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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil MIN 03-09-2004 Speical - RetreatCITY OF FEDERAL WAY The City Council’s Strategic Planning Retreat Friday & Saturday, 16 & 17 January 2004 Federal Way Executel FINAL SUMMARY Of the Key Discussions, Decisions and Agreements Attendees: Mayor Dean McColgan, Council members Jeanne Burbidge, Jack Dovey, Eric Faison, Jim Ferrell, Linda Kochmar and Mike Park; City Manager David Moseley; Assistant City Managers Donna Hanson and Derek Matheson; Department Directors Anne Kirkpatrick, Kathy McClung, Mary McDougal, Cary Roe, Jennifer Schroder and Iwen Wang; City Attorney Pat Richardson; Economic Development Director Patrick Doherty; Executive Assistant to the City Manager Patrick Briggs; and Facilitator Jim Reid. The following summarizes the key discussions, decisions and agreements of the seven Federal Way City Council members at their annual strategic planning retreat, which occurred this year on Friday, 16 January and Saturday, 17 January at the Federal Way Best Western Executel. COUNCIL’S FUTURE DIRECTION FOR CITY: “EXPAND THE ECONOMIC PIE” To set the stage for envisioning where the City Council wants Federal Way to be in the future, City Manager David Moseley first reviewed the Council’s and City’s accomplishments during 2003. There were many. These five accomplishments are highlighted because they were the Council’s priorities for 2003, as established during the annual strategic planning retreat in January of last year: 1. Develop the Community Center; 2. Establish the new City Hall, which the City will move into in July and August; 3. Implement permit process improvements recommended by an ad hoc committee of City officials and citizens; 4. Develop the Potential Annexation Area (PAA) study, which will be completed in April 2004, and place three annexations on the Fall 2004 ballot; and 5. Oppose the sexual offender house. The Councilmembers thendescribedwhat theywant Federal Way to be in 15-20 years.Their direction calls for the City tohelp “expand theeconomic pie” so that the City can provide the services Federal Way residentsexpect of City government. In 15-20years, the Councilmembers want Federal Way to bedescribed as or contain the following: o more a “place” anddestination; o a vibrant downtown withhigher vertical buildings; o green spaces in and adjacent to downtown, similar to those of thenation’sgreat cities; o thriving, successful businesses throughout the community, particularly downtown, that support the residents, andwhich the residents patronize so that their money is spent in the community, notoutside it; o aCity with a highquality of life, as defined by equitable planning and distribution of resources for economic development, parks and recreation, housing, social and health services; o distinctive and uniqueneighborhoods; o “living wage”jobs; o a community that attracts money fromoutside sources which donot require buildingmore infrastructure; o good schools; o affordablehomes for the community’s diverse residents; o an attractive locationon the light rail connection between Seattle (and SeaTac Airport) and Tacoma; o creative typesof shops and businesses, distinctive from downtown Seattle, Tacoma Mall, Southcenter and Bellevue Square; o “upscale” restaurants; o more amenities for seniors; o expanded and promotedopportunities for recreation and other forms of relaxation, particularly in light of the increasinglyhectic and chaotic paceof life; o morediverse formsof housing, including townhomes and cottages, thatappeal to a populationwith a broader rangeof needs; o aCity government that is more assertive about publicizing the community’sdemographics and attributes; o public-private partnerships for human services; o a more heavily promoted and used Dumas Bay Center; and o Cityservices willbe delivered even more efficientlyand effectively,perhapsthroughthe merger of the Citywithother service providers. COUNCIL AGREES ONA PRIORITY AND GOALS FOR 2004-06 The Councilis united by the following five interests for economicdevelopment and, particularly, downtown: 1) Federal Wayhas a vibrant, active andmore “identifiable”downtown; 2)within downtown, thereis amix of jobs, housing, and recreational and cultural amenities,withmoreof each of these things thanexist today; 3) City government ismore open and receptive to business interests; 4) the City relies upon a greatervarietyof tools and resources to strengthen the economicvitality of the community and, particularly, downtown; and 5) the City helps retain existing businesses and recruit newones. 2 After reviewing the list of Federal Way’s qualities and characteristics 15-20 years fromnow, the Councilmembers agreedon the following priority for thenext three years to begin achieving their future direction: Increase taxrevenues to provideservices that the citizens ofFederal Way expect from their City government. The Council then agreedon thesegoals for achieving it: 1.Recruit new businesses to the City. 2.Help the City’s existing businesses grow and expand. 