Regular City Council Meeting February 2, 2021

0:02:51Holly, I have a question.

0:02:54Yes, sir.

0:02:55Is this going to be on the radio on 88 point one?

0:02:59Yes, it should be broadcast on Comcast and on the radio

0:03:04and on our website.

0:03:05Our website.

0:03:06OK, thank you.

0:03:08You're welcome.

0:03:32Yes Holly.

0:03:43So I had to play back from the live feed

0:03:45and I thought, gapa is asking me a question again,

0:03:48so no worries.

0:03:49When I mentioned that when I mentioned the interviews,

0:03:53have you not?

0:03:53If I saw a lot of emails you notified or should I?

0:03:58I believe I believe most of them.

0:04:00I think there's one or two, I think that we're still working

0:04:03through because there are so many variables

0:04:05to each notification that the majority of them have been

0:04:08and that are the same.

0:04:11Yeah, and the information is posted online as well.

0:04:16So it's already posted online.

0:04:18Correct OK, Thanks.

0:04:20You're welcome.

0:04:26And I see you've got a list.

0:04:31Yes, that is new.

0:04:33I'm going to start doing that after all of the meetings where

0:04:36you guys make appointments that know, the other chart, again,

0:04:40that was a great.

0:04:43You know, you just put all those together,

0:04:45and that's basically your chart, isn't it?

0:04:48If I just filled in the blanks based on what actions you

0:04:52guys took last night.

0:05:33Pilot, in case anybody asks for me, I need to run upstairs,

0:05:36I left my city's phone on my desk upstairs.

0:05:39I will be right back, ok?

0:05:40OK, thank you.

0:05:49Yes all right.

0:07:05OK, and back, OK.

0:07:14So well.

0:08:31OK OK, anybody there?

0:08:39Yes, I can't remember.

0:08:40But then we can hear and see you.

0:08:41OK, the screen is kind of mostly gray.

0:08:45That's because no one has their cameras.

0:08:47I'm currently.

0:08:48OK OK, thanks, Derek.

0:08:51I think I'm OK.

0:08:55Thank you.

0:08:55Thank you once again.

0:08:56OK, bye bye.

0:09:40Is anybody oh, Gabe.

0:09:43Do you have the can you hear me?

0:09:45Yes, I do.

0:09:46Do you have my phone number?

0:09:49Yeah, I will.

0:09:51I texted to you.

0:09:54OK, all right.

0:09:55Yeah, great.

0:09:59I can't remember mohtarma, and it

0:10:02could affect thank you so much.

0:10:06Not sure what happened, I'm glad when you looked back in it,

0:10:09it fixed whenever the she was so yeah, I

0:10:12tried to log in without downloading the software,

0:10:15so I know, OK.

0:10:23Hello, Mr Mayor.

0:10:25Hello, everybody.

0:10:27Hi, Lisa.

0:10:27Hi, Janet.

0:10:28I said Hi to Gabriel, huh?

0:10:32It's been so long.

0:10:34Yeah yesterday.

0:10:35Right you do it.

0:10:40I thought I had it.

0:10:42I don't.

0:10:43I'm sorry.

0:10:44I'm I don't have that, you have much more on these phone

0:10:52numbers.

0:10:56I can take that to you, can I have it?

0:10:59OK, thank you, Ali.

0:11:56Thank you.

0:11:57All right, Lisa icaza.

0:12:06Hello, this guy, nice guy.

0:12:12Hey, good evening, everyone.

0:12:14How are you?

0:12:20Well, it's being castroville there.

0:12:25Usually wearing a nice tie, but that

0:12:27looks good, that looks good as well.

0:12:32To me, Yeah.

0:12:34Never on the Zoom.

0:12:36That's not true, like twice on Zoom.

0:12:40It just seems like too much.

0:12:42But how are you?

0:12:43Before I have done a couple of lawyering, things like, OK,

0:12:47that is crazy as it seems they're going to put all

0:12:49the time that I just took the data, run at the born again,

0:13:01that I haven't.

0:13:03Oh, I like your yellow background, Lisa.

0:13:08Your wall looks nice.

0:13:10Oh, thank you.

0:13:11Color is good.

0:13:12Do you like my sleeping bag on my your bunk bed.

0:13:19Yeah you make it sound.

0:13:22So nice.

0:13:24Sky, you've been good this year.

0:13:26So far.

0:13:28I have.

0:13:29Everything's been fine.

0:13:32And then OK, you know.

0:13:34OK, Yeah.

0:13:35We've all been I feel like is like, OK.

0:13:38Right is anybody.

0:13:40Yeah Yeah.

0:13:42How about you.

0:13:44Is it good for anybody.

0:13:45That's going to be my answer here.

0:13:47Yeah it's getting, I'm getting tired of all of it you know.

0:13:52It's getting.

0:13:55Yeah, I think everyone is.

0:13:57But if, if the coffee shop, the vaccine can come to my CVS

0:14:03down there on San Pablo avenue, I'll

0:14:05be a happier person that I want all my fellow council members

0:14:11to get vaccinated so that we can ultimately

0:14:14get back into chambers.

0:14:15That would be great.

0:14:16So we can party.

0:14:17Yeah Yeah.

0:14:19Good vaccine first.

0:14:24Yeah, you guys haven't even been right on the diet yet.

0:14:29Yeah see I still visualize that I'm

0:14:32going to be going down there.

0:14:33I may have to go now.

0:14:35I'm not going to.

0:14:52And around, I just sent her a text

0:14:59checking in with her because I still

0:15:01don't see her on the call.

0:15:03OK Because if she doesn't have any staff in there,

0:15:10she has probably.

0:15:18And Hello to everyone watching, looking at the attendee list.

0:15:22Thank you guys for showing up.

0:15:44So holly, if we had go here.

0:16:04Yes, I just upgraded can I believe

0:16:07she says she's on a camera yet, but I do believe she's with us.

0:16:11There we go.

0:16:12OK, so we have everyone.

0:16:13We are ready to start when you are mayor.

0:16:15Thank you very much.

0:16:16Hello, everyone.

0:16:18That's February 2nd.

0:16:19Regular meeting of balestrero city council

0:16:21will come to order.

0:16:23And it is seven hour, 1:00 PM.

0:16:26Clerk read the roll, man the here Potemkin to hear.

0:16:34Council member Anderson, council member

0:16:38mohtarma year council member, budnick, we have a acquired.

0:16:44Great, before we proceed, I just want

0:16:47to mention the special council meeting,

0:16:49we held yesterday, the city council met 4, 3, 2 four hours.

0:16:53And we interviewed 14 candidates for commissions and committees

0:16:58and made those assignments.

0:17:00Most of them should have been notified by now,

0:17:02but most of the information is on our website

0:17:05for the new consoles and commissions,

0:17:08and we thank them for volunteering their time.

0:17:12Can we have information about the teleconference and public

0:17:15comment, of the please.

0:17:17Thank you, mayor.

0:17:19The city council members and staff who are participating

0:17:21as panelists, please remember to keep your microphones muted

0:17:24whenever you are not speaking for all participants

0:17:27on the call today, except for direct chat to the hosts

0:17:29for technical questions, the chat feature has been

0:17:32disabled if you wish to speak.

0:17:34Please use the hand icon to raise your hand.

0:17:37This icon is found on the participant panel.

0:17:39If you cannot locate the icon, please refer

0:17:42to the document linked on page one of the agenda

0:17:44for the Raise Hand feature.

0:17:46Please note this feature is not available for those calling

0:17:49NBFC.

0:17:50Only three members of the public who

0:17:52wish to provide oral testimony today that you will announce

0:17:55the time to raise your hand and request to speak

0:17:58for each applicable item.

0:18:00If a member of the public has joined by phone,

0:18:02only a request to speak, can be submitted to city clerk at Ci

0:18:07that L dash subito that seet us.

0:18:12The email must contained in the subject line request

0:18:15to speak, followed by the agenda item number

0:18:18and provide a name and phone number that is used to call

0:18:20in identification purposes.

0:18:23Written comments received by the posted deadline of four

0:18:25PM today have been provided to the city council

0:18:28and posted online with supplemental materials.

0:18:31Any written comments submitted after the deadline will

0:18:34be provided to the city council and included

0:18:36in supplemental materials posted after the meeting.

0:18:39No written comments will be read into the record

0:18:41and will be ready to move on to the next item.

0:18:45Thank you.

0:18:45Next item is staff and council communications.

0:18:48Is there any communication from city staff?

0:18:56Karen, hello, sorry, I'm having some technical difficulties.

0:19:02There, I think, your honor, I'm Karen Pinkus,

0:19:05I'm the city manager, I just wanted to do a quick update

0:19:09on our local emergency.

0:19:11As we have been, we have been moved to the purple tier

0:19:16as the rest of Contra Costa County.

0:19:19However, that is still while that

0:19:21is still pretty restrictive, things like outdoor dining

0:19:25can resume.

0:19:27I'm excited to get my hair done tomorrow.

0:19:30And so we do have some we do have some a little bit of life

0:19:36that's there.

0:19:37I do want to be able to I'm still

0:19:40having trouble with my video.

0:19:41Sorry I think everyone can still hear me.

0:19:44Yes so at least you can hear me.

0:19:47We we do have.

0:19:49I know that there's been a lot of questions

0:19:50about vaccinations.

0:19:52The county has somewhat gone back

0:19:53and forth on some of the requirements based on supplies.

0:19:58So from what we've the most recent thing

0:20:01that we've been told is just continue to try to sign up.

0:20:05There is a county questionnaire that you can fill

0:20:08out to get on their waitlist.

0:20:10There's also a state questionnaire.

0:20:12And so we do have all of these links on our website just

0:20:14to let everyone know.

0:20:16And again, I just want to encourage everyone

0:20:19to stay safe and stay healthy, even though people are getting

0:20:22vaccinated, even though we're starting

0:20:24to relax some of the restrictions, we are not,

0:20:27by any means out of danger.

0:20:28So I encourage people to continue

0:20:30to follow Justin protocols, wear a mask,

0:20:33do as much outside as you can.

0:20:36Thank you.

0:20:37With that, your honor, I'm doing.

0:20:40Thank you.

0:20:41Any council comments?

0:20:44I have a continuation of what the study

0:20:47manager was talking about, the beginnings of a vaccine.

0:20:52I just like a half an hour ago, I got a notice that I

0:21:00was ready to be scheduled.

0:21:04And what I found out because I called somebody and asked them

0:21:09is that their first, they would only

0:21:13do people who were 75 or older, but

0:21:16they're now doing 60 five, 74.

0:21:20So that which for me personally means I'm

0:21:23eligible to actually get a vaccine.

0:21:26And I'm planning on doing it.

0:21:29I don't know the whole.

0:21:31Rigamarole about it, because they haven't done it

0:21:33yet that I'm happy to report.

0:21:35I think it's very important that anybody who

0:21:40is in a category where they can get a vaccine go ahead

0:21:43and get it, because it's part of the it's

0:21:47one of the really major parts of how we conquer this epidemic.

0:21:53So that's another very exciting, though.

0:21:57Congratulations any other comments from council members

0:22:00similar to ama?

0:22:02Thank you, mayor.

0:22:04I just wanted to let the public know

0:22:07that I had my interview with the state auditor, which

0:22:10I'm sure many of you also did.

0:22:12And just to give the heads up that the audit is still

0:22:16in process and that that will have some comments

0:22:20and that will be about how our budget should work.

0:22:23And some recommendations.

0:22:25And I just want to give that heads up to the public

0:22:27that it's forthcoming in the next few months.

0:22:31And that should be a helpful document for all of us.

0:22:34Thank you.

0:22:35Thank you for that, Kate quintel.

0:22:37Do you have any comments?

0:22:40Yes, thank you, mayor.

0:22:41I wanted to also echo what my colleague Lisa just mentioned.

0:22:47I had my interview last Friday.

0:22:51And we spoke and I was asked many questions,

0:22:57lasted for an hour.

0:22:59And I appreciate the interview.

0:23:03And I'm not sure if my colleagues here right

0:23:07now have all been interviewed yet,

0:23:09but it was a good, honest talk.

0:23:14Ask me questions.

0:23:16And so I'm told that they will reach out to us

0:23:22probably in March sometime.

0:23:25And and we'll keep this dialogue open

0:23:28and we will deal with the changes that will be made.

0:23:35Mayor, I have some meetings that I attended.

0:23:38Is there.

0:23:38OK to do.

0:23:41OK, thank you.

0:23:42I did attend the new mayors and council members.

0:23:48It was a talk last week.

0:23:52And it was a very informal meeting as chair of the EPA

0:23:57division of Cal cities.

0:24:00We welcomed many of the new members that believe

0:24:03you were there, Paul, as well.

0:24:04So great to have you there.

0:24:06Great to have my colleagues, Lisa and Tessa there as well.

0:24:12And it was announced that I was just

0:24:16appointed to one of the statewide boards for Cal city

0:24:22statewide.

0:24:23And so that's I believe that's the first time

0:24:27anyone in El Salvador has been appointed on that position.

0:24:32So we are blessed to have Cindy Silva, who is first vice

0:24:38president for katsidis, which represents

0:24:43a 482 cities in California.

0:24:46So I look forward to working with all 482 cities.

0:24:51And I know that they're going through the same situation.

0:24:54And difficulties as El cerrito is experiencing right now.

0:24:59So we're all in this together.

0:25:01And we look forward to working with our legislators

0:25:04in California, our partners on the Senate and the Assembly.

0:25:10We did have an EPA division meeting last Thursday evening,

0:25:15and I'll have the mayor speak on that.

0:25:18And he is our delegate.

0:25:20And that was the first meeting that I chaired this year.

0:25:23And usually they would have the visit of the different cities

0:25:30and they would split that up because of COVID.

0:25:34I'll be meeting the different councils and mayors

0:25:37and city managers of assume and do that, then.

0:25:42And I'm saving money on laundering and gas.

0:25:46So I don't mind that.

0:25:48I did have a meeting with the hazardous materials commission

0:25:51and we are recommending many things to make sure

0:25:57that the county is dealing with climate change and the things

0:26:01that we need to do with transportation

0:26:04in the future to make sure our rails and roads are safe.

0:26:09And the materials that are shipped through our ports here

0:26:14and in the northern shoreline and in Richmond

0:26:18are done in a safe way.

0:26:20We know that rail is on the coast and right on the water

0:26:24there.

0:26:24And changes need to be made.

0:26:26And we look forward and working with rail on the federal level.

0:26:31And their lobbyists, and we will give our recommendations

0:26:37and it will be voted to and the recommendations will be voted

0:26:42by the board of supervisors.

0:26:44So and that's it.

0:26:46So thank you, mayor.

0:26:48Thank you.

0:26:49Council member rubberneck.

0:26:54Have anything to share?

0:26:55OK, I have a couple of things I did attend.

0:26:58I think Gabriel mentioned the things that I attended.

0:27:02Also Cal city and the mayor's conference and the East Bay

0:27:07legislators kick off and they basically

0:27:10talked about the great challenge ahead

0:27:12that we have in Sacramento this year

0:27:14and talked about Lisa and Tessa.

0:27:16We're also there about the challenge

0:27:19that we have at the local level.

0:27:21I also attended the West county mayors

0:27:24meeting a monthly meeting, and we brought up

0:27:27a variety of topics, including hospitals

0:27:29and made again for hospitals, COVID and the need

0:27:33to keep and maintain our restaurants.

0:27:36I'm happy to report today that the Board of Supervisors

0:27:39did pass unanimously a limit on the delivery

0:27:42fees for restaurants.

0:27:44So that they can capture more money

0:27:46and keep more money in our Chamber of Commerce.

0:27:49And this mare wrote a letter in support of that.

0:27:52So we were glad to see a unanimous decision.

0:27:55Moving forward, we need to keep our restaurants

0:27:57in El Reno and everywhere else.

0:28:00Any other comments, janet?

0:28:01Yes yes.

0:28:03I just wondered, what's the next excuse me?

0:28:07The maximum will be 15 percent, 15.

0:28:11Last until we're 100% able to occupy restaurants internally.

0:28:16100% And the board can come back if there's a concern

0:28:19and readjust that Walnut Creek Danville

0:28:22mafia had already have it.

0:28:24They won't impact their ordinance.

0:28:27But now the whole county has at that ordinance

0:28:29should be drafted.

0:28:30So so our restaurants are in need

0:28:33and they talk to me personally about making a profit,

0:28:36keeping a profit.

0:28:37And I think Grubhub and others have charged with the maximum

0:28:41that they can.

0:28:41So we're happy about that.

0:28:45I'd like to move on now to the oral communications

0:28:47from the public.

0:28:48At this time, many members of the public

0:28:50who wish to provide public comment

0:28:53regarding matters not on the agenda

0:28:56can send items and presentation.

0:28:58I should use to raise the hand feature to request to speak.

0:29:03And I like to ask the city clerk to proceed.

0:29:07Thank you, mayor.

0:29:09Members of the public, an opportunity

0:29:11to raise their hand.

0:29:12I will show that the public comments that the written

0:29:15public comments received by 4:00 PM today

0:29:18were posted online and provided directly to the city council

0:29:20members and for consent and consent items and items

0:29:24not on the agenda.

0:29:25We did receive comments from cordele Handler

0:29:27Gary post and Kathy henzell.

0:29:30And at this time, I see about forehands for public comment.

0:29:35Now, if you could please confirm the 3 minute time limit.

0:29:38Yes, three minutes.

0:29:40Thank you, sir.

0:29:41I will go to our first speaker, which is Miguel gravelle.

0:29:45Miguel, you are needed now and can begin your time.

0:29:50Thank you.

0:29:51City council.

0:29:52I'm here to speak with regards to our recreation department.

0:29:58I believe that any further reductions

0:30:01to our rec department would further reduce

0:30:03equity in our city of ossorio.

0:30:06My first point is that the rec department is

0:30:08a preventative public safety system,

0:30:11and it helps prevent crime by just

0:30:13keeping folks out of trouble.

0:30:15The second point is that our rec department is

0:30:17a preventative public health system,

0:30:19as well as it keeps people healthy to prevent

0:30:23costly health issues that could put people on the street, which

0:30:26is a problem.

0:30:27I've seen on next door, people complaining about a lot.

0:30:31Third, our recreation department is a preventative

0:30:34to housing insecurity that prevents folks from being

0:30:37without permanent housing.

0:30:40By employing hard working wage earners

0:30:42who are a paycheck or two away from not making rent.

0:30:47In conclusion, I ask you to please cut the police budget

0:30:51rather than our budget as the police react to crime,

0:30:55react to health issues and react to homelessness or helplessness

0:31:00by kicking folks out of our community.

0:31:02Whereas on the other hand, I ask you to please spare and perhaps

0:31:07increase our recreation budget as it helps prevent crime,

0:31:11prevent health issues and prevent homelessness or house

0:31:15business within our community.

0:31:17Thank you for your time.

0:31:19Thank you.

0:31:22Our next speaker is me seen show.

0:31:25You are admitted and can begin in your time now.

0:31:29All right.

0:31:30Can you hear guys hear me?

