Meeting Minutes
May 11, 2001
PRESENT: Council Members Campos, Cortese, Diquisto, LeZotte, Reed, Shirakawa, Jr., Williams, Yeager; Gonzales.
ABSENT: Council Members – Chavez, Dando (both excused).
STAFF: City Manager Del D. Borgsdorf, City Attorney Richard Doyle, Mayor’s Budget and Public Policy Director Joe Guerra, Budget Director Larry D. Lisenbee, Mayoral Assistants Jennifer Galliart, Julie Shioshita, Assistant to Budget Director Jennifer Maguire, Principal Budget Analyst Anne Ortiz, Assistant City Clerk Nancy Alford, and Legislative Secretary Doris Casey.
Documents filed: (1) Study Session Agenda. (2) Hard copies of slide presentation made by Staff. (3) See Study Session minutes of May 10, 2001, for the Proposed FY2001-2002 Operating Budget.
FY 2001-02
PROPOSED OPERATING BUDGET
Mayor Gonzales opened the Study Session at 8:37 a.m. to
continue Council’s review of the Proposed 2001-02 Operating Budget, with
presentations organized around the City Service Areas (CSAs) developed to
review the budget based on services provided rather than by department.
ECONOMIC AND
NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT CSA
Using a slide presentation, Senior Deputy City Manager Darrell Dearborn reviewed the mission statement of the Economic and Neighborhood Development City Service Area (CSA), stated City partners are the Departments of Planning, Building and Code Enforcement, Housing, Conventions, Arts and Entertainment, Economic Development, Fire Department, and Public Works and the Redevelopment Agency. He stated major issues confronting this CSA are the tasks of guiding the transition from suburban to livable urban community, assuming responsibilities of a major city, and meeting community expectations; that expected outcomes are (1) Strong economic base, (2) Diverse range of housing opportunities, and (3) A safe, healthy, attractive and vital community, with a total proposed budget of $184 million. Assisted by Acting Housing Director Leslye Corsiglio, and Planning, Building and Code Enforcement Director James Derryberry, he detailed three outcomes with the goals and recommended action items for each, using existing resources, i.e, Outcome 1—Strong Neighborhood Base, to attract, retain and expand business, strengthen the work force, and satisfy the demand for Convention/Meeting and Event Needs; Outcome 2—Diverse Range of Housing Opportunities – to increase housing supply for all income levels, assist development of affordable rental/for-sale housing, improve/preserve existing housing stock, meet housing needs of special populations, and implement the adopted Housing Production Team recommendations, increasing opportunities for extremely low income housing development and improving services to the homeless; and stated Outcome 3—Safe, Healthy, Attractive and Vital Community, ensuring safe design principles and maintaining San José as a desirable place to live and work, and a healthy and sustainable environment, including improving development processing and customer service, and supporting the Strong Neighborhoods Initiative and Community Revitalization.
Council Member Cortese commented on the importance of
staffing adequately to serve walk-ins and phone inquiries expeditiously, both
at the department level and at the Call Center. Council Member Diquisto commented
on concerns that City-assisted housing may not be meeting building standards
and requested Staff follow up on complaints he has heard about substandard
units.
Concerns were expressed by several Council Members about whether inspections conducted on new housing developments are adequate. Director Derryberry explained the types and levels of inspections performed by the City and stated certain areas of materials and details are not included and are primarily issues between the developers and the contractors.
Council Member Diquisto asked about monitoring procedures and stated Council should be apprised of problems encountered in this area. Acting Housing Director Corsiglia stated the Administration’s goal is that housing units will meet or better the market standards and Staff will explore any reports of contractor noncompliance.
Responding to questions by Council Member Williams on when the department will have the ability to automate plan checks, Director Derryberry stated development and implementation of an integrated tracking system is included in the base budget and is in progress, however, automated plan checking would require a different level of technology and complexity which is not included in the system being developed. Darrell Dearborn stated the Integrated Development Tracking System (IDTS) was initiated in late 1999 and during 2001 the greatest accomplishments toward a completed system will be realized, that all development functions in Planning, Building, Fire and Public Works are expected to be fully automated in the database by year’s end, and the capability for electronic submission of development applications and plans expected by the Spring of 2002. Responding to Council Member Williams’ concerns about the high level of employee turnover, Director Derryberry stated employee retention could be addressed by reducing the amount of overtime and reducing caseloads with additional staff, employee recognition, and providing competitive salaries.
Council Member LeZotte expressed concerns about the quality of the final product on City-assisted affordable housing and requested the Administration provide estimates of personnel and costs that would be required in order to increase the City inspection services to ensure that structures are consistent with approved design features and amenities as well as complying with building codes. Council Member LeZotte stated she favors broad-based types of training for City staff to encourage creativeness and expertise through exposure to a variety of opportunities.
