CC - Item 6A - Minutes 06-09-09 SpecialMinutes of the
SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING
June 9, 2009
The regular meeting of the Rosemead City Council was called to order by Mayor Clark at 4:30 p.m.
in the Rosemead City Council Chamber located at 8838 East Valley Boulevard, Rosemead,
California.
PRESENT: Mayor Clark, Mayor Pro Tern Taylor, Council Member Armenta, Council Member Low,
and Council Member Ly.
OFFICIALS PRESENT: Acting City Manager Hawkesworth,
Director of Finance Brisco, Director of Parks and Recreation
Development Administrator Ramirez, Deputy Public Works [
Molleda.
ager Saeki,
Economic
and City Clerk
1. PUBLIC COMMENT
Juan Nunez - asked what the financial doing of the city~i
Also, asked if the lawsuit against the City and the County
)w,did it comparE'to last year.
the ballots was over.
Council Member Armenta responded it was oxer-May 22 and
election.
2. MATTERS FROM CITY.MANAGER &
that she had won the
A. Workshop for the City of Rosemead's Fiscal Year 2009.10 Annual Budget
Acting City Manager Hawkesviorth,went'through a.PbwerPoint presentation; the goal of tonight is
to get some.direction from Co'unciHf there are any changes before we bring the budget back for
final on Julie 23, 2009: °Total general fund budget revenue for 2009-2010 is estimated at $16.8
4fl 6t
million: We have experienced some revend'e losses compared to the current year. As you know,
the auto`'auction closed down and thatmas an instant loss of about $150,000 in franchise fees.
Also, we haVe.been seeing reduced payments from our utility providers that give us franchise fees
due to lower rates and lower payments that they are receiving; so we are projecting $260,000
reduction there. Building a-ndfplanning, that industry is certainly down and we are projecting about
$487,000 reduction in,permit fees that the City is going to receive next year. Various County
reimbursement programs, the City is loosing about $203,000 next year; the VLF revenue that the
City gets from the State, they are collecting less, so the city will be receiving less and based on
current projections the loss will be of approximately $106,000 next year, which is about 35% of that
revenue. Interest rates are down and sale tax, as you are aware, we had a lengthy 3 year process
to regain money from Macy's and we won't be receiving that lump sum next year. Sales tax all
across the community is down and all together it is about $1.1 million; what that means is $2.3
million in comparison to when we started this budget cycle.
Mayor Clark had a question about the VLF revenue; stated the State had doubled their license fees
and asked if the State was getting more and the city was not or was it because no one was buying
cars.
Rosemead City Council Special Meeting
Mimacs of June 9, 2009
Page I of 13
ITEM NO. top, -
Mr. Hawkesworth responded that when the State approved the reinstitution of the license fees,
they approved the new revenue that is generated to go to other programs and it's not part of the
original VLF that is remitted to cities and counties.
Mr. Hawkesworth continued and stated the good news was that staff had been able to identify
some revenue increases to offset this loss. As.part of Prop 1A, the triple flip that the State
instituted, the city gets a quarter of our sales tax back and property tax the following year and that
will be a bump of $277,000. The city has been :really conservative in our TOT and our TOT is
actually doing all right and the hotel that was reopened on Glendon Way is also projecting TOT; we
are projecting an increase of about $103,000. Also, animal licensing, staff is recommending that
the city take back the collection of revenue from the County. The Glendon,Hotel lease is going to
be generating $96,000 next fiscal year. We have identified approximately $153,000 in stimulus
funds that the city will be getting to help offset operating cost; this is separate from the Capital
Improvement stimulus money that we are getting. This is main ly,for public•safety and CDBG
operating programs. ; \
Our Public Works and Engineering staff has been working with the County and'has'identified about
$368,000 in Prop A; this isn't transportation Prop A`this:is recreation and community center money
that the city has that you can get reimbursed for programs and.it is something that we could have
been reimbursed for several years but weren't. All togetherwe ,were able to instantly recuperate
$1.17 million of the $2.3 million that we projected to be down\,\; ~ ,
Council Member Ly asked if the money genefated•by'the hotel, the $96;000, went back to the
general fund or did it go to redevelopment.
Mr. Hawkesworth resp(:90tl it was going back.to the city not the agency.
Council Member Low stated4hat on ttie sales tax it sfiowed a loss of $1.1 million but last year we
got a big lump sum from Macy's,and.that'chunck of.money is probably accumulated from a couple
years, so it s not.a aifect loss of $1 ,1 million
Mr. Hawkesworth responded no and'statedtthat in total we are projecting sales tax to be relatively
flat; it is not going to go down and it is not really going to go up. The $1.1 million is primarily made
up of unusal,ihings that happened this year.