3.Attract revenue from people who live outside Federal Way. 4.Reduce “leakage,” i.e., sales taxrevenues generated by purchases of goods and services by Federal Way residents from sources outsidethe City. PARTNERSHIPS NEEDED TO ACHIEVE FUTURE DIRECTION After agreeingon a priority for the next fewyears and thegoals to achieveit, the Council paused todiscuss thekindsofleadership thatwill beneeded to advance them. In short, the Council members want to stimulate partnerships between theCity, keyinterest groups and citizens. To build and strengthen those partnerships, the Council members stated that the City needs to educate the public and nurtureleadership fromvarious sources throughout the community, including from businesses andneighborhoods. The Councilmembers recognize that they and the City’semployeescannot “doit all,” and to accomplish the futuredirectionwill requireleadershipfromoutside City Hall. Councilmembers expressed interest in the Citymore aggressivelyeducating the public aboutwhat itis doing and why, and abouthow citizens can becomemoreinvolvedin their community. Key partnerships that the Councilwants to strengthen include those between the City and Chamber of Commerce, between the City and neighborhoodgroups, and between the City and businesses that donot belong to the Chamberor any other organization. TheCouncil alsoexpressedinterest in reaching out moretothe“greatsilent majority” of citizens who maynot knowaboutand who do not comment on City programs, services and activities. GOAL #1: RECRUIT NEW BUSINESSES TOTHE CITY After a lengthy discussion, the Council reached consensus on three strategies for achieving Goal #1. Thefirst and second strategies: Redevelop the CityCenter through a “responsive” approach or redevelop the City Center through amore active approach (using an RFP to attract private entities to join the City in a redevelopment partnership), or a combination of both approaches. (These strategies and thevarious approaches are describedon pages 3 and 4 of Patrick Doherty’s memorandum to the Council dated 9 January 2004). To determinewhether or not toembark on these strategies, the Councildirected that these four steps be taken: 3 1.By theendof February 2004, the Citywill preparevital information andkeymessages that will enable itto effectivelycommunicatetheCouncil’sfuture direction on economic development tokey stakeholders and the public. Onemessage the Council agreed should be repeatedlycommunicated: The City’s actions toexpand sales tax revenues are aninvestment in the community’s future, not just an expenditure of public funds. 2.The Councilwill review the information andkeymessages, and begin to test thesemessages by presenting them at public forums such asthe future Developers’ Forum. 3.AstheCity is developing its informationand key messages,theOffice ofEconomic Development,workingin concert with the Community Development Services Department, the City Manager’s Office andother departments, will further define and refine its approaches to achieving the Council’s futuredirection for increasing sales tax revenues by recruitingnew businesses to the community.Additionaldetails will bedevelopedon the “responsive” approach and the criteria that wereoutlinedin theeconomicdevelopment memorandum that was presented to the Council at the retreat. Furthermore, a draft RFP for City partnerships with the private sector will be written. As these approaches are being further defined and refined, the Citywill determinewhat forums aremost appropriate for capturingcitizen and specialinterest reactions and responses to them. Other ideas that werementionedincluded: FEDRAC’s strategy tohold a secondmeeting eachmonth that focuses on economicdevelopment, and tohold themoutin the neighborhoods; devote anentire pagein the Citynewsletter toeconomic development; televise the FEDRACmeetings oneconomicdevelopment; produce a video,in question-and- answer format, that explains the Council’s futuredirections, priorities,goals and strategieson economic development;CityCouncil members make presentationstobusiness organizations about their vision andgoals andwhat the Cityisdoing; sendout capital project flierswith a detachable piece that allows citizens to send their opinions, perspectives and ideas about economicdevelopment issues and actions to City Hall; investigate and assesswhat other cities are doing toencourageeconomicexpansion and downtowndevelopment; and, using volunteers, leafletneighborhoods beforemeetings toencourage citizen attendance and comments. 4.After the potential approaches have been further developed, and after theyhave been reviewed, the Councilwilldecidewhichof them to pursue to achieve itsgoalof recruiting new businesses to Federal Way. The third strategy:Use the existing City Hall as a business incubator after City departments have moved into the new City Hallthis coming summer. Steps that will be taken to assess theviability of this strategy before the Council agrees to it include: 1.Identify and reviewexistingmodels. 2.Determine theneedfor this service, conduct research and a surveyof businesses. 3.Develop and proposeoptions for howit could be structured and what serviceswould be provided. 