two -year budget could offer substantial benefit to the City. He listed the advantages and disadvantages.as follows: Advantages: 1) Savings on time and resources; 2) forces long range - planning; 3) concentration of budgeting for objectives; 4) realistic timeframe for major objectives; 5) budget can be programed pro- active, not crisis reactive; and 6) promotion of more orderly spending patterns. Disadvantages: 1) Difficulty of projecting local revenues; 2) uncertain state :.policies.on subventions :and.grants;.3) difficulty predicting inflation over two years; 4) predicting actions of outside agencies on ,,expenses; and.5)-.less• ability to react.to short-term community needs. Other Considerations: 1) Changes in Council policy when the Council terms would overlap the budget;.2) it is an experimental process; -3) it should be an extension of the existing budget process; and 4) there is a Charter requirement for an annual budget. Subcommittee recommendation: 1) Go for two -year budget; 2) prebudget planning session would be required; 3).the objectives should be phased with projected dates of completion; 4) guidelines established on expense projections; 5) two -year financial plan with each year separately adopted; 6) carry -over of unused appropriations from the first year; 7) a monitoring process integrated with goals reporting. Upon question, Mr. Muravez stated that a better pattern analysis could be:Accomplished providing there is: 1) a prebudget planning session with Council; 2) integration with the goals- reporting process; 3) Administrative reporting on the goals and monitoring of the amendment process. After brief discussion and upon general consensus, Council approved the two -year budget process (5 -0). City Council Minutes Tuesday, January 25, 1983 - 5:30 p.m. Page 6 There being no further business to come before the City Council, Mayor Billig adjourned the meeting at 8:40 p.m. to Monday, January 31, 1983 at 12:10 p.m. for closed session. q a� /U/ Pamela Voges, City e APPROVED BY COUNCIL: 3/15/83 1 M I N U T E S ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 1983 - 12:10 P.M. COUNCIL HEARING ROOM, CITY HALL, 990 PALM STREET SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIFORNIA STUDY SESSION Icli)"IfforA M Councilmembers Present: GlennaDeane Dovey, Ron Dunin, Robert Griffin, Allen Settle and Mayor Melanie C. Billig Absent: None City Staff Present: Paul Lanspery, Administrative Officer; George Thacher, I City Attorney; Pam Voges, City Clerk 12:25 p.m. City Council adjourned to Closed Session to discuss Litigation matters, all Councilmembers present. 12:40 p.m. City Council reconvened, all Councilmembers present. 12:45 p.m. City Council adjourned to Closed Session to discuss Personnel matters, all Councilmembers present. 1:50 p.m. Mayor Billig declared a recess. 2:00 p.m. City Council reconvened in Closed Session to discuss Personnel matters, Councilman Griffin absent. 2:45 p.m. City Council reconvened, Councilman Griffin absent. There being no further business to come before the City Council, Mayor Billig adjourned the meeting. APPROVED BY COUNCIL: 3/15/83