Mayor Clark clarified that there'was an amount,received by Macy's last year that the city will not be
getting this year and although it looks like a derrease it is actually an increase.
Mr. Hawkesworth responded that was correct and added that last year that was considered as one
time revenue.
Acting City Manager stated that if there were no more questions about revenues he would continue
with expenditures. Staff has identified a total of approximately $1.68 million. Regarding staffing,
as asked by Council, we have met with the association and they have agreed not to receive merit
increases for 2009-2010. We have also eliminated 3 full time positions through attrition and we
have eliminated several part-time positions.
Rosemead City Council Special Meeting
Minutes ofJune 9, 2009
Page 2 of 13
Mayor Clark stated she needed to ask a question regarding revenues; asked if staff had factored in
if the State borrows the money through Prop 1A.
Mr. Hawkesworth responded that he had a couple slides that covered all the potential State take
aways that at this point are unknown.
Mr. Hawkesworth continued by stating that through the no merit increases and with the elimination
of the staff positions the city was saving $632,000 next year.
Council Member Armenta asked what positions and what departments they were looking at.
Mr. Hawkesworth responded that one of the full time positions was in,Public Affairs, one of them
was in Planning, and one of them was in Public Safety. All the 34 positions were in Parks and
f
Recreation and actually two of those are happening as of July.because.those people have found
other jobs and no longer qualify for our benefits and their other jobs benefts.And several of the
other % positions are already vacant this year. We are j ustpr'oposing to continue.those vacancies
and not fill those positions. There are various part time positions, for example in.thbI.City Clerk's
office, that are vacant and we are not going to fill bdrwee have n8f laid anyone off for enything like
.that.
Mr. Hawkesworth continued with his presentation; first
Manager's and Public Affairs. Total programs,Teductic
we reduce the Community Newsletter to bimonthly; a1
community mailers and we have found that tliere is n`o
recommending that we reduce-the amount of celendaf
calendar in all facilities and continuue,to mail it to those
departments he addressed were the City
ns is $36,006; staff,is recommending that
reduction in the 'number of outreach
need to.do as many right now. Staff is
distribution; we will continue to provide the
who request it but we are proposing to
eliminate the mass mailing of the
Council Member Armenta
available online.
Mr. Hawkesworth responded that w"d''can make the file available online but what staff had
discussed.was to make ifavailable to,thbpublic to send an email and staff would mail them the
calendar: He continued with'his,presentation and said that another cut was to reduce the outside
art developmennt,for example we had some help with creating the 50th logo this year and that will
no longer be needed. We are~proposing some reduction on travel to meetings from staff and that
had.a,inanagement retreat the last couple years and we are proposing to
is about $18,000;'we'
"Ve
eliminate that.
Mayor Clark asked if there was a conference that Council thought staff would benefit from could
that be put on the agenda and approved.
Mr. Hawkesworth responded that each unit had money in their accounts to attend trainings and
conferences; we are just recommending that not as many staff attend as many. We are
transferring the funding of the Chamber of Commerce contribution, which is currently $48,000 a
year; we are transferring it from the general fund to the redevelopment agency. The total reduction
from City Manager's and Public Affairs is $237,685.
Rosemead City Council Special Meeting
Minutes ofJune 9, 2009
Page 3 o.03
Mr. Hawkesworth also stated from the General-'City fund the staff picnic had been eliminated and
that staff was recommending that there be a reduction in community contributions that the Council
approves for example the RYA staff report is on the regular agenda today for a special request.
Staff is recommending that the account be reduced from $100,000 to $25,000 and only allocate
that for emergency case bases. He added that the last item from the General City would be the
reduction in attorney's fee in the amount of $151,000; for a total amount of General City fund
reductions would be $234,000. Internal Business, which includes City Clerk, Finance, and Human
Resources because these jobs are very routine in nature there were not a lot of changes. Human
Resources will focus on education and limiting liability in workers compensation claims. Regarding
our Laser Fiche program will are going to continue to image all critical city documents and this is
one of the departments, City Clerk's office, where we eliminated one vacant part time position.
Steve Brisco our Finance Director has negotiated with our city audifiinng fr and they have agreed
not to implement the cost increases that were guaranteed in their,contract. In total we had a
savings of $39,500 and because there is not election this yearorione other;time expenses this year
the total is $214,000.
