Council MIN 01-16 & 1-17-2004 Retreat • EXHIBIT A
CITY 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.
ORIGINAL
The Council members then described what they want Federal Way to be in 15 -20 years. Their
• direction calls for the City to help "expand the economic pie" so that the City can provide the
services Federal Way residents expect of City government.
In 15 -20 years, the Council members want Federal Way to be described as or contain the
following:
o more a "place" and destination;
o a vibrant downtown with higher vertical buildings;
o green spaces in and adjacent to downtown, similar to those of the nation's great cities;
o thriving, successful businesses throughout the community, particularly downtown, that
support the residents, and which the residents patronize so that their money is spent in the
community, not outside it;
o a City with a high quality 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 unique neighborhoods;
o "living wage" jobs;
o a community that attracts money from outside sources which do not require building more
infrastructure;
o' good schools;
o affordable homes for the community's diverse residents;
o an attractive location on the light rail connection between Seattle (and SeaTac Airport) and
Tacoma;
o creative types of shops and businesses, distinctive from downtown Seattle, Tacoma Mall,
• Southcenter and Bellevue Square;
o "upscale" restaurants;
o more amenities for seniors;
o expanded and promoted opportunities for recreation and other forms of relaxation,
particularly in light of the increasingly hectic and chaotic pace of life;
o more diverse forms of housing, including townhomes and cottages, that appeal to a
population with a broader range of needs;
o a City government that is more assertive about publicizing the community's demographics
and attributes;
o public - private partnerships for human services;
o a more heavily promoted and used Dumas Bay Center; and
o City services will be delivered even more efficiently and effectively, perhaps through the
merger of the City with other service providers.
COUNCIL AGREES ON A PRIORITY AND GOALS FOR 2004 -06
The Council is united by the following five interests for economic development and, particularly,
downtown: 1) Federal Way has a vibrant, active and more "identifiable" downtown; 2) within
downtown, there is a mix of jobs, housing, and recreational and cultural amenities, with more of
each of these things than exist today; 3) City government is more open and receptive to business
interests; 4) the City relies upon a greater variety of tools and resources to strengthen the
economic vitality of the community and, particularly, downtown; and 5) the City helps retain
existing businesses and recruit new ones.
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After reviewing the list of Federal Way's qualities and characteristics 15 -20 years from now, the
• Council members agreed on the following priority for the next three years to beginning achieving
their future direction:
Increase tax revenues to provide services that the citizens of Federal Way expect
from their City government.
The Council then agreed on these goals 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 tax revenues generated by purchases of goods and
services by Federal Way residents from sources outside the City.
PARTNERSHIPS NEEDED TO ACHIEVE FUTURE DIRECTION
After agreeing on a priority for the next few years and the goals to achieve it, the Council paused
to discuss the kinds of leadership that will be needed to advance them. In short, the Council
members want to stimulate partnerships between the City, key interest group's and citizens. To
build and strengthen those partnerships, the Council members stated that the City needs to
educate the public and nurture leadership from various sources throughout the community,
including from businesses and neighborhoods.
• The Council members recognize that they and the City's employees cannot "do it all," and to
accomplish the future direction will require leadership from outside City Hall. Council members
expressed interest in the City more aggressively educating the public about what it is doing and
why, and about how citizens can become more involved in their community. Key partnerships
that the Council wants to strengthen include those between the City and Chamber of Commerce,
between the City and neighborhood groups, and between the City and businesses that do not
belong to the Chamber or any other organization. The Council also expressed interest in reaching
out more to the "great silent majority" of citizens who may not know about and who do not
comment on City programs, services p gr sand activities.
GOAL #1: RECRUIT NEW BUSINESSES TO THE CITY
After a lengthy discussion, the Council reached consensus on three strategies for achieving Goal
#1.
The first and second strategies: Redevelop the City Center through a "responsive" approach
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or redevelop the City Center through a more 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 the various approaches are described on pages 3 and 4 of Patrick Doherty's
memorandum to the Council dated 9 January 2004).
