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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020_05_12 - Special MINUTES Special meeting of the City Council of the City of Redlands held in the Council Chambers, Civic Center, 35 Cajon Street, on May 12,2020 at 8 30 A M Present Paul Foster,Mayor Denise Davis,Mayor Pro Tempore Paul Banch, Council Member Eddie Tejeda, Council Member Toni Momberger, Council Member Staff Charles M Duggan,Jr, City Manager, Dan McHugh, City Attorney, Robert Dawes, City Treasurer,Jeanne Donaldson, City Clerk, Carl Baker,Public Information Officer, Chris Catren, Police Chief, Danielle Garcia,Management Services/Finance Director, Chris Boatman,Facilities and Community Services Director,Brian Desatmk,Development Services Director,Jim Topoleski,Fire Chief, Janice McConnell,Assistant City Manager This was conducted as a teleconference meeting in the City Council Chambers, Civic Center, 35 Cajon Street,Redlands, California Mayor Pro Tempore Davis, Council Member Tejeda and Council Member Momberger were present via teleconferencing, during the morning session During the evening session at 7 00 P M, Council Member Tejeda was present,along with Mayor Foster and Council Member Banch, in the Council Chambers All votes during the meeting were conducted by roll call In compliance with public health recommendations to limit public gatherings during the Covid-19 pandemic and acting as the City of Redlands Emergency Services Director, City Manager Charles M Duggan Jr, directed all meetings of the City Council/Successor Agency of the former Redevelopment Agency of the City of Redlands be closed to the public until further notice or until the current local State of Emergency has been lifted The City Council will continue to meet to conduct essential business Public comments,up to 250 words and received by 5 00 P M the day before the meeting,were read aloud by City Manager Duggan,Public Information Officer Baker and City Clerk Donaldson Mayor Foster called the special meeting to order at 8 30 A M and a quorum was established LATE BREAKING ITEM Mayor Foster reviewed the need to take immediate action to approve an agenda item be added for Council's consideration related to calling on Governor Newsom and the State Legislature to set a timetable and begin reopening businesses in the state Council Member Momberger and Mayor Pro Tempore Davis questioned whether this was acting in the best interest of the community, since the public has not had an opportunity to make comments on this matter, and they requested the Council delay this until the next meeting, scheduled for May 19,2020 The Mayor and City Attorney assured the Council that there would be a full explanation and discussion, if Council agreed to place the item on the agenda City Attorney McHugh pointed out late breaking items must be approved by a 4/5 Council vote On motion of Council Member Banch, seconded by Council Member Tejeda,the City Council,by roll call vote, did not agree by a 4/5 vote to add the "late breaking" item to the agenda for discussion The motion failed Vote 3 -2 Failed NAY Mayor Pro Tempore Davis and Council Member Momberger Special CC_May 12,2020 Page 1 PROPOSED FY 2020-2021 BUDGET City Manager's Presentation City Manager Duggan provided an overview of the budget for FY 2019-20, establishing background of the recent impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic The City anticipates a sharp decline in the general fund revenue as a direct result of actions taken to reduce the impact of COVID-19 These actions include the Governor's order to Shelter-in-Place and the closure of all but essential businesses,bringing a decline in sales tax,hotel tax and other charges for service In order to adjust to the revenue losses and higher expenditures,the Executive Team reduced or cut altogether, several expenditures The City Manager recommended$3 million be absorbed by the General Fund residual fund balance Mr Duggan summarized the proposed FY 2020-21 and stated there remains significant uncertainty concerning the economic impacts of this pandemic and life safety measures necessary to combat the pandemic are at odds with the economic health of the community and the full reopening of the economy The impacts will be felt well into the future Original depai anent requests left an unacceptable budget gap of$15 7 million In order to address this challenge, department heads were asked to make cuts of$8 8 million,but after senous review, it was determined these cuts were too drastic Mr Duggan informed the Council he instructed the team to restore up to one-third of these severe cuts and all told,the reductions and an addition of$1 5 million in revenue forecasting,bring the revised budget deficit down to $5 6 million Despite cuts of roughly 12%, including the elimination of 38 full time positions and 42 part time positions(21 filled full time and 31 filled part time),the City will continue to deliver essential services to residents and local businesses He warned that challenges still remain,which include,rising personnel costs,pent-up capital improvement needs, additions of the Redlands Passenger Rail, additional housing units,mixed use development and potential transit village district iterations Council Members and the City Manager discussed a variety of topics including, department shortfalls, use of general fund reserves, enterprise funds vs general funds, future unfunded pension liabilities, and Mr Duggan briefly explained how the City budget outlook changed so drastically from just a few months ago He pointed out that every city, state and the federal government are all reeling from the impacts of COVID-19 