0:31:32That's nice.

0:31:33All right.

0:31:33Awesome first of all, I just want to acknowledge Tessa

0:31:37for being awesome, connecting me with somebody

0:31:39from the community.

0:31:41And I was going to walk on the senior store,

0:31:43which was awesome because of what I said a few weeks ago.

0:31:46So I just love the fact that the community can be like this.

0:31:49And so thank you, Tessa, for being outstanding like that,

0:31:52connecting some citizens in a meaningful way.

0:31:55And I just want to back up again,

0:31:56guys that like this emotional, social, emotional task force.

0:32:00One of my friends who's a PhD in the mental health community,

0:32:04she said, we should say mental health

0:32:06task force might be a better thing for us

0:32:09to kind of organize.

0:32:11And I do want to call out anybody

0:32:12else who wants to come join.

0:32:15With that being said, I also want to bring to light

0:32:18what's going on in India.

0:32:19I just hope being Indian myself, I know how many Indian people

0:32:22are in this community.

0:32:24I'm really troubled.

0:32:26There's been censorship by the Indian government, which

0:32:28is supposedly the largest democracy in the world,

0:32:31but they've been censoring and doing human rights

0:32:33violations on farmers.

0:32:35So I just implore everybody here,

0:32:37the elected officials, check out with you just research.

0:32:40I always say, don't trust any one source.

0:32:43Look at everything, especially people

0:32:45on the ground, as Howard Zinn taught us, which is, you know,

0:32:48listen to people's stories.

0:32:49So we're on the ground.

0:32:50And I know it's for the farmers.

0:32:52And I just want to make a really quick connection

0:32:53to the mental health and also something we could do maybe

0:32:56to raise money for the community through some sort of activity.

0:32:59I do see a connection between what's

0:33:02going on the farmers in India.

0:33:03And what farmers here in America are experiencing.

0:33:06And that connects to our food deserts and our food crisis

0:33:10here and the expense of how expensive fruits and vegetables

0:33:13are, which is insane, because we have so much land,

0:33:17but it's not used well.

0:33:18And we have farm workers who are abused

0:33:20and we have illegal immigrants who are

0:33:22abused and not their families.

0:33:23So there's a lot of connections to what's going to India here

0:33:26and how corporate greed, corporate toxicity, I would

0:33:29say, has kind of like really polluted our waters literally

0:33:34and polluted our farmlands here in America

0:33:36and how maybe we can help raise money for the city

0:33:39while improving mental health.

0:33:40Maybe we can do some celebration of farmers

0:33:42and that would be a way to help through mental health stuff.

0:33:44And we have music and free farmer's market here.

0:33:47And we could bring in I mean, there's a lot of cool things

0:33:49we could do to celebrate farmers, give

0:33:52free food and health, and maybe even

0:33:53tips on how to be healthier.

0:33:55I would like prevent getting the virus like, you know,

0:33:57improving your immune system through diet, through.

0:34:01There's so many cool things we could do.

0:34:03But I really want to continue advocating for this task force

0:34:06because I don't have the answers.

0:34:08I would love to include older folks, young folks,

0:34:10artists, engineers, therapists.

0:34:13We've got to come together a little bit.

0:34:15And indigenous folks, if there's people in the community who

0:34:18have indigenous knowledge, you know, and the technologies to,

0:34:22you know, we can work together, I believe.

0:34:24And this is the time to do it.

0:34:26If there's any time, then now it's when people we need it.

0:34:29It's a crisis.

0:34:30Right and we could do amazing things in a crisis.

0:34:32Thank you, guys.

0:34:34Thank you.

0:34:37And next week, I say, drobny, show you and me

0:34:40dating can begin your time out.

0:34:42OK, Thanks.

0:34:43Hello, everybody.

0:34:45I just want to say thank you to the last two speakers.

0:34:48I really enjoyed hearing both the comments from both of them.

0:34:52And what I want to say is somewhat related, although it

0:34:55may not seem that way.

0:34:56But the platform that we're using for the city council

0:34:59meetings, the web platform, I know that it

0:35:02could be altered in a way.

0:35:05So that we can actually see the attendees

0:35:08and know who in the community is involved.

0:35:12It's really alienating to have the meetings run like this.

0:35:18I've been in other meetings that are with this platform.

0:35:22And they're really quite different.

0:35:23And they bring people together more so

0:35:27in a time of COVID isolation.

0:35:31I'm glad that you're doing the people's business,

0:35:33but I think there's a way you can be more

0:35:36community centered in doing it.

0:35:38And I hope that you might.

0:35:39And I don't think it's going to cost you any money.

0:35:42So I'm hoping maybe you might consider changing

0:35:47the settings on your platform.

0:35:49So that we know how many attendees

0:35:51are at the meeting, who they are,

0:35:53even have them in the framework, if we want.

0:35:57So just is something to consider.

0:35:58Thank you.

0:35:59Thank you for sharing.

0:36:02And next, because Howdy Doody didn't begin your time now,

0:36:09thank you, three council members.

0:36:11My name is Howdy Doody.

0:36:12I live in those three.

0:36:13Do I just wanted to recognize item for on the Senate

0:36:22calendar, the reinstatement or appointment

0:36:26to the Climate Action subcommittee of the council.

0:36:30I appreciate that happening.

0:36:33And I look forward to that subcommittee

0:36:37meeting and returning to council with recommendations.

0:36:42And I hope you will do.

0:36:43So rather swiftly.

0:36:45It's been a long time since our climate emergency declaration

0:36:49was adopted in August of 2019 and we really

0:36:53need to show some commitment and action on climate conditions.

0:37:02And you know, that meeting, there

0:37:05was a lot of very heartfelt and, you know,

0:37:10very passionate comments from council

0:37:14members at that meeting.

0:37:15And it was it was very heartening to hear.

0:37:19But, you know, that rings kind of hollow when there's

0:37:22no action to follow it up.

0:37:24So I really am looking forward to seeing

0:37:29some recommendations come from the Climate

0:37:32Action subcommittee.

0:37:32So thank you for moving that forward.

0:37:35And please bring your report back to council

0:37:37as soon as possible.

0:37:39Thank you.

0:37:40Thank you.

0:37:42The next speaker is making we're making do.

0:37:46And we did.

0:37:46And can begin your time now.

0:37:49Thanks Thanks so much for the opportunity

0:37:52to speak this evening.

0:37:53I'm a resident of ulcerate when I'm speaking to the agenda item

0:37:58seven regarding the budget reductions

0:38:01and really just wanted to weigh in

0:38:03that any reductions to the recreation department

0:38:05are really deeply felt by families.

0:38:07And also, you know, I've lived in Sweden

0:38:10now for over a decade.

0:38:11And my partner and I are raising two kids here,

0:38:13one in elementary school and another starting kindergarten

0:38:16this fall.

0:38:17And for us and for many other families,

0:38:19we know the recreation department truly

0:38:21serves as a critical hub for our community, providing engaging

0:38:24and fun and affordable summer camps before and after care

0:38:27when school is in session, fun and celebratory community

0:38:31activities and services year round

0:38:33while working to make them accessible to residents

0:38:35of all backgrounds and income levels.

0:38:38These connections are increasingly critical as we

0:38:40work to collectively address the many crises facing

0:38:43our communities that were discussed at the beginning

0:38:47of this meeting.

0:38:48And during the pandemic.

0:38:50The recreation department has also provided incredible safety

0:38:53oriented care.

0:38:54So that our daughter can attend school remotely and that

0:38:57my husband and I can continue to do our jobs.

0:39:00The staff at the recreation department are truly top notch.

0:39:04I'm sure you're all well aware of that.

0:39:06And I am just consistently blown away

0:39:08and grateful by their professionalism,

0:39:10conscientiousness and dedication to the health, safety

0:39:13and happiness of our children.

0:39:15I know we're in challenging times were difficult decisions

0:39:18are being made, I hope you will consider

0:39:20the immediate and lasting benefits of the recreation

0:39:23department for the physical and mental health and safety

0:39:26of our kids, for our families and for the larger

0:39:29community and austereo and making these decisions

0:39:32and do what you can to keep these invaluable services

0:39:35intact while supporting the continued employment

0:39:38of essential workers.

0:39:40Thank you.

0:39:42And I just want to say that for others that might want

0:39:45to comment on that, we do you can comment

0:39:48in the context of that item number

0:39:50seven policy matters when we have public comment that time.

0:39:57We do have one more public speaker,

0:39:59Leslie Adams, firstly, you were unmute and can

0:40:01be taking your time now.

0:40:04Hey there.

0:40:05Good evening.

0:40:07I was going to comment on the seven as well,

0:40:10but I'll wait till later.

0:40:13Right and I also want to welcome our new council members.

0:40:17And congratulations to the mayor.

0:40:20Thank you.

0:40:22Thank you very much.

0:40:24That does conclude our request to speak at this time.

0:40:27Great, thank you all.

0:40:28Thank you all for coming and commenting.

0:40:31I'd like to move on to the adoption

0:40:33of the consent calendar.

0:40:35Let me read those items for consideration.

0:40:41We have on the consent calendar black History

0:40:46Month proclamation.

0:40:49We have the.

0:40:53Lunar new year proclamation.

0:40:55Lots of good celebrations this month.

0:40:58As Howard, he mentioned, we have a modification

0:41:00to the Climate Action subcommittee assignment

0:41:03having with Janet Olson and Tessa Rudnick being part

0:41:07of that subcommittee, we have the second reading

0:41:10of the adoption of our ordinance dealing

0:41:12with our rules of water, which we discussed with a couple.

0:41:18Council meetings, we have the urban forest committee

0:41:21reapportioned reappointment of Robin Mitchell,

0:41:25and here's to Robin Mitchell, who is a nurturer

0:41:28and nurtures our city.

0:41:30Thank you, robin, for all that you do.

0:41:32And then we have the adoption of a resolution

0:41:34to set urban forest committee term limits

0:41:37to three terms instead of two.

0:41:40Do I have anyone that might want to pull an item

0:41:44or do I hear a motion?

0:41:46I'd like to move adoption of the consent calendar

0:41:50a, b, c, d, E and F second and move

0:41:57by Mayor pro tem Gabe Pinto and seconded by Janet abels.

0:42:02Then call the roll.

0:42:05Man, fidele, I may I put encanto,

0:42:09I can't remember apison, I can't remember motorama,

0:42:14I can't remember ribbeck.

0:42:16I mentioned keris.

0:42:19Thank you very much.

0:42:20We have no presentations today, no public hearings,

0:42:26and we move on to our policy matters.

0:42:30This is the adoption of our general fund budget

0:42:34update for December 20 '20.

0:42:37We're going to receive an update on the city general fund

0:42:40revenues and expenses for fiscal year 2021 through December 20

0:42:45'20 and direct staff on mid-year budget modifications

0:42:50for the fiscal year.

0:42:522021 adopted budget.

0:42:55Can we have a report from our staff, please?

0:43:01Yes, your honor, I will queue up.

0:43:04Presentation all right.

0:43:16All right, thank you very much.

0:43:17Again, I'm Karen Pinkus, I'm the city manager.

0:43:19I'm here with our finance director, mark grossetête.

0:43:23And we will be presenting to you tonight a general fund update,

0:43:26which will include the monthly reports that are

0:43:28through the end of December.

0:43:32This is meant to be a study session that we'll

0:43:37go over a little bit of review to where we were and do what we

0:43:42will propose for mid-year budget modifications

0:43:45that we will bring to you at the next meeting.

0:43:48So just to go over, I'm going to start just with a little bit

0:43:52of review, certainly for the benefit of the new council

0:43:55members, as well as some of the public and the actions

0:43:58that we have taken to date.

0:44:01I'm going to review a bit of the general fund

0:44:03balanced forecasts that we had put

0:44:06presented in the last budget.

0:44:08But we do have some updates.

0:44:09Thanks to our upcoming comprehensive

0:44:12annual financial report.

0:44:15We will go over the monthly reports.

0:44:16Will go over those with you.

0:44:18And those are attachments 1 to 3 in your packets.

0:44:23Then I would like to go over what our proposed budget

0:44:27adjustments that we will bring to you at the next February

0:44:3216th council meeting.

0:44:33And those are shown in attachment form and then

0:44:37to have a discussion in any direction of the city council

0:44:40from that point.

0:44:43So here is just a bit of a review as to where we've gotten

0:44:46so far, the fiscal year 2020 when

0:44:49amended budget, the baseline, if you recall, this is

0:44:54the conversation for this year's budget,

0:44:56began way back in February, this of 2020.

0:45:00So a year ago.

0:45:02Seems like forever ago, but it's one year ago,

0:45:05where we had a conversation.

0:45:07We actually a year ago yesterday had a town hall

0:45:10meeting with the community.

0:45:12The state auditor's report had placed Wall

0:45:16Street on the high risk list.

0:45:18And as we were projecting our baseline budget for this year,

0:45:22we recognized that we needed to make reductions right away.

0:45:26This was, again, pre COVID, the projected general

0:45:30fund revenues at that time.

0:45:32As you see, there were 42.7 million.

0:45:35And for revenues and expenditures of 42.6 million.

0:45:40So based on our financial position and then a month

0:45:42later, we're coming up on the year

0:45:44anniversary of our local emergency,

0:45:46which I will never forget.

0:45:48It was Friday, March 13th, 20 20, Friday the 13th.

0:45:52We will be in the local emergency for one year.

0:45:55And I fully expect that will remain status quo until then,

0:45:59unless a miracle happens based on our financial position

0:46:03prior to coordinate.

0:46:04And then what ended up happening with COVID in April 2020 staff

0:46:10presented city council with expenditure

0:46:12reductions of $4 million to that projected budget.

0:46:16At that time, the city council directed staff to prepare

0:46:19a one year proposed budget.

0:46:22In the previous budget cycles, we

0:46:24did a two year biennial budget.

0:46:26This we decided to do a one year budget

0:46:28and will likely do another one year budget next year

0:46:32because of the volatility and uncertainty in the economy

0:46:36and with our revenues and expenditures

0:46:38and just complete unprecedented with the unprecedented impacts

0:46:47because of covid-19.

0:46:49So in June, on June 16th, the city council

0:46:53adopted a preliminary budget, which was the starting point

0:46:57for what we ended up amending in October for the fiscal year,

0:47:032021 budget.

0:47:04We developed a budget document that is on our website

0:47:07and that is what the council approved in October.

0:47:09So the reductions ended up going the bringing the budget down

0:47:14to 39.3 million in revenues and 38.7 million

0:47:19in expenses for this fiscal year.

0:47:21You will also recall that we worked with the management

0:47:24partners, which was a consulting firm that we had originally

0:47:27contracted to do our strategic plan

0:47:29and morphed into a fiscal response plan

0:47:32to be responsive to all that was happening with COVID

0:47:37and the recession, all of the economic impacts

0:47:40that we are still frankly going through.

0:47:43And so combined, if you include not just the general fund,

0:47:46but all of our special funds, the amended fiscal year,

0:47:502021 budget is a total of 53.2 million

0:47:54and provides funding for all city services.

0:47:58So this is a chart of the cost savings

0:48:00that were implemented prior to the preliminary budget being

0:48:05adopted, 1.6 million had been identified

0:48:08by staff that was brought to the city council in April.

0:48:12We renegotiated management and confidential compensation

0:48:16and benefits and eliminated cost of living adjustments from all

0:48:19of the bargaining units.

0:48:20And once again, I would like to thank

0:48:22all of our bargaining units for working with us

0:48:24to be able to accomplish that.

0:48:26Those are ongoing cost savings, which

0:48:28will have impacts in later fiscal years of 2.698 million.

0:48:33The one time savings that we were

0:48:35able to achieve in this fiscal year, where furloughs 13

0:48:38days for all non sworn public safety

0:48:41and for all non-public safety, rather,

0:48:45and managers for an additional 13 days.

0:48:48So the one time savings.

0:48:49We achieve this year was $959,000.

0:48:54And then I wanted to just review what

0:48:56was in the fiscal response plan that was

0:48:58adopted by the city council.

0:49:00And that was incorporated into this year's budget.

0:49:03So these are all reductions, mostly personnel,

0:49:07with the exception of the one, two, three, 4/5 line down

0:49:11where it talks about public works that funding $165,000

0:49:16was shifted from the general fund to measure h.

0:49:20Finance was in changing some service delivery.

0:49:24So that was some contractual reductions.

0:49:27The rest that are listed there for city

0:49:29administration, fire, police and recreation,

0:49:32where all personnel reductions, whether through layoffs

0:49:36or through retirements or vacancies that were achieved.

0:49:40And you can see that city administration

0:49:42to in the amount of about $345,000 for your department

0:49:48and $210,000 and the police department,

0:49:52$595,000 in recreation at 166,000 dollars.

0:49:57So the total ongoing fiscal impacts

0:50:00of the implementation of the fiscal response plan

0:50:03shows $1.5 million savings.

0:50:06And if you recall, the management partners dashboard

0:50:09and fiscal response plan, which again, is included

0:50:13within the budget document, is meant

0:50:15to show that continuing these savings

0:50:18and continuing these ongoing fiscal impacts.

0:50:21So that we maintain these within our budget

0:50:24will allow us to achieve our fund,

0:50:26our general fund reserve balance goal by 2026.

0:50:33So this is a list of all of the assumptions

0:50:36of the fiscal response plan.

0:50:38And in the impacts of covid-19, the first few

0:50:42are of what we've already done.

0:50:45And the last few are some of the things

0:50:48that have been included since the adoption

0:50:52of the budget in October.

0:50:54So first and foremost, per county regulations, we do

0:50:58have reduced recreation programs and services,

0:51:00including all of the programs, the midtown activity center.

0:51:05Originally, we had discussed that that could be at least

0:51:07through the end of 2020.

0:51:09Now we are anticipating and assuming that the status

0:51:12quo will continue through 2021.

0:51:15So I just want to pause here for a second.

0:51:17I've seen the written public comments

0:51:20and I've heard the public comments

0:51:21that were given earlier.

0:51:23And there may be further down.

0:51:25I just want to make a note about recreation.

0:51:27So the recreation department was presented to the city council

0:51:32in December and discussed what they have been doing, what they

0:51:36have been providing, and a huge shout out to our recreation

0:51:40director, Chris Jones, and all of his staff

0:51:43for being unbelievably creative and responsive

0:51:46and resilient in how they have been able to work

0:51:51within the county, regulations that

0:51:53are in the restrictions that are imposed on them

0:51:56to provide the services they do.

0:51:58But the reality is this.

0:52:00The reality is we are only able to provide

0:52:04what we are allowed to provide per the county regulations.

0:52:07So the reductions in the programming and the reductions

0:52:10in the services are not as a result

0:52:13of simply financial issues.

0:52:15They are a result of COVID.

0:52:18They are a result of what we have been able to provide.

0:52:21And that we can't provide showing

0:52:24there the midtown activity center that's listed there.

0:52:27That's a big example of a service that

0:52:30we literally just cannot provide right

0:52:32now per county regulations.

