CITY COUNCIL
MINUTES
Special Meeting
Saturday, January 28, 2023
8:00 AM
Double Tree by Hilton Hotel Golf Resort
67967 Vista Chino
Cathedral City, CA 92234
• CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 8:00 AM by Mayor Rita Lamb. • ROLL CALL
Attendee Name Title Status
Rita Lamb Mayor Present
Mark Carnevale Mayor Pro Tem Present
Nancy Ross Councilmember Present
Raymond Gregory Councilmember Present
Ernesto Gutierrez Councilmember Present
• STAFF PRESENT
Charles McClendon, City Manager
Anne Ambrose, Assistant City Manager
Tracey Hermosillo, City Clerk
Ryan Hunt, Communications and Events Manager
Eugenia Torres, Human Resources Manager
Kevin Biersack, Deputy Finance Director
London Pyle, Accountant II
Mallery Gerry, Accountant II
Jan DeGuzman, Chief Technology Manager
Edward Moore, Facilities and Field Superintendent
Robert Rodriguez, Director of Planning and Building
Gil Estrada, Chief Building Official
Sandra Molina, Code Compliance Development Manager
John Corella, Director of Engineering and Public Works
Armando Balizzone, City Engineer
Deanna Pressgrove, Environmental Conservation and Public Works Manager Stone James, Economic Development Director
George Crum, Chief of Police
Cathedral City P a g e 2 Printed on 3/02/2023
Rick Sanchez, Police Commander
Jon Enos, Police Commander
Michael Contreras, Fire Chief
Stephen Tumir, Battalion Chief
Craig Sanborn, Battalion Chief
Al Ford, Assistant City Attorney
Michael Kashiwagi, City Consultant
1. STRATEGIC PLANNING OVERVIEW
Mayor Rita Lamb welcomed everyone to the 2023 City Council Strat egic Planning. She expressed that the workshop is an important opportunity for the City Council to have a collaborative discussion with the City’s Management Team to discuss current priorities and to develop a long-term vision for the future. She stated that as the City continues to grow and demands on municipal service providers become increasingly complex, the ability to quickly identify and adapt to changing needs and expectations of our community becomes increasingly important. She announced that the Management Team attending the workshop represents professional staff responsible for planning, staffing, and implementing the full range of city programs, operations, and services for the residents and businesses. Their understanding and knowledge of cha nges wi thin their business groups, new and emerging legal and regulatory compliance mandates, challenges and opportunities created by current and emerging technologies, and evolving customer service needs and expectations are all important “inputs” for our visioning and goal setting efforts. The City’s Strategic Plan will be an important planning document to help maintain focus on the future in addition to operationally and tactically addressing current issues and needs. Similar to the City’s Biennial Bud get process and 5 Year Capital Improvement Program, the Strategic Plan will be reviewed annually and updated to reflect business changes and evolving needs and expectation s of the community we serve. She thanked everyone for investing their valuable time a nd knowledge in the important work and discussions that will be taking place during the workshop. She introduced Esmerelda Garcia, MIG , who the City engaged to facilitate the Strategic Planning process.
Ms. Garcia explained that the purpose of the worksho p was to introduce city leadership to the Strategic Plan process, and to discuss their shared values, vision, goals, and strategic directions to be considered in the five-year strategic plan.
Ms. García led the group with self -introductions, reviewed the workshop objectives, and provided an overview of the strategic planning process. She introduced Richard Bernard who presented findings from the community survey conducted by his survey research firm FM3. After he addressed questions, Ms. García launched the workshop activities.
The City Council and city staff were assigned to cross functional teams and sat in these smaller groups. The groups each addressed questions and prompts focused on a series of topics related to the Strategic Plan. These included Value s, Vision, Goals, and Strategic Priorities. Each group shared the results of its discussion with the entire group.
Below is a summary of the responses to questions and prompts that were a result of the team’s discussions:
Cathedral City P a g e 3 Printed on 3/02/2023
VALUES
The groups were asked to share what they value most as a community.