To determine whether or not to embark on these strategies, the Council directed that these four
• steps be taken:
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1. By the end of February 2004, the City will prepare vital information and key messages that
• will enable it to effectively communicate the Council's future direction on economic
development to key stakeholders and the public. One message the Council agreed should be
repeatedly communicated: The City's actions to expand sales tax revenues are an investment
in the community's future, not just an expenditure of public funds.
2. The Council will review the information and key messages, and begin to test these messages
by presenting them at public forums such as the future Developers' Forum.
3. As the City is developing its information and key messages, the Office of Economic
Development, working in concert with the Community Development Services Department,
the City Manager's Office and other departments, will further define and refine its
. approaches to achieving the Council's future direction for increasing sales tax revenues by
recruiting new businesses to the community. Additional details will be developed on the
"responsive" approach and the criteria that were outlined in the economic development
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 City will determine what
forums are most appropriate for capturing citizen and special interest reactions and responses
to them.
Other ideas that were mentioned included: FEDRAC's strategy to hold a second meeting
each month that focuses on economic development, and to hold them out in the
neighborhoods; devote an entire page in the City newsletter to economic development;
• televise the FEDRAC meetings on economic development; produce a video, in Question and
Answer format, that explains the Council's future directions, priorities, goals and strategies
on economic development; City Council members present to business organizations their
vision and goals, and what the City is doing; put on capital project fliers a detachable piece to
allow citizens to send to City Hall their opinions, perspectives and ideas about economic
development issues and actions; investigate and assess what other cities are doing to
encourage economic expansion and downtown development; and using volunteers, leaflet
neighborhoods before meetings to encourage citizen attendance and comments.
4. After the potential approaches have been further developed, and after they have been
reviewed, the Council will decide which of them to pursue to achieve its goal of 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 Hall this coming summer.
Steps that will be taken to assess the viability of this strategy before the Council agrees to it
include:
1. Identify and review existing models.
2. To determine the need for this service, conduct research and a survey of businesses.
3. Develop and propose options for how it could be structured and what services would be
provided.
4. Determine if any City resources or subsidies would be needed, and where the funds would
come from.
• 5. Identify the City's returns on its investments.
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The above information will be accumulated, analyzed and presented to the Council for a final
• decision before the existing City Hall is vacated in late July and August.
GOAL #2: HELP THE CITY'S EXISTING BUSINESSES GROW AND EXPAND
After agreeing on two strategies and a number of actions to help recruit new businesses to Federal
Way, the Council members discussed the City's role in helping existing businesses grow and
expand. During the discussion, the staff recognized the need for and committed to do a better job
of keeping Council members abreast of what the City is doing to assist existing businesses.
The Council then agreed on five strategies by which the City may help existing businesses grow
and expand. They are:
1. Through the use of email, the City will communicate with existing businesses about the
City's economic development direction, priorities, goals and actions, and how they can be
involved.
2. The City will develop a job description for a new position of Ombudsman, a liaison between
the City and business community. The job description will be presented to the Council so
that it can decide whether or not to establish and fund the position.
3. When businesses renew their City business license, the City will send them a letter of
thanks.
• 4. The City will review the missions, roles, responsibilities and work programs of three
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 working in concert with each other but achieving
different key pieces of the Council's vision.
S. The City will gather information about the need for a City government role in helping
retain and expand existing 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 of businesses?
GOAL #3: ATTRACT REVENUE FROM NON - RESIDENTS
At this point in the discussion of economic development, the Council turned its attention to Goal
#3: Attract revenue from eo le living outside Federal Way. A strategy the Council p g y gy Co cil identified
and discussed was this: Make Federal Way a principal destination or amateur sports P P f P orts events.
To achieve that strategy, the number of soccer and ball fields will need to be increased, and it is
possible that new facilities, such as a field house and/or gymnasiums, will need to be built. Other
actions could include making the amateur sports industry more aware of the facilities and
• amenities that Federal Way offers.
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• Council members agreed that if this strategy were to be implemented, a balance would need to be
attained between the needs of Federal Way residents for recreational opportunities and facilities,
and the needs of non - residents for fields and facilities for their amateur sports events.
The Council agreed that this strategy should be further explored 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 potential investments, and the rate of
retum that it could expect, be identified and highlighted.
