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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1975-06-09 Committee of the Whole MinutesJune 9, 1975 7:30 P.M. CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL OF COUNCIL MEMBERS EXECUTIVE SESSION 7:35 P.M. -9:15 P.M. DISCUSSION Review of Council Procedures Review of 1975 City budget is TUKWILA CITY COUNCIL Tukwila City Hall COMMITTEE OF THE WHOTE MEETING Council Chambers M I N U T E S Council President Traynor called the meeting to order. GARDNER, STERLING, TRAYNOR, DAVIS, HARRIS, SAUL, JOHANSON MOVED BY STERLING, SECONDED BY SAUL, THAT THE AGENDA BE AMENDED AND THE CITY COUNCIL GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION WITH ATTORNEY LARRY HARD. CARRIED. MOVED BY TRAYNOR, SECONDED BY SAUL, THAT THE EXECUTIVE SESSION BE CLOSED. CARRIED. Councilwoman Davis left the Committee of the Whole Meeting at 9 :00 P.M. MOVED BY HARRIS, SECONDED BY SAUL, THAT ITEM 1 OF THE AGENDA BE STRUCK FROM THE AGENDA AND CONSIDERED AT ANOTHER TIME. CARRIED. Councilwoman Harris stated that in studying the computer print -off of the expenditure report for January 1975 she would like to do a topical review and then assign it to a later meeting for an in- depth study. She continued that in January 1975 and comparing the, beginning balances for each Department's line items there are several of them, about 20, that have higher figures for beginning balances in January this year than the Council allocated for that particular line item. The most frequent occurence of this is in Operating Supplies for various departments. The explanation from the City Clerk's office Councilwoman Davis and Mr. Bauch went over there one afternoon and looked at it was that there were several outstanding purchase orders that the City had not been billed for yet as of the beginning or the end of January so the Clerk's office automatically added to the City Council figures for 1975 the totals of those outstanding purchase orders as they applied to each department. She added that there is a provision in the Budget Ordinance that outstanding bills can be paid for, be rebudgeted for the following year, but they have to be rebudgeted, and it takes Council action and knowledge to say alright we expect this much to be added on to take care of these debts that were carried over from 1974. Also, here is another thought, the books are open for the first 20 days of January to pay bills incurred during 1974. Councilwoman Harris continued that when the budget was passed she made a notation in December that the Land Acquisition Fund was about $40,000 less than she thought it should have been and she requested the Council to look into it at a later date. There are some thirty thousand dollars involved here in additional funds being put in these balances. That is a lot of .money. The Council was not informed of these totals, they should have been rebudgeted by Council action. The Council, during the budget session, gave specific direction that all of the money that had been trimmed from the Preliminary Budget with the excep- tion of those funds would be reinstated back to the Land Acquisi- tion Fund. That was the specific direction of the Council, it was not followed. She stated she would like the Council to look at this and look at the print -off sheets. Council President Traynor asked if Councilwoman Harris had found out if the purchase orders that were outstanding ever came in. Councilwoman Harris replied that she did not know that. Council President Traynor stated that if they did then the budget is back where it was when it was budgeted. Councilwoman Harris stated that when she passed the budget she thought that faas the amount of money that the City was to spend in 1975. Council President Traynor stated then Councilwoman Harris wanted the Council Members to look at this and discuss it at a later date. Councilwoman Harris replied yes. City Treasurer Mae Harris asked if they had asked City Clerk Shirlee Kinney what she used for money to pay these bills. Councilwoman Harris stated that the money that was budgeted was taken out of this money, remember the Council trimmed the Preliminary Budget by several thousand dollars. Not all of that trimmed money went into the Land Acquisition Fund. Thirty some odd thousand dollars went into various departments to cover this. TUKWILA CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING June 9, 1975 Page 2 DISCUSSION Contd. Review of 1975 City budget Contd. Policy development for 1976 City budget Councilwoman Harris stated there was another thing that bothered her, it seemed like there is about $100,000 difference in antici- pated revenues but she could not recall exactly what it was. There is going to be about $100,000 less and she stated she would like to bring it up later. Councilwoman Harris stated that back in the Council's Goals Meeting in January the Council discussed that about June or July the City Council would have a policy guide line to issue to Administration and Department Heads so they will have some guide lines as they prepare their budgets for 1976, rather than save the hassle for November and December. Some examples were: employee growth, should we or shouldn't we allow a few justifications for capital equipment and have a strong back -up for all equipment that is pur- chased. We should set a dollar amount saying okay this Depart- ment can increase so much here, another department is not going to increase at all. We should set some policy so the departments will know what the Council's thinking is, as they develop their budgets. Council President Traynor stated he thought the City Departments should get back into a pie and have growth. Every year the money is going to increase. By using the pie idea every- body's growth will be the same, that is the sort of thing the Council agreed upon in January. This way one department will not be coming in and saying they want a lot of money, they will have an idea of how much they can have from their division of the pie. Councilwoman Harris stated that everyone is complaining about the galloping increase in government spending. In addition to the pie she thought the Council should also think in terms of what the goals of accomplishment are. She stated that the Council has not planned a long -range program, and this is another guide line they should include. She added that the City should not exclude these capital expentitures, that they need to have a financial program that will implement the acquisition programs so they can look more than one year in the future and get ourselves