CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION
PROPOSED 2003-2004 OPERATING BUDGET
May 14, 2003
PRESENT: Council Members Campos, Chavez, Cortese, Dando, Gregory, LeZotte, Reed, Williams, Yeager; Gonzales.
ABSENT: Council Members – Chirco (excused).
STAFF: City Manager Del D. Borgsdorf, City
Attorney Richard Doyle, Assistant City Manager Mark Linder, Budget Director
Larry D. Lisenbee, Assistant Budget Director Jennifer Maguire, Mayor’s Budget
and Policy Director Joe Guerra, Mayor’s Budget and Policy Assistant Julie Shioshita,
Assistant City Clerk Nancy Alford, and Legislative Secretary Evonne Wilson
The meeting was called to order at 8:10 a.m. in Council
Chambers, City Hall, to continue the review of the Proposed Operating Budget
for Fiscal Year 2003-2004.
PROPOSED 2003-2004 OPERATING BUDGET (Continued)
Documents Filed: Hard copies of the Staff
slide presentation on the Recreation and Cultural Services CSA for Parks,
Recreation and Neighborhood Services, Library, and Conventions, Arts and
Entertainment.
Economic and Neighborhood
Development CSA (Continued from 5/12/03.)
Planning, Building and Code Enforcement Department
Mayor Gonzales referred to page VII-28 and requested Staff
review the number of market rate housing units submitted and stated his concern
was that the numbers provided were too low and directed Staff to ensure the
City continues to work closely with the development community to further
increase housing in San José.
Referring to VII-31, Mayor Gonzales referenced the
percentage of the community who stated they felt safe walking in their
neighborhoods in the day and night and noted the numbers are too low. He
directed Staff review the percentages again, as well as the target percentage
of community response to the neighborhood surveys commenting that the target
rates of 36% and 60% were too low and needed to be reviewed.
Mayor Gonzales referred to Page 467 requesting Staff review
General Plan fees for cost recovery.
Mayor Gonzales referred to page 479 and referenced the issue
of budget cuts affecting the response time to graffiti complaints and the
possible impact they may have on the graffiti program. Mayor Gonzales directed
Staff to closely monitor the issue throughout the year to ensure the success of
the graffiti program.
Mayor Gonzales expressed concern that the level of
participation in neighborhood clean ups was dropping and he wanted Staff to
monitor it and to ensure there was enough publicity.
Council Member Chavez requested Staff provide Council with a
list of positions the Redevelopment Agency will not be funded in their
2003-2004 budget.
Vice Mayor Dando requested Staff provide a total cost of
bulding permit fees paid to the City for a single family home versus a
condominium, questioning the total cost added to the home and referred to her
concerns regarding the budget cuts possibly affecting Code Enforcement.
Vice Mayor Dando directed Staff provide to Council a copy of
the Neighborhood Cleanup Audit sorted per Council district.
Council Member Gregory referred to page 475 and referenced
the issue and his concerns regarding budget cuts eliminating neighborhood
driveway team cleanups in SNI neighborhoods and directed Staff keep the issues
of seen blight, unseen blight, and health hazards that affect SNI neighborhoods
in consideration.
Council Member Williams referred to an issue concerning
Staff’s procedures for handling land use requests for industrial properties and
directed Staff evaluate their procedure to handle requests more efficiently.
Public Works Department
Mayor Gonzales suggested that Staff review the history of
compliance pertaining to contractors.
Redevelopment Agency
Council Member LeZotte referred to page 576 and requested
Staff provide to Council the amount of money spent by the Redevelopment Agency
and how the money has been used to fulfill the four priority core services.
Economic Neighborhood Development CSA City-Wide Expenses
No Questions.
CSA State Budget Contingency Plan
No Questions.
Recreation and Cultural Services
CSA
Team leader Jane Light, Library Director, used a slide
presentation to review the Mission of the Recreation and Cultural Services CSA,
and the Major Outcomes of the CSA for the 2003-2004 Operating Budget. Acting
Director of Conventions, Arts and Entertainment Jim McBride presented the
2003-2004 Budget Strategy for the Recreation and Cultural Services CSA.
Council Member LeZotte referred to page 5 of the Recreation
and Cultural Service CSA presentation and requested Staff provide Council with
the amount of acreage available per Council district in regards to new
parkland.
Open Forum
(1)
Ian Morris spoke in support of the Wildlife Center of Silicon
Valley funding issues.
(2)
Dina K. Hawkins spoke on funding issues.
(3)
Janet Alexander spoke on Parks and Recreation issues.
(4)
Joan Giampaolo spoke on budgetary impacts on funding for
non-profit services.
(5)
Trudi Burney spoke on budget issues.
Mayor Gonzales gave an update pertaining to the Governor of
California’s budget message, stating the budget deficit was estimated at $38.2
Billion and the Governor and State Legislature are currently working on ways to
deal with that deficit. He stated the City of San José will continue to work
with the State Legislature to resolve the City’s budgetary deficit and continue
to make an effort to continue the existing development plans with the City and
the Community of San José.
The Council recessed the Operating Budget Study Session at
11:58 a.m. to meet again on Thursday, May 15, 2003, at 8:00 a.m., Council
Chambers, City Hall.