Record of Services for the 21st Century
Committee-of-the-Whole Meeting
7:30 PM; Tuesday, September 15, 1998
El Cerrito Open House Senior Center

7: 30 pm (about):

Call to order of the Committee-of-the-Whole (CotW) by Co-Chair Thom Stark.

Rich Bartke again volunteered to serve as scribe.

All present introduced themselves.

Agenda was approved.

7:35 pm (about):

Agenda Item 1; Report of Financial Review Team (FRT):

Steve M. announced that the next meeting would be Tuesday, 9/22, at 7:30 pm at The Open House Senior Center.

The FRT has received an update from the City Manager on city salary structure and benefits package..

Two sets of data (Will someone identify on what, pleas, acm) have not yet been received.

Janet A. met with Julie B. , made copies which were given to George A. who will meet with Julie.

Steve M. reported that he is still waiting for the export file of all account numbers and dollar amounts in each from 1992 on and the FY99-2000. estimates.

7:45 pm (about):

Agenda Item 2; Presentation of the Community Services Division by Monica Kortz, Division Manager; (Binders were provided to all attendees)

Monica K. described the various programs offered by the City:

  1. Open House Senior Center serves about 800-1,000 participants and is funded by fees and donations.
  2. Adult Recreation serves about 400-500 individuals per week.
  3. Adult Softball serves about 240 players per season.
  4. Youth Services are for children aged 3 1/2 to 15 years and serve about 1,500 participants.
  5. After School Enrichment serves 200 students and is funded through the Ed Fund.
  6. Youth Recreation is operated by independent contractors and serves about 250-300 youths.
  7. Recreation related jobs and volunteers involve about 150 participants.
  8. Swim Center serves about 2,000 swimmers.
  9. Community Events such as 4th of July, and the Easter Egg Hunt, serve from 50 to 5,000 participants.
  10. Co-sponsorships with community organizations such as Youth Baseball and Soccer
  11. City Facility Rentals
We have a total of about 10,000 participants per year and are fro 70-75% self funded. Maintenance cost ands capital repairs are not funded.

Questions:

Steve M. asked that the FRT be given a listing of functions and what % is covered by fees or donations and what is not self supporting, not counting capital needs.

Monica will provide this information, but cautioned that there is considerable overlap and sharing of tasks among functions.

Brad C. commented that the Capital needs for the Senior Center listed on pps43-44 and for the Child Care listed on pps 57-58 are not being met.

Steve M. noted that, for Special Programs listed on pp28, temporary employees are widely used. Why? Because they pay for themselves.

Steve then asked Why was there an increase in salaries shown on pp29? Monica will get the answer.

Brenda Navallier, Vice Chair of Parks & Recreation Commission (P&RC), and Commissioner Jan Bridges presented information about P&RC actions. Two other Commissioners were present.

  1. The P&RC has held neighborhood meetings and circulated questionnaires to try to find out what the public wants. Items identified are:
  2. There are three parks with clubhouses closed because funds are not available to bring them up to ADA standards.
  3. We have three parks without rest rooms. (Are these the same three?, acm)
  4. Our various partnerships with the community groups are successful, but raise only a few thousand % at a time.
  5. City Staff consistently donates their time to special events.
  6. We have a critical shortage of field space for the 400+ kids in soccer program. Also, the fields are not safe and the parks have hazards.
  7. City has no park maintenance staff, so parents help where they can.
  8. A new game field at Portola Jr. High School site being considered as a joint venture with WCCSD would cost about $750,000. WCCSD has offered to cooperate and contribute the land and about $150,000.
  9. The city tennis courts have been in bad shape for the last 17 years.
  10. The city swim center has become decrepit and is loosing hundreds of gallons of water through plumbing leaks. Swimmers are willing to pay more, but we need about $800,000. The Gators Swim Club have raised $7,000.
  11. WCCSD helps, but may be worse off financially than the city.
The P&RC Vision:
  1. Improve the Swim Center, put a field at Portola, and a gym at Casa Cerrito and users would flock in.
  2. A Teen Center at the Community Center would save vandalism at Cerrito Vista, Huber, and other parks.
  3. Our questionnaire asked how much people would be willing to pay and there was an overwhelming response for $50-100 per year. The respondents see the parks as "community" not "neighborhood" centers and assets.
  4. We believe that continued deferral of required maintenance will soon lead to litigation.
Questions & Comments:

Thom S. offered that 45% of city land is parks or open space. The CotW is not bound by Council's priority list. The P&RC should help the CotW set a priority list.

