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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - City Council - Meeting Date: 4/21/2016City of Glendale 5850 West Glendale Avenue Glendale, AZ 85301 Meeting Minutes - Final Thursday, April 21, 2016 9:00 AM Budget Workshop Council Chambers City Council Workshop Mayor Jerry Weiers Vice Mayor Ian Hugh Councilmember Jamie Aldama Councilmember Samuel Chavira Councilmember Ray Ma/nar Councilmember Lauren Tolmachoff Councilmember Bart Turner City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - Final April 21, 2016 CALL TO ORDER Rollcall Present 8 - Mayor Jerry Weiers, Vice Mayor Ian Hugh, Councilmember Jamie Aldama, Councilmember Samuel Chavira, Councilmember Samuel Chavira, Councilmember Ray Malnar, Councilmember Lauren Tolmachoff, and Councilmember Bart Turner Also present were Kevin Phelps, City Manager; Michael Bailey, City Attorney; and Pamela Hanna, City Clerk. WORKSHOP SESSION 1. 16-164 FY16-17 BUDGET WORKSHOP Staff Contact: Vicki Rios, Interim Director, Finance and Technology Ms. Rios provided an overview of the FY17 budget process from beginning to current. She included department operating budgets, capital improvement program changes, budget highlights, Council discussion and feedback and the next steps in the process. Ms. Rios provided a summary of personnel changes. Innovation and Technology is requesting 3 new positions; Fire, Police, City Attorney and the Court are requesting a total of 15.75 new positions, and two of those positions are technology related. Development Services, Community Services, Engineering and Finance requested a total of 6.5 new positions and Human Resources, Community Services Public Works, and City Auditor requested 5 new positions, but also a reduction of 1.5 positions. This totals 28.75 new positions in the FY17 budget. Ms. Rios went over the presentation schedule for the April 21, 2016 Budget Workshop. POLICE DEPARTMENT Assistant Chief St. John said the presentation today will be very similar to the Citygate presentation that was heard recently by Council. Chief of Police Rick St. John provided an overview of the various Police bureaus and divisions of the Police Department and said the department's mission is to protect the lives and property of the people we serve. Chief St. John discussed the Police Department's programs and functions. He first spoke about crime control and community safety. The Police Department uses reactive strategies by responding to calls for service, investigating reports of criminal activity, traffic enforcement and utilizing School Resource Officers. The department also utilizes proactive strategies and community policing by developing partnerships with neighborhoods, businesses, schools and other community stakeholders. This creates an atmosphere of open communication and builds trust. Another proactive strategy used by the Police Department is the community safety education. Chief St. John said the Police Department's Investigations Division consists of detectives, victim assistance, forensics and undercover operations. Detectives perform traditional investigative follow-up as well as target enforcement and public education/awareness about gun violence and gangs. Victim assistance provides assistance to crime victims City of Glendale Page 1 Printed on 7/3/2017 City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - Final April 21, 2016 and their families. The forensics unit performs crime scene evidence collection and computer/technology forensics. Undercover operations are involved in narcotics, fugitive apprehension, human trafficking and property crimes. Chief St. John said the department's Special Operations Division provides emergency response, traffic enforcement and management of special events. The emergency response includes SWAT, explosive ordinance disposal and the K-9 unit. Traffic Enforcement provides DUI enforcement, safety campaigns such as seatbelt and child restraint, school zone safety and traditional traffic enforcement. The Special Operations Division also provides event coordination and planning and staff for special events. Chief St. John went on to discuss the Support Services Division, which includes operations, administrative and professional standards units. The Operations Division includes the communications center, detention facility and records management. The Administrative Division provides technology support, budget and grants administrative, GRPSTC and training, CALEA administration and administrative support staff. The Professional Standards Unit oversees the department's professional standards. Chief St. John explained one department goal is to reduce violent and property crimes by decreasing the level of crime, which increasing satisfaction of police services. Another important department goal is to promote a sense of community through safe and healthy neighborhoods, effective response to requests, maintaining high visibility and enforcing traffic safety laws throughout the city. This goal is achieved by providing timely response to calls for service, increased proactive patrol, and judicious enforcement to promote traffic safety. The third department goal is to enhance safety and security in the city by providing preparing and maintaining high quality services to the community by maintaining a high quality work force through application and maintenance of professional standards for service. Chief St. John explained the majority of the Police Department's budget is salaries. Ten percent is expended on operating costs and 5% on internal services. Chief St. John said the FY2017 Operating Budget requests include five FTE's civilian crime scene officers and one supervisor. These positions will conduct civil traffic accident investigations, relieve patrol officers from scene security and traffic control duties, perform evidence collection, including photographs and latent print collection, as well as taking telephone reports. Currently, there is one crime scene officer. Additionally, the department is requesting an adult sex crimes sergeant position, in order to move the temporarily assigned back to the Professional Standards/Audits and Inspection unit. The Police Department is also requesting a technology systems analyst who will provide internal support for Police Department specific IT systems. These budget requests satisfy the initial recommendations from the Public Safety Service Level Assessment completed by Citygate. Chief St. John provided additional data for Council consideration of these FTE requests. The civilian crime scene officers take on lower priority patrol officer responsibilities so patrol officers are available to handle higher priority issues. This will also improve response times to priority 1 and 2 calls for service. The adult sex crimes sergeant will improve the span of control and supervision over a high profile caseload and replace the Audit and Inspections sergeant in the Professional Standards unit. The technology systems analyst will provide 24/7 support for internal technology systems. The department currently has one system analyst who is on call 24/7, creating a need for a second position. This will allow for growth and expansion within the department. Councilmember Aldama was happy to see that the request for Crime Scene Officers City of Glendale Page 2 Printed on 7/3/2017 City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - Final April 21, 2016 which will assist the Police Department in getting to their 90% goal. He asked for some more information about community engagement. Chief St. John said the Police Department engages in regular community activity with shred events, drug take back, crime free multi -housing, and managers against crime. He said Coffee with a Cop and Coffee with a Chief have been added in the last couple of years for residents to meet and have conversation with department officials. He said it is important to listen to what citizens' biggest concerns are. He said every member of the organization is encouraged to take time and listen to develop relationships in the community. Councilmember Aldama said it is important to note that it comes out of the Police Department's operating budget. He thanked staff for putting the measurable goal in place as justification for the FTE. Councilmember Chavira asked for elaboration on the socio-economic impact driven statement. Chief St. John during the economic crisis, people would expect crime trends to increase, but that was not the case during the recent economic downturn. However, now that the economy is recovering, crime is going up in the community. He also said there are more traffic accidents, as well. Staff is developing a comprehensive response to deal with crime. Councilmember Chavira said this affects everyone Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if the costs for adding the six new CSO positions included vehicles and other items they might need to do their jobs. Mr. Duensing said Chief St. John was referring to the operating impact and the salaries are built into the salary request that is already in the budget. He said there may be salary savings as of July 1st because these employees will not be hired at this point. He said they may come back to Council to do a transfer to the Vehicle Replacement Fund to obtain additional vehicles. He said computers and other necessary work items will be identified with budgetary savings. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if over hiring for the department was a new policy. Mr. Duensing said he has had those discussions with Chief Black and this issue came up a year ago. At that time, Chief Black and Mr. Duensing recommended the city wait for the Citygate report. That report has been issued and now staff needs to develop a strategy. They also need to work with Human Resources to come up with a policy to deal with that issue. Councilmember Turner asked about the increase in costs for school resource officers. Chief St. John said there will continue to be 7 school resource officers and most are grant associated with the state. Grant administrators were not willing to increase the amounts they were giving the schools to match the officers' salaries. Since the officers are represented, they will receive a step increase and that will be incorporated into the budget in order to continue with the program. Councilmember Turner said that is money well spent. He also asked about a line item in the documents for grant appropriation and asked if that was a place holder. City of Glendale Page 3 Printed on 7/312017 City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - Final April 21, 2016 Mr. Duensing said the line item is just a place holder because legally they have to appropriate those funds. Councilmember Turner asked about RICO fund. Chief St. John said the amounts listed are appropriations and that is what they are authorized to spend. He said money will come into that account as cases 'are adjudicated and money is released. Councilmember Turner asked about the spending thresholds of those funds. Ms. Rios said only available funds in that accounts are spent. Councilmember Turner said the Police Department is doing great work. Councilmember Aldama said the amount of $3,000 for community activities seems rather low and would like staff to take a look at that. Chief St. John said $3,000 is low and some of the community activities are grant related and some are funded by the community. He said staff has made a conscious effort over the last several years to stop using RICO funds to pay for things that should be within the General Fund. He said RICO can be used for community education and public awareness and they want to use those funds for those types of programs. Councilmember Aldama said he agreed and they needed to get back to the basics of why those funds were available. Mr. Phelps said if additional CSOs are approved, staff is going to monitor those positions to make sure they receive the benefit they hope for. He also said that requests for positions were tied to specific goals and outcomes in this budget. He also complimented the police association for working with management to embrace the CSO positions coming in. He said by summer, they hope to have all 987 patrol positions filled. This is a reflection of great strategies on how to fill those positions, turnover is below norms and the department is recognized as being a well-run department and is attracting good candidates. He said they are looking at the onboarding process to minimize hiring gaps. He said this is one of the finest Police Departments he has worked with in his career. Mayor Weiers spoke about officers entering the DROP program and retiring. He said it is important to continue to fill those gaps and have officers ready to go when senior officers retire. He said he is proud of the Police Department. CITY CLERK Ms. Hanna said the department's mission is to provide excellent service to the citizens, elected officials and the organization, to consistently meet all legal requirements, and to proactively support transparency in city government. Ms. Hanna said the Clerk's Department budget divisions include Administration/Record and Municipal Elections. The Administration and Records Division includes the city's public records management/record center program; the city's legal posting and publishing program; the city's publictmedia record request program, and more. She said new for FY17, we will be responsible for the City Council Meeting Agenda program. Municipal elections are budget separately but are the responsibility of the same staff. City of Glendale Page 4 Printed on 7/3/2017 City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - Final April 21, 2016 Ms. Hanna listed some department goals as: to provide the citizens with timely notice and access to public information by posting and publishing all City Council and commission/board meeting agendas and legal notices, resolutions, ordinances; to provide citizens with timely access to city records and city code; to increase the volume of digitized records available on the internet and to reduce paper storage, by prioritizing indexing and scanning of high demand record series. This is accomplished by processing all media/record requests, minutes, recorded documents and contracts in compliance with state statutes and city code. Ms. Hanna explained the majority of the City Clerk budget is salaries, with 26% in operating costs and internal services. Ms. Hanna said the FY2017 operating budget requests include requested funds to conduct the 2016 elections. She said the district races of Sahuaro, Cactus, Yucca and the Mayoral race will be decided in the 2016 elections. Also on the ballot is a new proposed General Plan. She continued there is a budget transfer request for a Senior Management Assistant from the City Manager Department to the City Clerk Department the position would manage the City Council agenda process. Councilmember Aldama asked about if the staffing change from 6 employees to 7 in the FY17 budget was due to the transfer of one employee to the City Clerk's Office. Ms. Hanna said that was correct and the Clerk's Office will be taking over agenda management. Councilmember Aldama said that makes perfect sense. Ms. Hanna said the Clerk's Department is very happy to have that position added to the department. Councilmember Aldama asked if the funding for that position will go with the position. Ms. Hanna said the funding for the position as well as a small amount of funding for supplies used to produce the agenda packets will be transferred to the City Clerk budget Clerk's Department from the City Manager budget. HUMAN RESOURCES AND RISK MANAGEMENT Mr. Brown said the Human Resources and Risk Management team is committed to providing high quality service as we partner with our diverse customers to create a positive environment of mutual trust and respect by proactively identifying and responding to their changing needs. Mr. Brown said Human Resources and Risk Management programs and functions include employee relations which manages the progressive discipline process and internal investigations as well as conflict mediation and resolution which staffs and supports the Personnel Board. Other programs include recruitment which manages the recruitment process to ensure the organization attracts and retains highly qualified employees, benefits, which ensures high quality benefits and wellness programs are provided to employees, classification and compensation, which implements and maintains the classification and compensation structures, policies and practices, and employee development, which provides employee development, engagement and performance management services to the organization. Risk Management is responsible for managing the risk management, worker's compensation, safety and drug-free workplace programs City of Glendale Page 5 Printed on 7/3/2017 City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - Final April 21, 2016 for the organization. Mr. Brown said a department goal is to foster and influence a climate of mutual respect and inclusiveness that is open, creative and people -centered by obtaining top level management support for diversity initiatives and forming a diversity committee to develop, communicate and implement a diverse strategy. Another department goal is to maintain a fiscally sustainable employee benefits program that provides high quality