Community and Civic Pride
• Great quality of life
• Great place to retire or raise a family
o Education
o Health services
o Housing options and price points
o Affordability
o Employment
• Events / cultural
• Culture
• Independence
• Identity
• Fun
• Integrity
• Cleanliness
• Attractiveness
Inclusivity
• Embracing all
• Strong / sense of Community
• Spanish outreach
• Cultural events reflective of demographics
• Community engagement
• Transparency
Safety
• Police Department
• Fire Department
• People feel safe
• Emergency preparedness
• Homelessness
• Roads
• Public safety
• Community engagement - neighborhood watch
Public Investment
• Financial stability
• Fiscal responsibility
• Development
• Business
o Business friendly
o Variety / different options
o Predictable development process
• Economic development
• Road condition
Cathedral City P a g e 4 Printed on 3/02/2023
• Visual appearance
o Street medians
• Homelessness
• Environmental consciousness
Diversity
• Great place to live for different groups and people
o Young families
o Retirees
o Business options
Services
• Education
o Trade schools
o Palm Spring Unified School District
o College of the Desert
• Health services
• Cultural and community events
• Recreation
Innovation
• Willingness to evaluate and change
• Technology
• Environmentally conscious
VISION
Each group developed a vision that expresses t he City’s success. The following represents the results from each group.
All roads lead to Cathedral City
Cathedral City is safe, beautiful, fun, unpretentious,
We are the best kept secret of the Coachella Valley, the place where charm meets innovation
We welcome everyone - you can be yourself, come as you are We embrace small and start up business
Cathedral City is ranked one of the top 10 safest cities in California Because we facilitate high quality development, we have become a fully built out city We offer excellent amenities and are a leader in entertainment in the Coachella Valley We have a great reputation for being inclusive and have transparent government
Cathedral City is the heart of the desert and has built its success by leveraging its adjacency to Palm Springs
We have a deep sense of community, great government services Our community embraces our diversity with an emphasis on equity, and inclusion Residents stay forever because Cathedral City is affordable, has a variety of housing options, vibrant business, beautiful neighborhoods, and cultural / arts events
Cathedral City is a great place to live, work, and play! Cathedral City P a g e 5 Printed on 3/02/2023
It is the safest city in the Coachella Valley where the community can engage with Police and Fire
We have well maintained and clean streets that are nicely landscaped It’s a prime hub and destination in the Coachella Valley The community is affordable, visually attractive, diverse, and inclusive We offer diverse offerings for locals and visitors including special events, walk ing and biking trails
Cathedral City is one of the top places to retire
It is family oriented, safe, clean, visually attractive, afforda ble, is a great place to work, and business friendly
We are innovative and a leader in smart technology
The City is a d estination, where people come for our events, arts and culture, visit the downtown, and experience the diverse outdoor recreation options
GOALS
Groups were asked to discuss and identify goals that will guide the city in achieving its future vision. These are a starting point and city leadership will continue to build on these through the process of developing the strategic plan framework. B elow is the initial set of goals identified by the groups.
Enhance public safety
• Prioritize innovative community-based public safety programs • Ensure proactive initiatives and strategies
Increase the rate of high-quality development that results in economic prosperity
Improve the visual appearance of the City
• Streets, medians, gateways
• Residential properties are maintained
• Development / redevelopment standards
• Homelessness
• Graffiti
• Code enforcement
Enhance communication between Cathedral City and the community • Ensure people are heard
• Utilize all methods and technology
• Ensure it is efficient and two way
STRATEGIC PRIORITIES
The group discussed specific opportunities and priorities for realizing the City’s vision.
The City Council members shared their priorities, and these are noted below:
1. Serving the Community with Pride and Dedication - Through diversity, equity and inclusion driven employee programs and employee experiences, Cathedral City is the employer of choice with a workforce that is engaged, motivated and respected public stewards
a. Study the need to reallocate staff resources, including the use of contracts Cathedral City P a g e 6 Printed on 3/02/2023
b. Review comparison data on Council salaries and the process to update if warranted
c. Consider a Fire Cad et prog ram to introduce youth to the potential for careers in fire and emergency medical services
2. Community Pride and Investment - Cathedral City road conditions have improved to rank among the top cities in the Coachella Valley , and other city infrastructure and facilities are well maintained due to the use of objective asset management tools
a. Develop an Electric Vehicle transition plan to comply with upcoming state mandate and include consideration of providing publicly accessible charging stations
b. Develop an entryway, medians, and lighting master plan to provide appealing gateways to the City
c. Develop a wilderness trail plan
d. Complete a dog park in the southern part of the City e. Improve and expand Chuperosa Lane to become a point of pride in Cathedral City
f. Maximize the use of existing resources to include underutilized parks and the library to support goals with the budget we have
g. Communicate with residents to move parked vehicles on street sweeping day
h. Improve pedestrian access to p arks th rough the use of crosswalks and sidewalk improvements
i. Improve wayfinding signage to direct visitors to destinations in the community
j. Develop a traffic calming plan with strategies for addressing location specific speeding issues
k. Develop a pl an to a ddress the need for funding for parks and recreation services through the DRD; and other resident priorities including streets, and work toward a potential funding measure in 2024.
