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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-GPA-2013-07-17GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY COMMITTEE CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK Regular Meeting 7:00 p.m. July 17, 2013 PRESENT: Alderperson Mohlenhoff - Chair Alderpersons (4) Murtagh, McCollister, Smith, Proulx OTHERS PRESENT: City Clerk — Conley Holcomb City Attorney — Lavine Director of Planning, Building, & Economic Development - Cornish ADDITIONS TO OR DELETIONS FROM THE AGENDA: Chair Mohlenhoff requested the deletion of Item 4.2 — Report on E -mail System Replacement Project, and the addition of Item 2.2 — Report on New Format for Legislation Preparation. No committee member objected. Approval of the Minutes of the April 16, 2013 and May 15, 2013 GPA Committee Meetings - Resolution By Alderperson McCollister: Seconded by Alderperson Murtagh RESOLVED, That the minutes of the April 16, 2013 and May 15, 2013 GPA Committee meeting be approved as published. Carried (4 -0) Alderperson Smith absent from vote Charter and Code Revisions: 2.1 Next Steps for Sidewalk Policy: Discussion continued from the Special Common Council meeting that immediately preceded this meeting. City Attorney Lavine noted that Common Council's final input on the proposed sidewalk policy should be submitted by the August 12, 2013 GPA Committee meeting. Alderperson Proulx expressed concern about the timeline as he feels that more in -depth discussion is needed with the City Controller and the Department of Public Works on the financial impact this proposed policy will have on the City. He recommended that the financial discussion occur at the August 28, 2013, City Administration Committee meeting. Further discussion occurred regarding extending the timeline by one month in order to develop a communication plan that could reach residents who may not be available during the summer months due to vacations. City Attorney Lavine voiced his concern about extending the Council vote to October due to the extensive budget meetings that are scheduled in that month. He further explained the benefits of a 2014 program implementation and the logistics that need to be completed in advance of the actual sidewalk work (calculations, billing, scheduling, etc.). Committee members asked City Attorney Lavine to work with the City Controller and Acting Superintendent of Public Works to work out more of the details. GPA Committee April 16, 2013 City Attorney Lavine noted that the proposed Local Law is subject to permissive referendum. A page on the City's website will have the Fact Sheet, Map, Local Law, and Power Point presentation posted to it so it will be easily accessible to members of the public. Discussion continued on the potential impacts of a legal challenge and the difference between a tax vs. an assessment. The proposed Local Law will be discussed at the August 12, 2013 GPA Committee meeting. The financial impact of the proposal will be discussed at the August 28, 2013 City Administration Committee meeting, and the complete proposal will be on the September 4, 2013 Common Council meeting agenda. 2.2 Legislation Preparation: City Clerk Conley Holcomb and Director of Planning, Building, and Economic Development Cornish reported that Clerk's Office staff met with the Planning Division staff to discuss various issues and challenges related to the preparation of legislation for the Common Council agenda, minutes, City Code, and the final /formal piece of legislation. They identified many logistical items that cause problems such as different versions of software, varying staff skill levels, issues with the use of "tracked changes ", and formatting differences. After a productive discussion the following recommendations were made: • The City Clerk's Office will prepare a "style guide" for all departments to use when preparing legislation. • Each Ordinance or Local Law shall have an accompanying "Concept Memo" which highlights the proposed changes. • The existing legislation will be included with strikethroughs • New legislation will be written as proposed and underlined • Legislation with very small changes /corrections will be handled with the current system of underlines and strikethroughs Discussion followed on the floor regarding formalizing this process by including it in the Common Council Rules of Procedure, creating legislation templates, and benchmarking other communities to find best practices in drafting legislation. 2.3 Taxi Legislation Update: City Clerk Holcomb and Alderperson Murtagh reported on their recent meeting with Tompkins County Administrator Joseph Mareane, and County Legislators Michael Lane and Carol Chock. The County representatives agreed that taxicab regulation is an issue that could benefit from a regional approach. They arranged for City representatives to bring this issue to the next TCCOG (Tompkins County Council of Governments) meeting to discuss which method of legislation to pursue: drafting a single piece of legislation /rate structure for each municipality to adopt or pursue NYS enabling legislation that would give Tompkins County the authority to regulate taxicabs and liveries. City Clerk Holcomb and Alderperson McCollister will represent the City at this meeting. 