Continuing the discussion about the adequacy of inspections, Council Member Campos expressed concerns about having sufficient code inspectors for the SNI groups and Council Member Reed expressed concern about ensuring compliance at the zoning level, especially pertaining to environmental mitigations and monitoring plans and suggested additional funding would be required if those services were added. Director Derryberry stated Planning currently does not provide inspection services at that level.
Mayor Gonzales stated he shares concerns about ensuring that what is approved is what is built. Concerning the staff augmentations for Department of Planning, Building and Code Enforcement, he asked Staff to provide offline information on what level of re-engineering of the departmental processes has been completed, detailed by the time and steps saved and approval levels eliminated to streamline the process. He requested a breakdown of the sources of revenue projected on page 92 of the budget for the Department of Conventions, Arts and Entertainment as an offset to bringing electrical service for the Convention Center in-house.
Ross Signorino commented on the issue of code enforcement inspections.
AVIATION SERVICES CSA
Using slides, Ralph Tonseth, Director of Aviation, presented the vision statement of the San José International Airport, detailed the desired outcomes of the Administration as the City of San José continues to grow. Presenting investment proposals associated with the Airport’s being viewed as a “Good Neighbor” by the community, he outlined the Community Outreach Program Enhancement and Alternative Fuel Technology, reviewed the program geared to ensure travelers using the Airport have a positive experience, and partnering with businesses to ensure a positive economic environment. He detailed funding sources, proposed fee increases for landing fees, rental rates for Terminals A and C, costs per enplaned passenger, impacts of the economy, and reviewed how projected economic strengths will affect operations at San José International Airport. A five-minute video of various airport operations was presented.
Council Member Yeager requested Staff provide a breakdown of the proposed Passenger Facility Charges and what portion would be allocated to noise abatement, and suggested establishing a position through the City Manager’s Office for an ombudsman or advocate to serve the community in issues related to the airport. Commenting on public outreach issues, he questioned whether the goals concerning Airport growth should be reexamined and suggested review during the budget process. Director Tonseth suggested the Airport’s efforts in the community need expansion and the SNI program can serve some of those needs. He stated policy direction established in the Airport Master Plan is for the Airport to accommodate 100% of the demand for commercial air travel services, both domestically and internationally, as a facility that responds to market demand, and that is the policy direction being followed. Mayor Gonzales commented on the relationship of the Airport to the larger economic development of the City and stated the trade-offs involved include the role which Airport revenues going into the General Fund play in the provision of services to neighborhoods.
Council Member Cortese stated he shares concerns about the identity and direction for the Airport and commented on the link to the strategic plans for the entire City, i.e., how many jobs, houses, population are considered appropriate and suggested continuing discussion of this issue.
Council Member LeZotte expressed support for an Airport ombudsman type of community advocate and agrees with ongoing discussions about future plans for the Airport.
Mayor Gonzales stated it would be appropriate for Council to
have in the coming year discussions regarding past directions and what is
appropriate for the future. He stressed that Council cannot direct Staff to go
in different directions and the issue needs to come back to Council for further
dialogue.
Council Member Williams suggested the possibility of leveraging services with the airlines and rental cars assuming a larger role in assisting the public at the Airport relative to the services they provide. Regarding the issue of growth of the Airport and comments about curtailing future growth, he stressed the linkage of the Airport to the City in terms of economic development and international trade and the benefits accruing to the City, and recommended Council take up the challenge to address obstacles and enable San José be the best City possible. He stressed considering the perception of the public and warned against the potential that not keeping up with travel demand could affect the quality of life and create an environment where people do not want to live and work in San José.
City Manager Del D. Borgsdorf stated Staff will report back
on the customer service issue raised by Council Member Yeager as it pertains to
the customer services based at the airport that are increasingly focused on
neighborhood communication. He stated the Administration has included in this
budget a management strategy which builds a team of airport-based staff with
the primary objective of focusing on the kinds of customer complaints, noise in
particular, that are related to being a geographic neighbor of the airport.
Regarding the issue of having an off-airport citizen advocate or ombudsman, he
stated it would be helpful to resolve that issue with regard to appropriations
in this budget since alternative financing will be required for an off-airport
location and Staff will report back on that issue. He stated the larger
question, that requires Council discussion, is the issue of regarding growth of
the airport. He stated passenger volume has doubled over the last decade while
no new customer facilities were built, so clearly the airport is in a growth
mode, driven by conditions in the private sector economy. He stated the Administration is working
against a Master Plan with defined passenger growth expectations well above the
present capacity, and Staff will come back before the end of this fiscal year
with customer service discussions in this operating budget discussion and
airport policy and future growth discussions as part of the Master Plan
projects that will come back, probably in June, 2001. Ross Signorino addressed
Council on budgetary issues. Mayor Gonzales adjourned the Study Session at
11:52 p. m.