0:52:33And certainly that is one of our most vulnerable populations

0:52:37that we do not intend to try to push that envelope at all.

0:52:41We want to make sure that we are providing

0:52:42a safe and effective and healthy services as we can,

0:52:47but we are restricted in what we can do.

0:52:50That said, what we have reduced and recreation

0:52:54is based on not just the demand, but also what we're allowed.

0:52:59And the demand is also important because when we adopted

0:53:05the budget in October, I really believe we had all certainly

0:53:09hoped, if not expected, that the kids would go back to school

0:53:13at some point during the school year.

0:53:15Right now, that's not looking to happen.

0:53:18And so we have to adjust accordingly.

0:53:21If the demand isn't there, if the ability

0:53:24to provide the service isn't there,

0:53:26we have to retract and scale back.

0:53:29It is not a measure of reducing services because we're

0:53:33trying to balance the budget.

0:53:34It is a matter of having to make sure

0:53:36that we are providing safe services

0:53:38and what we are allowed to provide.

0:53:40And we can be responsive to that.

0:53:43And we can ramp back up once regulations

0:53:46become the restrictions are eased or everyone's vaccinated.

0:53:50And we're looking at being able to provide

0:53:52a full complement of programs the same way we were before.

0:53:56Or maybe the demand will be different by the time

0:53:58COVID is over.

0:53:59Chris and his team has been really

0:54:01wonderful at adjusting to that.

0:54:03So I just want to make sure that the public understands

0:54:05that, you know, we absolutely understand,

0:54:09respect and count on our recreation department

0:54:12to provide the services they do.

0:54:14And we are simply having to respond to the restrictions

0:54:18that are placed before us.

0:54:20If we would do more, if we could do more,

0:54:22we certainly would do our best to do more.

0:54:25So I just want to give a shout out to Chris and his staff

0:54:28for being responsive and then just

0:54:30assure the public that this is not something I want to cut.

0:54:34This is not something anybody wants to cut.

0:54:36This is something that we are forced to respond to because

0:54:39of COVID restrictions.

0:54:42The second bullet point there is that we those were

0:54:45the elimination of those positions that were considered

0:54:50in the fiscal response plan, those

0:54:52were in the city management and recreation departments in fire.

0:54:57A little bit of the opposite occurred

0:54:59because we have staffing minimum requirements

0:55:02in our fire department.

0:55:03So if there are vacancies or layoffs or openings,

0:55:06we have to backfill them with overtime

0:55:08because we have a minimum staffing

0:55:10that we need to provide.

0:55:11And so in the previous fiscal years,

0:55:14overtime was becoming bigger, a bigger and bigger number

0:55:18and having a bigger short term impact on our budget.

0:55:21And so in order to provide some sustainability,

0:55:24we filled the three vacant positions.

0:55:26So reducing our overtime in the short term.

0:55:29But in the long term, those three vacant positions

0:55:32were filled with new firefighters that

0:55:34have a lower pension liability than our classic war

0:55:39veteran firefighters.

0:55:40So that does achieve a savings, which

0:55:43we'll go over in a little bit.

0:55:45Restructuring of the police department,

0:55:47this has also been discussed at length with the city council,

0:55:50we've reduced our sworn staff to 37 officers.

0:55:53That includes eliminating one of our divisions.

0:55:56And chief keef has been very open about continuing

0:56:00to look at how we're providing services.

0:56:03As you saw in the previous slide,

0:56:04they have eliminated about $600,000 worth.

0:56:08So as far as all of the departments have gone,

0:56:11that is the most significant to date.

0:56:13And so we have reduced those operations.

0:56:16And the chief and his team has been incredibly

0:56:19responsive in agreeing to look at how we can

0:56:22restructure and reimagine how we do our policing services

0:56:26in El cerrito.

0:56:28So the personnel reductions and savings from all

0:56:30of the vacancies and layoffs will take

0:56:33did take effect on January 1st.

0:56:36The next set of bullets are what have

0:56:38occurred that are occurring.

0:56:41This this calendar year.

0:56:43So we do have additional vacant positions.

0:56:45And this is reflected in the staffing numbers

0:56:47that mark will go over.

0:56:48And in just a few minutes, we've had

0:56:51three additional vacancies that have occurred in city

0:56:54management and recreation.

0:56:56These were voluntary resignations and retirements.

0:56:59They were not layoffs.

0:57:01And so we are keeping those positions vacant.

0:57:04One of them you all know, our human resources

0:57:07manager, Kristin Cunningham, who has appeared at this before.

0:57:12This council many times.

0:57:13Gee, we wish her well.

0:57:15She is accepted a position at the Contra

0:57:17Costa water district.

0:57:19Her I think her last day is the end of this week officially.

0:57:24But she has been a wonderful member of our team

0:57:26and we wish her well.

0:57:27But you see Alexandra or lagus, who is in your grid,

0:57:33she is the assistant city manager,

0:57:35is now up to, I believe, four jobs.

0:57:38The city manager's office now consists of me and Alex.

0:57:42And between Alex and me, we are taking on,

0:57:45especially Alex is taking on the position of interim human

0:57:48resources manager.

0:57:49She has also picked up some of the duties

0:57:52of our former assistant to the city manager, who was one

0:57:55of the lay offs, including staff liaison to the arts

0:57:59and culture commission.

0:58:01And just for everyone's edification,

0:58:03I'm re teaching myself how to update the website.

0:58:06So I'm going to be taking on some of those duties as.

0:58:10And as you know, at the last city council meeting,

0:58:13the police employees association revised,

0:58:15you approved a revised IOU so that they could defer

0:58:19their cost of living adjustment from January

0:58:21to July, which achieved a savings of about $110,000.

0:58:27We've canceled major events due to covid-19

0:58:30and we've canceled these last year.

0:58:33So I'm here to make the unfortunate

0:58:35announcement that we're going to be canceling them again,

0:58:37this year.

0:58:38I don't think anyone really ever expected it

0:58:41over the past couple of months that we would be able to pull

0:58:44this off is a safety issue.

0:58:46It is certainly a timing issue, but we

0:58:51will not be holding Earth Day and July 4th this year.

0:58:55There will be expense reductions because of that.

0:58:58And we'll talk about that in a little bit.

0:59:00Earth day, we certainly want to encourage

0:59:03people to be able to try to do their own Earth Day.

0:59:06Perhaps we won't be able to have a gathering at the community

0:59:09center like we usually do, but we're

0:59:11hoping that people will certainly acknowledge Earth Day

0:59:13and then July 4th, we just can't see

0:59:16any scenario where a mass gathering of that

0:59:18will be allowed.

0:59:19And even if it were, would we want

0:59:21to be responsible for something like that?

0:59:23So if vaccinations aren't really going to hit everyone

0:59:27in until maybe the end of the summer,

0:59:30you know, we're just going to have to play that by ear again.

0:59:32But at this point, as Chris and I

0:59:34have talked about with I think many of you

0:59:37in many community members, it takes

0:59:39a lot of planning to pull off a July

0:59:414th festival, he and his crew.

0:59:43And right now is when we would already be contacting vendors

0:59:47and food and all of that stuff.

0:59:49And and no one in no one would want

0:59:52to even commit to something like that at this point.

0:59:54So just making sure that we're making the sad announcement

0:59:59that it is true.

1:00:00This year, we will be canceling both Earth

1:00:02Day and July 4th and the rest will be determined.

1:00:06But that is what we're looking at right now.

1:00:09And then other expense reductions, which will again,

1:00:11we'll go over in a little bit.

1:00:13Mark, we'll talk about in a monthly report,

1:00:16particularly in some of the departments,

1:00:18as we have been looking at trends.

1:00:20And we have been looking at because of covid, I

1:00:23think milperra time Quinton mentioned before, you know,

1:00:27people aren't traveling, people aren't going places.

1:00:30There's a lot of things that not even traveling as far

1:00:34as a conference, but even traveling as far as

1:00:36and meeting those things aren't happening.

1:00:39And so there's a lot of expense reductions

1:00:40that are kind of a ripple effect that are coming in,

1:00:45a lot of our line items, again, due to COVID.

1:00:48So there are some silver linings to the cloud.

1:00:52So the general fund forecast and this

1:00:54is where has allowed me to be able to provide

1:00:58some positive developments for the city council

1:01:02and for the city.

1:01:03So the city, as you know, works with Baddeley associates.

1:01:09They are independent auditor to complete

1:01:12the comprehensive annual financial report, which

1:01:15is the cafo for 1920, which will be presented to the city

1:01:18council at your next meeting.

1:01:21We have scheduled Mr. Badawi to be

1:01:22able to come and present the cafo to you

1:01:24at the next meeting on February 16.

1:01:28So the general fund balance will again, be in a deficit position

1:01:31as expected.

1:01:35However, what I would like to do is take a look at this chart.

1:01:40So this chart is what was adopted in the annual budget.

1:01:45And so if you look at twenty, seventeen, 1820 1819 these

1:01:51are the actual budget numbers through that

1:01:56are listed in our cafer.

1:01:59So the fund balance here, which is the difference between.

1:02:05The revenues we get and the expenses we spend,

1:02:09whatever our annual surplus or deficit is, is our balance.

1:02:13The balance builds on each other each year.

1:02:17So in 2018 at the end of 2018 we had

1:02:20$87,000 in our fund balance.

1:02:24I'll remind you that our minimum balance should

1:02:27be 10% It was at 0.2% In 2019 and this was partially

1:02:34due as we had went over at the time with you,

1:02:38that revenues were overestimated and expenditures

1:02:43were underestimated.

1:02:44A lot of this was unfortunately due to the increased

1:02:48fire season and impacted firefighter overtime

1:02:52significantly.

1:02:53So our annual deficit at that year

1:02:56was $144,000 added to the $87,000

1:03:00gave us a negative on balance of $56,000.

1:03:03So in a serious deficit position.

1:03:07This column here, the 1920 unaudited column,

1:03:10is what we had expected, what we had projected,

1:03:14this was our worst case scenario, the 2.3 million

1:03:18deficit was based on what we thought our sales tax,

1:03:22especially sales tax, would be.

1:03:26Which would have put us at a negative reserve of 5.9

1:03:30percent, this year's adopted budget assumed, as we say,

1:03:35the 39 million 39.3 million revenue, 38.7 million expenses

1:03:41would have achieved a surplus of $663,000

1:03:46which you add to the 2.3 would give us a fund balance of 1.7.

1:03:52So I am pleased to report, however,

1:03:55that our deficit is much lower than originally

1:03:59projected, which was 2.3 million.

1:04:02Our actual edited, audited ending total fund balance

1:04:05is a negative $110,000.

1:04:09That is significant difference.

1:04:11This is due largely to better than expected sales

1:04:16tax receipts, which we have discussed

1:04:17in previous monthly reports, particularly

1:04:20the online sales due to the county

1:04:23pool and the online sales.

1:04:25So thank you, everyone who has ordered from Amazon,

1:04:31and that actually has helped us out significantly.

1:04:33So we get a portion of that.

1:04:36Also, deferred sales tax receipts.

1:04:38We were concerned, this was part of our calculation

1:04:41that the governor had allowed for a deferral of businesses

1:04:45to pay their sales tax receipts.

1:04:48So we were not sure when they would

1:04:50be able to be counted toward.

1:04:53Would it be able to be counted toward the previous fiscal year

1:04:55or would we have to count it in this fiscal year?

1:04:57And the auditor was allowed us to take a significant level

1:05:02of what we thought were going to be

1:05:03deferred sales tax revenue receipts

1:05:05and count them in this fiscal year.

1:05:08And the real property transfer tax was

1:05:10much higher than anticipated.

1:05:12And also the expense reductions that we took, the actions

1:05:15that we took at the end of last fiscal year,

1:05:18including the furloughs of all of our staff, all

1:05:21of our non-public safety staff, and in some

1:05:25of the immediate reductions that we

1:05:27made prior to July one of 2020.

1:05:30So this is wonderful news as far as it negative 110

1:05:35is not negative 2.3 million, but it's still negative

1:05:40and we are still in a deficit position.

1:05:43And so it's very positive and it's very good news.

1:05:46But we have to make sure we keep our eye

1:05:48on the ball to note that we're still in a deficit

1:05:51position for this year.

1:05:52But what this provides us with is a chance

1:05:56to end this fiscal year with a positive fund balance, which

1:06:01was not anticipated in the fiscal response plan

1:06:03and not anticipated in our budget.

1:06:05So I'm going to turn over to in a second

1:06:08to go over the monthly reports.

1:06:10But I just want to make sure that that is very

1:06:12clear to the city council is, the more quickly we can restore

1:06:16ourselves to financial health.

1:06:19The better off we will be much more quickly that we can bring

1:06:23back some of the services we were anticipating cutting,

1:06:26which, again, was what we discussed when we adopted

1:06:30the fiscal response plan, the idea was we would be

1:06:32able to get to a high level of fund balance,

1:06:35including our emergency fund, and then

1:06:38we can take a look at restoring some of the services that

1:06:41had been cut.

1:06:42This and last fiscal year.

1:06:44So with that, I'm going to turn it over to be able to discuss

1:06:50the monthly reports.

1:06:53And if I think you can all see these.

1:06:56So, mark, if you want to go ahead and just

1:06:58let me know if I need to.

1:07:00When you're ready for me to go to the next slide,

1:07:03or if I need to focus on something.

1:07:11I just want to check to see if you can see

1:07:13the numbers and the narrative and everything

1:07:15else that goes with that.

1:07:17If not, I could share my screen with you.

1:07:20And share the staff report instead

1:07:22with exactly the same thing.

1:07:24Is this a good.

1:07:30OK, why don't you go ahead.

1:07:32OK, so this is the income statement

1:07:37for the month of December to July through December,

1:07:39the same format that we've used in the past over the past five

1:07:42to six months.

1:07:44And before I start digging into the numbers,

1:07:47I would like to draw your attention to the very last line

1:07:50in on this chart, the very bottom line.

1:07:54And as Karen pointed out back in 1819,

1:07:58the difference between revenues and expenses

1:08:02was a negative 143,000.

1:08:04So that last line is not fund balance.

1:08:06It's simply the excess of revenues or expenditures

1:08:10over the revenues that was made during that year.

1:08:14So that the negative $143,000 in the draft audited 1920s.

1:08:19It was that same number.

1:08:21The difference between actual revenues and actual expenses

1:08:25was half that, just 72000, as you pointed out, primarily

1:08:30because revenues came in much higher

1:08:32than we had anticipated in our projections.

1:08:35So that's the number that adds to or takes

1:08:37away from fund balance.

1:08:40But do you have a person that can help us those figures?

1:08:47I do not.

1:08:48And this is my screen rather than looking, OK, my god,

1:08:53why don't I do that?

1:08:54Why don't I go ahead and I'll stop sharing my screen.

1:08:57And you can share yours.

1:08:58Let's do that again, ok?

1:09:02And I just past, present, you should be able to screen share.

1:09:11Now Yeah, well, let's do that.

1:09:17A lot of numbers, a lot of numbers.

1:09:20Yes, it's a busy spreadsheet.

1:09:23There you go.

1:09:24Thank you.

1:09:26Oh, we can see that I'm going to make that a little bigger.

1:09:29There you go, that better?

1:09:32Yes, yes, great.

1:09:33OK, so down here, like I'm saying,

1:09:37it's number 140,000 negative is simply the difference

1:09:40between revenues and expenses.

1:09:41That's not fund balance.

1:09:4372,000 is almost half of that is also

1:09:46the difference between revenues and expenses

1:09:49in the last fiscal year.

1:09:50It was cantera in 2020, so that was 72,000 moving back

1:09:55to the current fiscal year.

1:09:58The column that I'm looking at here

1:09:59is the July through December, actual revenues and expenses.

1:10:04And let me move it out of the way.

1:10:07Next to that, we have budget expectations,

1:10:09that's where we expect numbers to be at taking

1:10:13into consideration timing.

1:10:14And so on and so forth.

1:10:15So that's the actuals versus budget expectations.

1:10:20And then we have the third call, the shedded column.

1:10:22Here is the variance of the difference between the actuals

1:10:25and the budget expectations.

1:10:28And right next to that is the adopted budget, the budget that

1:10:31was adopted back in October.

1:10:33So these are the primary full columns I'll be referring

1:10:35to in my presentation tonight.

1:10:39And then the last column here is just to give us

1:10:41a benchmark in terms of how much of the budget has been expended

1:10:45and in the 50% time of this fiscal year, which is to six

1:10:49months, and you'll notice that, for example, property taxes

1:10:53at approximately 49 percent, the budget is

1:10:56half the year being concluded.

1:10:59So you might recall that back in November, October

1:11:02and before that number was quite small because we got

1:11:05a big chunk of property tax, as we always

1:11:08do in the middle of December.

1:11:10The next piece of that's happening

1:11:12is a piece of it happened in January.

1:11:14Another piece happened in June.

1:11:15But a big chunk happens once again in April.

1:11:19So this number would jump up.

1:11:20Each time you get those chunks of taxes.

1:11:24You also notice that I've shown a negative 90,000

1:11:27versus expectations.

1:11:29We we're expecting closer to 5.1 million, but it came in at 5.0.

1:11:33So we showed it as a negative 90,000 positive expectations.

1:11:37So what does that do to us?

1:11:38You might recall back in October when we passed this budget,

1:11:42we made it a point to impress on you that these numbers were

1:11:47estimates that everything was changing, it was happening

1:11:50and revenue numbers were very difficult to estimate.

1:11:53How come up with very specific numbers are more tight numbers.

1:11:57So we come back to you here at midyear.

1:12:00And one of the items that I would be seeking modification

1:12:03on is this particular property tax

1:12:05line item to make up for the shortfall of $90,000 dollars.

1:12:09In other words, we are going to say

1:12:10we expect these 90,000 to repeat itself maybe in the second time

1:12:14around.

1:12:15And therefore, we're going to ask you to help us modify

1:12:17this budget by 200,000 just for this one single line item

1:12:21alone.

1:12:21So that's how we figure out what needs to come forward

1:12:24as a budget modification simply based on experience

1:12:27in the recent past, based on budget expectations up

1:12:30to this point in time.

1:12:31So more on that later.

1:12:33Sales taxes.

1:12:34So, yes, Karen pointed out the thing that actually brought us

1:12:38out of that hole in 1920 was this number here,

1:12:4169, 75 and more on back when the presentation

1:12:45happened at the next meeting.

1:12:47But 6.97 five, we had anticipated

1:12:50something like, I would say 6.3 or 6.45 0.3 or 5.4 million.

1:12:56And due to the deferrals and through due to the county

1:13:00pool that we benefited from, this number jumped up

1:13:03by about a million and a half since the last assumptions back

1:13:07in April, may and June of last year.

1:13:09So that's a significant improvement that contributed

1:13:11to the 2.3 million deficit being reduced

1:13:14to a negative hardington $1,000.

1:13:17So how does the current scenario compare

1:13:19with that number in prior years, property sales taxes that

1:13:23have come in at around seven point five, 7.3 and so

1:13:27on, the anticipated sales taxes to come in at four, five.

