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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997-06-09 Committee of the Whole MinutesJune 9, 1997 7:00 p.m. TUKWILA CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING MINUTES CALL TO ORDER Council President Jim Haggerton called the Committee of The Whole Meeting to order and led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. OFFICIALS Non represented salary study Tukwila City Hall Council Chambers ROLL CALL JOAN HERNANDEZ; JIM HAGGERTON, Council President; ALLAN EKBERG; STEVE MULLET; PAM CARTER; PAM LINDER. Councilmember absent It was the consensus of the Council to excuse Councilmember Joe Duffie. JOHN MCFARLAND, City Administrator; BOB NOE, City Attorney; LUCY LAUTERBACH, Council Analyst; ROSS EARNST, Public Works Director; BRIAN SHELTON, City Engineer; STEVE LANCASTER, DCD Director; DON WILLIAMS, Parks and Recreation Director; KEITH HAINES, Assistant Police Chief. SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS Sarajane Rants reported that the 1997 Sister City trip to Ikawa, Japan was a large success. This year the Sister City Committee provided six, $800 scholarships to the following Showalter Middle School students: Linda Oakes, 7th grader; Amy Ng, 7th grader; Mada Sek, 7th grader; Brittani Jenkins, 6th grader; Kamila Boho, 6th grader; and Danielle Young, 6th grader. Following an overview of their trip, Mrs. Rants directed the students in the Awadori dance. Her presentation culminated with a slide presentation of the picturesque Ikawa and other cities and towns that were visited. Barry Turnbull, South Central School District teacher assisted in the presentation. Viki Witschger, Administrator Services Director, introduced Bruce Lawson of Fox Lawson Associates. Witschger informed the Council that a City Advisory Committee was established recently to review data and make recommendations on the non represented salary study. Lawson will meet again with the City's Advisory Committee on June 12th. Lawson gave a brief status report on the study. He said he wanted to get the Council's perspectives as to where they think the system might appropriately be adjusted. A series of employees focus group meetings were held the past couple of weeks to get their viewpoints on the strengths and the weaknesses of the City's current classification and compensation program. From those meetings a summary document was put together for the Advisory Committee's review so that a strategic plan could be established. After the Advisory Committee reviewed the summary document, they indicated that they would like to have input from the Council regarding the compensation program. He said the employees raised a number of issues, Committee of The Whole Meeting Minutes June 9, 1997 Page 2 Non represented salary study (Cont' d) Light Rail Society's analysis of the RTA option for airport to Tukwila route CITIZEN'S COMMENTS such as the compensation levels for similar jobs and the ability to recognize and reward those who perform above standard levels. Lawson will have something specific that will be presented to the Council by the end of the product. The process that is being entertained involves this initial activity in developing a philosophy and a strategy of where the Council want the system to be and look like. They will then conduct the actual market compensation study in a manner that's consistent with that strategy and then build a recommended compensation program that is consistent with that stated plan. Council President Haggerton commented that he sees the goal of the plan as being able to hire and retain the very best possible employees, minimize turnover and still stay within the City's financial means. Councilmember Ekberg commented that he prefers to withhold any recommendations until such time as the Lawson Firm submits a complete plan as they deem appropriate for meeting the City's needs. Other Councilmembers agreed that the Lawson Firm should submit all of their creative ideas to the Council. The Council will then respond accordingly. The Council agreed that the Administration should move forward in defining and developing a draft framework for the non represented compensation study, including identification of specific comparables and distribution of the survey, then schedule another presentation to Council as soon as time will allow. Bob Whalen, Light Rail Society, gave presentation on RTA option for route from airport to Tukwila. He said future expansion to Renton, Boeing, Port Quendel, Factoria, Bellevue and to the Eastside Centers becomes a low cost option once a Southcenter to SeaTac line is completed. Using Southcenter as a crossroads station for both north -south as well as east -west lines creates a hub. This one strategic move alone is worth the additional cost of $70 million dollars. The existing RTA budget for the South Boeing Access Rd to SeaTac S. 200th segment of LRT is $315 million dollars. Whalen presented a detailed evaluation of the usefulness of the alternative alignment for light