l. By the end of 2023, complete the design phase and begin constructi on on the Dream Homes Park
3. Fiscal Stability and Sustainability - Cathedral City has economically prospered by facilitating the invest ment of private dollars in high quality development which benefits the community
a. Explore providing a General Fund Ca pital P rojects fund as part of development of the next biennial budget
b. Develop and adopt a Facilities Master Plan
c. Implement improvements to purchasing practices and procedures to align with procurement code requirements
d. Increase Council district improvement funds
e. Consider acquisition of an underutilized site on Cathedral Canyon and work to activate the site
f. Allocate resources necessary to achieve the City Council’s goals and vision
g. Develop an inventory of vacant and underutilized properties h. Complete and improve the installation of the Tyler EnerGov software to automate, improve and streamline the plan review, permitting and Cathedral City P a g e 7 Printed on 3/02/2023
inspection processes
i. Evaluate data and work with CVEP to identify holes in the local economy and develop plans to address
j. Strengthen the Economic Development team and remove optional tasks such as commission staffing to focus on core/essential duties k. Complete and adopt the Development Impact Fee study
4. Innovation - Cathedral City has successfully leveraged technology to optimize resource allocation, improve public services, stimulate economic growth, and has improved accessibility and affordability of reliable high speed internet services a. Develop and adopt an Information Technology Master Plan including consideration of providing public WiFi access in parks
b. Provide an on-line calendar to display Amphitheater bookings c. Complete and im prove the installation of the Tyler EnerGov software to automate, improve and streamline the plan review, permitting an d inspection processes
5. Safety - Cathedral City is safe for all who live, work and play in our community a. Fill the authorized Ambula nce Operator position and complete the transition to the ambulance operator program and provision of the third ambulance
b. Develop a firearm discharge ordinance
c. Expand the use of cameras and other technology to promote public safety d. Increase Police and Fire engagement with the community e. Police department develops pro -active methods to reach out to youth and families
f. Improve the Police presence and interaction at community events
6. Inclusive/Thriving City - Cathedral City is valued and respect ed as a community that welcomes and celebrates diversity, has an abundance of high quality, affordable housing, vibrant businesses, and attractive and well - maintained neighborhoods
a. Complete the comprehensive update of the Cathedral City Municipal Code with initial emphasis on Chapter 9 (zoning) and Chapter 5 (business regulations)
• Address parking and paving provisions in the code for residences • Prohibit parking in front of mailboxes
b. Help define who Cathedral City is for our families and others c. Update the Thousand Palms annexation fiscal analysis d. Promote additional community events and celebrations e. Develop and implement a plan to improve and diversify methods of communication with residents
f. Work with Riverside County to locate the potential RUHS community health center in Cathedral City
7. Homelessness - Cathedral City has professionally and compassio nately addressed issues of homelessness through thoughtful programs and strategies developed and implemented in collaboration with key stakehol ders and adjacent communities
a. Develop a public awareness campaign to inform the community of the Cathedral City P a g e 8 Printed on 3/02/2023
City’s effort s and e xpenditures on homelessness and how residents can participate in solutions in the graphic summary below.
All five members of the City C ouncil, city department directors, and representative staff across all departments participated in the all-day interactive workshop. In addition to the discussion on values, visions, goals and strategic priorities, City Manager Charles McClendon provided a n update on the Council Goals that were established for 2022 and Kevin Biersack, Deputy Finance Director , provided a fi nancial overview and FY 2022-2023 mid-year budget update.
The following members of the public also attended the all -day workshop and had the opportunity to provide their insight and comments.
Danny Lee
Shelly Kaplan
Sunshine Herrera
Danielle Mead
ADJOURN
Mayor Rita Lamb adjourned the Five-Year Strategic Plan Workshop at 3:15 p.m.
Mayor, City of Cathedral City City Clerk, City of Cathedral City