1:13:33And up to this point through December,

1:13:35we have had team income in the expectation was

1:13:383.25 being 50% of that number.

1:13:42And so we expect sales taxes to fall short by about $2,000.

1:13:48And that's the second item that we

1:13:49are asking, seeking to modify at the mid-year modification.

1:13:53In other words, reduce this estimate

1:13:55by approximately 200,000 just to be conservative

1:13:59and that you will see on the next slide.

1:14:01Next year slight do taxes.

1:14:05They are trending fairly well.

1:14:06The difference is 122,000 will catch catch up

1:14:10on that property transfer tax.

1:14:12That is the next big one here.

1:14:14The estimated property transfer taxes to be Clozapine,

1:14:172.4 million in the budget.

1:14:20But as of December, we have more in the war, around two million,

1:14:23which in most of it, by the way, and we've

1:14:26achieved that to the end up to receipts

1:14:28through the end of December.

1:14:30And we hope that that trend will continue into the future.

1:14:34But there is no guarantee of that.

1:14:36Like I always said, franchise taxes is another area

1:14:40that we are seeking to modify.

1:14:41In the past, franchise taxes have been around 1.5 million

1:14:45in that range.

1:14:46The budget was five, the expected half of that.

1:14:50But it looks like we are trending down by about 140,000.

1:14:54So we are seeking to reduce this number by 2 to 1.2

1:14:58might actually come in, but they are being conservative.

1:15:01We are seeking to reduce that number by 200,000 to.

1:15:03These are three of the major expenditure revenue reductions

1:15:07that we are seeking to make a the media amendment,

1:15:12keeping in mind that these estimates will be based back

1:15:14in October when everything was fluid,

1:15:18business licenses are gradually coming in.

1:15:20We are up by 29,000 from the budget of 850 prior years.

1:15:24We've hit as much as 910 to 920000.

1:15:27And we recognize that business license taxes would

1:15:30be impacted by COVID as well.

1:15:33And to that reduction was reflected

1:15:35in these 850,000 of which we received 821 so far.

1:15:40And I would expect some part of that, some small piece

1:15:42of that to trickle in between.

1:15:44Now and the end of the year.

1:15:47And before I pause for any questions here,

1:15:50let me just run down this list of the major difference

1:15:56between budget expectations and the general fund

1:15:59charges for services is this line that we see here.

1:16:03In the past, we've had about nine, five to 6.9 million

1:16:08in revenues from charges for services.

1:16:11But we noticed that we are trending significantly

1:16:14behind the estimate for the fiscal year,

1:16:16which is 5.2 million.

1:16:18So that is one of the things that we

1:16:19are seeking to modify to the Amendment process at media.

1:16:23Again, remember, keep in mind that these estimates will

1:16:25be made back in July and August prior to the adoption

1:16:30of the budget in October.

1:16:31And in March.

1:16:32The assumptions was that things would settle

1:16:34down by the end of December or at least

1:16:36the first part of January.

1:16:37And none of that has happened at this stage.

1:16:39So that accounts for the fact that we are behind

1:16:42on that sort of revenue, even if charges

1:16:46are just allegations between general fund and other funds.

1:16:49And this happens fairly routine day of each quarter.

1:16:53We are looking at a quarter of its costing

1:16:55to the general fund, to the other funds,

1:16:57and that's how we are back on target

1:16:58with the 51% past allocation.

1:17:01So with that being said, with half to complete,

1:17:04we've achieved about 51% of taxes,

1:17:08but overall revenues at 44% And that

1:17:11is not unusual at this point in time of the year.

1:17:14But with these further reductions in revenue,

1:17:18we expect to see these numbers moving up

1:17:20as we move to the second half of this fiscal year policy

1:17:23at this point to take any questions you

1:17:24might tab on the ribbon side of this table here.

1:17:32Any council members have questions?

1:17:38Can I see here?

1:17:41Lisa, what's on your mind?

1:17:43Yes, thank you, Mary.

1:17:45So I do.

1:17:47So for the charges, for services.

1:17:49I have a question about that.

1:17:51So, mark, can you confirm that that is primarily fees

1:17:55that we would have charged for parks and rec programs,

1:17:57is that correct, to charge us for services

1:18:01as a combination of several departments involved?

1:18:04What is the building department meaning?

1:18:06Community development, public works department for permits

1:18:09and things like that.

1:18:10And of course, the rec programs, as you mentioned, of the budget

1:18:14here is predominantly 80% of this budget.

1:18:17Is the rec program revenue source.

1:18:20The remaining 1.2 million is from building services

1:18:23per and that type of thing.

1:18:25So that is probably what it involves.

1:18:30Thank you.

1:18:36And the other member, council member with questions.

1:18:41And I might just add at this point

1:18:44that the Intergovernmental revenues,

1:18:46you have big chunks of revenues planned

1:18:48for the next few months.

1:18:49So, for example, we expect $2.8 million

1:18:52in vehicle licensing fees.

1:18:55You've already got one point for us

1:18:56back in January, which will be reflected in the next report.

1:19:00We expect to receive approximately 1.7 million

1:19:03in revenues from the Kensington contract, approximately

1:19:08$300,000 each month.

1:19:09So that would come in over the next six months.

1:19:11So when you add these pieces, which are fairly well, almost,

1:19:14I would say guaranteed it would achieve this number

1:19:17that you see here is the budgeted numbers.

1:19:18So we're not seeking any modifications to that line

1:19:21item, even though it shows a negative 95,000

1:19:24at this point in time.

1:19:27We gone down to the expenditure side of the budget to once

1:19:33again, we have the same set of columns,

1:19:35the actuaries, I just want to point out

1:19:38that they should read the title to this column,

1:19:40should read draft audited.

1:19:42So it's one of those typos.

1:19:44It should be the exact same title as the first column

1:19:46have to have cable up here.

1:19:48So that could be amended.

1:19:49But that being said, personnel costs, as you know,

1:19:53constitute around a big chunk of general fund expenses.

1:19:57And we can see that the budget itself 29.49 million

1:20:01up the budget, up the adopted budget back in October.

1:20:05It was for personnel costs.

1:20:08And as Karen pointed out, if you compare this number

1:20:11with the numbers that we've had in the past 3, 2 four years,

1:20:14we've seen significant reductions

1:20:16of the order of $2 to $3 million or the cost savings that

1:20:19were put in place as part of the budgeting process

1:20:22back in October.

1:20:23So the 29 point four, I would say,

1:20:26is the adopted budget as of October with all

1:20:29those cost savings thrown in.

1:20:31But we've also had cost savings on the personnel side

1:20:35since then.

1:20:36But in the last month, as I've pointed out,

1:20:38and we seek to modify this number

1:20:41by introducing those cost savings

1:20:43into the amended budget.

1:20:46But at this point in time, 50% of the are being complete.

1:20:49We had 15.6 million in terms of total personnel costs

1:20:54against an expectation of two, 4, 5.

1:20:57And the primary reason for that is this 15.6 million

1:21:01includes 850,000 fully reimbursable chalo or.

1:21:08Yes, office of emergency services, the Governor's

1:21:11Office of emergency services.

1:21:13Over time that was incurred by the fire department

1:21:16in responding to the fires that we've recently

1:21:19seen over the past six months.

1:21:21So once that is factored into effect,

1:21:24it out, as the case may be before an 19,000 disappears,

1:21:28I just let it be there because you've already paid those out.

1:21:32And those reimbursements are coming to us,

1:21:34you know, sometime later in spring.

1:21:36I'm sure that during my cash flow statement

1:21:38that I'm presenting a couple of slides from here.

1:21:42So by and large, remember, it's 53% or 50%

1:21:48The effect of this one out.

1:21:49It drops to around 49% 49 to five.

1:21:52So we are back on target as far as expenses

1:21:54on the personnel side goes.

1:21:56And that's an important piece for us

1:21:57because that drives significantly the expenditure

1:22:00component of the budget.

1:22:01As you know, 80% to 90% of the budget is personnel costs.

1:22:05And that he also knows that we have savings

1:22:07on a number of other line items that I mentioned,

1:22:09professional services, purchased property and services.

1:22:12These are contractual payments providing

1:22:14for temporary services.

1:22:16All of these are built into these other services.

1:22:18We have significant savings on the supply side.

1:22:21And that could be part of the reason

1:22:22why is because the recreation department is not spending as

1:22:26much on supplies due to the quality restrictions

1:22:28and everything that's going on with that financing costs,

1:22:33interest and principal payments on installer

1:22:35leases and other things.

1:22:36And of course, financing uses for the capital

1:22:40that service payment on the city hall property

1:22:43and for retiree pensions.

1:22:45So these are expected expenses.

1:22:47And that's why you see the exact number here on the year

1:22:50to budget expectation side.

1:22:53Again, taking everything into consideration,

1:22:55we add to the cost of that budget and expense

1:22:58of that 50% of the budget in terms of the timeline

1:23:02to the end of December.

1:23:04And I might mention here, the adopted budget delivers

1:23:08is expected, was expected to deliver 663,000 surplus

1:23:13and the modified budget would be different from that.

1:23:17And as we get into the budget modification proposals,

1:23:20this is the number that we're trying to achieve through some

1:23:23of dose modification changes.

1:23:25And we seek direction on making sure that we get

1:23:27to this number at some point.

1:23:29Why do we need to do that?

1:23:31Because, as John pointed out, we ended last year

1:23:34with a negative 10,000 deficit.

1:23:36And if you said that deficit of against the 663,

1:23:39then you would end up with a surplus.

1:23:41But unfortunately, there are changes

1:23:42that we need to feed into.

1:23:44This thing has to do with the revenue reductions and cost

1:23:48reductions at the same time.

1:23:50So when we get into the slide on that kind of touch on that.

1:23:54Tomorrow, yes.

1:23:56Before I ask any questions, any other questions, unless before.

1:24:02So this was the moment that you said all the figures

1:24:07and that job personnel cutbacks and the staffing cutbacks

1:24:12and the furloughs would be able to demonstrate

1:24:15a little more information.

1:24:18And we've moved from, as you say, that 2.3 million deficit

1:24:24to $110,000 which is a good achievement.

1:24:30You seemed very proud about the 72 down here.

1:24:33Can you explain what that is at the bottom of the net change

1:24:39in the fund balance for.

1:24:41I can't move my screen down here.

1:24:44Yeah what is that.

1:24:46What is that.

1:24:46To represent.

1:24:48So I think it's important to recognize is that the budget is

1:24:54a roadmap, right.

1:24:55It's a living, breathing document that needs

1:24:57to be modified as we go along.

1:25:00And one of the things we try to do

1:25:01is try and stay within budget, meaning in terms

1:25:04of both revenues and expenses.

1:25:06This number here represents the difference

1:25:09between revenues and expenses.

1:25:12And if you compare this number to the previous year,

1:25:14for example, the difference between revenues and look

1:25:16at the budget, the actual revenues and expenses

1:25:18was 143 approximate, 243,000.

1:25:21And despite these different uncertainty surrounding

1:25:26revenues, we've managed to land this budget

1:25:29within 72,000 of revenues.

1:25:33Expenses have been coming that close

1:25:35because we've been monitoring this over the last six months,

1:25:37as you know, over the previous year.

1:25:40And so it's a remarkable achievement for a number

1:25:44of different reasons.

1:25:45But typically for a budget to have

1:25:47a plus or minus 3% variation of the actual

1:25:50is to be within plus or minus 3.

1:25:52A variation of the budget is quite normal,

1:25:54and this is almost zero variation

1:25:56given the fact that it's only 72,000 on a $40 million budget.

1:26:00And that's that.

1:26:02OK, and you don't expect the real property transfer

1:26:06tax to diminish now, right?

1:26:09We're getting indications that the housing costs.

1:26:12I'm going up here and Alfredo and

1:26:15in some places in the Bay area, you're right, because sales.

1:26:19Sales are happening here, sales are happening.

1:26:22The median price has moved up from 890000 by about 24%

1:26:26to a little over a million.

1:26:28So every million that a house sells for

1:26:31brings in about 2000 in real property transfer taxes.

1:26:34And the more activity, you have, the more transactions we get.

1:26:38How many thousand was that, mark?

1:26:39I couldn't hear a 12,000 to a million.

1:26:44It's 12 bucks per 1,000.

1:26:46So 10,000 per million.

1:26:48And then a quick question, can you

1:26:50explain how the actuals, are the actuals

1:26:54ever modified when you look back in, as I'm going through?

1:27:00And then how frequently are when actuals become actuals

1:27:04and stay actuals can actually mean actually

1:27:08for the current year, for the past year, past

1:27:12and for past months, because I notice that there's

1:27:15some slight shifts in actuals.

1:27:17Right so once it's audited, it's not modified,

1:27:21but pending an audit, the auditor

1:27:23goes back into the actuals and looks

1:27:25at all the actual containers.

1:27:26It could easily be transferred here.

1:27:28These need to be moved into another place.

1:27:30So they actually do get modified during the audit process.

1:27:33And that's part of the reason why we

1:27:34call this the ordinary thing.

1:27:37For the previous few months, they put the numbers where

1:27:39they think they should fall.

1:27:42And then the auditor comes back, takes a look at it

1:27:44and say, look, these numbers need to be

1:27:46moved forward or backward.

1:27:47And those changes do occur.

1:27:49Once it happens, it stays that way.

1:27:57And you're going to get to the cash balance in the next slide.

1:28:02So we can talk about that.

1:28:06I'm absolutely wondering if there are no further questions

1:28:09on this, and I'm sorry, just so next month or next meeting,

1:28:19we're going to talk about the cafo.

1:28:21Is there any information, different than what you're

1:28:24talking about that the cafer will explain

1:28:26to us on revenues and expenditures, the kind

1:28:30of presentation by the auditor?

1:28:32Will no one be an independent presentation.

1:28:35And then no to touch on much more beyond simply

1:28:38the operating budget he'll be tapping into

1:28:41and all the other kinds of things.

1:28:44That's an important presentation for us.

1:28:46And it's more global than just the.

1:28:48Exactly OK.

1:28:52It's a Quinto.

1:28:53And could you explain to us and our residents

1:28:58again, the 663 and the importance of that number?

1:29:05So back in October, when we put the budget together.

1:29:08And it before council as a proposed budget staff

1:29:12came up to the council and said, we

1:29:14expect to make approximately 39.376 in revenues

1:29:19from all of these different sources.

1:29:21And here's what we expect to spend 38.713 million.

1:29:26And we told council the difference

1:29:28between revenues and expenses would be the surplus,

1:29:31the budget surplus.

1:29:33And we also stated the council that we

1:29:35hope to build this budget surplus over time

1:29:37to help build the fund balance, that we constantly remind

1:29:42council that building fund balance by, I say, a nickel

1:29:47and diming the difference between revenues and expenses

1:29:50is not the way to go.

1:29:52We have to take steps to establish a reasonable amount

1:29:57of fund balance through a strategic change

1:30:00in the structure or the cost structure of the agency.

1:30:03And that's an important step that we need to take.

1:30:05And that's why the strategic plan comes in,

1:30:07because it provides us with the basis for making those changes.

1:30:11Thank you, mark.

1:30:12I appreciate that.

1:30:13Sure so if I move on to the next slide.

1:30:17And I hope you can see this, I'm just going to keep rolling up.

1:30:20Let me know if you cannot see the general

1:30:22fund balance sheet artistic.

1:30:28It's there.

1:30:28Excellent So we now have the draft auditor general fund

1:30:33balance sheet for the last fiscal year,

1:30:36six, 30, 20, and the prior fiscal year six, 30, 19.

1:30:40And we have now nailed the cash amount as 9.1 million

1:30:46in other assets from taxes receivable,

1:30:49as Karen pointed out.

1:30:50We got sales taxes and other sources of revenues

1:30:54right out at the close of the fiscal year.

1:30:55So this number represents what came in after that

1:30:58as deferred revenues.

1:31:00And then, of course, we have to do to then

1:31:01do from the other expenses our total assets of 12.974 million

1:31:06dollars, which is an increase of approximately $3 million

1:31:09over the prior year.

1:31:11So that's an important thing to keep

1:31:12in mind as we go down here.

1:31:14We have the liabilities, things that we all others primarily,

1:31:20we owed $9 million from the train.

1:31:22And that's reflective.

1:31:23That has a liability.

1:31:25And that was paid off back in July, as you know.

1:31:28And Don Hayes, the fund balance, it's a snapshot of assets

1:31:32and liabilities, trade off.

1:31:33And the fund balance was a negative 10,000

1:31:37in prior presentation.

1:31:38This fund balance was a negative $2.3 million.

1:31:41And now that the audit has been concluded,

1:31:44it's been firmed up as just a negative current 10,000.

1:31:48And to the right of that is our running balance

1:31:51sheet for the current fiscal year,

1:31:52which is for 2021, fiscal 2021.

1:31:56And this is as of December the 31st of 2020.

1:31:59So halfway through the fiscal year, we have 4.4 million

1:32:03in cash, property taxes that just come in.

1:32:05So cash went up and then, of course,

1:32:08have a small amount of taxes that would come in January.

1:32:11So those receivable and those would be reflected

1:32:13in the next financial statement to go

1:32:16to plan for 8 and 1/2 million.

1:32:18And that's the amount that's reflected here.

1:32:22And that's going to be paid back at the end of this fiscal year

1:32:26or early July.

1:32:27And that's a guarantee, right, that Iran will be paid,

1:32:33keeping my fingers crossed that revenues

1:32:35will continue to come in.

1:32:36There are certain guarantees on the revenue side.

1:32:39The tax side is guaranteed, the vehicle license fees

1:32:42are guaranteed, the Kensington contract fees, and so on.

1:32:47But the revenue that is soft, like I've always said,

1:32:51is the section below that, which is the charges for services.

1:32:54We are seeking a modification on that fines and penalties.

1:32:57We are seeking modification on that.

1:32:59So few of those things are a lot softer

1:33:01than the property taxes and others

1:33:03that we have fairly strong guarantees on.

1:33:07So part of the reason we have this cash flow statement

1:33:10is to alert you to things that might be soft

1:33:15or might change ahead of time so that we

1:33:18can take appropriate action.

1:33:20And that's the next slide on this.

1:33:22So at this point in time, be sure negative

1:33:24fund bonds of $3.5 million.

1:33:26But this is a moving target.

1:33:28Like I said, as money keeps coming in,

1:33:30this number will start shrinking and this

1:33:32will sink by a significant amount in April,

1:33:36particularly because you get a significant chunk

1:33:38of property taxes that comes in at that point in time.

1:33:41They're hoping that by the end of June

1:33:42that this number on a budget basis

1:33:45was that positive, six out of 63,000.

1:33:49That was what the plan was.

1:33:51And they are hoping to move towards that.

1:33:52With the budget modifications that we have proposed to you

1:33:55at the end of this slide, set a positive for any questions

1:33:59you might have on this balance sheet.

1:34:04Where would that track excuse me,

1:34:06where would the transfer payments come from?

1:34:08Which line do we look to?

1:34:11Is it the nine million?

1:34:13I think that up here.

1:34:15Exactly I'm giving up.