rail via Southcenter and distributed handouts detailing the same. None. Committee of The Whole Meeting Minutes June 9, 1997 Page 3 SPECIAL ISSUES An ordinance recreating the Ping Commission Citizen's comments 7.3i/ Council President Haggerton read the ordinance by title only to benefit those present, and stated that the ordinance was reviewed in the Community Affairs and Parks Committee. Councilmember Ekberg explained that the ordinance allows for the seating of one non resident member as a representative for Tukwila businesses. The addition of the words Management Level Employee in the place of Manager was made and supported by the Planning Commission. Ekberg said he believes that the inclusion of a business representative on the Commission is appropriate and timely given the increasingly effective partnership that is being established by that element of the community. Councilmember Hernandez commented on behalf of a citizen who was not able to attend the meeting, who thought there should be some requirement as to the length of time that the person had been a resident or a member of the business community, and also felt they should be a registered voter. A discussion ensued, and Councilmember agreed to amend the proposed ordinance as follows: following the last sentence in Section 2: add "and shall have worked or resided in the City for one year or longer." In Section 7, second line, delete "each meeting of the" and add "formal annroval of such minutes by the nlanning. The Council made other minor house keeping changes, then agreed to forward the ordinance with amendments to the next Regular Council meeting of June 16, 1997. An ordinance relating to Council President Haggerton read the ordinance by title only to benefit those Civil Service procedures present. Councilmember Linder stated that this issue had been discussed in the Finance and Safety Committee, and the Committee supports amending the Civil Service ordinance in order to make changes in the powers of the Commission relating to certifying the names of five persons highest on the eligible list for the position of entry -level Police Officer. Anna Bernhard, 14241 59th Avenue South, stated that she was surprised and disappointed that the Civil Service Commission had no prior knowledge of most of the changes that had been proposed to the City's Civil Service ordinance. She said she would have welcomed the opportunity to be a part of the Finance and Safety Committee discussions. Committee of The Whole Meeting Minutes June 9, 1997 Page 4 An ord. re. Civil Service procedures (Cont'd) City Administrator McFarland responded that the section Bernhard was inquiring about was already in the existing ordinance, there had been no changes. All changes that were made had been underlined and in bold -faced type. Craig Gooley, 3810 South 130th, said that the Civil Service Commission received a copy of the draft ordinance just this past Thursday evening, June 5th, which is not enough time to adequately address the concerns that the Commission might have. Gooley requested that the Council send the ordinance back to the Finance and Safety Committee to allow participation by the Commission. Viki Witschger, Administrative Services Director, explained that Chief Waldner had gone before the Civil Service Commission on several occasions to address the issue of changing the eligible list to the highest five persons for entry level police officers positions. She clarified that the TMC is the codified version of the ordinance and not the original, hard copy of the ordinance. She reiterated McFarland's remarks that the only words that have been changed are those that are in bold and are underlined, and they refer to changing the eligible list to the highest five. Witschger apologized for any confusion or inconvenience that may have been caused, but did add that she had approached the Civil Service Secretary /Chief Examiner during the initial phase of the proposed draft and she assured Witschger that the Civil Service Commission was aware of the proposed draft ordinance and that the administration was going to move forward with it. Keith Haines, Assistant Police Chief, emphasized that this request is not to make changes to the Civil Service Commission ordinance or rules other than the one that the Civil Service is familiar with, i.e. changing from the rule of three, for hiring only, to make it a rule of five. The rule of three has been very frustrating at times. The objective is to hire the best, most highly qualified police employees that's possible. The rule of three does not allow enough leverage in offering the best choice for selection of an appointee within Civil Service classifications. McFarland stated that the intent of the ordinance is not to bring up any other issues. Therefore, clarifying language should be discussed to ensure there are no misperceptions on anyone's part. It was the consensus of the Council to send the ordinance relating to Civil Service procedures back to a Finance and Safety Committee meeting for further