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COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - MINUTES - 2/26/2008 Approved 3/11/2008 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE – CITY (City) OF MUSKEGO MINUTES OF MEETING HELD TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2008 Mayor Johnson called the meeting to order at 6:45 p.m. and led those present in the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL Mayor Johnson, City Administrator Sheiffer, Ald. Snead, Ald. Borgman, Ald. Werner, Ald. Melcher, Ald. Fiedler and also present Deputy Clerk Blenski. Ald. Pavelko and Ald. Schaefer were excused. STATEMENT OF PUBLIC NOTICE Deputy Clerk Blenski noted that the meeting had been noticed in accordance with the Open Meeting Law. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Mayor Johnson advised that there were no issues with the agenda. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Ald. Borgman moved, Ald. Melcher seconded, to approve the minutes of the February 12, 2008 as clarified. Alderman Melcher added clarification on page 2 where Mayor Johnson said it used to be done half way, add through the year. Upon a voice vote, the motion carried unanimously. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Common Council Goals for City Administrator for 2008 City Administrator Sheiffer provided the Council members with a memorandum on goals for the position following the last discussion. She stated that to some extent the goals of the administrator come from the input and planning that is done by the Common Council members. One of the main roles of the city administrator is to make sure the organization is going where the Common Council wants and sets by goals. She further mentioned there are issues on a day-to-day basis within the organization among the Common Council, Mayor and the city administrator concerning clarity of roles. In this regard, they may want to make some changes to the position description. She said another way to accomplish it would be to look at an organizational flow chart. At this time, there is not one that exists for the City of Muskego that reflects the organization as it is today; therefore, she provided a sample flow chart from the City of Middleton, being a city about the same size with a similar setup as the City of Muskego. City Administrator Sheiffer reviewed the goals as stated in her memo as follows:  Assist the Council with a strategic planning session to establish consensus on direction (goals & priorities) for the City and thus the management team.  Assist the Council in adopting an organizational flow chart for the City and make any associated adjustments to position descriptions as Council deems appropriate to reflect the organizational flow chart.  Establish formal communication tools for use between the Council and City Administrator and staff and City Administrator (based on clarified roles).  Work with the Mayor and staff in a collaborative manner in preparation for 2009 budget work first to bring forward ways to do business that will result in expenditure reductions with no decrease in service levels. And, second to bring forward services the City Committee of the Whole February 26, 2008 Page 2 provides that our customers would agree they can live without so that the City can reduce operating expenditures to decrease the need to rely on City reserve funds and unacceptable property tax increases.  Establish (in collaborative manner with Mayor and department heads) individual staff development (training) plans for the management team that ties back to Council strategic planning session and considers succession planning for the organization.  Implement city-wide customer satisfaction survey that meets Council goals. Attend through the year various committee/city group meetings to obtain additional customer feedback/input. Develop customer comment forms to be generally available at service points.  Plan with management staff and implement team-building activities for staff (including one major effort).  Work with appropriate department heads (Clerk-Treasurer and Finance Department Supervisor) to establish beneficial financial reporting tools for Finance Committee and Council and update associated policies as needed.  Continue to serve as Human Resource Director for the City to develop and administer personnel policies and procedures, labor contracts and coordinate the collective bargaining process for labor contracts expiring 12/31/08 (bargaining will commence summer of 2008) including Wisconsin Professional Police Association, AFSCME (telecommunicators, city hall and library) and Department of Public Works and Utilities. Ald. Fiedler inquired about the formal communication tools. City Administrator Sheiffer offered as an example that once a week a written or emailed report on certain areas. On the customer survey, she would like more input from the Council on what they expect from that particular effort. City Administrator Sheiffer also distributed an expenditure reductions sheet. This was a list of reductions that have occurred since she came on staff in October 2005. Ald. Borgman commented that it looked like she was looking for more direction from the Council than they had initially gave her. Ald. Fiedler commented that he liked the presented goals though it will take some time to absorb them. Ald. Melcher said it was what they were looking for in her response and he thought the flow chart was a good idea. Council members discussed the need for strategic planning. It was noted that the previous presentation was not accepted by the Council. Ald. Fiedler asked what kind of strategic planning did she foresee. His concern was a major expense reoccurring on a yearly basis. He asked if annual strategic planning could be done by someone in house rather than pay someone $10,000 to do it. Mayor Johnson and Ald. Melcher stated using an outside source is much better as they do not have preconceived notions and they are objective. City Administrator Sheiffer will explore options. Some discussion about reviewing the strategic plan every three years occurring with the mayoral office term. Ald. Melcher would recommend that Council revisit it every three months, six months, nine months, a year initially to make sure things were in order and getting done. Then, after the initial period, look at it in light of six years as unexpected things can occur. Ald. Werner commented that the City doesn’t have a policy on when and how they do certain things. All the City has in place is how things were done. If the City wants to get involved in strategic planning, then there needs to be consistency. He would not want to hire an outside consultant if there would not be any consistency. If they are going to hire someone to do the strategic planning, then there should be a policy in place that flows from one administration to another; ergo, Council members, Mayor, City Administrator. Ald. Snead agreed with Ald. Melcher on it being done about every five years such as the school districts. You can have someone develop the five-year plan and then the Council can review it ever so often. It would be a bigger plan and “tweak” it as the years go on Committee of the Whole February 26, 2008 Page 3 as things are going to change. Ald. Werner said that if the Council does go outside, then that person would have to give the Council a tool so in the future, the Council can do it themselves. Ald. Snead thought that would be part of the package. Ald. Melcher called to their attention the amount the City spent on the fire department plan of $59,000 and basically, they were to come up with a strategic plan but instead came up with recommendations. When the Council thinks about expenditures, the City is far bigger than those two departments so the expenditure is not going to be a cheap proposition. Ald. Fiedler would not use the fire department study as a bench mark for all future plans. If the plan is going to be around for four or five years, then definitely need money to put into it. However, it boils down to common sense as the aldermen are responsible to their voters every two years and should know what they want. Mayor Johnson said it would set in writing what the Council and the City wants so the department heads can plan what is important and move in that direction. Ald. Fiedler stated they may be voted out of office for a reason and that reason may be the strategic plan. Ald. Snead commented it was just another form of goal setting and she was in favor of a strategic plan as it would keep the Council focused. Back to the goals for the city administrator, Mayor Johnson questioned how they wanted to handle the issue formally. Some discussion on adding them to the job description or using as an evaluation tool. Ald. Werner would like more time to think about the goals and how they equate with the current job description. Mayor Johnson brought up the issue of the evaluation that is due by April. City Administrator Sheiffer’s concern was that she would be evaluated by a Council that she has worked with since coming on staff. Ald. Snead said they wanted to keep the cycle within this Council. ADJOURNMENT Ald. Snead moved to adjourn at 7:21 p.m. Seconded by Ald. Fiedler, motion carried unanimously. Ald. Snead and Ald. Melcher advised that they would not be present at the March 11 meetings. Stella Dunahee, CPS Transcribing Secretary