1:34:18Yes so this number will start going up with the property

1:34:21taxes that come in Kensington, contract vehicle licensing

1:34:25fees and other avenues.

1:34:26And once this creep's above 9 million dollars,

1:34:30we would pay off the train at the end of June.

1:34:36And you weren't overly positive that we can get there.

1:34:41Are you all positive?

1:34:44Just looking back over the last six months.

1:34:46And looking outwards in terms of the broader economy,

1:34:49I think that the vaccine.

1:34:51That's being rolled out there's a very good chance that

1:34:53everything will work out well.

1:34:55And that's kind of what's playing out here,

1:34:56is an opportunity for us, not to wait

1:34:58till 2020 to turn this thing around, but to do it this year

1:35:01if possible.

1:35:02So that's being optimistic like that,

1:35:05although the answer is yes, we will have

1:35:09the money to pay the train.

1:35:10Thank you.

1:35:10That that is what we are.

1:35:12That is exactly what we are making

1:35:14sure this budget reflects, is that we will pay off the trend.

1:35:19So any other questions?

1:35:27OK, so we're got to absurd slide here, which is the cash

1:35:31flow forecast at cash flow.

1:35:34And I'm going to shrink this a little bit.

1:35:37So you get more of that.

1:35:39There we go.

1:35:41Now, the cash flow that we put together here

1:35:43differs from the previous cash flows

1:35:46that I presented during a number of different ways.

1:35:50First and foremost, you'll notice that there is

1:35:52a yellow highlighted rule here.

1:35:54And what that represents is that we've

1:35:56taken the charges for services line that we previously had.

1:36:01And we broke it out.

1:36:02We broke it out into fees for services

1:36:04from non recreational programs and departments and fees

1:36:09for services from the general fund recreation program.

1:36:12So that's but that's a major difference

1:36:14that they put down here.

1:36:15So we can keep track of how that thing

1:36:16evolves as time goes along.

1:36:19Now, his presentation last month,

1:36:21the recreation program director pointed out

1:36:24that he was expecting revenues to be

1:36:27lower by about approximately 1.5 million from the budget.

1:36:31And so there's no number here represents

1:36:34that modification right there.

1:36:36And the reason we introduced these modifications

1:36:38on this particular document is that we now

1:36:40have moving forward from here.

1:36:42We will now have a projected year end estimate.

1:36:45We think this budget will land.

1:36:48So he ended up that budget, which is the last column, that

1:36:51is the column that matches what's in the budget book,

1:36:54and also the previous income statement.

1:36:56But more importantly, next to it, we have a projected year.

1:36:59And previously, this was just a total column.

1:37:01Now it's moving closer to being, we have, you think, this budget

1:37:05plan by the 30th of June.

1:37:07So his expectation was to land revenues or recreation services

1:37:11at approximately 2.4 million.

1:37:14And the caveat here is that everything works

1:37:16out as planned in the next six months

1:37:19that we can get out there.

1:37:20And some of these programs ahead and get started on getting

1:37:23this thing back on its feet.

1:37:24And given those conditions, he expects to be

1:37:27able to achieve this goal.

1:37:29But if things take a turn for the worse,

1:37:31then we come back and look at each

1:37:32of these individual numbers and make appropriate modifications

1:37:36and bring it back to you as well.

1:37:38So that's the primary purpose of highlighting this role

1:37:40to show you exactly where are the other recreation

1:37:44programs revenues.

1:37:45I expect it to be over the next six months.

1:37:48May interrupt you.

1:37:51You said that before they were bundled together,

1:37:53these fees for services.

1:37:55And now in this reporting, you've separated

1:37:56out recreation and other.

1:37:59That that is correct.

1:38:02So this gives us a greater clarity

1:38:05in terms of how that number on the previous slide

1:38:07is evolving over time.

1:38:08Looking forward, because that slide that we looked

1:38:10at previously looks backwards.

1:38:11This fund is looking forward.

1:38:12It's a forward looking document.

1:38:14It's forecast.

1:38:16So that's an important change you made to this document.

1:38:19And here was an opportunity for us to do that.

1:38:22And the following slide, we have proposals

1:38:24for budget modifications.

1:38:27Those have been factored into this.

1:38:29Forward looking forecasts of cost savings

1:38:32have been factored in.

1:38:33Adjustments to revenue have been factored in.

1:38:36Adjustments to staffing costs have been factored into it.

1:38:41The fire department is filing for reimbursement

1:38:46of all its expenses, the 900,000 number

1:38:49that you see right now being factored in,

1:38:53which was not that previously in my November presentation.

1:38:56The fire departments or yes, overtime costs of 850,000

1:39:00have been separated out here.

1:39:02So you can see how that thing hangs

1:39:05relation to all of it costs.

1:39:07Hopefully there won't be any more any further fires

1:39:10or any other need for.

1:39:11Yes the time.

1:39:12So be sure.

1:39:12And do the 0.

1:39:13The next six months to that.

1:39:16These are the primary differences between this cash

1:39:19flow document that they are looking at

1:39:20and the ones previously presented to you.

1:39:22The format of the document is exactly the same.

1:39:25The difference is that it's been split up

1:39:27and you have a lot more ventilation in.

1:39:31We have the costs and revenues are coming in

1:39:34and down here is not a budget surplus that we had in mind.

1:39:38663,664 1,000.

1:39:41And right next to it.

1:39:43Here is where we think we land with the budget amendments

1:39:47that they're proposing for your consideration tonight.

1:39:49Again, these amendments have not been made yet on paper, these

1:39:54on this forecasted document.

1:39:56And once council reviews these amendments

1:39:58and blesses them at the next council meeting,

1:40:01they will be put into the system as a budget Amendment.

1:40:03So they just a working document for us.

1:40:05And down here is our estimated cash

1:40:08position at the end of June 30.

1:40:10Like I said, it's about nine million, 9.3 million.

1:40:13And we'll be keeping our eyes riveted on that,

1:40:15because the moment this thing drops significantly

1:40:18below this number that's been before,

1:40:20that's a cause for concern.

1:40:22I doubt very much if that's what happened at this point in time.

1:40:25That's the number of.

1:40:27Eyes on it, and that being said, we've split up the property

1:40:32taxes, you might notice that I broken out the property taxes

1:40:35and timeline.

1:40:36It is that exactly how much we're going to expect

1:40:38in each of the coming months.

1:40:40So here's the big chunk of change

1:40:41that comes in the middle of April, the 3.5 billion

1:40:45in taxes.

1:40:46And we get some part of it back in June

1:40:48as well, be read on the sales forecast for the next six

1:40:52months on the premise.

1:40:53That sounds good to me.

1:40:55It has to reduce our sales budget by 200,000.

1:40:58So these numbers.

1:40:59Now have now been revised to reflect

1:41:02the change of the original budget was 6.45.

1:41:06And now taking 200,000 out of that leaves us with 6.5.

1:41:11And we've done the same with franchise taxes.

1:41:15And that's about the primary changes on the revenue side

1:41:19of the receipts side of the balance sheet up this cash flow

1:41:22forecast a pause here for any questions you might have.

1:41:26And then we can move on to the next slide.

1:41:28And I'm sure of picked up on the.

1:41:32A quick question, so in relation to property taxes

1:41:37and the property transfer tax, I noticed on the first document,

1:41:44then this document that the.

1:41:48If you could explain a little bit about how property transfer

1:41:52taxes, you know, they've been really helping us,

1:41:56then how does that relate to property taxes,

1:41:59which seem to be going down?

1:42:02So probably try to patch their transactional effects

1:42:05every time someone any time someone

1:42:07sells a piece of property in her tracks

1:42:09and it qualifies for that.

1:42:10And attracts the fans for taxpayer dollars 2000 up,

1:42:14the sale price of a property is sold for a million.

1:42:17The city gets $12 per thousand, which is $12,000.

1:42:20So that is transactional, defined by market forces.

1:42:23The buyer and the seller decide about the selling prices

1:42:25and that results in that.

1:42:27Property taxes, on the other hand,

1:42:29consists of a number of different things

1:42:31that are based on real property that are assessed annually

1:42:35by the county assessor.

1:42:36And that's the one that you see on your property tax bill.

1:42:40And so we get a chunk of that because some of the properties

1:42:43within the city's footprint and changes

1:42:47aren't as frequent as the market value of properties

1:42:51because these are based on assessed values.

1:42:53And therefore, to a significant degree,

1:42:56we can predict what those numbers

1:42:57would look like in the upcoming fiscal year.

1:43:00It's very difficult to predict property transfer taxes

1:43:02because it depends on market activity, on market forces,

1:43:06on setting prices.

1:43:07And we've seen the budget together.

1:43:10We anticipated that property transfer

1:43:12taxes would be about $12,000 a month based

1:43:15on x number of properties.

1:43:17But we've seen that up to about 335,050 $1,000 a month.

1:43:21And that's how we end up with this huge one $2.2 million

1:43:24property tax transfer tax.

1:43:26That's at the end of December.

1:43:29Thank you.

1:43:31Any other council member have a question, janet?

1:43:34No, I'm OK.

1:43:37Mark, do you have a question?

1:43:40Yes, I do.

1:43:40Thank you.

1:43:41Thank you, mayor.

1:43:42Mark, I have a question regarding the numbers.

1:43:47Again, still looking at where we're at.

1:43:51And I appreciate you explaining this in layman's terms.

1:43:58And I know our audience, our residents do as well.

1:44:01So looking at this general fund and looking at what are.

1:44:08The 664 on the bottom, right? can you explain that.

1:44:15And explain what the surplus that we thought it would be,

1:44:21the 60 four, 664.

1:44:24And the reality of the three of three.

1:44:27Sure and Gabe can I just say I agree.

1:44:30That's with the numbers.

1:44:31I think those are the key numbers down there that we need

1:44:33to understand as city council and what you're

1:44:36asking us to do going forward.

1:44:39Explain those two numbers to it in layman's terms.

1:44:42And I'm an audience and all of us can know exactly what needs.

1:44:49What is going on.

1:44:50Appreciate that, mark.

1:44:52Sure so starting with the last column,

1:44:55which is the adopted budget column, the blue column.

1:44:57I recall that.

1:44:59This was a column that was adopted

1:45:01by the council as the adopted budget back in October.

1:45:05And council adopted a budget that showed 39.376 million

1:45:11in general fund revenues and 38.712 million

1:45:17in general fund expenses made up of all

1:45:20these different types, expenditure categories,

1:45:22primarily personnel costs.

1:45:25The difference between the revenues

1:45:27that we thought we'd bring in and the revenues

1:45:29and the expenses that we plan to spend is the surplus.

1:45:33In this case of 664 thousand, it's a positive number.

1:45:37It's a positive surplus.

1:45:38It adds to general fund reserves and helps

1:45:41build general fund reserves.

1:45:42So that was the budget.

1:45:43Better the plan back in October.

1:45:46But by things.

1:45:47He also cautioned readers of the budget

1:45:51was that the times were exceptionally fluid.

1:45:56Forecasting was an issue for us.

1:45:58And we just took a stab at some of these numbers,

1:46:00particularly sales taxes and real property taxes.

1:46:04And we said that we'd come back to council sometime

1:46:07after December with any revisions

1:46:10that we thought we wanted if any of these numbers

1:46:13were found to be soft.

1:46:15So that being said, as I pointed out previously,

1:46:18we feel that property taxes should be lowered by about

1:46:23200,000 sales taxes by another 200,000

1:46:27and franchise fees by 200,000.

1:46:30So if you put those three changes into this little box

1:46:33here and into lowering your revenues,

1:46:36naturally, your surplus would also shrink.

1:46:39And that's how it comes down to this 303.

1:46:41So that's on the revenue side of the business,

1:46:44on the expense side of the business.

1:46:45You've also suggested that we reduce costs in terms

1:46:48of keeping vacancies open, as Karen pointed out,

1:46:51and natural attrition, retirement and separation

1:46:55that has happened in the last month

1:46:56has resulted in savings as well.

1:46:58So factoring those savings on this expense line item

1:47:02from the personnel cost line item

1:47:03does give us some benefits.

1:47:05And so that has improved this bottom line number.

1:47:09But keep in mind that this number is here.

1:47:13We have reduced revenues for services by about 1.5 million,

1:47:17and that has contributed to the reduction of this number

1:47:20from the previously anticipated 664,000.

1:47:23So in answer to your question, why are we looking at here?

1:47:26We are asking then, can we mention this?

1:47:28We are asking that council give us direction in terms

1:47:31of restoring the 664,000 by making

1:47:35appropriate further reductions that match

1:47:39this difference between three them

1:47:40three and 6,060 four, which is approximately $2,000.

1:47:43So that's the best time to be addressing the proposed

1:47:47reductions through the Amendment process

1:47:50that we are bringing forward to.

1:47:51Thank you.

1:47:52And listening to what the governor

1:47:53had to say the last few days and will be basically dealing with

1:47:58COVID until the summer time.

1:48:01And they do.

1:48:02The governor did mention that, you know,

1:48:06we're not the regular folks under 65 who are healthy.

1:48:11Most people are not going to get their vaccine

1:48:14until the end of the summer, maybe even the end of fall.

1:48:18So looking at that and being very, very

1:48:21conservative about these four service

1:48:25and the different departments.

1:48:28This is COVID related.

1:48:30And I want to make sure that we look at that.

1:48:33And we look at, for example, the things that we are not

1:48:37able to provide because of COVID and sheltering

1:48:40in place for the year.

1:48:42So looking at that, I want to make

1:48:44sure that we know recreation will

1:48:47not be open for the most part.

1:48:50Some will, but for the most part, no, it will not.

1:48:53And and this is why else retail has a very, very low COVID

1:48:59rates and illnesses and people dying because

1:49:03of the leadership of our city, making

1:49:07sure that people are safe.

1:49:09And so we are going to continue to do that.

1:49:12And we're not going to take any chances when it comes to COVID.

1:49:17And we're going to listen to our health

1:49:19department and the county and our governor.

1:49:21So that we don't have any choice on what we're going to provide.

1:49:26And not provide for.

1:49:27You know, that comes from a higher level,

1:49:30at the county level, as well as the state level.

1:49:35Yes, ma'am.

1:49:37Yes, if I could, I did two questions.

1:49:40And if I could go back down to that number again,

1:49:43the three are three.

1:49:45So what you're really the city staff is asking us to look,

1:49:48if we're going to, in fact, end up

1:49:50on the positive side of things.

1:49:52How do we deal with that?

1:49:54$303,000 deficit coming up.

1:50:00Because we're going to have to maybe even make

1:50:01some cuts into the next fiscal year as well.

1:50:04Is that correct?

1:50:07That that is true.

1:50:08We need to make cuts in the next fiscal year.

1:50:11So this is a surplus.

1:50:13So deficit.

1:50:16So then the.

1:50:20But we currently short as far as where we need to get as far as.

1:50:25$300,000 That's correct.

1:50:28That's the difference between the 3 and the six.

1:50:32So that's what we need to think about when we are looking

1:50:35for things to whether it's recreation or other services

1:50:38or other departments.

1:50:40I had a hypothetical question.

1:50:43You know, we're in the middle of a game,

1:50:45talked about the state budget.

1:50:47Our new president is talking about the $1.9 trillion

1:50:51and he wants to have state and local revenue coming to cities

1:50:57to help us out where they can.

1:51:00Republicans have a dramatically reduced amount of money

1:51:03and don't include state and city revenues.

1:51:07If we, in fact, get if in fact, we

1:51:10succeed in keeping local appropriations

1:51:14in the federal budget that might come to us,

1:51:17where would that go with that?

1:51:20That just come off the top or to our reserves

1:51:22or what are we talking about?

1:51:23How would we use that?

1:51:25So any one time revenues from the federal or the government

1:51:29would automatically flow into either government

1:51:32reimbursement line item.

1:51:34And you would see that correspondingly

1:51:36happen over here.

1:51:37So, for example, let's say we get a population

1:51:41based support from the government,

1:51:45that number coming right here.

1:51:46And go right down to the bottom line.

1:51:48And it would go to reduce any deficit we might have.

1:51:51And to demonstrate a surplus if, in fact, that's what happens.

1:51:55That is correct.

1:51:56And certainly, if that were to happen.

1:52:01So fingers crossed, everyone, we certainly would bring that

1:52:04back to the city council because we

1:52:06would need to amend the budget again to assume those revenues.

1:52:10At the end of the day, the city council

1:52:12makes the decision as to where the expenditures go

1:52:15or if it goes into reserves.

1:52:16I can tell you right now, as your city manager,

1:52:18I would certainly anticipate that we

1:52:21try to build our reserves as soon as possible,

1:52:23because, again, the closer we are to financial health,

1:52:27the better off we are at the long term.

1:52:29And we will be able to provide better service longer the

1:52:33our bond rating will increase all of the there's so

1:52:38many ripple effects to making sure

1:52:40that we have even two percent, even 5% of our general fund.

1:52:46So if we were to say, get a million dollars, that

1:52:48would be extremely helpful.

1:52:50And again, it would allow us to be healthier, more quickly.

1:52:53And so management partners that we worked with

1:52:57said it will take 3, 2 four years

1:52:59anyway to get to where we want to get to.

1:53:01So that federal money coming in, which we should all

1:53:04write letters about, will help us in jumpstarting

1:53:08that reserve fund if we get it.

1:53:09I mean, we can probably count on that amount, but.

1:53:12Right and we're certainly not I mean,

1:53:13there's no expectation of that.

1:53:15And in fact, that is exactly why we haven't even

1:53:19though, real property transfer taxes coming in very well,

1:53:22we are not proposing to increase that.

1:53:24We are not proposing to add a lot of revenue,

1:53:27because I have instructed mark and I have instructed

1:53:30all of our staff that we need to be as conservative as possible

1:53:33when it comes to revenues.

1:53:34It's just too volatile out there.

1:53:36And any additional revenues that we achieve

1:53:39is icing on a little cake.

1:53:41But we have a long way to go.

1:53:43So we just really want to make sure that we're being

1:53:46as conservative as possible.

1:53:47In our estimate, being fiscally conservative,

1:53:50especially now during our difficult time,

1:53:53is good government.

1:53:54And between now.

1:53:55And when we have to do the tranh again, it's up to the counsel

1:54:00to make sure that we improve our numbers.

1:54:03So we can get a better credit rating.

1:54:06Because that right, mark, if that is true.

1:54:08Absolutely speaking of conservative,

1:54:13so if staff is asking for delta of 300 thousand,

1:54:18isn't that essentially skimming the surface?

1:54:24I would be interested in knowing more about additional cuts

1:54:27that we could consider.

1:54:29So that we can be able to address a slightly faster.

1:54:35Certainly in Marken can jump in here as well, as I've just

1:54:40said, the quicker we get to financial health,

1:54:43the better off we are more quickly at this point

1:54:47because we're being so conservative

1:54:49with revenues that would anticipate

1:54:51cutting further expenditures.

1:54:54If if the city council directs us to at least make

1:54:58that $664,000 which again, would be about a

1:55:01$300,000 further cut between now and next week.