Mr. Hawkesworth stated that Council would pr(
staff was recommending eliminating the STAR
to discuss Public
the
Mayor Clark asked why that was other than to save
Mr. Hawkesworth responded that one wasto,save
the Sheriffs Department, the Lieutenant has~assur
dedicated to the school. The Lieutenant has assur
the special assignment officers-they would maintai
programs that the STAR program, provides
Council Member Lv stated he was very concerned
program. Added that
and second,a_fter many discussions with
at one of his.deputies is currently
at with that"deputy and assistance from
meifdnot, improve the educational
feliminating this program; it is a great
Peterson from the Garvey School District,
she was already talking.about'the reductiorrof4l1eirpublic safety team in the classrooms. Mr. Ly
7 11 added that' if this program was eliminated he would like to see, before that's done, what this
oroaram will be reDlaced`with\
Mayor Clark stated she agreed
Mr. Hawkesworth'responded that what staff could do was to work with the Lieutenant and get a list
of what he is proposing to do and also get a list of what the STAR program provides.
Mayor Pro Tem Taylor stated that it had just been mentioned that the city has a deputy sheriff that
assists the different schools and asked if he was full time.
Mr. Hawkesworth responded yes.
Mayor Pro Tem Taylor stated that there is also another full time sheriff in the high school so that
there were two full time sheriffs in the school system.
Rosemead City Council Special Meeting
Minutes ofJune 9, 2009
Page 4 of 13
Mr. Hawkesworth responded that was correct and that we also get some education hours through
the STAR program of another deputy that is not just assigned to Rosemead; she works for the
STAR program and those are the hours that we will be looking to pick up and offset.
Mayor Pro Tem Taylor stated that the $212,000 in 2007-2008 and we appropriated $110,000 when
it was cut in half 2009 and now you are cutting it completely. Asked where the money of this deputy
was that would be working with STAR.
Mr. Hawkesworth responded that the deputies that will be used for this program would be covered
under the current Sheriffs Department contract:
Mayor Pro Tem Taylor stated they needed a better explanation on w
doing. Mr. Taylor reference page 32; it read that for traffic law enfor
$600,000 was budgeted estimated actual as of June 30 would be-$1
So we appropriated $600,000, we spent $171,000, and now,we arre
request for this year.
Mr. Hawkesworth replied that it was actually an accounting chan
things; for the last number of years the revenue that is received,l
tee..,
put into a traffic safety fund and we have been directed by our at
specific governmental accounting reason,to:have a separate §pE
these revenues in the general fund. So this•is'basically, we've is
spent the money for this year, and next yearalt AlJus~t,be~part of
will be spending this year; the $171,000 was just a protected'am,
to month basis. F / r
Mayor Pro Tem
Mr. Hawkesworth
we are a certain amoi
12 month,year and iP
formula`based on our
Mayor Pro Terri*Taylor state
column and he was,trvinq to
Mr. Hawkesworth
full time deputy is
for 2008-2009
and zero for this year.
:here is nothing in the
how we are accouhtinq for
e,city for traffic,fihes has been
rs that unless there is a
fund we need to be recording
'this traffic safety fund, we've
general fund. The $600,000
'that is calculated on a month
32 stated we would have spent $171,000 this year.
formula in our system that states
th"e year and you've spent this, it multiplies it to get to a
amount. This is not an estimate that we put there, it is a
t he had marked a lot of items because they showed a zero
out where that money went.
assumed he was mostly talking about Public Works.
Mayor Pro Tem Taylor responded Public Works and others but he did not want to get side tracked
for everyone else.
Council Member Low stated it seems we had a plan to spend $600,000 and asked what that plan
was. '
Rosemead City Council Special Meeting
Minutes gfJune 9, 2009
Page 5 of 13
Mr. Hawkesworth responded it was based on what we do every year we just charge a portion of
our regular Sheriff's contract to the traffic safety fund. He continued with his presentation; aside for
the STAR program staff is recommending to reduce the Emergency Preparedness account, staff
had budgeted $39,000 for the acquisition of new radios and we've acquired those so we not need
that additional money next year. We are proposing to transfer the responsibility of the Sheriffs
contract to the Manager's office, as our Public Safety Director will be stepping down at the end of
June. And rather than filling his position we will have the Lieutenant report directly to the City
Manager's office. The next item is the animal control; the city was notified by the County of Los
Angeles that they would be increasing their animal control cost to all their contract cities.
Public Safety Director Don Anderson stated that the proposed it
approximately $150,000, going up for this year to $180,000 and
Mayor Pro Tem Taylor stated that a few years ago they c
Temple City because they have their own animal control
report on what their cost was. Mr. Taylor suggested that
what their cost was.
