CITY OF SUNNYVALE
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
December 16, 2004
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
FROM: Amy Chan, City Manager
SUBJECT: Council Study Issues Workshop
Overview
The purpose of the workshop is to identify study issue priorities.
The Council binder includes:
Study Issues
As Council begins this annual effort, it is important to remember that the process that led to this point was essentially one of “creative brainstorming” – of getting ideas and issues on the table. This is an essential part of assuring continued innovation and openness in governance. The task of the December 16 workshop is to narrow down the issues and set priorities. Only those issues that are truly priorities, and for which there is a real possibility of action, should be undertaken. This should occur in a way that does not disrupt service delivery by overly diverting resources.
Suggested criteria for priority-setting:
Staff’s first priority is to meet adopted, budget service levels. This includes adequate time to manage and analyze service delivery and continuous improvement opportunities. It is also important to allow sufficient time for the completion and implementation of Council decisions.
Remaining time is directed to the Council’s calendar and internal studies, actions necessary as part of everyday management, and to implement new state or federal regulatory mandates, etc. Each year, in preparation for the new fiscal year, each department uses a strategic planning process similar to that utilized by Council to develop its internal study program. This is a critical part of the City’s continuous improvement activities; much of the focus is on activities which allow the City to meet specified services at less cost.
Origin of Issues
Tonight’s study issues represent various ideas raised for Council consideration. They come from:
1. Issues raised by the City Council as a whole or by an individual Councilmember;
2. Issues that result from goals, policies or action statements of adopted or draft General Plan sub-elements which call for Council consideration, but which have not been considered by Council;
3. Issues raised by Boards and Commissions;
4. Issues raised by staff;
5. Issues raised by the public at the December 7 public hearing and which were sponsored by a Councilmember, or other additional issues raised by Councilmembers at that time and since the distribution of the preliminary binders. (The study issue papers for these additional items have been added to and included in tonight’s binder)
6. Items that Council reviewed and deferred at last year’s workshop or items that did not receive a high enough priority (and fell below the line) for inclusion in the Calendar.
Please note that items “dropped” by Council last year have not been included unless specifically requested again by Council, Boards and Commissions, or staff.
General Plan Elements and Sub-Elements
One of the most time-consuming study areas is General Plan development and updates. Attachment A provides a listing of the elements and sub-elements of the General Plan and the most recent date of their adoption. It is noted that some of the sub elements were updated some years ago, and therefore, some of the study issues are to review older sub-elements.
Ranking Process
At this workshop Council will be asked to review potential study issues one department at a time (in the order found in the binder) following the steps suggested below:
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Brief presentation/summary by the Department Director of all the study issues submitted (includes new items this year and deferred and below the line items last year)
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Council questions or clarification on any item presented
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Council discussion and deliberation
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Before ranking, issues may be eliminated from ranking consideration by a majority vote of Council.
This is an important point in the process for several reasons. First, it is possible that an item can find its way onto the calendar even though there is little interest in it. This is a poor use of Council and staff time that could be better directed to other priorities or a department’s internal study program. Second, for departments with long lists, the priority rating process works better if the list is shortened to only those items for which Council has a serious interest. Although an issue eliminated through this step does not automatically return for consideration the following year, a Councilmember or Board or Commission can act to bring it back.
Please note that each study issue paper has a section for staff’s recommendation which indicates whether staff believes the issue should be considered by Council as a priority or not, deferred to the next year, dropped from further consideration at this time, or no recommendation. This is to provide Council with additional information that will assist in the priority-ranking process.
Additionally, new starting this year, staff has prepared a document entitled “Study Issue Hours Breakdown by Department” (Attachment B) which provides at-a-glance, a compilation of all study issues including their status, staff’s recommendation, B/C rankings (when applicable) and more importantly the sum of the required hours proposed for each department for their study issues as well as other interdependencies. Staff feels this information would be helpful to Council in its prioritization because it reflects the amount of time in totality departments will be devoting for the study issues.
To assist the Council in ranking priorities, two copies of the ranking sheet for each department will be provided. One sheet will be for each Councilmember to rank his/her priorities and be submitted for the official record of the vote, and a second may be used for Councilmembers’ own files.
The issues will be ranked by indicating #1 as the highest priority, with the largest number given to the lowest priority. Each item must have a different priority ranking. All items submitted in the binder will be ranked except the continuing items.
Workshop Product (Priority List)
As a result of the ranking process, there will be a priority listing of study issues for each department. After the workshop, each department will review Council’s priority list to determine how many issues it can pursue in calendar year 2005. In this determination, the departments will be considering their ongoing work responsibilities and the magnitude of the issues for which Council has expressed priority. Issues that fall low on Council’s priority and staff determines it cannot pursue in 2005, will fall below the line and will be brought back the following year for consideration.
This year, the emphasis will again be placed on a realistic assessment of Council’s priority list to assure that Council can reasonably rely on its issues being completed in a thorough, quality, and timely manner. Please keep in mind that the staff time needed to complete mandatory items still needs to be taken into consideration.
Council Study Calendar for 2005
As a result of the priority listing, a Calendar will be presented to Council on January 25 for final approval. Staff will propose which of the priorities can be completed and what date the item is scheduled to be presented to Council. Staff will make every effort to place items on the Calendar in the same priority established by Council. Items that fall below the line will not be listed on the Calendar, but will return the following year for Council consideration.
Further, based on the Calendar, staff will work with Boards and Commissions to establish their work programs, which will then be sent to Council for approval. These work programs, by Council direction, will be consistent with the Council-stipulated priority list.
In addition to the Council’s priority study items, the calendar will also reflect major state and national conferences, cancelled meeting recommendations, and other major but routine items that come before the Council on an annual basis, etc. (A draft calendar is included in your binder tonight). Once the calendar is adopted, staff will make every effort to make the dates, but it is important to bear in mind that the dates provided are best-estimate target dates, and potentially could be moved forward or backward depending upon a number of factors.
Budget Issues Review
Budget issues are proposals for changed budget service levels or capital projects, and are considered in the context of adopting the annual budget in June.
All budget issues will be considered separately at a Fiscal Issues Workshop, to be held in January 2005. Councilmembers may also request budget issues up until the Fiscal Issues Workshop. No budget issues have been identified at this time.
Intergovernmental Relations
The binder includes draft Reports to Council on the following:
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The Legislative Action Policies (LAP) and intergovernmental priorities: For Council review and input prior to formal consideration in January. This is also part of the Council’s request for quarterly IGR sessions, with this one focused on setting policy and priorities. At this workshop, Council may provide direction to staff regarding the priority topics for the coming year and any revisions to existing or suggested City policies. These policies are used to guide decisions on legislation and Council IGR assignments.
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Intergovernmental Relations (IGR) Assignments: It shows the current positions each Councilmember holds and which ones will need to be appointed in January 2005.
Attachment A: Status of General Plan (pdf format)
Attachment B: Study Issue Hours Breakdown by department (pdf format)