1:55:06I can tell you that that would at this point,

1:55:09we have cut around all the margins,

1:55:11we've cut a lot of our expenses.

1:55:13And we'll show that in the next slide, where we talk about what

1:55:16budget modifications we're proposing just

1:55:19as a point of order for the minimum

1:55:23that we get at the minimum being that $303,000 surplus.

1:55:27If the city council my recommendation

1:55:30would be to at least get us to that success

1:55:32before the city council had a higher target than that,

1:55:35then that whatever that delta would be

1:55:37is what we would bring you.

1:55:39My what I would tell you, though,

1:55:41is what those reductions would be at this point

1:55:43would be additional people.

1:55:46The what we have tried to do and.

1:55:51And I'll just sort of preface this by saying that we are

1:55:53currently in negotiations with bargaining units,

1:55:56so I'm going to it sounds like I'm going to be

1:55:57a little vague, so I apologize.

1:55:59But that is because we are negotiating

1:56:01at the table and not in public.

1:56:04But there are negotiations underway.

1:56:07And I would anticipate there would be further positions that

1:56:11would be cut.

1:56:12They would be non-public safety positions.

1:56:15So it would be across all of the other departments,

1:56:17other than police and fire.

1:56:19And that is essentially where the reductions would come from.

1:56:23We have tried to look strategically at positions

1:56:27that, again, I think as we had talked

1:56:29about before with the previous layoffs

1:56:32that we did per December, we have

1:56:35tried to make sure that, again, we're not looking

1:56:38to reduce programs outright.

1:56:40We're not looking to reduce we still have all this work

1:56:43that we need to do.

1:56:44And that we're offering the cuts in those positions

1:56:48would be strategic to allow us to continue

1:56:51to provide the portfolio of services

1:56:53that we offer in a reduced manner.

1:56:57Again, the city manager's office is one of the best examples

1:57:00of that, where Alex and I are still providing

1:57:03the same amount of services.

1:57:05It is just now spread pretty thin.

1:57:08But that is what we are looking to achieve.

1:57:10If there are additional expenses and contractual services

1:57:13or anything like that.

1:57:14We're able to try to come up with as well,

1:57:16we can certainly add that.

1:57:18And then the flip side of that is if revenues do increase,

1:57:23then that delta also increases.

1:57:24So again, the further, we cut, the better off we are.

1:57:29But that at the end of the day is at some point, the more

1:57:33people you cut, then you are cutting

1:57:35into our portfolio of services.

1:57:36You are cutting into work, not being done.

1:57:39And so we have tried to really maintain as much

1:57:42of our service levels as possible, if we can.

1:57:46But anything further than that, you know, that that is

1:57:50the deeper you go, the deeper.

1:57:52You're putting, the more programmatic services

1:57:55that you are indeed affecting.

1:57:57So, you know, if the city council were

1:58:01my recommendation is that I would like the city council

1:58:03to direct staff to be able to at least achieve

1:58:06that $664,000 that we budgeted.

1:58:09However, if the council were to set

1:58:11a target of a million dollars, then we would get to work.

1:58:14This week and we would take a look at that.

1:58:19It would be much more drastic.

1:58:24I want to also remind everyone that we

1:58:29have a few months between now.

1:58:32And when we have to apply for the training again,

1:58:37so it will be better on the long run

1:58:40to improve our credit rating.

1:58:44So what we're doing now, in my opinion, is most important.

1:58:49And, you know, and this is something that, you know,

1:58:54I know my colleagues know the importance of making sure we

1:58:59improve our credit rating.

1:59:01We don't want to get too low, the rating that we're at now,

1:59:07because that would be a horrible, horrible situation.

1:59:12So it's important that we look at what is out there.

1:59:17And what we can do now.

1:59:19So I appreciate our city manager or, you know,

1:59:23just telling it like it is not making a rosy picture

1:59:28and just telling us the truth.

1:59:30So thank you, Karen.

1:59:31And thank you, mark.

1:59:33This is what we want to hear.

1:59:35So can I add here if I can speak,

1:59:39I was going to save some comments

1:59:42after the public comment.

1:59:45But I am following on what council member Rudnick

1:59:49mentioned, I just and what you just said,

1:59:53Karen, is I would like some more information, not just

1:59:57following on what we need to do here,

2:00:00but in our overall budget.

2:00:05What else can we cut.

2:00:07And I've been looking moving forward,

2:00:10it's been concerning that the recreational department.

2:00:14It has been focused on and that those are the only services.

2:00:17We've been focusing on and the personnel, it's

2:00:19not my favorite thing to do.

2:00:21And I know that we have to do certain things

2:00:24and cut certain services.

2:00:25And we're going to get those back.

2:00:27But it's 2 to three years, possibly.

2:00:29My concern is that.

2:00:30And I've said and I ran for city council saying everything

2:00:33has to be on the table.

2:00:34Every department, I think, should be thinking

2:00:37about what they should cut and.

2:00:40There's always seems to be a difficult time

2:00:42with information on the budget, and I

2:00:44was just hoping that we could.

2:00:47And it probably is a request that we

2:00:49talk about every department, including public works,

2:00:53including fire, including police.

2:00:56Think about another 1% cut.

2:00:58Can we do it?

2:01:00If we can't do it, let us know, get the information

2:01:03and come back to us at the next meeting.

2:01:05And not just have recreational information.

2:01:08I've always talked about plan B, and C. We need to not only see

2:01:12recreation, but we need to see can we get 1% or 2%

2:01:16of the fire, police, community development and everything

2:01:20else, if we can't, I across the board cuts,

2:01:23you know, you did a litany of incredible things

2:01:26that we've done with furloughs and cuts

2:01:28and but I may be speaking for the rest

2:01:33of the council members.

2:01:34I would love to see how stretched.

2:01:36We are in each department so that we can

2:01:39make those critical decisions.

2:01:40The council has to make going forward.

2:01:43And I'll just leave it open to other council members.

2:01:46And I'd like to add taraneh threw out a million in cuts.

2:01:52I don't know what that looks like.

2:01:54So for me, it would be beneficial to know what does.

2:01:57And for the community, what does a million of cuts

2:02:00look like here in our city?

2:02:03And then what would be a menu of options

2:02:05of what is more correct, what a million would look like?

2:02:10I'm not saying, we're going to make a million in cuts,

2:02:12but it would be nice to know that looks like.

2:02:15And what the impact would be on the community.

2:02:18And the other topics from.

2:02:20Yes on that list up.

2:02:22I know first, I would like to thank staff for all this work,

2:02:27and I would like to acknowledge that this stuff is

2:02:30really difficult. We're talking about people.

2:02:33And these decisions are not just America,

2:02:36but they impact people's lives.

2:02:38And I really appreciate the time that council and staff

2:02:42are putting in to make these decisions in a way that will be

2:02:46good for the city, equitable and very difficult for many people.

2:02:53I would like to go back to the ending balance,

2:02:56that showing the 9.319 mark that is in your spreadsheet

2:03:03and, you know, bringing all those back.

2:03:07So that if you look at how this budget is set up,

2:03:11that nine nine million of that 9.3

2:03:15has to be there in cash in order for us to pay off the trend.

2:03:20Right so that, you know, what we're

2:03:21looking at is $9.3 million that will have if you know,

2:03:28everything in this budget works out from January to June,

2:03:32the way that it's shown with the projected year end

2:03:36changes that we anticipate now.

2:03:40So our only extra cushion.

2:03:42There is that $300,000 for our city.

2:03:46So that, you know, shows to me how dire it is that we need

2:03:53to have a bigger cushion there.

2:03:56You know, I think council member Quinn talked

2:03:58about our credit rating and how that's

2:04:01going to impact your trend.

2:04:04Having more cash on hand is going to allow

2:04:08us to have a smaller trend.

2:04:10So all these things are, you know, all these things

2:04:14are working together.

2:04:15And it is terrible.

2:04:17But I think we really need to have

2:04:19more cushion in our budget.

2:04:22And it is tough to push for cutting people,

2:04:26but that's what we have left.

2:04:28And I think that this is an unfortunate situation.

2:04:33We need to look at every single thing.

2:04:36And I agree with the rest of my council members that, you know,

2:04:39we need to have a whole menu of choices because, you know,

2:04:46anything can happen in terms of our projected

2:04:50income between now and June.

2:04:53So I think that as conservative and safe

2:04:56as we can be to make sure that we're

2:04:58going to be good through the end of the fiscal year.

2:05:01And then, you know, again, I'm looking forward to that five

2:05:05year projection based on today about how

2:05:09track are we to getting to that restoration of our reserves.

2:05:13So, again, thank you, staff.

2:05:17This is really horrible what we're asking you to do,

2:05:21but we need you to do it.

2:05:22And we're counting on you to tell.

2:05:26And I think, like Gabe said, tell it to us

2:05:29like it is like it is an ugly.

2:05:32Can we get, as Lisa was saying, some commitment

2:05:35about the options that we might get back

2:05:38as far as other departments?

2:05:40I know there's not probably much you've

2:05:43got to have bare bones here, but we

2:05:45need to visualize what other options are,

2:05:47including rec department.

2:05:50Yes I mean, at the outset, $300,000 would be,

2:05:56you know, again, we're looking we're still in negotiations.

2:05:59So I'm trying to be very I'm trying to be mindful of that.

2:06:06But an additional $600,000 or additional $300,000 we're

2:06:12probably looking at another five to six people

2:06:15that would need to be laid off.

2:06:17In order to achieve that.

2:06:19And at that point, you are indeed cutting into much

2:06:23further where we're at as far as offering programs,

2:06:26as far as work not getting done, we

2:06:28would have to do a major restructuring of any department

2:06:31that lost that many of people or whether or not it

2:06:34was across the board.

2:06:35And I would definitely need to do

2:06:38some further research in that.

2:06:40But I can assure you it would be 5 to six full time positions.

2:06:45And across the board, though, and across the board

2:06:48at this point, it would be not just recreation, not just

2:06:52recreation.

2:06:53No and in fact, we need to see where they are.

2:06:58And in fact, what.

2:07:00The if you were to, again, direct us to at least achieve

2:07:07the $664,000 that is not just in reparations,

2:07:11the $300,000 and further reductions

2:07:13would not just come from reparations.

2:07:15OK, well, right now, we don't know where they're coming from,

2:07:18so we need to visualize where they might be coming from.

2:07:22So we can make those kinds of decisions

2:07:25that impact our residents.

2:07:26So and when we have anything further to report to the city

2:07:32council with respect to negotiations,

2:07:34we would do that in question.

2:07:36Does this request take a motion guy or anything?

2:07:40All right.

2:07:40You've heard what we said, Carol, right.

2:07:42It can we?

2:07:43Well, I do have a few more slides that I

2:07:45would like to go through.

2:07:47So that we can show you some of what

2:07:49we're contemplating already.

2:07:53And if I may, we do need to hear from the public

2:07:57before the council takes any action on this item.

2:08:03So, holly, perhaps you can put me back as presenter

2:08:09and then I can finish up the slide show you.

2:08:20Just one second.

2:08:29So OK.

2:08:44So this is a slide, so attachment for in the city

2:08:49council packet showed our proposed budget adjustments

2:08:53as by department with an offset, that's actually the next slide.

2:08:58But this slide, I decided to add.

2:09:00So that we could show it just divided between revenues

2:09:04and expenditures.

2:09:05So what I will do is sort of walk through this.

2:09:08And mark, actually, you can jump in.

2:09:11Sorry, I'm moving the window, mark.

2:09:14You can jump in if you have anything to add on that.

2:09:17So these are the proposed revenue

2:09:19adjustments that mark just talked about,

2:09:21the total flexibility that.

2:09:24Oops, sorry.

2:09:26OK, before I begin, I just want to share

2:09:29that mid-year adjustments happen every year anyway, we regularly

2:09:36over the past, while I've been here for going on 20 years now,

2:09:40every mid-year we come and report to the city council

2:09:45on these various topics.

2:09:47And if there are any adjustments to make,

2:09:49we provide that at mid-year and in the city council will review

2:09:54it and take a look at it this year has been unique because

2:09:57at the end of each quarter, as opposed to just once per year,

2:10:00and it's going to be now three times

2:10:03this will be the third or the second time,

2:10:06you would be amending the budget as opposed

2:10:08to just once in normal years.

2:10:10So the mid-year is a normal thing that we usually

2:10:15work with the Council on.

2:10:16But what's not normal is how we're continuously monitoring

2:10:20and having to make even bigger adjustments

2:10:23because of the COVID emergency.

2:10:26So making these adjustments, a lot of these adjustments

2:10:29would be within the normal course of business.

2:10:32And for example.

2:10:34Oh, yes, is a very significant one.

2:10:37So it was budgeted at, I believe, $450,000

2:10:41in the budget, but we expended $850,000 worth of expenditures

2:10:49and an additional $100,000 that we can retain,

2:10:54that we can get reimbursed for equipment.

2:10:58So in the budget right now, it says

2:11:00450,000 and reimbursement for revenue

2:11:04and 450,000 in expenses.

2:11:06So we need to increase that to make sure that it

2:11:09reflects the actuality of the 850,000

2:11:12that we did spend in overtime.

2:11:15So on the revenue side, that's right here,

2:11:17we would increase the revenue number by $550,000

2:11:20to reflect the reimbursements we expect to get in here.

2:11:25These two.

2:11:26I'm sorry, these two, the reimbursement here

2:11:28that was expended, we would adjust

2:11:30the expenditure line to show what was actually spent.

2:11:35I'm going back to the revenue side right now.

2:11:38Fines and citations.

2:11:40This is from the police department.

2:11:41We are proposing to reduce that by $75,000

2:11:44because we've written less tickets

2:11:48during good times, less people driving, less people parking.

2:11:53In fact, we had not enforced parking for quite some time.

2:11:57We only just recently started enforcing parking fines.

2:12:02And so over here on the expenditure side,

2:12:05the personal savings from the police department,

2:12:08this is a due to actually an additional vacancy that did

2:12:11occur, that on AI believe, on a recruit

2:12:17that we were not expecting.

2:12:18And then we are shifting body.

2:12:21One can release a $45,000 to grant to the grants

2:12:26that we've received to pay for this instead of general fund.

2:12:29So that $75,000 since the 75 $1,000 property taxes

2:12:35is what went over earlier.

2:12:37We're asking you to amend the budget.

2:12:40$200,000 for each of the categories

2:12:42of property tax, sales tax and franchise tax.

2:12:47Coming back to hear the charges for service,

2:12:49this is also what talked about, that the reduction would be

2:12:54made in this is primarily because of the recreation

2:12:58programs that we're just not able to offer.

2:13:00So the total revenue adjustments would

2:13:03be one point six, $9 million.

2:13:05Back over here on the expense side,

2:13:08I want to show these numbers, which offset.

2:13:11So as we told you, we decided to fill

2:13:15the vacant positions in the fire department

2:13:17in order to reduce our overtime.

2:13:19The original intent was to hire all of those firefighters

2:13:24in the beginning of the fiscal year.

2:13:26But because of covid, we had had a hiring

2:13:29freeze up through July.

2:13:31And so we did not do any recruiting at that point.

2:13:34We decided to begin the recruitment

2:13:36again, starting in July.

2:13:38And so it has taken several months

2:13:40for all of the firefighters to be hired.

2:13:43They are now all hired.

2:13:44They're now also it because of the lag time in recruiting

2:13:49and between recruiting and getting them actually on board.

2:13:54We did expend more overtime than we had that we had anticipated.

2:13:59And so we need to make an adjustment of $530,000

2:14:03to overtime.

2:14:04However, because we did not hire those people,

2:14:08we achieved $530,000 in offsetting salary savings

2:14:13because those people were not on board yet.

2:14:15So these two expenses offset.

2:14:18I already explained these personal savings

2:14:22and recreation, this is all due to the additional vacancy that

2:14:26had been unexpected and the professional services,

2:14:30savings and recreation.

2:14:31So because just with these charges for service,

2:14:35the offset of the programs were not able to offer

2:14:38or the different types of programs

2:14:40were not able to offer the camps, that type of stuff.

2:14:43We also have achieved a significant amount of savings

2:14:45as a result. It doesn't necessarily match,

2:14:48but it is a significant amount of savings.

2:14:51And this is the not the instructors

2:14:54and the private contractors that offer classes

2:14:58and some of the supplies, all of the things

2:15:01that we're just not spending money

2:15:03on because we're not offering the same amount of programs.

2:15:06And so that is $817,000.

2:15:09And the $600,000 is what also pointed out

2:15:14in the previous slides of what the staff reductions would be

2:15:18that offset this $600,000 here.

2:15:22So the total expense adjustments are $33,000.

2:15:27So what that in that general fund impact is and this is what

2:15:31we had discussed, again, I agree with you,

2:15:34mayor fidele, this is not a recreation department deficit.

2:15:38This is a general fund deficit.

2:15:40So all of this together, I don't want to pin it

2:15:42on the recreation department.

2:15:44This is a while.

2:15:46We know that those fees and services

2:15:48are we have the data to show that at the end of the day,

2:15:52we don't pit departments against one another that way.

2:15:55This is all general fund money, which

2:15:57is why you're correct in that we would want to spread out

2:16:01the any reductions or any expense

2:16:04or revenue adjustments are spread out.

2:16:06And they are not they will not be focused solely

2:16:10on the recreation departments.

2:16:11So as we were discussing, all of this put

2:16:14together would provide us with a $303,000

2:16:17surplus instead of the $664,000 surplus, which at the end

2:16:23would bring us $293,000 fund balance.

2:16:27That would be positive.

2:16:28However, we are recommending further reductions

2:16:32to meet the $664,000.

2:16:35That is what our recommendation is, that we would bring

2:16:38you an additional $300,000 worth of savings at the next meeting.

2:16:42And we would go over that with you

2:16:45that we would include in the midyear adjustments in addition

2:16:49to these numbers.

2:16:53And on the next slide, this is what was in your packet,

2:16:56this shows all of those as they offset by department.

2:17:01So in the fire department, again, the cost, the savings

2:17:06from not having hired firefighters

2:17:08was $530,000 which would offset the overtime of $530,000

2:17:13leaving a zero net effect.

2:17:15Same is true.

2:17:17An additional $550,000 in overtime reimbursement

2:17:20would offset the $550,000 in costs for net effect of 0

2:17:24on the Donald Trump personnel savings of $30,000.45 $1,000

2:17:31for the body.

2:17:31One camberley offsets the $75,000 drop in revenue

2:17:37because of tickets, which, again, has a net effect of 0.

2:17:41This does again reflect the recreation department.

2:17:44This is where the gap is shown $91,000 in staff reductions

2:17:50and $817,000 in professional services,

2:17:54instructor supplies, et cetera.

2:17:56That would bring a savings of $908,000 to offset in part,

2:18:00the 1.5 million that we're expecting

2:18:03will not meet our revenue projections because again,

2:18:06solely because of copen and then the further revenue adjustments

2:18:11offset each other as well.

2:18:13These are the requested revenue adjustments

2:18:16for the tax categories and the cost savings that it offsets.