Rich B. questioned Thom's figure.

P&RC agreed to help set a priority of needs for our parks.

Anne D. asked about retrofitting parks like Huber for use by handicapped. City Manager responded with remarks concerning ADA requirements.

Anne D. requested a listing of the needs and ability to conform for each park before a bond issue proceeds.

Janet A. explained that ADA rules are changing similar to the way safety rules have changed over recent years. City Manager said that community would agree on future of each park.

Steve M. said that park bond money could get diverted because of a law suit or law change. If this happened it would disconnect the voters like the creek restoration project did for the sewer bonds.

Steve M. then asked for better estimates of project costs. Jan B. said we can't get any unless we ask contractors to bid on them. The city staff has provided the best estimates they can.

Larry D. suggested that criteria should be agreed to first, then priority, without regards to cost. He thinks Portola field could not compete with Swim Center for priority.

Britt J. suggests we determine what we could get passed, as parks & streets may use up more than we can ever have available.

Steve M. said we should not subsidize folks from out of town or private school's use of our parks. Jan B. responded that have a higher non-resident charge and that we get lots of help from users from out of town.

Thom S. stated that there are voters that would vote to cut off their own nose to spite their face. Those few (28%) who voted against Measure A, will vote against anything. Since we need 67%, we can't loose more than that 28%

9:40 pm (about):

Agenda Item 3; Discussion of guidelines for minimum acceptable content and format of updated Neighbor-to-Neighbor presentations to CotW.

Thom S. said analysis of numbers from updated Neighbor-to-Neighbor could be done soon by the FRT.

Anne D. questioned if the FRT is getting the numbers it needs to finish and make recommendations.

Steve M. said the FRT still needs more detailed budget info from the Police and Fire Departments. They also need the final numbers for FY97-98. They have good info from Gerry R. and the presenters that followed him. Regarding the tentative Oct 5 deadline, We don't have all the numbers, we haven't heard from Legal Department, so we are not ready.

Future Meetings: The Co-chair group estimates at least 10 more meetings; only a couple more with city staff, as follows:

Thom raised the question of what resources are sustainable and what revenue enhancements do we need?

Peter L. stated that he still has some questions on Redevelopment for Raycraft, Pokorny, and Tierney.

Steve M. stated that he thinks we should have a study session with the Agency members.

Brad C. Asked should we split these discussions? Do capital needs first? Try to put a bond measure on the June ballot and address the operating budget requirements later?

Thom S. said that this could be done, but that it would take several dedicated meetings.

Steve M. stated that capital bonds were less controversial, but wondered if the question of Redevelopment debt would get in the way of consensus. He is also concerned that we do not have accurate estimates on the capital projects to be covered by any bond measure.

Kathy P. said she thinks the public wants to look at a single package.

Sewel G. agreed and stated that since a 2/3 vote is needed, the Council's efforts (to try to get the CotW) to keep to a schedule reduces public confidence in E. C.'s governance.

Larry D. and Brad C. agreed. Doing a good job is more important.

Britt J. stated that bonds not in place by August wait until next FY; could be a special election in June.

Steve M. believes Council candidates should run on the bond issue.

Thom S. said this will be on the next agenda.

Meeting was adjourned at about 10:10 PM

Note; The binder mentioned will be attached to the hard copy version of the final minutes when they are distributed to the Library, Senior Center, and Community Center.

List of Attendees signed in at 9/15 meeting of the Services for the 21st Century Committee-of-the-Whole.

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