City staff and council members will spend 26 hours over the next
three days tackling some of the city’s most pressing concerns, from
sidewalks to salaries, transparency to teens, and everything in
between.
City staff and council members will spend 26 hours over the next three days tackling some of the city’s most pressing concerns, from sidewalks to salaries, transparency to teens, and everything in between.
“It’s going to be a marathon,” said interim City Administrator Anna Jatczak, who will be leading the semi-annual policy summit along with Mayor Al Pinheiro. “There are a lot of items. Some will only take a couple of minutes, but by design, we know that some of these items will take longer because we will allow discussion to occur.”
“It’s a lot of stuff, especially since we have a new city administrator,” Councilman Dion Bracco said. “It’s a bit much, but we’ll get through it.”
Some of the big-ticket items is sidewalk repair. The council shelved an ordinance before the election that would have placed more liability on property owners if someone trips on a buckled sidewalk outside their home. Another issue the two pointed to is freshman Councilman Perry Woodward’s “sunshine ordinance,” which he promoted during his campaign.
“I’m excited about the summit. We’re going to be talking about sidewalks, finally, and the sunshine law, which you know is important to me,” said Woodward, adding that he also looked forward to discussing the city’s salary policy for its 42 top-level, non-unionized employees. Councilman Craig Gartman was the lone dissenter last April when the previous council approved a plan for the 42 employees to earn 15 percent more than those they supervise and 10 percent more than comparable positions in surrounding cities in order to retain City Hall’s high-caliber workers, other council members at the time said.
“It’s about time we address this,” Woodward said. “A lot of the other issues that led up to the election were not going to be resolved by November, so the prior council knew the new council would ultimately vote on these things.”
This will also be Councilwoman Cat Tuckers first policy summit, and she said she’s eager to get started.
“I’m excited to be able to really focus on the issues,” Tucker said. “I am anticipating everyone being open and frank about the issues.”
Tucker specifically mentioned the prospect of moving elections to even years and said she wanted to hear more about the teen center Gilroy High School students are trying to create. Gartman, who said he will float the idea of basing elections on numbered council seats, so that if an incumbent in, say, seat number three is unopposed during an election, then he or she will not have to waste money campaigning; only challenged incumbents will have to run.
“This would allow elections to be more focused on particular people, so you know who you’re running against, not just the top three,” Gartman said. The councilman also said he expected the city’s budget and its housing allocation process to receive much debate.
Another issue is the library’s expansion, which has been tentatively postponed to 2015 because the council unanimously approved the $14 million purchase of Gilroy Gardens Tuesday night. Construction of the planned downtown arts center at the corner of Seventh and Monterey streets was set for 2009, but it has also been delayed until 2012. None of these years are cast in stone, though, as the council still has to tweak the city’s budget and rearrange projects, council members have said.
The policy summit will begin with the help of a hired consultant, but Jatczak and Pinheiro – who could not be reached for comment Thursday – will take over in the afternoon and for all of Sunday and Monday. Former City Administrator Jay Baksa spent 24 years as the city’s highest employee and said that issues crowded this year’s summit, but some during the 1980s also spanned three days.
Council members are not technically required to attend Monday’s meeting, but they all will be there, according to Jatczak. Gartman said time off from his job translates into money out of his pocket, but he added that he had a duty to the city. The policy summit does not allow for council votes, only direction to staff to prepare follow-up resolutions for the council to consider later.
When it’s all over Monday evening, a tired cohort of city officials will wrap things up at Mama Mia’s Restaurant on First Street “to unwind and end the summit on a positive, relaxing note,” Jatczak said.
Items to be discussed at the weekend summit, in order:
Saturday, 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Council relationships with staff
Old City Hall
Bicycle and pedestrian task force
Teen center
Altering election cycle and race
Incorporating “Arts” into city’s General Plan
Council chambers renovation
City attorney’s contract
Sunday, Noon – 6 p.m.
Long-term city projects
Survey of citizens on city services
Budget deficit
Sunshine ordinance
Utilities
Gavilan College housing project
Economic development incentives
Monday, 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.
City salaries
Library expansion
Downtown historic and unreinforced buildings
Housing allocation
Sidewalks
Alley ways
Protected intersections
Uvas Reservoir