together better. Council President Traynor stated that the pie idea was good and and they should tell each Department what their share of the pie is to be. He added that he thought that was just a starting point. Councilman Johanson stated that he thought the suggestions were good and it was a good way to start and would give the Council goals to work toward. Hubert Crawley, Fire Chief, stated that sometimes you have to go through a year before you know what the expenses will be every Department will face this. There are some things that are rising in price and the Departments have no control over that. Ed Bauch, audience, stated that may be true, but you have to know whether the revenue is increasing due to in- flation or due to growth within the City. If the City has a lot of vacant land and buildings are built on them then there is justi- fication for increasing the Fire Department and Police Department because the City has grown. Councilwoman Harris stated that the Preliminary Budget is started in July so the Council should get this rolling. She added that she thought the Council should work on it as a committee, at least one more time. Fire Chief Crawley asked how the Departments are going to know what to base their budgets on until the taxes come in? City Treasurer Mae Harris stated that is right, they do not get this information until October, unless you want to use this year's figures as the base and then use any additional that might come in as a cushion for some certain project. City Treasurer Mae Harris stated that they usually add 7 to 10% over the previous year, but they estimated too high last year and had to come down on it. She added that they could take what they get this year and estimate another 0 and if there is an overage it could be put in as a cushion. Fire Chief Crawley stated that you could not safely tell what the growth would be by the number of building permits that were issued, that sometimes the permits are issued and then the building is not completely finished for several years. City Treasurer Mae Harris stated there is no way of telling if this is going to be reduced, last year it was 7.68. She stated that she had gone to the Council Goals Meeting in January and she would like to be able to make some projections and she had tried to find a pattern, but it is difficult and there is no real way to predict it. TUKWILA CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOTF MEETING June 9, 1975 Page 3 DISCUSSION Contd. Job description for Council Recording Secretary City Council agenda format Councilman Johanson stated that this item was placed in the Personnel Committee and then brought out into the Committee of the Whole Meeting. Councilwoman Harris stated she did not think anyone has a clear idea of what the Council secretary is to do. In order to give everybody guide lines and particularly the one holding the job, she thought the Council should get together on this She stated she would like to suggest that the title not be Council Recording Secretary, that it should be Administrative Assistant, or Legislative Aide or something like that. The duties really go be- yond the simple recording of the Conmiittee of the Whole Meeting as some of us view it. The individual committee chairpersons need someone to type agendas, to post them, to keep minutes of the meetings as well as the Monday night Conuiiittee of the Whole Meeting. Also, the Committee as well as the individual Council Members have a need for correspondence to be prepared and occasional specific assignments, to look something up, to get a copy of something or make phone calls. She stated that she thought also the qualifica- tions should be set up for the job as to what type of skills a person would need to fill this position and even perhaps it would be advisable to have guide lines on residency. I don't think we can require a person to be a resident of Tukwila, but it seems it would be useful to have someone you could call up in the evening and advise them of a meeting or correspondence, or an agenda. She added that she thought there should be some cleat 1:nes c'f to whom this person reports to and she suggest that the person be under the guidance of the Council President and the job description would clarify that and have this person respond only to the City Council and operate only under the Council direction. Councilman Sterling stated that he concurred on these points but he did not see any way that the person be restricted to being a resident of the City. Council President Traynor stated that he agreed that the person should work directly for the Council President but that person should report to someone who is here in the building during the day. It would be impossible to work for eight people or have eight bosses. Councilwoman Harris stated that she felt that when the person working for the Council has to report to some- one here in the building during the daytime it takes that person away from working for the Council. That person is then under the direction of the staff of City Hall and not the Council. The person needs to coordinate and needs the help of City Hall and the ccoperation. She stated that the Renton City Council has one secretary who is full time, she reports to the Council and works for all of the Council Members. Council President Traynor stated that in Renton the City Council Secretary is in the office from 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. and he added that he questioned that she worked directly for the City Council during all of those hours. Councilwoman Harris stated that the hours of this person has to be flexible to attend committee meetings at night when requested by the Committee Chairperson and have that individual work assigned days and arrange own hours to work. Councilman Sterling suggested that we look at the job descriptions of the Council Secretary for the cities of Renton, Kent, Auburn, and perhaps Issaquah and find out what their situation is. Council President Traynor stated he thought that would be a good idea. Councilman Saul stated they would take care of this matter in their committee as soon as the job descriptions from the above mentioned cities are obtained. Councilwoman Harris stated that she felt the format of presenting items on the City Council agenda should be changed and the agenda show the name of the Council Member sponsoring or introducing the ordinance or resolution. She added that she felt when items are referred out of committee the prepared resolution or ordinance should be introduced by a Committee Member. She suggested that when