Presentation of Current Practices Relative to ADA and Accessibility (July 15)

Recommendation: Request this be "deleted" and that the City Council reconsider the related study issue next December (and can determine if the study issue is not ranked high enough if they would still like a study session).

Technically this is not a study issue, however the City Council brought up the issue during the December 2002 Study Issue Workshop and requested a study session to brief them on accessibility practices. The Building staff would take the lead on this issue, however it requires coordination with Public Works staff and requires some assistance from Planning as well. This year, Building has completed one study issue (Fire Rating for Roofs) and is involved in another study issue (Green Buildings). These are high numbers for a division that usually does not do special studies. In addition, there is the extra workload this year due to budget preparation and the more recent issues associated with the parking deck at the mall.

FINANCE:

Recommendation: Postpone indefinitely

The Update Fiscal Sub-Element study issue is an "Ongoing/Unscheduled" project with an estimated completion date of October 2004. This study issue/non-routine project would have been largely coordinated and completed by a Management Analyst in Program 710 (Financial Management & Analysis). The position of Management Analyst was held vacant by the Finance Director during FY 2002/2003 due to the impending budget crisis, and was eventually proposed to be eliminated in FY 2003/2004 as part of the department budget reductions. The loss of this position will decrease by 40% the department’s ability to complete non-routines and will decrease by 30% the capacity to provide general administration. The loss of this position, coupled with other competing priorities in the department, make it highly unlikely that this project can be completed by October 2004, given the time commitment that would be required from remaining staff. It is therefore requested that this project be postponed indefinitely until adequate staff time can be devoted.

Recommendation: Postpone (to Calendar Year 2004)

There are insufficient staffing resources to study the issue in-depth at this time. The Administrative Analyst position in the IT Department has been vacant since September 2002. ITD initiated the recruitment process and held hiring interviews in January 2003. However, the position was "frozen" before a hiring offer was made, and the position is now being held open as a possible placement for staff whose positions may be eliminated as part of the proposed budget reduction packages. In addition, the ITD proposed budget reduction includes the elimination of the Technical Support Manager, one of three IT management positions (excluding the Director). The elimination of this position will have a significant impact on the IT Services Manager, who will assume the daily operational activities previously handled by the Technical Support Manager and severely limit the amount of time that can be devoted to researching this study issue.

The scope of this study issue includes other technologies in addition to the feasibility of webcasting Council meetings. In response to Council direction to staff on December 17, 2002, the IT Department will be presenting a capital spending plan for cable television and how webcast technology can be integrated into this plan. ITD is reviewing the options to increase playback of both the government and public access cable TV channels, to upgrade and/or replace equipment in the Council Chambers (lighting, cameras, monitors, laptops, etc.) and to upgrade equipment in the cable TV control room. ITD will present these technology upgrade options with related costs, together with webcasting, to Council in one report to assist Council in determining the most appropriate expenditure(s) for the available replacement capital funds and for the remaining capital equipment funds received from the Comcast (formerly AT&T Broadband and TCI) franchise agreement.

Recommendation: Cancel

Due to the proposed reductions to the IT operating budget, ITD has neither the time nor the staffing resources required to complete a comprehensive study of this issue and present the findings to Council at its November 11, 2003 meeting.

ITD is proposing an elimination of four full-time positions, including the Technical Support Manager. As a result, the IT Services Manager will assume the majority of the daily operational activities previously handled by this position. In addition, the Administrative Analyst position in the IT Department has been vacant since September 2002 and is being held open as a possible placement for other City staff whose positions are being eliminated. Both of these positions provide critical support to the IT Services Manager, who is primarily responsible for completing the above study issue. As a result, there are insufficient staffing resources required to complete a comprehensive study of this issue in the current calendar year.

With limited staffing resources in the IT Department, it appears that the creation of a Telecommunications Commission would place an additional time and workload burden on the Department. In addition, it seems to be an inappropriate time to add a new task to the IT Department when the Department is determining how to implement the proposed reduced service levels that will impact the operations of all City departments to continue core business processes.