Mr. Hawkesworth responded that staff had contacted
and what we are proposing to do is utilize existing full
but all the housing and medical, we are proposing to i
Mr. Anderson responded that San Gabriel Humane,r
they are going through some tough economic\times a
but not looking to increase service. °V
Mayor Pro Tem Tay/or/stated that Mr. Hawkesworth h
still using the County's services, someof them..}
to do
2007 was
iar going to $213,000.
with checking with
if we ever got a
itv and find out
ieftat provide animal control
do animal control on their own
County just for those services.
ices for the city because
to improve their service
made some interesting comments about
Mr. Hawkesworth responded yes;the housing and'boarding services and explained that staff had
made calculations and had•come to'the conclusion that the city could do the same services for
approximately $50,000 less than the`y.can?
Council MeinberArmenta asked if the City Manager would be doing all the duties the Public Safety
Director did since the Sheriff's contract would be transferred to the City Manager's office and the
Public Safety Director;positiomwas going to be#iminated.
V
1
Mr. Hawkesworth res ;,1
ponded that staff was working through that process and that those services
would be allocated to different people. He added that code enforcement, Mandy, and the
administrative assistance would still be working,out of the Public Safety Center.
Council Member Armenta asked if any of the programs were going to be eliminated.
Mr. Hawkesworth responded no. He added that the last note on this section of his presentation was
that the Sheriffs contract was going to increase by 3%.
Rosemead City Council Special Meeting
Minutes ofJune 9, 2009
Page 6 of 13
Mr. Hawkesworth continued with his presentation and stated that next would be Parks and
Recreation. Staff was recommending continuing with all special events but at a slightly reduced
scale and the biggest thing would be to consolidate all of the senior programs special events to one
center.
Mayor Clark stated that would be fewer programs and asked how they would put more people in
one center. .
Mr. Hawkesworth responded that currently some programs were held in one center and other
programs at another center and that staff was confident that all programs could be held at one
center since they are already being held there anyway. f
%C
Director of Parks and Recreations Montgomery-Scott explained that:currently the biggest special
event for seniors was the "Sweetheart Jamboree" and that all the/,he'ndees were easily
accommodated in the RCRC and the same was true with t/he,bggest annual''event at the Garvey
Center, the senior volunteer and the Chinese New Year,,both`of,those only occur at the one site,
which is more than adequate to accommodate all that,attend.
Mayor Clark asked what he was proposing to do differently: /
Mr. Montgomery-Scott responded that currently they do two Christmas programs and several other
special events and rather than do that, staff was~recommending consolidating all of those
programs; so there will only be one Christmas \event-handled at one`center rather than have two
separate ones.
Mayor Clark asked if he had-gotten any type of feedback from,people who attend those programs
in terms that they have to`travel if they live closer to RC and vise versa.
Mr. Montgomery-Scott responded;that"no.feedback;tiad been gathered because the change hadn't
been made,yef butith'at;currently there aare already a series of events that occur at one facility or
the other-a'nd members bf both ofthose centers are attending the events.
she understood but.vias not comfortable with that.
Mr. Hawkesworth added that through the process staff could certainly do marketing and
information outreach,
Mayor Clark stated she:wanted more information on this.
Council Member Low asked if it was also possible to find out the percentage of people who attend,
who are Rosemead residents and who are not.
Mr. Montgomery-Scott stated he actually had those figures; the average daily attendance at each
of the facilities is approximately run at 80. The Garvey Center for special events can accommodate
200 people and RCRC can handle 300. He explained that from the figures given 50% of attendees
were Rosemead residents.
Rosemead City Council Special Meeting
Minutes of June 9. 2009
Page 7 of 13
Mayor Clark stated that what she was saying was if someone lived in the Northern side of
Rosemead and had been attending that center for the Christmas party and now they have to go to
the Garvey center how many people are going to attend and asked if that was going to discourage
them from coming and if the savings was worth-that inconvenience for the seniors.
Mr. Hawkesworth responded that staff would look into that and that he understood that the
Valentine event was held at one site only and did not lose any attendees. He explained that this
was brought up based on the fact that during the special events people were willing to make that
shift and staff hadn't heard any negative complaints.
Council Member Ly stated that he understood that one of the reasons there was discussion about
consolidating the program was to free up more space at the centers forotherprograms the city
might want to consider, he asked that staff include more information onjhe next report regarding
the type of programs that would be considered to fill up the free4space-at the centers.