4 4.Determineif any City resourcesor subsidieswould beneeded, andwhere the fundswould come from. 5.Identify the City’s returns on its investments. The aboveinformationwill be accumulated, analyzed and presented to the Council for a final decision before theexisting City Hall is vacatedinlateJuly andAugust. GOAL #2: HELP THE CITY’S EXISTING BUSINESSES GROW AND EXPAND After agreeingon two strategies and a numberof actions to help recruit new businesses to Federal Way, the Councilmembersdiscussed the City’s role in helpingexisting businessesgrow and expand. During thediscussion, the staff recognized theneed forkeeping Councilmembers abreast of what the City is doing to assist existing businesses and committed todo a better job. The Council then agreedon five strategies bywhich the Citymayhelpexisting businessesgrow andexpand.They are: 1.Through the use ofe-mail, the City will communicate with existing businesses about the City’s economic development direction, priorities, goals and actions, and howthey can be involved. 2.The City willdevelop a job description for a new position of Ombudsman, aliaison between the City and businesscommunity. The job description will be presented to the Council so that it can decide whether or notto establishand fund the position. 3.When a business renewsitCity business license, theCitywill send a letter of thanks. 4.The City will reviewthe missions, roles, responsibilities and work programs ofthree existing committees—the EDC, EVC and FEDRAC—to determine if there are areas of overlap and redundancy. The goal is to sharpen the focus of each committee, reduce redundancy, and ensure that they are workingin concert with each other but achieving different key pieces of the Council’s vision. 5.The City will gather information about the need for a City government role inhelping retain and expandexisting businesses. The intent of this strategy is to determine if this goal should get as much attention and as many resources as the goal of helping recruit new businesses. Among information that is sought: How many businesses are there in Federal Way? How many new business licenses are issued by the City each year? How many businesses go out of business annually? Why?Are City actions at all responsible for the closure ofbusinesses? GOAL #3: ATTRACT REVENUE FROM NON-RESIDENTS At this pointin the discussionofeconomicdevelopment, the Council turned its attention to Goal #3:Attract revenue from peoplelivingoutside Federal Way.A strategy the Council identified and discussed wasthis:Make Federal Way a principal destination for amateur sports events. 5 To achieve that goal, the number of soccer and ballfieldswill need to beincreased, andit is possible that newfacilities, such as a field house and/or gymnasiums,willneed to be built. Other actions could includemaking the amateur sports industrymore awareof the facilities and amenities that Federal Way offers. Councilmembers agreed that if this strategywere to be implemented, a balancewouldneed to be attained between theneedsof Federal Way residents for recreationalopportunities and facilities, and theneedsof non-residents for fields and facilities for their amateur sports events. The Council agreed that this strategy should be furtherexplored by FEDRAC before being brought back to the full Council for further consideration and possible approval.As part of the committee’s analysis, the Council asked that the City’s potentialinvestments, and the rateof return that it couldexpect, be identified and highlighted. The Council also brieflydiscussed a longer-term strategy for attractingmorenon-residentdollars into the City, and thus increasing sales taxrevenues: make the City aregional center for artsand culture, and attract non-resident arts patrons toeventsheldwithin the City,where theywill spend theirmoneyon theevents themselves, and on related items such as hotels, restaurants and shopping. GOAL #4: REDUCE “LEAKAGE;”I.E., SALES TAX REVENUES GENERATED BY PURCHASES OF GOODS AND SERVICES BY FEDERAL WAY RESIDENTS FROM SOURCES OUTSIDE THE CITY. The Council brieflydiscussed this goal and concluded that Goals 1-3 and strategies to achieve themwillhelp reach this goal. COUNCIL SEEKS ASSESSMENT OF RESOURCES NEEDED TO EXPLORE A POTENTIAL ANNEXATION The City’s annexation policywas the secondmajor issueof the retreat.Themutual interests of the Council are: 1.Take anorderly approach to annexation toensure that the full ramificationsofgrowth are understood by the Council and the public. 2.Annexationsmake “business” sense, i.e., theydo notreduce the City’s ability to provide services, nor do theydiminish thequalityof those services. 3.Annexationpolicy enhances keyrelationships with thepublic,interest groupsand other jurisdictions. 4.Be aware ofwhat is occurring at the City’s borders. While recognizing that the PotentialAnnexationArea (PAA) studywill be completedin Spring 2004, the Councilmembers agreed that any annexationofland and peopleinto the Citymust make business sense. “Business sense”means that the annexationwouldnot reduce the City’s ability to provide services,norwould it reduce their quality. It alsomeans that thecost of annexationwouldnotoutweigh the benefits to the City. The Council also appeared toendorse theexisting unofficial policy: Let thecitizenswhowant to be annexed propose it to the City 6 rather than viceversa. But carefully and continuallywatchwhat is happeningon the City’s borders. Duringitsdiscussion about annexations, the Council agreed to ask staff to provideitwith an assessmentofwhat actions and resources,including staff