Recommendation: Postpone

This project was proposed as a New Special Project and requested funding in the amount of $287,180 over two years. Funds would have been used to hire a casual manager to oversee the project and to engage consultants to conduct a formal needs assessment, to evaluate the current building to meet the current and future demands for service, and to develop conceptual models of future facilities. The Library does not have in-house expertise for these activities and does not have staff to oversee special projects.

In the last decade, the population grew faster than anticipated in the original study and library use skyrocketed in recent years (up 38% in the last two years alone). At the same time, the 43-year-old building is not as flexible as it must be to meet the growing need for the introduction of new technologies and evolving services. Increased use has accelerated wear and tear on the building and demonstrated the inadequacy of facilities such as meeting rooms, circulation work area, programming space, bathrooms, etc. These factors contribute to the inadequacy of the building to meet customer expectations. It is important to study this issue as soon as practical in order to avoid a crisis situation later.

Recommendation: Cancel

This was a study to consider providing additional benefits to temporary employees within the City. We recommend that this study be canceled for two reasons. The reasons for recommending that the study be canceled are related to the current fiscal situation. First, a conclusion of the study to provide additional benefits would create an additional expense during a period of time where we don't have the ability to meet that expense. Second, work involving the elimination of positions and possible layoffs of city employees has used staff hours that would have been devoted to doing the study.

Recommendation: Postpone

Recommendation: Staff recommends that this one will simply be pushed out one year: workplan in 2004, completion in 2005. (September 16)

In November of 2002, City Council identified the "Revision of the City’s Open Space and Recreation Sub-Elements" as a Study Issue it would like to see go forward in calendar year 2003. Staff subsequently indicated it would be possible to begin this multi-year project in calendar 2003, with completion scheduled for 2004. It also identified the need for $50,000 to complete the project (a typical amount appropriated for past sub-element reviews, used primarily for community outreach and written compilations of outreach results).

Given staff’s current exploration into possible budget reductions and the possibility of fewer resources in the coming years, I have recommended to the City Manager that appropriations for this project be reduced from $50,000 to $40,000. This may eliminate a certain amount of flexibility with regard to process (i.e., the scope of community input and/or the manner in which it is sought), but staff does not believe the quality of the end product will suffer as a result.

I am also recommending that the timeline for this multi-year project be pushed out one year, with a new projected starting date of 2004 (workplan only), and a completion year of 2005. This will give staff an opportunity to adjust to possible service level/staff reductions prior to embarking on this critical project.

While this same information will be embodied in the City’s Manager’s Capital Improvement Plan recommendations to Council, it will be amidst a large number of more highly visible projects and the impact of approving staff’s recommendations to your current Study Issues Calendar might not be readily visible.

This may need to be postponed due to workload, but staff recommends leaving it as is for now. Staff would like to give Council advance notice that they are going to try and meet the original deadline, but it may slip a little bit.

Recommendation: advance notification of delay

Why is this impacted? Deferred due to budget discussions related to reconsideration of the City's Capital budget and impacts of the State budget crisis. It is on hold until final budget adoption by the City. After final adoption of the City budget, staff will proceed with awarding a consultant contract for engineering services for the Mathilda Overcrossing project. This project leverages federal Highway Bridge Replacement and Rehabilitation funding through a state-wide program administered by Caltrans. The project costs are funded up to an 80% match from HBBR funds. Staff will continue to monitor the State's budget for transportation. Upon resolution of the State budget issues, a new schedule will be developed.

Recommendation: Postpone

This is deferred due to budget deliberations. This item was ranked and scheduled by the City Council, however, funding was not provided due to the budget situation. At this time, no date can be provided until we determine if the City Council wants to fund the Study. Estimated required budget is $ 40,000.

Return to RTC# 03-208