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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/05/2018 Work Session City of Springfield Work Session Meeting MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY MARCH 5, 2018 The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room,225 Fifth Street, Springfield,Oregon, on Monday March 5, 2018 at 6:00 p.m., w ith Mav or Lundberg presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Mayor Lundberg and Councilors VanGordon, Wylie, Moore, Stoehr,Woodrow and Pishioneri. Also present were City Manager Gino Grimaldi, City Attorney Man Bridget Smith,City Recorder Amv Sown and members of the staff I City Attorney Employment Contract. Chaim Hertz, Human Resources Director, presented the staff report on this item The City Council previously approved the transition of City Attorney sen ices from a vendor arrangement to an employed position, Human Resources is now seeking Council's feedback regarding the draft City Attotney's employment contract and guidance regarding the process of finalizing the approval of the agreement. The employment contract includes the following elements: • A wage rate and structure consistent with non-union positions, • The City standard benefit and PTO plan, • Fringe benefits consistent with City department directors, • Participation in the PEAS retirement program and a 4%match on deferred compensation, • Financial support for licensing, dues and subscriptions, and professional development,and • A fiscal year performance evaluation process. Additional) , the cost of the contract is at or below the parameters previously approved b} Council. Councilor Pishioneri asked about the 4%match and if that was at the same level as Executive staff Mr Hertz said it is not the same as the Executive staff, but is in line with the C ih Manager. Mayor Lundberg clarified that the City Attorney would be a direct hire of the City Council like the City Manager. Councilor Pishioneri said they required the City Manager to come to Council with updates He asked it that requirement was included in the City Attorney contract He would like to have regular check-ins separate from the annual evaluation. Ms. Smith said she could do that. Councilor Wylie asked how this contract compared with thejudge's contract. Cit) of Springfield Counal Work Session Minutes March 5,2018 Page 2 Mc. Smith said it is different They took the City Manager's contract and a template from the website to draft this agreement They have the same relationship,but a different contract.The Judge is not full time, but is on standard benefits. Councilor Stoehr asked if his. Smith would retain her position w ith LeahN. VanVactor,Cox and Melendv Nis. Smith said she would not She would be giving up any, of her outside clients,which aren't many. The contract does allow some consulting work. Councilor Pishioneri asked if there was potential conflict of interest if they needed to hire outside counsel for a special instance and someone from Leahy's office had that expertise. Ms. Smith said under the public official ethics statute, she would have a conflict of interest with the firm through 2019. During that time, she could not hire the Leahy firm to help, but Council could direct her to hire them. Councilor Woodrow asked about staff support Nis. Smith said attorney Kristin Kraaz and assistant Linda Craig will both come over and will be employees of the City. Thev would both be full time employees. The three of them would make up a separate department. Mr Hertz said his department has been working with them through the process Councilor Moore asked if mtems would still be allow ed. Ms Smith said yes,consistent w ith Citi policy for mems. Mayor Lundberg asked about a new eN aluation form that was being developed for the City Manager. Mr. Hertz said that is in draft form. The big emphasis was around specific measurable goals for the Citv Manager. He is hoping to get the ev aluation to the Council for review in April or May, and then finalized before summer break. Mr. Grimaldi said his ei aluation w ill follow the goals and outcomes of the Council. Mayor Lundberg said the} need to get back to having a closer relationship and more regular reporting with the Judge and now the City Attorney. She wants the City Attomey's Office to look at our planning processes to see how we could do less and save money. She suggested having legal students look at the processes to see if there are better way s to do things. We are still attached to Sustainable Cities so she would like to use that resource and incorporate some of their good ideas. Councilor Moore said this was part of efficiency and to match what we are already paying for City Attomev services. She asked about the cost to remodel in order to create their office. Mr. Hertz said that cost is within or below what was projected Having them in house w ill allow a better utilization of their seryices City of Springfield Council work Session Minutes March 5,2018 Page 3 Councilor Moore said we are alma}s in a budget crunch and have been cutting employ ees. we are now adding three employees even though it does not add cost She asked if that could be noted in the letter to the Budget Committee. Mr Grimaldi said that would be included and also that we will gel more City Attorney hours. Councilor VanGordon said we will have more total hours,and he would like to see us using those extra hours in a wav that benefits the Ori There are a lot of elements of sery ice that show the value of hating the City Attorneys office in house. Ms. Smith said she provided names of people to perform a legal rev iew,of the contract to Mr. Hertz and Mr Grimaldi Mr Hertz said he did have a rev iew internally in Human Resources to make sure they,were treating employeesjust and right. Mr. Grimaldi said he didn't have plans for further review. Discussion was held regarding an outside review Council agreed to move forward with the contract as is, no need for further review. 