Mr. Hawkesworth continued with his presentation and added that staff was elso'proposing to bring
back a day camp at one of the sites, which would bean/"all day program rather thawjust an
afternoon thing which is what the city has traditionally done. Also; staff is proposingfor,next year
to change the city's traditionally afterschool program with'more focuson an evening:sports
program.
Council Member Armenta stated she was very,`ap
afterschool programs because she knew howl ita
when they don't have the transportation to go to'
Mr. Montgomery-Scott explain'6cl at staff had loc
currently served by the two school districts within
7,700 students. The Woodcraft Rangers services
>ive aboutchanging the city's traditional
programs were for children especially
at the total number of students that are
mead and that number is approximately
Garvey School District, those schools in and
outside Rosemead, and ASES'services the Rosemead School District. Currently through both of
those prog amsthey basically`l'ave~a mopoly.,on`afterschool programs. They provide a series of
clubs, which provide various activities,at each of those school sites, they provide homework
assistance daily and they provide a snack The program is a sign in - sign out program, which
means jt'is guaranteed supervision of students from,mhen school lets out till 6:00 p.m., those are
things that the city can't reallytcompete against and staff has asked both organizations to provide a
sense of the level:of,services they provide to each of the districts. ASES services 16% of the total
student body and)hat would;exclude kindergarten and Woodcraft Rangers, again if you eliminate
kindergarten level, theyti service more that 26% of the total student body. The city is currently, at
peek season, only procuring about 8% of the student body through three city programs. Staff is
finding out that the city is just not able to compete with these programs because it does not provide
the same program elements. The rationale is, in addition to be able to serve the students the city
is currently serving, the city will have access to;reach the nearly 5,000 students who are served by
those two programs by shifting the city's program to the afternoon and the city can actually do that
with fewer resources.
Rosemead City Council Special Meeting
Minutes o.fJune 9, 2009
Page 8 of 13
Mayor Pro Tem Taylor stated he agreed with the rationale but he was concerned about taking the
children from the day time classes because Woodcraft Rangers and ASES provided services to the
latchkey kids. He added he was concerned about creating a night program because then there
would be a concern of how the children would get there and second he was concerned whether the
parents would support a night program when they really needed a program during the day when
they are working.
Council Member Ly asked what the reasoning was for this and if there had been a demand from
the residents to have night time sports programs. -
Mr. Montgomery-Scott responded the Woodcraft Rangers and ASES had"just recently taken over
the afterschool programs at the school districts and as a result of that-they are filling the vast void
that existed and that is why the city is only drawing in 8% of the students; At this point the city can
continue with the day program but ultimately it is a duplicate services but Woodcraft Rangers and
ASES are doing a better job at it , one because it is being fund by the State;and second because
they are providing services that the city is not, such as, snacks~and homework assistance. Mr.
Montgomery-Scott reiterated that the vast majority of,students are being serviced by.these two
programs and what the city is seeing is a greater interest,in sports'\\By shifting the-prog to the
afternoon the city not only has access to the 8% that are alreadyfparticipating but also to the nearly
2,000 students that are participating in the other programs` Hey decl that staff did not want to
implement this without knowing how the community would respond and stated the city for the last
several seasons had used Tiny Tots to determine whether there would be an interest in evening
sport activities. Mayor Pro Tern Taylor asked what the Tiny Tots children had1d do with the evening sport activities
and the little kids that needed supervision in the day time. L
Mr. Montgomery-Scott responded that as he had explained, the city was seeing less grade school
children because of Wood'craft:Ranaers'and,ASES lv
Mayor ProPTem Taylor-stated he understood but he was concerned about the grade school
children and getting them'out;of the house:again.
Mayor Clarka"sked what age was Tiny
Mr. Montgomery-Scott•resporided pre-school age, which were 4 - 5 year old kids and at this point
the programs capacitykwas 60.
Council Member Armenta stated there were a lot of factors to take into account because a lot of
parents decided to stay home when their children are smaller and when they enter grade school
the parents go back to work and added that if staff was only doing a survey of tots it would be a
different result from grade school children. Also, added it that there is a waiting list for Woodcraft
Rangers and asked what is going to happen to the students that can not get into Woodcraft
Rangers or ASES.
Council Member Ly asked if there had been discussion about providing transportation to the
students. Also asked if there was a way for the city to provide monetary assistance to Woodcraft
Rangers to help them provide services to the students on the waiting list.
Rosemead City Council Special Meeting
Minutes ofJune 9, 2009
Page 9 o f 13