time,would beneededif the Citywere to approach Pierce County about amendingits Comprehensive Plan to placeBrown’s Point and Dash Point in Federal Way’s PAA, and, if Pierce Countydid amendits Comp Plan, if the City was then to workwith the residents of those two communitieson annexation. COUNCIL ACTS TO CHANGE OR ASSESS THREE RULES Threechanges to Council ruleswerediscussed, resultingin agreements to repealone, to add a newone, and todevelop amatrix to inform a futurediscussion about possiblychangingone. The Council’sdecisionswere: 1.Reached consensuson repealing Rule 14.3. CityAttorney Pat Richardsonwill prepare the official paperwork; the Council will need to formallyvote to repeal this ruleduring a future meeting. In repealing this rule, the Councilmembers reiterated their commitment toimprove communication between them, and to continue to provide their colleagues a “heads up” about their public statements,eitherverbalor written, so that no Councilmemberis surprised by positionsor statementsofher/hiscolleagues. MayorMcColgan urged the Councilmembers to increase theinformal communications between them,and they stated their intent todo so. 2.Agreed to add a new rule pertaining to their annual strategic planning retreats.The rulewill set the time for future Council retreats—thelast week of January—and their duration—one- and-a-half to two-day sessions. CityAttorney Pat Richardsonwilldraft the language for the Councilmembers to review. The intent of thenew rule is reduceconfusion and surprises, and toguarantee full attendance at the retreats by Councilmembers and the City Manager’s senior leadership team. The Council alsoexpressedinterest inconducting a mid-yearmeeting to assess progressin achieving its direction, priorities andgoals. 3.Directed the City Manager’s office to produce a matrix illustratinghowother cities in the regionhandle the issueof succession to the positions of Mayor andVice Mayor. Which cities currently select their Mayor as Federal Way doesnow, with a voteof the Council electing oneofits members toeachof these two positions? Andwhich cities use seniority to automaticallyfill the two positions?What are the reasons foreachof thesemethodsof selection?Andwhich cities allow the Mayor to beelectedfor twoormore consecutive two- year terms?Andwhat are the reasons for this practice? Once the City Manager’sofficehas produced thematrix, it will be provided to the Council for further discussionof the City Council rule governingelection of the Mayor and Vice Mayor. COUNCIL DIRECTS ASSESSMENT OF RESOURCES REQUIRED TO CONDUCT COMPREHENSIVE SALARY STUDY Atits first sessionon Saturday, the Councilmembers received a summaryfrom Mary McDougal on the City’s current salary structure, and the policygoals it isintended to achieve.As a result of 7 8 the discussion, the Council members appeared to share these interests: 1) recruit the most talented people to work for the City of Federal Way; 2) pay employees salaries that are competitive with comparable cities in the region; 3) ensure employees are accountable for their performance; 4) use incentives to motivate and acknowledge exceptional performance; and 5) ensure consistency and objectivity in the application of the compensation system. The members directed the City Manager and Human Resources to assess what it would take to conduct a comprehensive salary study, which has not been done since 1991. The assessment should highlight what resources would be needed to conduct such a study, the expected length of time it would take, and how it might be conducted. This assessment will be provided to the Council before it determines whether or not to proceed, and before any alternatives to the current system are evaluated. Finally, the Council reiterated its commitment to working with the City Manager to establish annual goals by which to objectively evaluate his performance. A 1999 model is available for Council members to review. The Council agreed that a future study session will be held to identify and agree on specific goals and objectives. COUNCIL SUPPORTS TWO CHANGES TO BUDGET DEVELOPMENT PROCESS After a comprehensive presentation by Iwen Wang of the City’s budget outlook for 2005-06, the Council agreed on two new approaches to developing the budget for that biennium. First, the members supported the City Manager’s proposal to develop two alternative budgets if Initiative 860, which would roll back property taxes by 25%, qualifies for the Fall 2004 ballot. That will be known by late July. In the event it qualifies, one proposed budget would assume its passage, while the other proposed budget would assume that it fails at the polls. Second, members agreed that they would like to provide the City Manager’s office with “early” input on policies, services and programs before the 2005-06 budget is developed. Council members will receive the 2003-04 budget, including line items, so that they can become even more familiar with the City’s expenditures on programs and services. Each Council member, if they choose, can then offer ideas about expenditures that the staff will take into consideration as the budget is being developed. NEXT YEAR’S RETREAT The Council members anticipate that their next annual retreat will be on Friday and Saturday, January 28 th and 29th, 2005.