2. Springfield Arts Commission B}laws/Charge Amendments. Thea Hart, Librarian and Arts Commission StaffLiaison,presented the staff report on this item The Springfield Arts Commission(SAC)reviewed two proposed amendments to Article Ill (Membership and Appointment)of their bylaws and unanimously voted to approve them at their meeting on February 13. '_017. The first proposed amendment changes the residency requirements to allow for individuals with arts expertise who reside outside of Springfield to serve on the SAC. The SAC would like to amend the Charge to match this proposed amendment to the bylaws. At the January 8, '_018 Work Session,the City Council expressed the desire to change the interview procedure for all City committees and boards so that all applicants to committees and boards would be interviewed by the City Council before Council makes formal appointments. The second proposed amendment to the bylaws reflects this interview procedural change The amendments to the by laws include the following passages Article III—Membership and Appointment Section I Composition e. Members appointed to the Springfield Arts Commission shall be residents, property owners,or business owners in Springfield, or specialists with expertise in the fields of visual, performance, literary, or multimedia an.No fewer than seven of the nine members must reside,own property, or own a business in Springfield(97477, 97478, or 97482). Section 3. Appointment. e. Commission members shall be interviewed and appointed by the City Council. City of Springfield Council work Session Minutes March 5,7018 Page a The Springfield Arts Commission requests that the City Council approve the amended by laws. The SAC requests that the charge be amended to be aligned with the proposed changes to the Article III, Section I (e)of the bylaws. Councilor VanGordon asked how the candidates in question were tied to Springfield. Ms Hart said her understanding was that one person was an employee In Springfield, and another w as outside the cih limits In Lane County. Sometimes people move bem cen Springfield and Eugene,and this would allow someone to stay on the commission even If they moved. It could also be someone with expertise in a specific area. She explained further. Councilor VanGordon said he was comfortable with the change Councilor Plshloneri said he feels anyone doing anything that affects Springfield, should live in Springfield. He would be fine allowing someone that moves to stay on to fill out their term Councilor Woodrow said it sounded like this situation only occurred once Ms Hart said It may have dissuaded others from applying. Councilor Woodrow said she agrees with Councilor Plshmncrl because we have growing community. The Arts Commission could form a relationship with people that have expertise in other areas rather than having them on the commission. Councilor VanGordon suggested adding language to allow people that work in businesses In Springfield, but live outside of city since it already allows those that own a business in Springfield. Council makes the final decision so even if this language was adopted,Council has the final say He asked about residents in Glenwood. Ms Hart said those in Glenwood would not qualify. Councilor VanGordon said that is something that needs to be addressed. He wants to allow Glenwood residents Councilor Moore said she doesn't have an Issue with this change. Councilor Pishioneri said anyone can still provide Input during their meetings, and the Commission can ask questions of those attending the meeting or request a presentation. Councilor Stoehr said there are many artists who would love to live in Eugene or Springfield but are not able to afford it now. Councilor Wylie suggested language that members must be a resident, employee or business owner, or meet special circumstances and the Council w III decide on a case-by-case basis. She would like to find some flexibility and still respect that we want Springfield residents. Mayor Lundberg asked if we had a shortage of applicants Ms. Hart said at times,and other times more applicants than positions. City of Springfield Council M'ork Session Minutes March 5,_N18 Page 5 Ma}or Lundberg said perhaps the} could include those In'ing within the urban growth boundary' (UGB) including everyone in Glenwood. She likes to utilize Springfield residents as much as possible.This commission chooses the an in An Allev and has a fiduciary responsibility, so she would prefer Springfield residents, expanding to the UGB. Mr. Grimaldi said staff could work on the language. Mayor Lundberg said she prefers to hang on to the flavor of Springfield. We still have a big enough area to choose from. C ouncilor VanGordon said he would be fine w ith adding Glenwood, and also employees of Springfield. A matority of Councilors agreed Councilor Moore suggested reminding the Arts Commission they can have subcommittees or ad hoc committees. Councilor Pishionen said he wants to make sure we maintain Springfield influences He is skeptical in looking at borders and worries about other committees asking for something similar. Council agreed to keep the old language and add language to include residents in Glenwood,and businesses and emplovees of businesses in the Springfield cit} limits. Staff will make those changes in [heir 13}lav,s and Charge ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6.52 p in Minutes Recorder—Amy Sowa Christine L Lundberg Mayor Attest: jjI Amv Sow4 City Recorder