healthcare, which promotes and enhances the well-being of employees by collaborating with employees, stakeholders and healthcare organizations to review options for implementing a fiscally sustainable health plan and developing a plan to promote greater participation in the wellness program. Mr. Brown said another important department goal is to provide and maintain a low risk, safe environment for employees and its citizens by utilizing risk avoidance, risk reduction, risk transfer and risk retention strategies to protect against losses that would negatively impact city assets and the city's ability to provide ongoing services, by managing property and liability claims to minimize costs and promoting employee safety awareness programs. Mr. Brown also said the goal of implementing and maintaining a competitive non -represented compensation structure, policy, practices and philosophy in order to attract, motivate and retain highly skilled employees is attained by monitoring the external market on a regular basis to ensure competitiveness. Additional objectives include completing job studies, as appropriate, in a timely manner to ensure classifications are current, complying with federal and state laws and completing classification and compensation studies to determine critical areas requiring attention. Mr. Brown explained 94% of the Human Resources budget is operating expenses, with only 6% in salary and internal services. He explained the budget also includes the Risk Management Trust Fund and the Workers' Compensation Trust Fund. The Human Resources and Risk Management operating budget requests include a Human Resources generalist for the Benefits Division, Judicial Selection Advisory Board expenses for a survey used during the reappointment process of Presiding Judge and City Judge, funding for diversity, including a Glendale Hispanic Network, and employee programs such as service and retirement awards and a citywide recognition program. Mr. Brown provided staffing ratios for several benchmark cities, which shows a high ratio of Human Resources employees to all city staff for Glendale. Mr. Brown said the requested additional position is critical to ensure Human Resources' ability to administer new wellness initiatives, which will provide opportunities to maintain a fiscally sustainable employee benefits program. The addition of this position will also ensure that we can meet the increased government regulatory requirements as a result of the Affordable Care Act. The Judicial Selection Advisory Board utilizes a standardized survey to assist in evaluating City judges for reappointment. This data has been utilized since the inception of the JSAB in 2002. The additional request being made for the Glendale Hispanic Network will benefit our internal diversity initiatives. The request to include additional funds in the employee programs area will fund a much needed rewards and recognition program for our employees. Councilmember Malnar asked if Human Resources had some sort of goal or measuring tool to determine if the department is successful in reaching its goals. Mr. Brown said turnover and time to fill positions are key measures for any organization. He said they are working on that and can bring back more comprehensive measures next year. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if adding 18 full time Human Resources people would make 96 employees for Human Resources. City of Glendale Page 6 Printed on 7/3/2017 City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - Final April 21, 2016 Mr. Brown said yes. Councilmember Tolmachoff went over the numbers for the benchmark cities which was provided during the presentation. She said some of the benchmark cities have more represented employees than Glendale does. She asked if that reduced some of the numbers for their Human Resources department. Mr. Brown said some cities' Human Resources departments do not include Risk Management, so that may account for some discrepancy in the numbers. He said Human Resources does work very closely with the Police Department and Fire Department. He said in some cases, they have had to decentralize some things and put them into individual department functions. Councilmember Tolmachoff said the new person will administer new wellness initiatives and asked if other cities had a dedicated person for this task. Mr. Brown said some cities do have benefits departments. He said he has tried to turn his Human Resources analysts and make them generalists and have them familiar with all the functions of Human Resources. In this case, however, they will bring in an employee who is focused on wellness and understands all the requirements that Human Resources needs to be compliant on. This position will work with the benefits administrator to develop wellness strategies in the organization. Councilmember Tolmachoff said many providers offer these wellness programs and asked if staff has looked into this. Mr. Brown said they have worked with Blue Cross to provide wellness programs and other resources. This position would coordinate with Blue Cross and other entities to provide those resources. Councilmember Tolmachoff said she will need some convincing on this position and wants to make sure this is the best use of those funds. Mr. Brown spoke about tracking temporary employee time which is required, maintaining compliance with the IRS, as well as other upcoming new taxes. This position will also assist with addressing retirees, open enrollment and other programs. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if this compliance is being tracked manually. Mr. Brown said they are tracking via the PeopleSoft system, but the data does need to be loaded into a spreadsheet. Councilmember Aldama asked for more information on the requested position because staff was asking for this positon based on ratio and not performance. Mr. Brown said a component of this position is wellness and staff has not been able to accomplish this. He said keeping employees healthy is a benefit to the organization because it keeps costs down overall. He said measures can be put in place, but they don't have those numbers yet because the city does not have a robust wellness program in place yet. He felt a strong wellness program could almost pay for itself with reductions in employee claims. Councilmember Aldama agreed an increase in wellness programs can decrease injuries and.those costs. He asked when the city last shopped for insurance and benefits. City of Glendale Page 7 Printed on 7/3/2017 City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - Final April 21, 2016 Mr. Brown said an RFP was done in 2014 and in the upcoming fiscal years, staff will start planning for another RFP. He explained those are done about every 5 years. Councilmember Aldama was pleased to see funding for diversity and it increased by 10 percent. Mr. Brown said in 2015 there were 172 new hires. Of those new hires, 6 percent were minorities. He said they would like to improve that number. He said the community is about 52 percent minority. He said this is a priority for the City Manager, as well. Councilmember Aldama said Mr. Phelps has recognized this, and said the 36 percent and diversity needs to be equal from the lowest to highest positions within the organization. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked about increasing enrollment by 10 percent in the wellness program and asked if that is a year over year increase. Mr. Brown said that in 2015, they increased by 28 percent, and staff anticipates a 22 percent increase in 2016. He said there is a 40percent participation rate with all employees. He said they want to increase that a minimum of 10 percent year over year. As the wellness program becomes more robust, they expect that to increase. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if there is any online engagement for employees. Mr. Brown said a wellness fair was held and employees receive a discount on premiums if they participate in the fair. Employees can track their biometric scores online through AZBlue. There are also healthy eating and exercises resources online as well. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked about workplace injuries. Mr. Brown said the workplace numbers are based on trending and he works with the Risk Manager. He explained in 2015, ever workers' compensation claim cost the city on average about $8,100. He said it was important to keep those costs as low as possible. Councilmember Turner asked how employee satisfaction is measured with the benefits that are offered. Mr. Brown said a survey was done a couple of years ago and there was an approval rate of about 90%. He said there is also a benefits and wellness group that provides feedback as well. He said employees are very satisfied with the current plan the city offers. Councilmember Turner asked if employees were still able to contribute to the high deductible health savings plan. Mr. Brown said that is a benefit that is still offered to employees. Councilmember Turner asked if that is, offered every year. Mr. Brown said to incent employees to enroll in the plan; the city does offer $1,000 into the HSA, which is a savings to the city. Once an employee enrolls in that plan, the city offers a match up to about $50 a month. Councilmember Turner asked if there were any changes to retiree benefits. City of Glendale Paye 8 Printed on 7/3/2017 City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - Final April 21, 2016 Mr. Brown said retirees will still be on the regular plans, but they are seeing employees move towards ASRS, which provides retiree health benefits, or they are going to the exchanges which they are finding more reasonable. Councilmember Turner asked if the city had taken out the city's contribution toward retiree premiums. Mr. Brown said the city passed onto retirees the full cost of the actuarials. There was not an appetite to increase those rates, but about 3 years ago those rates were increased. Councilmember Turner asked if Silver Sneaker benefits were provided to employees. Mr. Brown said those benefits were available through the Medicare program. He said the Foothills Recreation Center recognizes that program for discounts. He said he didn't think Blue Cross had anything specific for that type of program for retirees. Councilmember Turner asked if employees were offered discounts at the city's recreation centers. Mr. Brown said the city does offer discounts at those recreation centers. Councilmember Turner said he wanted to make sure citizens knew that those benefits were being offered to city employees. Mr. Brown said the benefits fair will be coming up and asked everyone on the benefits plan to attend. Councilmember Turner asked if employee turnover in benchmark cities could be provided as part of the classification and compensation information. Mr. Brown said they do have that data and Glendale is currently higher in turnover than peer cities. He said he can provide that data to Council. Councilmember Turner asked if staff looks at opportunities for outsourcing where it might save the city money, and asked about cross -training of employees, as well. Mr. Brown said they have outsourced premium billing to retirees and this has been very cost effective. He said his staff has moved from very one-dimensional positions to cross -training into Human Resources generalists, who now handle several different areas to serve employees better. Councilmember Turner said the Council is going to continue to scrutinize new positions to make sure they are adding a benefit to the city. Mayor Weiers spoke about how cancer screenings and wellness benefits for employees are important and asked how those are paid for and if these benefits will continue to be offered. Mr. Brown said the city will continue to offer these screenings and benefits for employees at no cost. Mayor Weiers asked if Blue Cross pays for this City of Glendale Page 9 Printed on 7/3/2097 City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - Final April 21, 2016 Mr. Brown said that is part of the city's contract with Blue Cross. Mayor Weiers said the screening vans are very important. Councilmember Aldama asked if employees can receive discounts for health screenings. Mr. Brown said the city does have a risk assessment for employees and employees do get a slight incentive for participating. He said if they are able to fill the wellness position, they can proceed with some sort of a stop smoking program. Councilmember Aldama said the non -represented employees are represented by the City Manager and is glad there is an emphasis on that for City employees. Mr. Phelps said the ratio chart was not justification for adding the position, and staff wanted to provide that information as a data point. He said the Human Resources FTE came at his request and this position will affect Human Resources in attaining these goals. He said retention and recruitment are important, but the city needs to overhaul the performance management system. He said he is not comfortable with the level of employee development and training that is offered. He said he will be asking for better internal data on employee turnover. He said staff will also talk about possible changes to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). He said they need to development this type of expertise in house. He said employee recognition is also important. He said this position will support all of these projects. CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE Ms. Handlong said the mission of the City Manager's Office is to enhance the quality of life for residents by providing collaborative and supportive leadership for the organization as it implements City Council policy and goals in the provision of valued services to the community. Ms. Handlong explained the City Manager's Office programs and functions include modeling servant leadership to successfully implement the policy direction of the City Council, serve the Mayor and Council, city employees, residents and businesses, focus on the three E's of delivery of services to Glendale residents, which are economy, efficiencies and effectiveness, foster a diverse and inclusive organization and community and lead efforts for fiscal sustainability. Ms. Handlong said the City Manager's Office provides leadership, vision and accountability for the organization through vigilant oversight of the City's budget by providing public forum communication regarding departmental budgeting, forecasting and revenue generating opportunities. This office also pursues quality economic development and ensures long-term financial stability, while safeguarding current economic investments by expanding the tax base and job market in the community. Ms. Handlong explained the FY2017 City Manager's operating budget consists of 90% salaries and 10% operating costs and internal services. Ms. Handlong said the City Manager's Office is requesting an additional $5,000 in funding for FY16/17 within the community activities line item, restoring community event sponsorships. A restructuring of the City Manager's Office will eliminate an Assistant City Manager position and request a Strategic Planning and Initiative position. She continued the agenda management function, including one FTE, to the City Clerk's Department, and adds an administrative support position through the reclassification of a City of Glendale Page 10 Printed on 7/3/2017 City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - Final April 21, 2016 currently vacant position. This office will also implement a strategic initiatives program which includes community engagement. COMMUNITY SERVICES Mr. Strunk said the Community Services Department connects people through the power of library and arts, human services and neighborhood services, to enhance and preserve the health, safety and living environment in our community. Mr. Strunk said the Human Services Division is comprised of the Community Revitalization, Community Housing and Community Action Program. Each of these sections provides direct community services that ensure residents receive access to resources and community programs that support self-sufficiency and build strong neighborhoods. The Neighborhood Services Division offers opportunities to enhance the social, physical, mental and economic health of our community through a variety of diverse programs. This Division oversees neighborhood services and community volunteerism. The Library and Arts Division serves the needs of Glendale citizens by providing lifelong learning opportunities, books, audio/visual materials and electronic resources that inform, educate and entertain residents. It also administers the city's Public Art and. Performing Arts Partnership Program. The Boards and Commissions Division consists of direct -liaison duties for the Community Development Advisory Committee, the Library Advisory Board, the Commission on Persons with Disabilities and the Arts Advisory Commission. Mr. Strunk explained one of his department goals is to maximize department revenue with key department managers working to identify existing and potentially new revenue streams to enhance the General Fund and self-sustaining funds and offset existing operational expenditures. The department provides excellent customer service to all patrons of the CSG Department by working to identify existing and potentially new revenue streams to enhance the General Fund and