an ordinance or resolution is first introduced it should be referred to committee and then when it is ready to be brought out of committee, the Chairperson of that committee can write a form memo to the City Clerk's office stating it is ready to come out of committee and be on the agenda and it will also have information as to the recommendation of the committee whether they recommend "pass" or "do not pass." Councilwoman Harris asked why the Metro TUKWILA CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE JF THE WHOTE MEETING June 9, 1975 Page 4 DISCUSSION Contd. City Council agenda format Request for City Council Aluminum Bulletin Boards CETA employees for Park Dept. la 4/7 Transit Public Meeting was scheduled for the time and date of the Committee of the Whole Meeting (Agenda). City Clerk Shirlee Kinney stated that Metro is in a hurry to start their scheduling and this was the only date and time for them. Councilman Sterling stated that since the date and time of the Metro meeting was the same time as the agenda meeting, the agenda meeting will have to be cancelled and that is when the City Council decides what they want on the agenda for the City Council meeting the following Monday. All of the Council Members expressed a desire to attend the Metro Public Meeting. It was determined to have the Committee of the Whole Meeting (Agenda) an hour earlier at 6:30 P.M. on Thursday, June 12, 1975 so the Council Members would have the opportunity of attending both meetings. Council President Traynor stated that he would like the suggestion of format change and it would help many. The Procedures say each ordinance shall be introduced by the City Council Member;. He continued he thought these should be brought to the Table and then put in committee and whatever the recommendation of the committee should be shown. Fire Chief Hubert Crawley said that he thought one thing was awkward why not start these matters in committee? Councilwoman Harris stated that she has a form memo she used when an item comes out of committee to notify the City Clerk to put this item on the agenda but she felt the memo should not be included in the packet for the City Council members. Councilman Sterling stated that he felt the Council President should introduce new matters for the first time. Council President Traynor stated that he has introduced things at the Council Table that he has not agreed with and it is because of his position that he has intro- duced it someone has to introduce it. Councilman Sterling stated he liked the idea. MOVED BY TRAYNOR, SECONDED BY STERLING, THAT THE AGENDA FORMAT BE REVISED TO HAVE THE SECOND READING INDI- CATE A COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN AND THE RECOMMENDATION FROM THE COMMITTEE. Councilman Saul stated that he wanted to make sure that when items come up the first time they are not discussed at that time. *CARRIED. Councilwoman Harris stated that she proposes the City Council re- quest two aluminum boards of different sizes. The purpose would be to place one next to the door in the Council Chambers and on that bulletin board there be a copy of each resolution and ordinance that has been presented to the City Council for jts first reading so the public can look at it and read it, then if they want a copy of it they can ask for it. The other board would be used outside in the vestibule and be rese rved for City Council use only for agendas and notices, and minutes of the various committee meet- ings. The one bulletin board that is in the vestibule is pretty well loaded. Council President Traynor stated if it is alright with the Council Members he would work on it and he thought it would give Members of the City Council some background for help. Councilman Sterling stated that Bill Moore, Chairman of the Park Board, had asked about hiring three CETA people to help on the park. He said the Council had never made a clear -cut decision on this matter. Councilwoman Harris stated that the latest informa- tion she had been able to get was that the CETA program had special funds that have to be used up by June 30, 1975. She said that the existing funds they have in another classification of funds designed to use to maintain people presently on the CETA program, but they would not be creating new jobs. She continued that now President Ford has vetoed those new Title VI funds and it is unknown whether there will be more or what there will be. Everybody has a big question mark on that how much longer or to what extent. She stated that she could call the County office tomorrow and find out what effect this will have on CETA. She added that they may have to go to other funds for this. Council President Traynor stated that now is the time these people are needed as it is seasonal work. Councilman Saul stated that the Park Department has material there they cannot make use of as they do not have anyone to put it in. TUKWILA CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOT,R MEETING June 9, 1975 Page 5 DISCUSSION Contd. Discussion Council Members' and Mayor salary adjustment ADJOURNMENT 10:55 P.M. Ed Bauch, audience, stated that he would like to remind the City Council that seven weeks from this date is the filing of political jobs for Council Members and Mayor. He added that he thought they owed: it to the potential candidate to take action now, if they intend to, regarding an adjustment in the salary of Council Members and Mayor. It will take some time to get it through. Councilman Johanson stated that we should request this item be on the agenda for the next Council Meeting and it be entitled "Discussion Council Member's and Mayor's Salary Adjustment." Council President Traynor stated that City Attorney Parker could be asked to draw up an ordinance amending the existing ordinance and leave the dollar prices blank. Councilman Sterling stated that sounded like a good idea. Council President Traynor stated that the ordinance would be on the agenda. Councilwoman Harris said that when City Attorney Parker is asked to draw up an ordinance amending the existing ordinance that he be reminded that an effective date is needed. Also, the present ordinance states the pay as "per meeting" and the amended one should be "per month." Council President Traynor stated the item should appear on the agenda then as "Proposed Ordinance Amending Council Members and Mayor's Salary and changing nay from 'per meeting' to 'per month. MOVED. BY SAUL, SECONDED BY TRAYNOR, THAT THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING ADJOURN. CARRIED. Norma ooh N er, Recording Secretary vg