consideration; and to notify the Civil Service Commission of that meeting. Committee of The Whole Meeting Minutes June 9, 1997 Page 5 Request for new Admin Clerk position REPORTS /3 Don Williams, Parks and Recreation Director, stated that the new Community Center has been accepted and utilized by a greater number of people than planned for. The move from a smaller center that was open 74 hours per week to a more diversified center that is open 112 hours per week has stretched the current full -time recreation program staff to their limits. He said the community use of the new center has been higher than anticipated. Therefore, it has become obvious that another staff person is needed to operate the front desk. The Administration is asking that an Administrative Clerk position be added in July. The cost to fund one Administrative Clerk from July 1 to December 31, 1997 would be $16,005. Total for a full year would be $24,376 plus benefits for a total of about $32,010. To help offset these costs, the recreation extra labor budget would be reduced by $5,250 for the last half of 1997 and by $10,500 in 1998. Revenues for drop -in- program participation and rentals indicate higher than estimated levels, thus excess revenues would pay the remainder of the positions' costs. It was the consensus of the Council to forward the request for a new Administrative Clerk position in the Parks and Recreation Department to the next Regular Council Consent Agenda. Councilmember Hernandez reported she attended the Equity and Diversity Commission (EDC) meeting on June 5th. She said the EDC rescheduled their retreat to a date in August to accommodate those who are working with the skills workshop. Hernandez distributed handouts on Washington's new welfare laws that will go into effect over the next few months. Council President Haggerton reported he attended the groundbreaking for the new cross valley street connector project on June 5th. He said Tukwila was well represented at this event. Other city and county representatives were also present. Haggerton attended the strategic planning meeting for the South Central School District on June 6th 7th. He said the large group has completed their phase of the plan. It will now be sent to an action committee for review. Haggerton requested that City Administrator McFarland provide him with a recap of some of the Tukwila projects Gray Osborne has been involved in. This will assist him when he attends the Association of Washington Cities Conference on June 11th. Councilmember Ekberg commented that the City's home page is doing a dis- service to those who log on because it does not provide any information. Committee of The Whole Meeting Minutes June 9, 1997 Page 6 /_3 Reports (Cont'd) He was forced to review Kent's home page for information he was seeking as a result of this. City Administrator McFarland responded that the City's home page is still evolving. It is being managed by the Administrative Services Department. He realizes its shortcomings but is diligently working to update the page, especially with regards to entertainment and cultural events. McFarland said there has been only one maintenance person to input information; however, a backup person is currently being trained. Ekberg said although he will not serve another term on the Council, he would like to have input on some of the information that goes on the City's home page, specifically the site map issue. Councilmember Mullet expressed concern about the amount of time that is being dedicated to the home page, and if it took the employee away from their regular duties. McFarland said use of the internet consumes about 25 per cent of the Records Manager's time. He said this new technology will be an investment that will pay off as it continues to grow with organizations and individuals who access the City's home page. Ekberg said there are software products available now that have the capability of allowing a standard file to populate the web -site automatically when it is saved to a hard drive. Councilmember Carter reported she attended the South Central School District Appreciation Night on June 3rd, and as part of their thanks to business partners, the City of Tukwila received a nice certificate. Carter also attended the School District's Public Relations Advisory group, which was working on communication plans for the upcoming year. Councilmember Linder reported she visited Showalter Middle School on June 3rd. City Administrator McFarland distributed copies of the 1998 -2003 Financial Planning Model and CIP schedule of presentation. He asked Council to let him know if they had concerns with the schedule. ADJOURN TO MOVED BY DUFFIE, SECONDED BY CARTER, TO ADJOURN TO EXECUTIVE SESSION EXECUTIVE SESSION TO DISCUSS A PENDING LITIGATION 9:50 P.M. ISSUE FOR 15 MINUTES. MOTION CARRIED. Committee of The Whole Meeting Minutes June 9, 1997 Page 7 ADJOURNMENT MOVED BY DUFFIE, SECONDED BY HERNANDEZ, TO ADJOURN 10:08 P.M. THE MEETING. MOTION CARRIED. uncil President Celia Square, Depu City Clerk