self-sustaining funds to improve program/service delivery. Mr. Strunk said a majority of the department's budget is for operating expenses, with 26% in salaries and only 2% for internal services. The Community Services Department budget requests for FY2017 include $10,000 for Neighborhood Services as costs for temporary staff help for the department's more than 100 outreach programs. Mr. Strunk explained through this budget process, the department is requesting changes to two positions, which will help sustain additional hours at Velma Teague Library. The requests are to change a .75 FTE Librarian III to a full FTE position, and to change a .75 FTE Librarian to a full FTE position. Mr. Strunk said department initiatives for FY16/17 include design and award a construction contract for a Western Area Branch Library at Heroes Regional Park, transition to a "cashless" library system through existing technology and automation, assessment of the City's current homeless intervention/prevention strategies and recommendations, and assessment of Glendale Public Housing and Housing Assistance Program as a potential catalyst for Centerline redevelopment. Councilmember Aldama cautioned staff that the revenue streams should not reduce resident access to programs and facilities. City of Glendale Page 11 Printed on 7/3/2017 City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - Final April 21, 2016 Mr. Strunk said staff has been working on an assessment of fees and is aware of the disparity that can occur. Councilmember Aldama asked about the housing assistance received Mr. Strunk said the federal funding fluctuates from year to year. He said amount of awards to applicant residents also changes. Councilmember Aldama said there was no funding for assessment of homelessness, and asked if this program would be implemented next year. Mr. Strunk said they heard Council's request about homelessness. He said should forced homeless situations occur, staff will find the funds to assist residents in salary savings. He said next week CDBG home funding recommendations will also come before Council for review. These programs are used to provide services to homeless individuals. The Community Action Program is also set up to assist individuals in crisis who are in danger of becoming homeless. Food and energy assistance is also available to residents. Councilmember Aldama said his intent is to address the homeless situation and provide services. He asked if the budget items regarding low income housing were referring to new low income housing. Mr. Strunk said public housing can be an incentive to develop. Staff is looking at the economics for the city, but it is a very lengthy process. He said they are talking about Section 8 vouchers. Councilmember Aldama said the city has done a wonderful job of improving the look of the public housing. He also said there are some grants out there and asked staff to look at those. Councilmember Turner said the restructuring will create new possibilities. He asked about the ACAA assistance programs and the decline in funding. Mr. Strunk explained ACAA stands for Arizona Community Action Agency and it is a professional organization that represents the community action programs throughout the state and the amount of money received fluctuates each year. Ms. Daniel said ACAA funding assist residents with utility programs. She explained the funding does fluctuate. Councilmember Turner said he was happy to see the CAP office was represented at an event he attended this morning. Ms. Daniel said they try and remain involved in project connect as long as funding is available. She said they also have CDBG funds specifically for homeless participants to pay for move in costs, rent and rent deposits. Councilmember Turner said they can also provide assistance with moving costs. Ms. Daniel said that is correct and they try to help individuals become self-sufficient Mayor Weiers thanked Ms. Daniel for all the work staff does. City of Glendale Page 12 Printed on 7/3/2017 City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - Final April 21, 2016 Ms. Daniel said they appreciated the thanks. Councilmember Aldama asked how the city will advertise they won't be able to help that many people due to the loss of funding. Ms. Daniel said they contract with DES as their main funding program. They utilize ACAA program funding for additional services. Councilmember Aldama said they will be able to fill the gap with funding from both sources. Ms. Daniel said that is correct. Councilmember Turner asked about the 20 percent reduction in CDBG funding. Mr. Strunk said that is an appropriation amount they expect to get from the federal government. The figures for the year prior is the total amount available, including previous years of allocation. He said it looks like a reduction, but they are just spending down what was previously granted. Councilmember Turner asked if single family rehabilitation and rehab delivery were related programs. Mr. Lopez said these funds fluctuate because different funding sources are used. Some funds were NSP and other funds were partnerships with Habitat. He said the fluctuations do not impact the services provided to the community. He also explained there may be a higher need in rehab costs some years. Councilmember Turner said even though the funding may be fluctuating, internally the level of service remains the same. Mr. Lopez said that is correct and will look internally to see what funding source can be applied to a particular need. Councilmember Turner said this was not General Fund money and they have little control over when the money comes and only have control over how it is spent. Ms. Rios said that is correct. CITY COURT Judge Finn said the City Court provides a form for prompt, fair and just resolution of cases in a professional, efficient and courteous manner. The City Court adjudicates criminal misdemeanors, city code violations, traffic violations and certain juvenile offenses committed in the city of Glendale. In cases of domestic violence and harassment, the court issues protective orders. The Court has the authority to issue search warrants for misdemeanors and felonies. Judge Finn said the Glendale City Court offers evidence -based specialized problem -solving treatment courts to process cases involving mentally ill, domestic violence and DUI defendants. The court was designated as a pilot by the Arizona Supreme Court for on-site Rule 11 psychiatric evaluations and Superior Court .hearings handled by Glendale City Court, which reduces delays to conclude mental health competency cases and related incarceration costs. Judge Finn said the Court developed City of Glendale Page 13 Printed on 7/3/2017 City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - Final April 21, 2016 and automated outbound telephone dialing, text and/or email program in English and Spanish to remind defendants of upcoming court dates, missed court dates, upcoming court payments and missed payments. The Court also created comprehensive case file audit checklists for Court Operations, Fines Management and Records Divisions of the Glendale City Court, and coordinated all judicial and legal services for military veterans participating in Glendale's 2015 "Stand Up for Veterans" community outreach event. Judge Finn said the Court maintains professional development opportunities for all Court staff and judges to comply with Arizona Supreme Court Administrative Orders 2014-135 and 2012-60 and Arizona Code of Judicial Administration 1-302 regarding Education and Training. The Court adjudicates all criminal cases in a timely manner in order to comply with Arizona Supreme Court Phase 1 misdemeanor DUI case processing time standards, and to comply with Phase III non -DUI misdemeanor case processing time standards beginning July 1, 2016. The Court also adjudicates all civil cases in a timely manner by complying with Arizona Supreme Court Phase II case processing time standards on all civil traffic cases (excluding parking), beginning July 1, 2015, and complies with Arizona Supreme Court provisional case processing time standards on all protective orders beginning in FY2017. Judge Finn explained the Court's operating budget consists of 80% salaries and 20% operating costs and internal services. The Court's FY2017 Operating Budget requests include adding a Systems Analyst FTE. Judge Finn explained the Court has had one IT programmer at the Court since 2007 who has written code to reduce work for Court employees, and is the primary person responsible for maintaining computers, printers, scanners, video cameras on a "hybrid" network. The programmer will assist in the case management system conversion, manage the daily computer