2:18:22So that the total net general fund

2:18:23effect is $657,000 which again results

2:18:27in the $303,000 surplus.

2:18:30In order to achieve this, the budgeted adopted budget

2:18:34surplus of 664,000 staff would bring you back revenue further.

2:18:40I'm sorry for further expense adjustments.

2:18:42$300,000 and at this point have pretty much

2:18:48concluded the presentation.

2:18:50And if there's any additional discussion or direction

2:18:52or questions, I just want to point

2:18:54out that the financial advisory board

2:18:57will be meeting next week.

2:18:58So I am sure that this will be a topic of discussion

2:19:01and that is a public meeting where we would

2:19:05be able to also entertain questions from the public

2:19:08on things moving forward.

2:19:11And then at the next meeting, as we said, we would present,

2:19:15we will have two presentations.

2:19:16One will be from our auditor, Mr badawi,

2:19:19and he would present the cafo to you

2:19:22and you would be asked to receive and filed a cafo

2:19:25and then he will do a presentation where you

2:19:28can ask him specific questions.

2:19:30And then we would propose we would bring you the proposed

2:19:32mid-year adjustments based on this

2:19:35and tonight's discussion for your approval

2:19:38at the next city council meeting.

2:19:40And with that.

2:19:42Thank you for the comments, quintel.

2:19:47Thank you, mayor.

2:19:48My question to Karen, our city manager.

2:19:52Now, I know we're going to have six

2:19:58years dealing with difficult periods

2:20:01and trying to get back in the black.

2:20:04Can you explain to residents and our audience regarding

2:20:10callipers and our responsibility with callipers

2:20:14and if that is in the equation?

2:20:18It as I said, I don't know if wants to jump in,

2:20:20we actually are working with our financial advisors right now.

2:20:24And we are hoping to bring you a presentation

2:20:28on that specific topic.

2:20:29Mark, do we know when that might be?

2:20:36You're still needed.

2:20:37There you go.

2:20:38There you go.

2:20:39Yeah, it'll be the first meeting in March.

2:20:42And mitchard advisors come in and make

2:20:44a presentation on the complete callipers story,

2:20:46including OPEB.

2:20:48And so they'll look at callipers performance

2:20:52for the recent four years and look ahead for the next five

2:20:56years as well.

2:20:56So that'll give you a complete picture of what the costs

2:20:59and what the trends are.

2:21:00So that's an important presentation for us.

2:21:03OK, thank you.

2:21:04And no, with our past, this was something

2:21:10that was never worked on.

2:21:12So I appreciate Karen looking at this and working with

2:21:17and our advisors.

2:21:20And we need to think ahead and to make sure

2:21:25that we think about that portion that we

2:21:31need to work on as well.

2:21:32And include that in what we are planning to do now.

2:21:37Because, you know, looking at what we're doing,

2:21:39where we are nickel and diming, we're

2:21:42not being aggressive enough.

2:21:44But I truly believe what we need to do with the trend.

2:21:49We need to do what we can between now and applying

2:21:53for the trend to make sure that our credit

2:21:56rating is as not at the miserable state that it is now.

2:22:02And so this is important that we look at this.

2:22:06So I appreciate everyone understanding how

2:22:10difficult this situation is.

2:22:12Thank you, mayor.

2:22:14And and, mark, what you're doing with the purse

2:22:17is a great effort to stabilize.

2:22:23We've asked and it's two things, one is actually

2:22:27a complete presentation, particularly given

2:22:29the fact that we have new council members

2:22:32and also as a refresher for existing council members,

2:22:34I'm proud of callipers.

2:22:35Tory has been over the recent past.

2:22:37That's number one.

2:22:38And number two is to suggest to council alternatives that might

2:22:42be out there that we might consider at some point

2:22:44to be coming back with those.

2:22:45It's kind of tough until we get a little more

2:22:48sustainable to be able to deal with purs

2:22:51and get our rates stabilized.

2:22:53So I appreciate that effort.

2:22:55Before I go to public comment, is there any other.

2:22:59Yes similar to yaama back to the staff report

2:23:06and ask about the $1.3 million redevelopment agency last year.

2:23:12Any status on that may maybe a little bit of background for us

2:23:16on what that is.

2:23:19Thank you for next time, you're saying for next time.

2:23:26You say you want to report next time are now, since it was

2:23:30in the current staff report, if you could get just a little bit

2:23:33of information on that.

2:23:34And if it's additional information

2:23:36is to come in the cafo presentation,

2:23:39that would be good to know as well.

2:23:41So I can start and then Mike and even maybe mike,

2:23:45mark, mark and Scott.

2:23:48And then I, me anyway.

2:23:53So yes.

2:23:54So the $1.3 million is money that is currently included.

2:24:04OK, you might have to jump in, make

2:24:06sure I don't get this right.

2:24:07The money is included right now as a non spendable

2:24:12part of our general fund.

2:24:14Correct and the reason that it is in dispute that way is

2:24:17because it is currently in litigation with the state

2:24:21and maybe maybe skyland.

2:24:23Actually, let me backtrack and I why don't you start with why

2:24:26we're even in litigation.

2:24:27That probably is a better place to start.

2:24:29Sure I'd be happy to address that.

2:24:32And we can certainly expand on it more for the next meeting.

2:24:36So as part of redevelopment, dissolution, the and I'm

2:24:42speaking in very general terms right now.

2:24:46In essence, the state did a review of the redevelopment

2:24:49agency's former assets and concluded

2:24:53that there is about 1.9 million in cash

2:24:56and several properties where that in redeveloped assets,

2:25:02that should be in terms of the cash

2:25:07allocated to all of what are referred

2:25:09to as the taxing entities in the county,

2:25:11and that the properties should either

2:25:13be retained by the city for public purposes

2:25:16or sold with the revenue from those sales distributed

2:25:21to the same taxing entities.

2:25:23Our view was that under the redevelopment law,

2:25:28the successor agency was actually

2:25:30allowed to retain those assets.

2:25:33And that they had been previously transferred

2:25:35to the municipal services corporation, which

2:25:38is a public benefit nonprofit corporation that the city had

2:25:41created and that had and that those assets had been conveyed

2:25:44to the corporation to further the goals

2:25:47of the redevelopment agency.

2:25:49We have been in litigation with the state for over five years

2:25:53on this topic.

2:25:55We only recently got a hearing on an appeal.

2:25:58And as a result of the undecided nature of that litigation,

2:26:03some of the final fate of those assets has been undecided.

2:26:10But in the meantime, in order to wrap up

2:26:13the former redevelopment agencies affairs

2:26:16without conceding any of the points in the litigation,

2:26:20we entered into an installment payment plan

2:26:23with the state in which the successor agency

2:26:28to the former redevelopment agency over a period

2:26:31of installment payments, did transfer the disputed amount

2:26:35of funds to the taxing agency, to the taxing entities

2:26:38and the properties that were in dispute if sold

2:26:43with the proceeds going to the taxing entities

2:26:45or were retained by the city.

2:26:47So all of the things that the state demanded that we do

2:26:50have actually been done.

2:26:52So all of those obligations have actually

2:26:54been satisfied at this point.

2:26:56But the final fate of whether or not

2:26:58we were actually obligated to do those things remains undecided.

2:27:02And so when we get a final decision

2:27:04from the appellate court, either everything

2:27:07the state told the city and the redevelopment agency to do

2:27:11will have been completed or the city will receive back

2:27:16some portion of those assets because the court

2:27:19will decide that, in fact, the agency

2:27:21was allowed to retain the.

2:27:26Thank you.

2:27:27That was right.

2:27:28It's very complicated if you have questions about it.

2:27:30I am happy to feltham.

2:27:33But but council member, you do bring up a good point, which

2:27:36is if for some reason, we were to lose that litigation,

2:27:40we would have to address that on our balance,

2:27:42on our financial statements.

2:27:44And so that is yet another something

2:27:48looming out there that we need to make sure

2:27:50that we're aware of, that you're aware of

2:27:53and that we end up accounting for.

2:27:55If there's actually ever a decision made here.

2:28:02I see a hand raised.

2:28:03They can remember, Edison.

2:28:05Yes I just wanted to go back to what is it.

2:28:10We need to do at this time?

2:28:12And I can see it as a 2-step process.

2:28:16And one step is deciding financially.

2:28:23How much money do we need to improve our situation

2:28:29by in the budget, and I think for sure

2:28:34we would all agree we need to do certain things rather

2:28:38than just letting it slip away.

2:28:41The area where I think we may or may not agree

2:28:46is on the details of what we would choose to be,

2:28:51the items that we would cut back on and.

2:28:58I think it would be nice, I don't know if we have time

2:29:02for it to have departments say, what

2:29:06if it were their department, what is it that it would be?

2:29:11And I think that would give us some guidance about what we

2:29:16would choose, because if we're not

2:29:18all that familiar with the Department

2:29:20and it's in our operation, it's a little

2:29:24hard to just sort of whack, it.

2:29:27So to speak, but but we do need to get to that goal of.

2:29:35That ultimately puts us in sound financial shape.

2:29:40And so I just want to say that to me, that's the big picture

2:29:45of what we're talking about.

2:29:47And it's a very painful point and.

2:29:52Elsa Riedel's history, in my opinion,

2:29:54it's certainly I actually feel like this is the worst

2:29:57time in my entire life.

2:30:00And the life of anybody who is alive right now.

2:30:04And never had world is wearing masks.

2:30:12Know, it's not like it's just something

2:30:14going on in El Serena.

2:30:15It's not like it's just something

2:30:17going on in the United States.

2:30:19It's everywhere.

2:30:21And a lot of people have died.

2:30:24A lot of people died.

2:30:26And this is you know, I don't think we in our history when

2:30:34in this century.

2:30:36And last century.

2:30:38Have anything that could compare to the way it is now?

2:30:43This is very different.

2:30:45And so what that means is that we may not necessarily

2:30:51be able to do things.

2:30:54The way we've been doing them, the way we want to do them.

2:30:58And I think we kind of need to keep

2:31:00that in mind as we go through these items and first of all,

2:31:06we don't know what.

2:31:08We're going to be able to do it because we don't know when

2:31:11things are going to be under control with the pandemic,

2:31:16we don't know if people can gather

2:31:20some things, some activities, assume that people gather

2:31:25and it doesn't really work to do it or something.

2:31:32So there's a lot that we have to think about.

2:31:34But I think we first in deciding what to do as a council,

2:31:38we need to think about what is our goal, the dollar,

2:31:42what is the dollar amount goal.

2:31:44And then we can go through and decide which items.

2:31:48In which.

2:31:50Are going to be impacted.

2:31:52So and that's basically what I was asking Karen for,

2:31:57is to visualize the options we have throughout all

2:32:01of our city departments.

2:32:03Thank you.

2:32:04And if and I really like the approach of that I've seen

2:32:09used.

2:32:11When I worked at Uc Berkeley, which worked

2:32:14and things were bad, not really this,

2:32:16that anyway is that everybody had

2:32:19meaning departments in this case,

2:32:21everybody has to come up with what?

2:32:25They would give up if they had to give up something,

2:32:28and usually it's $1 ultimate dollar amount.

2:32:33So it would be like across the board cut.

2:32:37To me, that's kind of a starting point,

2:32:39because I don't know that we want

2:32:41to do an across the board cut because we've

2:32:45already been cutting.

2:32:46And so it's kind of all over the place.

2:32:49And I think we've tried to do it in a way

2:32:52that is as painless as possible, although still painful.

2:32:58But I think we need to see what our alternatives are.

2:33:03And so I don't know if it's time to do that.

2:33:08I have to talk to the public first.

2:33:11No, I don't know.

2:33:13I'm not asking.

2:33:14I'm not talking about.

2:33:15Oh, Yeah.

2:33:17Generally, generally speaking, again,

2:33:21my recommendation would be that you direct

2:33:23me to at least provide reductions

2:33:25so that we can meet the original amended

2:33:28budget goal of $654,000.

2:33:30That would likely consist of at least

2:33:34three full time positions.

2:33:37And that is what we would discuss

2:33:38with you in closed session.

2:33:41But we would also be able to provide

2:33:43that next at the next meeting with the mid-year adjustments.

2:33:49I think I saw Tessa Rudnick up next council member

2:33:53that I can defer to the mayor pro tem.

2:33:55He can go first, then I'll go second.

2:33:58OK, thank you, mayor.

2:34:01Thank you, Tessa as well.

2:34:03You know, I want to remind our residents.

2:34:07And I found out about things that should have been done

2:34:11years ago, but was never done.

2:34:13But the majority of cities in Contra Costa County doing it.

2:34:18And I found out by speaking to city managers

2:34:21and different mayors and council members,

2:34:25we did not make those changes back in the last recession.

2:34:31And and this started.

2:34:33And we pretended everything was fine.

2:34:37And and there's not a right thing or wrong way.

2:34:40But I just want to remind everyone

2:34:42how we got to the situation.

2:34:44And the situation is, is that we never save for a rainy day.

2:34:49We cut big government hand when all the other cities,

2:34:54the majority of cities saved money, saved and made

2:35:01cuts, 30% in personnel and many and most of the cities

2:35:06in Contra Costa county, many of those cities

2:35:08still have skeleton crews.

2:35:11So we are still living with big government and El Cerino

2:35:16and we are a small bedroom community.

2:35:18And we just don't have the money to do this more.

2:35:22Looking at when I had the former Treasurer John Chung

2:35:27speak in 2017 about what is in store.

2:35:32And in the years by 2020 all the way to twenty, 20 six,

2:35:37you know, he warned us about what we needed to do and save

2:35:41money for scalper's and unfunded liability,

2:35:44but in previous leadership did not decided not to do that.

2:35:48But I look at the other cities in my county

2:35:51and they were able to do it.

2:35:53And even the cities that have a lot of scandal, they have

2:35:56seven million dollars, $10 million in reserves

2:36:00while we have zero.

2:36:01So I want to make sure that we deal with reality.

2:36:06Reality is that we need to do what

2:36:10we have to do to save our credit rating and improve it.

2:36:14This is part of the near future.

2:36:16And the important things that the council needs to work on.

2:36:20We need to save money for callipers.

2:36:22We need that money.

2:36:23I'm not counting any future money,

2:36:26whether it's coming from the state

2:36:27or the federal government.

2:36:28But if we do get something like that,

2:36:30that's going to our reserves, period, and that's

2:36:34what I recommend.

2:36:36And we need to do with the things

2:36:38that we haven't dealt with the last 10 years.

2:36:42And and this is not good government.

2:36:46This is bad government that we've been doing.

2:36:49And looking back on it and speaking to everybody else.

2:36:53And as a state board member of cities, that is the truth.

2:36:57And we need to learn what good government is

2:36:59about in our new city manager campaign

2:37:02because she does know what good government is

2:37:05and good government is making government smaller

2:37:08during these difficult, difficult times.

2:37:10And we need to do this.

2:37:12Now, for the sake of our city and our residents.

2:37:15Thank you, council member Rudnick.

2:37:19You know, it's great to be a new council

2:37:22member because I do believe that this is the start of a shift.

2:37:28And we really need to, as a city.

2:37:30And as a community, really be realistic about what it is

2:37:35that El cerrito does, can do, should do, will do,

2:37:40and that we have a baseline of understanding for me.

2:37:44What would make me feel comfortable

2:37:45is to know that we're meeting that 664 number.

2:37:50But also I really want to explore what we can do to get

2:37:54to that million dollars, because while it's painful,

2:37:57and it's horrible.

2:37:58And I go through in my mind, the math of who's and what's

2:38:03in the portfolio, but there's no decision that we can really

2:38:07make or make declarations about until we

2:38:10have the analysis of what it is that we need to really look at.

2:38:16And a lot of the community members

2:38:18have been speaking of equity, and I,

2:38:21I sincerely connect to that.

2:38:23This is a general fund issue.

2:38:25So the pain has to be spread out within the general fund

2:38:29and all the different departments

2:38:31that touch the general fund.

2:38:33Because, again, you.

2:38:36We keep talking about rec, but those stories that you read

2:38:39and just the mental health impact of children

2:38:43to be able to be in those spaces in the rec department,

2:38:47it's so valuable and I'm not suggesting we're going to gut

2:38:51rec, but what we really need to do

2:38:54is make sure that we are calibrated and that, you know,

2:38:59that there's an expansion.

2:39:00And there's a contraction and we're

2:39:02going into contraction mode.

2:39:04So those are my thoughts.

2:39:08Anyone else?

2:39:12So, Sydney Clarke, we're ready for public comment

2:39:17at this time.

2:39:17Members of the public who wish to provide public comments

2:39:21for this item should raise the Raise Hand

2:39:25feature to request to speak.

2:39:28Thank you, Senator Clark, for proceeding.

2:39:31Thank you, ma'am.

2:39:31Republican members of the public,

2:39:33an opportunity to raise their hand.

2:39:35I will just recognize public comments received by advance

2:39:38deadline on this item, which included make you

2:39:43and I miss Diana John Jacob, yakuts, amadi, sir.

2:39:48And my caller mayhap is shown Mary Jo Jackson was housemen,

2:39:55Daniel Schulman, Sarah Clower, Justin

2:39:58Clifford and Leslie Adams.

2:40:02And at this time, we have three members of the papacies

2:40:05requested to speak.

2:40:06If you could please confirm the 3 minute time limit.

2:40:09Three minutes.

2:40:11Thank you, sir.

2:40:12I'll go to our first speaker tonight is Cathy Campbell.

2:40:15Cathy unneeded and can begin your time now.

2:40:19Great, thank you so much.

2:40:22I really want to urge that the cuts be made to address

2:40:25the entire 1.04 million deficit as seen on page

2:40:29sixteen, the draft fiscal year 2021 general fund statement

2:40:33of revenues and expenditures.

2:40:36The suggested level of $300,000 in cuts

2:40:40is just I fear again, not going to be enough.

2:40:44We have this one point.

2:40:45Oh, for deficit six months in.

2:40:48And how do you as counsel know that there

2:40:49won't be an additional one million

2:40:51deficit in the next six months?

2:40:53If there is, we lose the entire surplus and end up in a deficit

2:40:57yet again at the year end.

2:41:00I understand that the city manager does not

2:41:02want to lay people off, but we are well past the time

2:41:05to make aggressive cuts.

2:41:07There has to be tough choices made.

2:41:09I also don't understand why public safety is not

2:41:12on the table, either with layoffs

2:41:13or with the creating efficiencies

2:41:15in their departments.

2:41:18You know, I'm curious because the city manager said

2:41:20before recreation was being cut due to covid, which is true,

2:41:24but we don't want to see them cut

2:41:26through the financial the finance issues.

2:41:29And again, I understand this is painful, and layoffs or people.

2:41:34But as the mayor said earlier, everything

2:41:36needs to be on the table, including public safety.

2:41:40And I appreciate both the mayor and councilperson person

2:41:43saying we need to see what these cuts are

2:41:45going to potentially look like.

2:41:48I would personally love to see a transparent list

2:41:50with a menu of cuts that would equal a million.

2:41:54So maybe a list of more than a mission's worth of cuts.