and Redlands is no different The Mayor added that Redlands has carefully built up its reserves since the devastating losses and economic downturn of 2008 The City Manager reminded everyone that a portion of the reserves, or"rainy day" funds will be instrumental in helping the City through this immediate FY shortfall,but the fund is meant to help the City face future disasters as well, such as a major wildfire or earthquake PUBLIC COMMENT All public comment was read aloud at the beginning of the special meeting Library Funding-Three-hundred forty-two people expressed their passion and support of A K Smiley Public Library and voiced their opposition to the proposed budget cuts associated with the Library for FY 2020-2021 Many said the library is an integral part of the community, serving people from all walks of life,whether they be old or young,rich or poor,readers or learners They urged the Council to restore funding to save positions and hours of service A common thread in the comments centered on the many critically important services the Library offers including, adult literacy tutoring, access to public computers and wifi, services to young readers and young adults, access to print and electronic collections, cultural events such as lectures and film screenings and access to the local historical research of the Heritage Room and Lincoln Memorial Shnne Police Department Funding -Ryan Stemhaus,representing the Redlands Police Officers Association (RPOA),James Frazier,representing the Redlands Civilian Safety Employees Association(RCSEA), Community Service Officers(CSO)Rodriguez and Ogden,Forensic Specialist Holzer,RCSEA Special CC_May 12,2020 Page 2 member Michelle Juarez,Animal Control Supervisor Silvia Lemus and Ruth Samano were concerned with the proposed budget cuts associated with the Police Department and requested the Council restore funding Positions cut are vital to the Police Department as these positions assist and support the Department's operations, allowing sworn officers to respond more effectively to the serious crimes in the City Various Suggestions for Budget Woes -Rick Ferguson suggested the Council consider several areas to make cuts including, deny salary increases, sell City groves, freeze vehicle purchases, cancel immediately all current non-essential purchase orders (PO)or contracts, award all future POs to Redlands businesses when possible He urged the Council to forego elimination of any police positions due to soaring unemployment and emptying of jails Donn Warren suggested the City consider adjusting the trash pickup schedules,reducing the number of pickups made in the month, since many people likely do not put out full containers every week Sam Edison recommended the Council consider a special tax for eighteen wheelers using the streets of Redlands, increasing traffic safety enforcement as a potential revenue source, a 20%pay cut for all senior level and department head positions,delay city expenditures on rail project, offer early retirement for some employees,no salary increases, minimize any reduction to fire and police staffing and freeze all new hiring Charles Redden stated the current 3%pay increase for non-safety employees is out of line, considering the federal cost of living increase for 2020 was 1 6%, and he suggested the City renegotiate with bargaining units,take action to correct this so services don't suffer and where employees lose their jobs,while other employees get a pay raise Reopening the City - Susie Wintergerst expressed frustration with the stay at home orders which she believes are an attempt to control people She insisted government is infringing on the rights of citizens Staff Appreciation -Dennis Bell thanked City staff for the hard work that went into preparing the proposed budget He thanked the City Council, City Manager Duggan,PIO Carl Baker and Cheryl Williams and other city staff for setting up a television in the outdoor breezeway at City Hall so the public can view the Council meeting He offered his appreciation of all City staff for working through these turbulent times He stated the budget appears to be worse than he anticipated With public comments read into the record,Mayor Foster explained the need to recess this special meeting to 7 00 P M tonight due to a scheduling conflict with the 4 00 P M Planning Commission meeting This special meeting was recessed at 2 21 P M,to resume again at 7 00 P M RECONVENE CITY COUNCIL MEETING The Mayor reconvened the special meeting at 7 00 P M Department Presentations Each department head discussed their respective FY 2020-21 budgets,highlighting the total appropriations proposed,the services and programs that will continue to be provided,the direct impacts resulting from reduced staffing and funding, and responded to questions from Council Presentations represented the City Clerk, City Attorney, City Council, City Manager,Management Services, Development Services,Library,Police,Fire,Facilities and Community Services and Municipal Utilities and Engineering As a final recap, each Council Member and City Treasurer Dawes offered their perceptions of the proposed budget and acknowledged the difficult times we are facing Mayor Foster announced the City would not have the ability to provide fee waivers to any nonprofit group during the FY 2020-21 budget Council Members thanked the City Manager and staff for their diligence and commitment to developing a fair and responsible budget Special CC_May 12,2020 Page 3 ADJOURNMENT The Mayor adjourned the special meeting at 9 18 P M The next regular meeting of the City of Redlands City Council will be held on May 19, 2020 Special CC_May 12,2020 Page 4