maintenance as well as the vast collection of electronic devices critical to the operation of the Court and allow the current programmer to continue to develop and implement innovative applications. The Court also requests converting two employees from temporary to permanent status, which complies with current Human Resources policies and has no cost increase. Judge Finn also requested increased funding for several line items which are mandated costs, which include interpreter credentials, interpretation cost increases for lesser -used languages, psychiatric doctors contracted increases, jail court overtime for clerks and jury service increases for summons and trials, overall increases to remain competitive for public defenders and Pro Tem Judges. These increases will cover increased and newly mandated costs that have not had increased funding in many years. Councilmember Turner said Judge Finn does an amazing job. He didn't know how the Court survived with only one IT person and thought the additional staff request is a no-brainer. Judge Finn thanked the Budget and the City Manager's Office for their support of the Court's request for technology. Mayor Weiers said the Court has done incredible work with veterans. Mayor Weiers recessed the meeting for lunch. FIRE DEPARTMENT Chief Garrison said the Fire Department's mission is fast -caring -innovative -professional. The Fire Department's programs and functions include fire prevention and education with public education, inspections, investigations and code adoption, fire suppression, City of Glendale Paye 14 Printed on 7/3/2017 City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - Final April 21, 2016 emergency medical services with 911 advanced life support and basic life support and special events, special operations with hazardous materials and technical rescue and crisis response and social services. Chief Garrison said the Fire Department completed a two-year, $2.2 million federal staffing for adequate fire and emergency response (SAFER) grant, improving operations staffing by 15 firefighters, as well as receiving a $50,000 grant from the Tohono O'odham Nation to purchase additional turnout gear. The Fire Department launched a low acuity response program, using existing resources to cover non -emergency incidents in areas of the city with high volumes of these calls, and implemented the electronic patient care reporting program, replacing pen and paper medical charting with more efficient state of the art tablets and software. The department also completed its 4th annual accreditation of self-assessment exercise and compliance report for the Commission on Fire Accreditation International. Chief Garrison said the Fire Department provides fast, effective emergency response to the community through property support and deployment of staffing, apparatus and equipment and provides citizens with effective and efficient all hazards response and ensures long-term sustainment of quality services. The Fire Department reduces the loss of life and property within the community through proactive public education programs and promotes safety awareness in the community through proactive life safety and fire prevention education programs. Chief Garrison said the Fire Department prevents and reduces loss of lives and property within the community through fair and consistent Fire Code management by preventing fires through comprehensive plans review and inspections; investigates structure fires cause and origin to identify potential prevention measures. The Fire Department budget consists of $37 million in salaries and over $6 million in operating expenses and internal services. Chief Garrison said FY2017 Operating Budget requests include two low acuity units with 2 captain paramedic and 2 firefighter FTEs and 1 F550 pickup truck with equipment. He explained engine and ladder company reliability will be increased when the low acuity units respond to lower priority responses in place of an emergency response unit. This request is supported by Citygate Associates Standards of Response Cover and Headquarters Services Assessment. Additional budget requests include electronic patient care record maintenance. This funding will cover ongoing annual expenses that occur to staff's transition to electronic patient care records that began last year. Hazardous materials meter maintenance is also requested and this funding will cover ongoing annual expenses that occur to maintain the hazardous materials meters. The department is currently unable to maintain adequate maintenance of all equipment. Chief Garrison also requested funding for paramedic school registration, which will cover one-time expenses for 10 new paramedics which are needed due to retirements within the department. Mayor Weiers spoke about the trucks being taken out of service for maintenance. He asked if discussions had been held about getting additional equipment, so the trucks would have to be unloaded and reloaded every time they were out for maintenance. Chief Garrison said he had discussions about this in the last few days and staff was going to look at different ways to resolve this. He explained they try and maintain as much equipment as possible on a reserve truck so the firefighters only have to exchange a minimal amount of equipment. He said they would like to purchase more apparatus to have more reserves ready to use on shorter notice. City of Glendale Page 15 Printed on 7/3/2017 City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - Final April 21, 2016 Mayor Weiers said this all affects response times and everyone would like to see response times get better. He said he would like to see the city obtain enough equipment so one truck could always be fully equipped to save staff time and resources. Chief Garrison provided examples of how the down time could be shortened. Councilmember Tolmachoff was happy the Citygate study was done to get a good idea of what needed to be done. She asked if the building maintenance and repair figures listed in the budget were for all of the fire stations. Deputy Chief Wayne Smith asked what he could explain about the Fire Department's maintenance and repair budget. Councilmember Tolmachoff said the figures mentioned did not seem like a great deal of money, and she mentioned some examples of plumbing issues they were having at one of the fire stations that would not be addressed for six years. She asked if staff was planning for taking some of these items to be repaired. Deputy Chief Smith said the department has a short term and long term plan. The short term plan is to repair the immediate plumbing issue. There is a bigger issue of the plumbing underneath the station, and they are working on a short term solution until a CIP plan is developed to deal with the larger issue. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if the funding in the budget was adequate to complete the short-term repair project, and asked about a timeline for the larger problem. Deputy Chief Smith said they are working on the short-term solution today, as well as working on how best to deal with the bigger issue. He explained the building is very old and there are several health and safety issues that need to be addressed. Mr. Friedline said they are doing their best to keep the facilities patched. He said the there is an increased amount of building funding that has been approved on a contingency basis. He said moving forward, staff is going to look at how those older stations can be repaired. He said there are many more problems than just sewer lines that need to be addressed in those buildings. Mr. Friedline said they will build a tiered plan to deal with these major issues. Councilmember Aldama asked if the garage doors are repaired in house or contracted out. Deputy Chief Smith said the budget includes everything from garage door repair, replacing furniture and appliances. He said they have to supplement that with reallocation from other funds. Councilmember Aldama said it seemed to him there should be a separate preventive maintenance fund. He asked if there was a proactive plan to fund more paramedic training in the coming years. Chief Garrison said staff is in the process of developing that plan right now with the City Manager. He said they are able to identify when people are planning to leave and be proactive about training other staff to keep service levels high. Councilmember Aldama said it is important to keep up on that City of Glendale Page 16 Printed on 7/3/2017 City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - Final April 21, 2016 Mayor Weiers asked Chief Garrison about a bed bug problem at one of the stations Chief Garrison said occasionally firefighters will bring bugs back