Fort Walton Beach Council minutes — 03-15-08 special minutes - strategic plan — reading text

57 MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING STRATEGIC PLANNING SESSIO~ N BEACH, F~ ORIDA OF THECITV OF ~ O~ T WAL T() RCH 16, aOCMl INTRODUCTION Tt1~ ,Gi~y Council of F()rt,Walton Beach. Floripa J1eld a S~rategic Planning ~ e,ssion at a Special Council eijng 'on' Saturqay, March 15, 2Q08 from 8: 00" a. m. to 2: 00 p. m~ at t~e Fort Walton' BeachS~nior mf!. Citizens Center located at 31 Memorial Parkway, SW, with the' following present: Mayor Mike Anderson Councilmen: Mike Holmes, Virgil Miller, Dennis Reeves, Sill Garvie, Dr: Wayne Pullen, Him HartWell, and Mike Minich Super Focus Group: Dean Covey, Tracy Garvie, Dick Gercak:' Beth: Holmes, 'Robert Jones, Tom Rice, Ray Seip, ,~nd Kabe W~ ds Also Present Joyce Shanahan, :Ci~y, ~ anager; Helen SPen~ r,~ CitY Clerk; Finance Director ( position vacant); ,Toni Craig, City Attorney; and ,~ partment Directors " Facilitator: Dr. Herb Marlowe, Jr., Ph. D. PURPOSE ..',. ' Strat~gic Planning Meeting - Strategic As~, ssmentfacilitated by Dr. Herb MarlQwe. C~ L~ 19 ORDE8 " , ' The Mayor Called them,ee~ng to order and we,learned everyone. PLEDGE OF A~~EGIA~ CE The Mayor led, i~ the Pledge ofAllegiance~, TRATEGIC ASSESSMENT Dr. Marlowe went ,over the process and purpose, of the s,ession tod~ y to discu~s the various issues facing ,the City arid potential approaches. He mentioned the challenge is to get a pathway from where City government is to the community vh~io"; what they' are 'trying to ,be and what City 'g9vemment needs to do, what role it needs,to take and what actions ,it nee;tds to get there. , He mentioned there are known issues such as limited population ,gr9Wth,,'high growth in t~e north, CQunty end. sur:rounding regions over time, water issues, and transportation issues; but what Will be discussed today will be the cloud of uncertainty and rethinking City government. Dr. Marlowe gave a broad view of the, topics for discussion: s~rvices, governance" technology, revenues, structure, ' and Human Resources praCtices. He noWledged there is a financial a<* challenge facing the City and went over' the current General, Fund ~ xpenclitures. , He discussed the current financial chaUenges, future financial challenges, and beyond the' financial challenge of property tax reform, property devaluation, and State economic slow down. He also discussed the gap in economic~environment, and social, realities. Dr. .Marlowe' generated discussion on restructuring of City government. Discussion on the pros a~ d cons qf. outsourcingincluded thoughts on the economy' of scale,' the investment involved;' allows focus on core competency and improvement in areas 'done well; lease back the 'sale of property,; employee . leasing;' quality control; contract management over a multi- year period; protection of employees; the pools of outsourcing available; and use of available free sources. Discussion on large scale restructuring included thoughts on pooling of resources for motor pooling and consolidation "of transportation; and keeping in- house what is done best and subcontract the rest. Jim Tucker, 590 L' Ombre Court NE, endorsed the consolidation of services with the Sheriff's Office, and suggested the City first look at the Police and Fire services. 58 Strategic Planning Sessic)n 3- 08 15.. STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT cont.' Technoloav - Discussion on technology included thoughts on productivity and efficiency through technology, government, e.. and automation of process; look at available technology and buy into someone else' s technol~~y; and a cost benefit analysis and cost savings over a period of time. Human Resources Practices .. Discussion on alternative Human Resources practices included thoughts on new approaches to benefits; lump sum bonus in lieu of step increase; and look at defined contribution vs. defined benefit program. ' RECESS The morning session took a break at 9:30 a. m. RECONVENE The morning session reC9nvened at 9: 55a.m. Revenues .. Kabe Woods gave a brief overview on tax reform proposals being discussed by the Tax Budget Reform Commission for the November ballot to limit government at 3% plus the population growth. Discussion on revenues included thoughts on impact fees for development; user fees for services; preferential fees for residents; fee to penalize negative behavior; and aging residents no longer on the tax rolls. Services - Discussion on services included thoughts on the basic public health and safety such as police, fire, EMS and the time limits and response times for expectations; the core infrastructure and essential services such as roads, water, sewer, stormwater. and solid waste; the regulatory frame work for the rules such as code enforcement and predictability and fairness of the rules and regulations; the quality () f life infrastructure such as sidewalks, street lights. parks; quality of life services such as recreation programs and explore partnership with other communities and entities to provide services, close or sell some facilities; the support functions such as Finance, IT, procurement; and the need for an educational process for more public responsibility; the mind set to improve/ maintain quantity and quality of level of service while lowering costs; and streamline the process. Oraanizational Culture ,- discussion on the organizational culture included thoughts on competition and continuous improvement; a reward program to employees for cost saving ideas; an informal suggestion program for Council' s review; intemal performance benchmarks for everyone; a tiered COLA; competitive pricing; cross- training, tasking; core competencies and focus on areas need multi.. to build, keep, outsource, or cut; and be more competitive in price. RECAP Dr. Marlowe summed up the two messages he heard during the session is that the manager needs to be creatiVe and look 'at aU the deficiencies in aU the departments in order to say they are doing this as well as it can humanly be done within constraints and once satisfied with that if there is stilt a gap that cannot be' filled, the challenge will be to decide which services will be reduced at some level and maybe a reduction as opposed to elimination, or elimination. Further comments included the need for accountability, communication, smart growth, planned growth, more confidence in Council and Administration, to work together to make hard decisions, credibility, an informed public, to maintain basic services. to place burden on Department Heads to develop ideas on how to be more efficient, Council make policy decisions and let the City Manager and staff take care of the 'day to day 'operation, and Counci', to move forward and show a united front. BREAK The morning session broke for lunch at 12: 05 a. m.