2.3 Analysis of Board /Liaisons /Committees: Chair Mohlenhoff reviewed a memo she drafted to send to all of the City's board and committee chairs regarding the concept and goals of changing the City's committee structure. Minor amendments were suggested to reflect that the quasi - judicial boards are exempt from these changes. K GPA Committee April 16, 2013 Chair Mohlenhoff extended her thanks to Alderperson Chris Proulx and Jennifer Handy for their hard work on this initiative. 2.4 Common Council Rules of Procedure: Chair Mohlenhoff deferred this item to the August 12, 2013 meeting with the understanding that committee members would read Section II of the Rules of Procedure entitled "Order of Business" and bring suggested changes with them to the meeting. Alderperson McCollister requested that the draft version of the Rules of Order be updated to reflect the changes made to Section V — Acting /Alternate Acting Mayor in 2010. Discussion followed on the floor regarding the change in the process to fill Common Council vacancies mid -term. Alderperson McCollister shared feedback she received regarding removing the democratic /republican committees from the process. 3. City Survey 3.1 Review /Overview of Process: Chair Mohlenhoff recommended that the 2011 city -wide phone survey questions be reviewed with a focus on the new strategic themes. Alderperson McCollister voiced concern regarding the timing of the next survey. She stated that she would like to see the City complete the work that is currently underway with the Comprehensive Plan and the focus group discussions to see how that ties in with the strategic themes. Mayor Myrick commented that the survey is an extremely important measurement that will show progress made toward the City's Strategic Plan, the Comprehensive Plan, and the performance measures that will be undertaken once the Chief of Staff has been hired. He noted however that as these initiatives are not complete, the timing may not be right. He suggested that funds be included in the 2014 budget and that the Chief of Staff work with the Public Information Officer to determine the best time to conduct the survey. Discussion followed on the floor regarding potential changes to the survey methods such as including cell phone numbers. Chair Mohlenhoff offered to invite Yasamin Miller of the Survey Research Institute of Cornell University to the September or October GPA Committee meeting to discuss new technologies /features that might be available, how to improve the outreach effort, and what the different levels of surveying may cost. Further discussion followed on the demographics of the City. 4. Public Information and Communications: 4.1 Report from Communication Sub - Committee: Chair Mohlenhoff requested a status update on the work of the Communication Sub - Committee. Alderperson Murtagh noted that the sub - committee has not met recently due to additional obligations that he has undertaken including being appointed as the new Chair of the Planning & Economic Development Committee. Discussion followed on the development of a City communication plan or standard protocols for each department to follow when sharing information with the public. It was recommended that a guide also be developed to educate people on how they can access City information. It was noted that an accessible staff directory would be very helpful. 3 GPA Committee April 16, 2013 Further discussion followed on the floor regarding the services provided by 2 -1 -1 and how the City could better utilize this resource. City Clerk Holcomb reported that Jason Tucker, Writer of the CityScene Newsletter has resigned and will be relocating. Although Jason will be difficult to replace, three candidates have already expressed their interest in the position. 4.2 Report on E -Mail System Replacement Project: This item was withdrawn from the agenda. 5. Common Council Training and Development: 5.1 Council Orientation Chair Mohlenhoff reported that she presented the proposed training model at the Tri -Chair Committee meeting and everyone supported the initiative. She stated that she will formalize the proposal and will send information to each of the departments that will be expected to present sessions. This program is scheduled to begin in January. 6. Meeting Wrap Up — Announcements — Review Agenda Items for Next Meeting Items for the next meeting include: Sidewalk Proposal, Taxicab legislation update, City -wide Survey, Common Council Rules of Procedure The next meeting will be held on Monday, August 12, 2013. Adjournment: On a motion the meeting adjourned at 9:50 p.m. Julie Conley Holcomb, CIVIC Deborah Mohlenhoff City Clerk Chair Il