The Council also briefly discussed a longer -term strategy for attracting more non - resident dollars
into the City, and thus increasing sales tax revenues: make the City a regional center for arts and
culture, and attract non - resident arts patrons to events held within the City, where they will spend
their money on the events 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 briefly discussed this goal and concluded that Goals 1 -3 and strategies to achieve
them will help achieve this goal.
COUNCIL SEEKS ASSESSMENT OF RESOURCES NEEDED TO EXPLORE A
POTENTIAL ANNEXATION
The City's annexation policy was the second major issue of the retreat. The mutual interests of
the Council are:
1. Take an orderly approach to annexation to ensure that the full ramifications of growth are
understood by the Council and the public.
2. Annexations make "business" sense, i.e, they do not reduce the City's ability to provide
services, nor do they diminish the quality of those services.
3. Annexation policy enhances key relationships with the public, interest groups and other
jurisdictions.
4. Be aware of what is occurring at the City's borders.
While recognizing that the Potential Annexation Area (PAA) study will be completed in Spring
2004, the Council members agreed that any annexation of land and people into the City must
make business sense. "Business sense" means that the annexation would not reduce the City's
ability to provide services, nor would it reduce their quality. It also means that the cost of
annexation would not outweigh the benefits to the City. The Council also appeared to endorse
the existing unofficial policy: Let the citizens who want to be annexed propose it to the City
rather than vice versa. But carefully and continually watch what is happening on the City's
borders.
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During its discussion about annexations, the Council agreed to ask staff to provide it with an
• assessment of what actions and resources, including staff time, would be needed if the City were
to approach Pierce County about amending its Comprehensive Plan to place Brown's Point and
Dash Point in Federal Way's PAA, and, if Pierce County did amend its Comp Plan, if the City
was then to work with the residents of those two communities on annexation.
COUNCIL ACTS TO CHANGE OR ASSESS THREE RULES
Three changes to Council rules were discussed, resulting in agreements to repeal one, to add a
new one, and to develop a matrix to inform a future discussion about possibly changing one. The
Council's decisions were:
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1. Reached consensus on repealing Rule 14.3. City Attorney Pat Richardson will prepare the
official paperwork; the Council will need to formally vote to repeal this rule during a future
meeting. In repealing this rule, the Council members reiterated their commitment to improve
communication between them, and to continue to provide their colleagues a "heads up" about
their public statements, either verbal or written, so that no Council member is surprised by
positions or statements of her/his colleagues. Mayor McColgan urged the Council members
to increase the informal communications between them, and they stated their intent to do so.
2. Agreed to add a new rule pertaining to their annual strategic planning retreats. The rule will
set the time for future Council retreats —the last week of January—and their duration —one-
and -a -half to two -day sessions. City Attorney Pat Richardson will draft the language for the
• Council members to review. The intent of the new rule is reduce confusion and surprises,
and to guarantee full attendance at the retreats by Council members and the City Manager's
senior leadership team.
The Council also expressed interest in conducting a mid -year meeting to assess progress in
achieving its direction, priorities and goats.
3. Directed the City Manager's office to produce a matrix illustrating how other cities in the
region handle the issue of succession to the positions of Mayor and Vice Mayor. Which
cities currently select their Mayor as Federal Way does now, with a vote of the Council
electing one of its members to each of these two positions? And which cities use seniority to
automatically fill the two positions? What are the reasons for each of these methods of
selection? And which cities allow the Mayor to be elected for two or more consecutive two -
year terms? And what are the reasons for this practice?
Once the City Manager's office has produced the matrix, it will be provided to the Council
for further discussion of the City Council rule governing election of the Mayor and Vice
Mayor.
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COUNCIL DIRECTS ASSESSMENT OF RESOURCES REQUIRED TO CONDUCT
COMPREHENSIVE SALARY STUDY
At its first session on Saturday, the Council members received from Mary McDougal a summary
of the City's current salary structure, and the policy goals it is intended to achieve. As a result of
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
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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 will assume its
passage, while the other proposed budget will 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. If s/he chooses to, each
Council member 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 and 29` 2005.
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