2:41:57But showing us.

2:41:58And you can kind of pick from the menu or not.

2:42:00And let the community speak to their priorities

2:42:03so that we can back the council to make these tough choices,

2:42:07because we all understand that there are tough choices here.

2:42:11And when you give direction to the staff,

2:42:13I just want to make sure that you

2:42:15direct them to look at all the departments,

2:42:18including public safety.

2:42:20The mayor said everything should be on the table,

2:42:21but I keep hearing the city manager talk about cuts

2:42:24and not mentioning public safety.

2:42:26There needs to be equity in the paint and.

2:42:29It options, you can look at the impacts, impacts.

2:42:34Community, the community want to keep.

2:42:39For example, I would also love to request

2:42:42that these cuts be in the packet, the Thursday before.

2:42:44So that the community can educate

2:42:46themselves and advocate for the preferences

2:42:48at the next meeting.

2:42:49Thank you.

2:42:52Thank you, speaker.

2:42:56Our next speaker is Dan Schulman.

2:42:58Dan, you were an immediate and can begin your time now.

2:43:03We're still there.

2:43:04We go 3 three minutes, Dan.

2:43:08Dan, are you with us?

2:43:15She's working full time.

2:43:17We're good about that.

2:43:19Go ahead.

2:43:19Thank you.

2:43:20Cool Yeah.

2:43:21So thank you, counsel.

2:43:23I think I really like the questions you're asking.

2:43:27I've been trying to listen the whole time.

2:43:29I pray for my kids to bed.

2:43:30So thank you for asking these great questions.

2:43:34I got to admit, though, I don't understand the answers

2:43:37that you're getting back.

2:43:39I thought council member abels and I thought

2:43:41you kind of nailed it with your question

2:43:43at the end of the process, you described.

2:43:45But at least from the answers.

2:43:47I've heard some for church.

2:43:48So far, it doesn't seem like that's

2:43:50what's happening as best as I can

2:43:53understand it from listening.

2:43:55There's going to be some approximately 300k worth

2:43:58of cuts brought to the next meeting,

2:44:00we don't know what they are now, and it doesn't

2:44:03sound like you're going to get much of a choice

2:44:05as to what they are.

2:44:08And then I'm in your shoes.

2:44:09I'd imagine you kind of have to vote

2:44:10for it because otherwise it kicks the can down the road

2:44:13too far.

2:44:14And we're kind of on a tough timeline here.

2:44:18And so I guess to me, it feels like maybe you

2:44:21need to be asking for a scenario cutting more, which I know,

2:44:29which is like just like prior speakers.

2:44:32I mean, that would be bad and unfortunate and unpleasant

2:44:35for the staff to have to consider what

2:44:38might happen to the Department.

2:44:39But there's possible cuts.

2:44:40So I get that.

2:44:42But the only way you as council members can make a choice

2:44:45is if you have a choice to make.

2:44:47And I just to me, it doesn't seem like you have one yet.

2:44:51So that would be my suggestion here is just to hopefully

2:44:58maybe maybe the right approach.

2:44:59I don't know the logistics of this,

2:45:01but maybe you ask for a scenario that cuts more, that spreads

2:45:05out across the departments, and then you don't

2:45:06have to agree to cut all of it.

2:45:09Maybe you choose to cut some, but not all of it.

2:45:13And you have some measure of some ability

2:45:16to dictate where it happens.

2:45:20Yeah, I guess that's my thought.

2:45:21I mean, you know, I think I do agree with the prior speaker.

2:45:23You know, everything should be on the table.

2:45:26And this is probably a terrible idea.

2:45:29But I was just thinking, you know, it's been raining.

2:45:32So do we need all of our fire stations going 24/7,

2:45:36fully staffed for the rest of february?

2:45:38You know, how much would that save

2:45:40if we cut that back a little bit because we had a bunch of rain

2:45:43recently and maybe that's a terrible idea.

2:45:45I'm not I'm not a fire expert, but but I

2:45:48don't know, like, you know, are we thinking

2:45:49about all the options here?

2:45:51So anyways.

2:45:53Thanks for the questions.

2:45:54I hope, I hope.

2:45:55I hope you are able to choose, you know,

2:45:59and I just kind of choosing from an option of one.

2:46:03Thank you.

2:46:04Thank you.

2:46:05Our next speaker is double double unmute

2:46:09and can begin your turn now.

2:46:11Hi Thank you.

2:46:12And I'll keep it brief, but I do want to reiterate

2:46:15what Kathy and Dan just said.

2:46:18I totally agree that the $300,000 that we're looking at

2:46:24is razor thin.

2:46:25And 600 is not a whole lot more to play with in a time.

2:46:29That's uncertain like this.

2:46:32So I know that these are very hard times.

2:46:34And I can see the reluctance on the part of the city manager

2:46:40to make these cuts and obviously in people and time

2:46:45and services, which is why I think,

2:46:49you know, we've heard some really great comments

2:46:51from the city council today from st. Paul and gabin

2:46:56and Janet and Lisa, you know, some great new sort of reality

2:47:04waking.

2:47:06Comments that I find really encouraging,

2:47:08and I think that the more you can be really clear, like Dan

2:47:12said, and give staff, like the directive to do it,

2:47:16the more they can actually comply with us

2:47:21and help dig us out of this.

2:47:22I also am looking forward, as I've said many times,

2:47:25to seeing that five year plan on where we're

2:47:28going to be in five years.

2:47:30And I also wanted to ask in all of this,

2:47:33what do you think the amount of the tranh

2:47:38is going to be in july?

2:47:40How much are you anticipating and what

2:47:43is the interest rate that you think you're

2:47:45going to be paying on it?

2:47:47Because that could be a two or $300,000 out of the budget

2:47:53that you may not be expecting right now.

2:47:57So that's a number that should be anticipated.

2:48:01I also hear that there's some discussion with callipers

2:48:05and some options.

2:48:07I think I know exactly what you're talking about there,

2:48:11those that does cover cost.

2:48:13So I would urge everybody to really keep

2:48:14an eye on that when those discussions

2:48:17begin and ask tough questions.

2:48:19And with that, I will yield to the next one.

2:48:22Thank you.

2:48:26Is there a fourth speaker?

2:48:28We do have one speaker showed up and you

2:48:32can begin your time now.

2:48:34Yeah hi, Thanks.

2:48:35Yeah, I agree with the last three speakers.

2:48:38And I agree with all five city council people

2:48:41that it's really imperative to seek greater,

2:48:46greater cuts than the additional $300,000

2:48:51that was being proposed.

2:48:53This evening.

2:48:54I have worked in city administration.

2:48:58I've had to cut budgets.

2:49:01I have been asked by the city manager

2:49:04to come up with a 5% or 10% budget reduction.

2:49:08I've had been asked to, again, show

2:49:12what the impact will be of that reduction on the community.

2:49:15Who will be hurt?

2:49:17How will it impact the families in the city that I worked?

2:49:22And I would hope that that's the kind of direction

2:49:25that you can give to the city manager

2:49:27as well, because I agree.

2:49:30I think both Tess and Janet said something about that.

2:49:33We had a great presentation about numbers tonight.

2:49:37That's numbers.

2:49:38What does that translate into how

2:49:41it's going to impact everyone?

2:49:43The impacts are going to be felt differently.

2:49:46And we can mitigate some harm if we are really careful

2:49:49and think about what we're doing.

2:49:52I also want to just add one more comment about public safety.

2:49:57I I'm continually shocked when I see that no one's

2:50:02looking at public safety.

2:50:04I don't understand.

2:50:04Is almost half our budget.

2:50:06I know Councilman puto in the past and says,

2:50:09we will never cut public safety.

2:50:11I don't understand how we can say that at the same time, talk

2:50:14about wanting small government.

2:50:17And it doesn't make sense to me.

2:50:21So I don't think you can actually

2:50:23do what you want to do.

2:50:25And as Paul said, as I said, everything on the table.

2:50:29Thank you.

2:50:34That does conclude our request to speak on this item.

2:50:41Any further comments from our city council members?

2:50:50A quick appreciation for city staff,

2:50:53because I know how much work is involved with this, and so

2:50:58to Karen and staff, thank you so much,

2:51:00because we are the we're asking a lot of you by doing this.

2:51:05And I think Councilman moriyama mentioned that as well.

2:51:08This is tough, but it's necessary.

2:51:13And and in addition to just being tough work,

2:51:16the morale is tough, and one of the questions

2:51:22I was going to ask Karen is with all of these cuts.

2:51:26Staff's burden becomes heavier and our residents will not

2:51:31be responded to as quickly or have as many things that

2:51:35can get done, and that's something

2:51:37that we all have to remember.

2:51:40We're we're going to be making cuts,

2:51:42but our staff will be downsized, as I have said,

2:51:46and it's time to reshape it and move forward.

2:51:51I did I did have a request out where I mentioned,

2:51:54every department needs to make some cuts.

2:51:56And I don't know whether we need to just get a commitment

2:52:00from the city manager.

2:52:03Now as to what might come back to us

2:52:05at the next city council meeting.

2:52:07You said you would come back with an additional 300,000

2:52:11cuts in addition to what we may ask for now.

2:52:16That's not any part of me.

2:52:21I'm sorry, I didn't want to interrupt.

2:52:22I'm just saying there's general agreement,

2:52:24I think that we all want to just visualize more options for us.

2:52:29Absolutely can't afford an all fired police.

2:52:33Every department, there are places

2:52:34where we can cut the personnel.

2:52:37We have a tough time with the contracts.

2:52:41That's not something we easily can tap into.

2:52:43And they have responded across the board.

2:52:46You've got a mission's worth of cuts

2:52:47based on colas and other things that we've cut and furloughs.

2:52:51If you look at the list, it's a pretty dramatic list of cuts

2:52:54that our staff is getting, but we're not done,

2:52:57and we need to move forward.

2:52:59And I just wanted to parallel just in me.

2:53:02And then I'll shut up.

2:53:04I mentioned earlier, the League of California cities

2:53:08meeting that they conducted last week where the East Bay

2:53:14legislators came to talk to us.

2:53:16And I think I said earlier, they said,

2:53:18this has never been a more difficult time

2:53:21to lead, especially locally.

2:53:24So I want to thank Lisa for even attempting to come into this.

2:53:28It's difficult. So we ask for patience,

2:53:31too, with our residents.

2:53:32We love to collaborate.

2:53:34We need more of that.

2:53:35But we also need patience because we're

2:53:37all good people up here, including all of our staff

2:53:41and our city manager.

2:53:42But we need to have your support and your goodwill is as well

2:53:48as your criticism, because we're all trying to do

2:53:51the best that we could do.

2:53:53And we're going to move forward.

2:53:55And so now I'll shut up and see if anyone else has some.

2:53:58Gabe, can my comment to city manager, campinas.

2:54:03Karen, is it possible for you to send to us a reminder

2:54:09to our new council members the recommendations

2:54:13from our adviser, especially since they were not part

2:54:20of the Council before, make sure that they know

2:54:24what the different options are?

2:54:27Sure, I can certainly do that.

2:54:29And just to sort of expand on what seems to be,

2:54:33you know, and correct me if I'm wrong

2:54:35or if there's a consensus and/or if there's a motion

2:54:37at the end of all of this.

2:54:39But certainly, again, as I had previously pointed out,

2:54:43we will be talking positions.

2:54:45And I'm trying not to I apologize for being vague,

2:54:50but I do not want to name positions

2:54:53where they find out tonight at a council meeting

2:54:55that they may be laid off.

2:54:57So I'm not naming positions right now that if there were

2:55:01any positions as a result of any of our negotiations

2:55:05with any of our bargaining units, again,

2:55:07that would be brought to the city council

2:55:08to authorize in closed session to have

2:55:11those conversations in any meeting

2:55:13confers with any of our units.

2:55:15So I just I want to share that.

2:55:16And I again, I apologize that that sounds vague,

2:55:19but I'm trying to be very sensitive to the fact

2:55:22that any menu of options includes layoffs.

2:55:25It's just a magnitude of how many.

2:55:27And from where and at what point that becomes real is, again,

2:55:32if we're laying off in one person

2:55:35that does a insane amount of work, that can't be replaced.

2:55:38I mean, these are things that we are considering.

2:55:41So, again, the 300 if it was $300,000 at the minimum,

2:55:45that we will be able to do that.

2:55:47But I'm certainly happy to provide a reminder

2:55:51of the fiscal response plan menu that

2:55:53was discussed over the summer.

2:55:56I'm happy to do to provide additional options.

2:56:01And that is up to the council.

2:56:02So that there could be a menu.

2:56:05But the minimum I'm hearing would

2:56:07be at least to try to achieve the $664,000 as adopted.

2:56:12And so from there, what I will do

2:56:14is I will work with our staff over the next week

2:56:17to prepare some things for you to look at.

2:56:21But again, if there's anything that

2:56:23is required to be negotiated, I would bring

2:56:26that to you in closed session.

2:56:29Thank you.

2:56:29Thank you, Lisa.

2:56:35Think it's a good break.

2:56:36Thank you, mayor.

2:56:37That's a great reminder that if we make everybody in town

2:56:40unhappy to the same extent, I think we've done a really

2:56:44good job of being pretty fair.

2:56:46So we are all you know, everyone's going to be unhappy.

2:56:50I think this is kind of a given here.

2:56:52So and I appreciate all the work that staff is doing.

2:56:55I did want to just raise up what Sherry

2:57:00spoke about, about the impact.

2:57:03And it would be I know this is extra work on top of just

2:57:06the numbers part, but for you to bring us back as you lay out

2:57:10these options for us, some of that impact,

2:57:13and if there are obvious equity impacts, if there are impacts

2:57:18that are significant to services, that would be really

2:57:21great for us to understand.

2:57:24I do.

2:57:25I would like to see that sort of minimum cuts

2:57:29to get to the 600,000.

2:57:31I also would like to see the bigger menu of potential cuts

2:57:38that will can really get us back to a better place.

2:57:41I think council member Rudnick mentioned a million.

2:57:45Other people have mentioned that million.

2:57:47And that was probably a good target.

2:57:49So I would like to see that as well.

2:57:51So thank you for all the extra work.

2:57:55And that's.

2:57:56And again, if we don't make we don't make those cuts

2:57:59this year, we're just knocking at the door

2:58:02the next fiscal year budget that we have to start planning for.

2:58:06And we all.

2:58:07But we don't know what toll that will happen.

2:58:09So what will happen?

2:58:11Do I hear emotion from anyone?

2:58:15I'll move that.

2:58:17We ask staff to bring us back a menu of options

2:58:22for potential cuts, including one targeted option

2:58:27A for the $664,000 and then an option

2:58:33B of a mission's worth of cuts.

2:58:37And I would like to have included in that the impacts

2:58:41from those cuts as well.

2:58:42From all departments, from all departments, everybody,

2:58:45everything.

2:58:46Everything's on the table.

2:58:47And I will second that.

2:58:48I think TSA already did, didn't you?

2:58:51May I may I clarify, are you asking for a million of cuts

2:58:58or are you asking for a million in surplus?

2:59:01Because that's a very different thing if you're asking

2:59:04for a million in surplus.

2:59:06That would be about $600,000 in cuts.

2:59:09But if you're asking me a million.

2:59:10And that would be.

2:59:13So I just want to clarify what the intent is.

2:59:18I would say a million in cuts.

2:59:21And you can tell us how much surplus that will generate.

2:59:26It's been the motion has been made by council member

2:59:29multicamera and seconded by council member rubberneck,

2:59:33can we have a roll call, please?

2:59:35Me if I may put some people I can still remember avieson.

2:59:44She said, I can't remember.

2:59:47Let me hold on one sec, ok?

2:59:49You need it.

2:59:51Council member of the Council member mccalman.

2:59:55I can't remember when I motion carries.

3:00:01Thank you all tonight.

3:00:04Necessary and a good, good discussion

3:00:06among city council members, staff and our residents.

3:00:10The next agenda item is city council, local and regional

3:00:13leaders on assignments.

3:00:15Are there any report?

3:00:18I'll start.

3:00:20We've had a few meetings.

3:00:23I had my first board meeting with recycle more,

3:00:26which is a great assignment.

3:00:29Thank you for that assignment.

3:00:30And welcome with a lot of stuff with sb

3:00:351383 which is about for the community

3:00:39members who don't know.

3:00:4030 three, it is separating out organic waste.

3:00:44So food waste from the waste stream

3:00:48because it creates higher methane exposure or production.

3:00:54And there's a lot of going back and forth with the state

3:00:58as far as when they're going to start this enforcement

3:01:00process because it impacts it'll in because of COVID,

3:01:06there's delays.

3:01:07So it'd be really helpful if it could be pushed back.

3:01:11But we are going full force as if it's

3:01:13not going to be pushed back.

3:01:14I also went to the Save Alta Bates task force meeting,

3:01:18and that's a really important meeting for our region

3:01:21because the 80 corridor, as we know,

3:01:24is fairly deficient in hospital bed.

3:01:27And so it's a very interesting group,

3:01:30lots of different stakeholders.

3:01:32And those are my big outside assignment

3:01:36meetings that I went to.

3:01:39Good for you.

3:01:40Any other reports?

3:01:42Georg kento well, I look forward to attending my first meetings

3:01:47with the urban forest committee, and I'm

3:01:50just so proud that our city is a tree city.

3:01:53USA, grateful to the parsley's unqualifiedly and Genevieve

3:02:00for making that happen.

3:02:02And looking at what we need to deal with climate change.

3:02:06And that we need a plant, more trees.

3:02:10But we also know what needs to be done with our temperatures

3:02:17getting much, much warmer.

3:02:19So I look forward to working with our new are our brand

3:02:24new group.

3:02:26We did put one person on that.

3:02:29That's part of the committee.

3:02:30She attended one meeting already.

3:02:32And this past meeting, this meeting this evening,

3:02:36having Robin Mitchell back, I welcome,

3:02:40and I look forward to working with all of the committee

3:02:43members and again, as the liaison to fab,

3:02:49grateful to all five members for getting the job done.

3:02:53And look forward to joining them next week

3:02:55as well for the second meeting.

3:02:57So thank you, mayor.

3:03:00And the other reports.

3:03:03Those of us who are still waiting

3:03:04to go to our new assignments, I think

3:03:08it did forget to share that last Monday I attended

3:03:11the full meeting for the Arts and culture

3:03:13commission, which there are so many great projects that

3:03:20are on the way.

3:03:21But they also are really kind of tempering

3:03:23and waiting for a big project.

3:03:26So that they've been saving a lot of their money.

3:03:28So that they can invest in a really exciting

3:03:31project for the community.

3:03:33We saw a great presentation.

3:03:35There's going to be pardon me if I don't say it's either

3:03:39the electrical boxes or that there's going to be

3:03:44no artwork on some of them.

3:03:47And so I'm really excited to see what comes from it.

3:03:51Again, thank you all very much, appreciate the effort

3:03:54is there's no more comments.

3:03:57It's 948 and this meeting is adjourned.

3:04:00Thank you very much for that.

3:04:05Thank you.