into the fire station after serving the customers. He said staff identifies when there is a problem and takes care of it right away. Mayor Weiers said it is something that does need to be dealt with and they don't want staff bringing that to their own homes. Chief Garrison said firefighters will not do their laundry with their families for this reason. He said they are working on a plan to be able to wash their clothes at the fire station to keep contaminants away from their families and homes. Councilmember Chavira said people don't realize some of the occupational hazards firefighters face. He said fire stations are homes for three shifts of firefighters every day, and that is hard on any facility. He said everyone benefits from a well-run organization. Chief Garrison said every dollar you put into training, you get at least two dollars out of it. He said if firefighters make their mistakes in training, they can learn and not make that mistake when it really counts. He said in a budget crunch, training is the first thing to go. He said training helps change behavior so the firefighters stay safe. Councilmember Malnar he asked what was the main reason response times dropped. Chief Garrison said in 2014, the Fire Department used an average response time and in 2015, the department started using the 90th percentile to track the response time. Councilmember Malnar asked what the response times were on the low acuity units. Chief Garrison said they have response time data on the low acuity units. He explained those units only respond inside the city and only to lower priority calls. Their response times are rather long and on scene time is longer than a regular unit. These units engage customers and try and solve their problems. Councilmember Malnar asked for a clarification of what Chief Garrison meant by low response times. Chief Garrison said the response time is around 15 minutes. Councilmember Malnar asked if staff expects the low acuity units to lower or increase response times. Chief Garrison said the Fire Department does not have a response issue as response times are very good. The department has a call volume problem. The low acuity units will try and solve those lower priority calls to alleviate the burden on the all hazards response teams. Councilmember Malnar asked if staff was going to keep the response times of the regular units and low acuity units separate in the future so the"Council can see if those units are making a difference. Chief Garrison said those response times will be kept separate. He said the all hazards response teams are still necessary and the low acuity teams will be in addition to those City of Glendale Paye 17 Printed on 7/3/2017 City. Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - Final April 21, 2016 other teams. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if Chief Garrison could explain the low acuity unit program addition in service for the listening public. Chief Garrison said these units will help provide better customer service and will also help with fiscal responsibility and assisting citizens to solve their problems. They are units that respond to lower priority calls. Councilmember Aldama asked if the Fire Department was fully staffed. Chief Garrison said yes. Councilmember Aldama asked if the Council will look at the Citygate report in the future to make sure they are on target for the recommendations made by Citygate. Chief Garrison said absolutely and that is his due diligence to be as effective and resourceful as he can. He said the Fire Department is a service agency and their goal is to provide the best possible service to the customer. Councilmember Aldama said he could see that Chief Garrison was going to be innovative in making changes to his department. He also said the Citygate report made it easier for the Council to understand what the Fire Department needed. Councilmember Turner asked if the current low acuity unit was going to continue using an ambulance to respond to calls. Chief Garrison said they have moved to a pickup style vehicle because it delivers better service to the customer. He said they are also asking for a new pickup style vehicle in this budget request. Councilmember Turner asked how those two low acuity units will be deployed Chief Garrison said two units will operate 4 ten hour days. These units will cover shifts during the week, as that seems to be the busiest time for the lower priority calls. He said a request will be put out to staff and those units will be staffed based on a seniority based interview process. He said the lengths of assignment may range from 6 months to a year, so there will be rotation. Councilmember Turner said the documents provided plan review turnaround compliance at 97% compliance in 2015, and moving lower each year. He asked if this was significant. Chief Garrison said sometimes expectations are set too high and those goals are not met. Not meeting those goals presents a learning opportunity, so those standards are being lowered to try and identify what is making the turnaround times take longer. He explained there have been vacancies in this area, and they are upgrading their equipment and feels there may be adjustments to those percentages in the future. Councilmember Turner asked for a brief comment on air medical services and HALO. Chief DeChant said the HALO program has been a great partner since 2007. The program continues and the program is now being staffed with a flight nurse and flight paramedic. He said inter -facility transports are also being done as well as the emergency transports. City of Glendale Paye 18 Printed on 7/3/2017 City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - Final April 21, 2016 Councilmember Turner asked how many employees are involved full-time in that capacity. Chief DeChant said there are currently 4 employees involved in that. There is also one additional certified flight nurse. On the shifts with no flight nurse, a flight paramedic will be provided. Councilmember Turner asked where the helicopter is based Chief DeChant said the helicopter is based out of Surprise, and this has been a very effective change. Councilmember Turner said it looked like they were going to need a new fire station in the years down the road, and asked what kind of cost they were looking at. Chief Garrison said the last number discussed was between $4 and $6 million for a station. He said they are still researching new locations for that fire station due to airport issues. Councilmember Turner asked if the Fire Department still rescued cats in trees. Chief Garrison said if Councilmember Turner had a cat in a tree, he would send the low acuity unit to respond. Mayor Weiers said all the fire staff does an incredible job every day. He also wanted to make sure he would continue to be allowed to do the ride along. Chief Garrison thanked Council. NON -DEPARTMENTAL Ms. Rios said the non -departmental FY2017 Operating Budget includes budget items not specific to a department. Some of these items include unemployment/long term disability insurance, sales tax rebates/AZSTA payment, development agreement payments, arena management/NHL one-time payment, city membership dues, "From the Heart" program funding, and IT projects. BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS AND COUNCIL FEEDBACK Mr. Duensing said non General Fund changes to the Capital Improvement Plan include adding street reconstruction program, totaling $26.5 million, from FYI 7-18 through FY21-22. Mr. Duensing said these are projects can be bond funded. This project provides for reconstruction of arterial and collector streets as identified in the Pavement Management Plan. Mr. Duensing said there was $15.7 million in the CIP. He said the Public Works Department successfully submitted an application to raise the height of the landfill. This enables staff to put off relocation from the south cell to the north cell, saving the city a significant amount of money. Mr. Duensing said the Pavement Management Program is very important to Council. The $20 million request will include the carry forward funding from this current fiscal year into FY16-17 and will allow Public Works staff to release contact and allow them to aggressively handle the mill and overlay and chip seal of the streets. He said also two positions will be added. He explained they are front loading the budget as much as they can, and staff will have to execute this trying not to incur debt. City of Glendale Page 19 Printed on 7/3/2017 City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - Final April 21, 2016 Mr. Friedline said they no longer do chip sealing, and stopped that process many years ago. Currently, they do mill and overlay and slurry sealing to repair the streets. He said there is a large amount of carryover funds to approach this $20 million program. He spoke of a contract that came in under their estimated budget. He said they will work aggressively to get as much of this project as they can. Councilmember Tolmachoff said she was happy to see this project getting done now, rather than spending more on the issue later. Mr. Duensing said Council will see carryover funding at the last Budget Workshop in May. He explained a certain amount is appropriated each year for CIP projects. These are multi-year projects. For any project that does not spend through their appropriation, staff estimates the amount and carries it forward to the current year. The later in the fiscal year, the better estimates you have of the carryover amounts. Mr. Duensing went over the General Fund FY16-17 requests, bringing the ending fund balance to just over $41 million. He provided a history of where the city has been over the past two or three years. He said last year they solved a significant problem, including amending the arena management agreement, which saved a great deal of money. He said the Council also set a good fund balance policy and that has been noticed, and the city refinanced a significant amount of bonds, which saved taxpayers $48 million. He said they also reclassified an interfund advance and this gave the city the ability to pay off a capital lease, which got $9 million in debt off the books. He said interfund advance reclassification did not impact the enterprise funds at all. The transfers are still being made and are included in the recommended budget. He said Moody's gave the city an upgrade, the first since 2011. He said Standard and Poore's also gave the city an upgrade. He said the slide being presented is a General Fund surplus and that is what staff is requesting. He said this budget will add over $850,000 to the fund balance. He said the city has $5 million to address any issues that might come up. He said a very detailed analysis of police and fire services was done, which gave staff back-up to address important needs and leverage it with service to the community. Mr. Duensing said they are requesting positions for technology, and there is a need for those positions. Positions are also being requested in Planning and that is for speed to market. Staff is requesting to implement the recommendations of the Segal study and to address employee turnover, and will help morale. He said his own department has had problems with employee turnover due to low employee pay. Amounts are included in this budget to address this. Mr. Duensing said capital needs caused him the biggest anxiety last year when adopting the budget. He said staff has done a great job in addressing capital needs. He said it is nice to have a visionary in the new City Manager. Mr. Duensing said the most important budget highlight for FY16-17 is no Primary Property Tax increase on existing property. Next, funding of vehicle replacements in the amount of $4.7 overall. Although six trucks have been identified for replacement, staff is only asking to replace 3 of them. He said implementing compensation and classification study recommendations is important to address employee turnover. The cost of that is $3.1 million overall, and $1.79 million from the General Fund. Another highlight of the FY16-17 Budget is adding two low acuity units to the Fire Department. He explained staff is requesting two new FTEs to assist in Management the Pavement Management Program. In this budget is a one-time staffing cost of $1.1 for hosting the NCAA Final Four. Other highlights include personnel requests including community service officers for the Police Department and Planning Department personnel for speed to market Other highlighted costs are for parks and custodial maintenance, citywide elections, diversity and employee recognition initiatives, program manager for city contracts, a sergeant for the criminal investigations unit, a Human Resources generalist, paramedic City of Glendale Page 20 Printed on 71312017 City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - Final April 21, 2016 school, miscellaneous court costs increases and Wi-Fi at community centers. Mr. Duensing said General Fund supported Capital Improvement Plan additions include repairs and maintenance to Gila River Arena and other city facilities, repairs for tennis courts at Paseo Park and purchase of additional fire equipment such as heart monitors and a second set of turnout gear. COUNCIL DISCUSSION & FEEDBACK Councilmember Tolmachoff said she wanted to make sure the citizens knew the city is making the interfund transfer to the Enterprise Fund as part of this budget. Mr. Duensing said it is roughly $1 million and mirrors the amount of payment they were making when it classified as a loan. Councilmember Aldama said O'Neil Park still needs to be addressed and he looked forward to seeing those numbers back before this budget closes. He asked staff to looking at funding an additional FTE for Code Enforcement, and the entire city would benefit from this employee. He asked if they are equitable across the board with the additional library hours that were added last year. He asked staff to look at the benefits cost, and said he thought there was an RFP coming out soon. Councilmember Turner said he would like to see staff begin to look at Code Enforcement in a proactive, rather than reactive, way. He also wanted staff to look at funding those new Code Enforcement positions in a more permanent way. He also said staff should look at the larger contracts and get a good handle on how the city is administering those contracts. He also wanted staff to look into getting a full-time volunteer coordinator. He said he had reservations about approving a new staff person for the Mayor's Office last year and feels he has yet to see a return on that investment. He spoke about the number of employees in the Council Office and the number of staff members in the Mayor's Office. Councilmember Chavira said a lot of hard work went into this budget, and was very impressed with Mr. Duensing's list of highlights. Vice Mayor Hugh wanted to make sure the larger contracts are thoroughly reviewed by the new contracts manager. He said it is amazing the city has come this far in the last few years. He said they have to be accountable for the appropriations they make and see how those past budget decisions have played out. He said the decisions this Council has made have been hard, but the city has righted itself. Councilmember Tolmachoff thanked Mr. Duensing for reminding everyone how far the city has come. She said these large contracts are so complicated and said it would help to have someone help the Council understand what all the contracts mean. She said it is a better use of taxpayer money to hire someone to help Council understand what the obligations for the city are in the contracts. She supports creation of a position to help Council understand the contracts. Councilmember Aldama said he also had reservations about the position Mayor Weiers requested for his office last year. He said they might need to take a look at that if the position is not serving the community well, and he would support the Council if they decided to take a look at that. He wanted to remind staff to look at additional staff in the City of Glendale Page 21 Printed on 7/3/2017 City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - Final April 21, 2016 ADJOURNMENT Auditor's Office. He also thought a person who was in charge of the larger contracts was important, as well. Councilmember Malnar expressed his appreciation to Mr. Phelps and Mr. Duensing for putting the budget together. He was very happy to see the budget process was very transparent. NEXT STEPS Mr. Duensing went over the important dates for upcoming meetings in the budget process. He thanked Mr. Phelps and said his leadership was invaluable in this process. He thanked his budget staff of 3 people for the fantastic job they did. Mayor Weiers said Councilmember Tolmachoff has had a concern about being able to mention her items of interest at the last couple of meetings. Mayor Weiers said it has not been on the agenda and he is not allowed to talk about anything that is not on the agenda. He said she would have an opportunity to talk about those items at the next regular workshop. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if there was a Budget Workshop and Regular Workshop on May 3rd. Ms. Rios said at the May 3rd Budget workshop, staff will be presenting the 3rd quarter's financial review. She said she believed there is a Regular workshop. The City Council adjourned at 3:03 p.m City of Glendale Page 22 Printed on 7/3/2077