MINUTES
City of Guadalupe
Special Meeting of the Guadalupe City Council
Tuesday, May 31, 2022, at 6:00 pm
at
City Hall, 918 Obispo Street, Council Chambers
and
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Portland
1000 NE Multnomah Street
Portland, Oregon 97232
(room number will be available at the front desk upon request)
1. ROLL CALL:
Council Member Liliana Cardenas
Council Member Gilbert Robles
Council Member Eugene Costa Jr.
Mayor Pro Tempore Tony Ramirez
Mayor Ariston Julian
The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. All members were present with CM Ramirez on zoom. (Note: The abbreviation "CM" will be used for Council Member in these minutes.)
2. MOMENT OF SILENCE
Mayor Julian made brief comments about the young students being buried in Uvalde, TX today amidst all that is happening now.
3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
4. COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION FORUM
Mayor Julian mentioned that are several emails that were on the back table in the chambers and would also be a part of the minutes of this meeting.
Joslynn Flowers
I am a resident of Guadalupe and I've been a member of the community for three (3) years. I'd like to address the concern regarding the budget item from draft goal #1 - "Adequately fund and allocate staff for Recreation and Parks Department, including a permanent recreation manager and May 31, 2022 City of Guadalupe Council Meeting Minutes Page 1 of 16 maintenance positions." According to my understanding, the current position is being funded by a Covid relief/grant which lasted 18 months and now we're looking to fund this position fully moving forward from the City's budget.
I spoke with HR who informed me that currently the salary is around $66,000 annually which upon my web research on parks and rec management salaries, many of the parks and rec managers' salaries is currently between $39,000, the 25th percentile, to $61,000, which is the 75th percentile.
This is based on city size, of course, with the top earners making $73,000 annually in Los Angeles, a difference of only $7,000 annually. And we can all agree that we're nowhere near the size of LA.
Upon speaking with HR, I was given the estimate of $66,000 annually. Does the $66,000 annually include benefits or is that the base pay?
I do believe that having a parks and rec manager is important as we continue to grow. I believe over time, given the City's continued growth and involvement in local events, such as city sports, community celebrations like Cinco de Mayo and venue rentals, the City will be able to generate revenue which can fund this position at that salary. Until then, I believe a livable wage, as the starting point, with growth as the City continues to grow, would be the best source of action at this time.
I would like to propose that we re-evaluate the salary for the parks and rec management position.
Perhaps take some of that salary budgeted and look at other places it may be beneficial for the City, such as a Fire Chief. Thank you for your time.
Emails:
Garret Matsuura: I will be unable to attend as my son's school volleyball banquet is tonight but regarding tonight's meeting, I wanted to send a brief note to say officially that the GBA fully supports increased engagement with the City.
Aniela Hoffman:
Dear City Council, thank you to Mayor Julian and the city council for this opportunity to share ideas ad concerns. My name is Aniela Hoffman, and I am a resident of the Pasadera community. I would like to address item #6 of the City of Guadalupe Goal Statements Draft regarding public safety, specifically the funding of the fire department and paramedics. I see our beautiful city growing and wonderful plans that will increase business revenue. I also see many plans to better the quality of life for residents such as the plans for parks and rec and infrastructure. As a resident / appreciate each of these, but 1 am also acutely aware of how far Guadalupe is from the nearest hospital.
Emergency services are vital to the residents. Funding these services as a priority can mean the difference between life and death in the event of cardiac arrest, an accident, a house fire or thousands of other examples. Seconds matter and I know that life saving measures begin when paramedics arrive to help, not when they reach the hospital. The same is true with a fire. Every second is critical.
May 31, 2022 City of Guadalupe Council Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 16 I notice with each statement on item #6 regarding staffing and equipment, that they were qualified with the clause "as budget permits." These are the only areas with this qualification. Nothing is more important than the safety -- and the very lives -- of our families, friends, neighbors, and all of the residents of Guadalupe. I would rather that lives be saved than to have a park improved or a street repaved. I also believe that an underfunded fire department will cost individuals, businesses, and ultimately the city more money in the long run. Guadalupe will be less appealing for families and businesses if insurance premiums raise and will likely harm the sought-after growth. Ensuring the safety of our city's residents with well-funded professional fire fighters and paramedics is an investment in our City and one that will benefit each of us. We never know when we will need these services, and we cannot just be safe until an emergency occurs. Thank you.
REGULAR BUSINESS
5. BACKGROUND INFORMATIONAL WORKSHOP RELATED TO THE SETTING OF GOALS FOR THE FY 2022-23 BUDGET.
Mr. Bob Perrault, facilitator, gave the background of this process before going into proposed goals:
Goal setting is a very important part of the budget process. It's a way of setting standards that can be evaluated as a part of the ongoing review of the budget. The goals are visionary, in some cases, and can encompass more than one year. They should be important, not only to the City Council, staff but to the community. They should be measurable. Once the entire process is completed and the goals are adopted, they should serve as guideposts for the actual development of the budget. That's what we're all about today. So far, the Council has received reports from its staff, in terms of operational status reports from each department. This would give the council members and the community a starting point to generate the goals.
The next part of the assignment was a homework assignment. Council members were asked to propose up to five (5) goals with supporting projects. These were done and sent into the City Administrator on May 20". The next step, which I performed, was reviewing the draft goal statements and synthesizing them to ensure that replication wasn't an issue. It would be contrary progress if you ended up with 20 goals saying the same thing. Where there were common themes and common ideas, I synthesized where I could and attempted to put them into the draft goal statements that are attached to the staff report. More detail will be given shortly.
Each of those draft goal statements were also supported by implementation projects. I mentioned before that there are nine (9) goals in the attachment. I want the Council to be aware that there is no priority associated in the numbering of the goals but just to serve as identification for discussion purposes.
The next step is to review the goal statements and have the Council modify or add to them, as may be necessary. Then by consensus, come up with the list of still draft goals. The next step, which we could complete tonight, would actually be the Council rating those goals so there's some sense of what the priorities actually are. Following that, we'll do a public survey of those same goals and have that survey sent out to the members of the public and ask them to review and rate the goals, too. Also, adding any comments that they might want to add.
May 31, 2022 City of Guadalupe Council Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 16 This is a workshop meeting so if there are...as we go through this process, Mr. Mayor, not only if council members have questions and comments, but certainly if community members have questions or comments, I would entertain them.
Once this list is finalized, it will be placed on a regular council agenda for adoption. Once those goals are adopted, as I mentioned, it will then provide staff with direction in the completion of the budget.
It'Il also be important to add that once the budget has been approved...remember the budget and the goals are living documents. The budget and the goals serve as the City's operating plan. They should be evaluated on an ongoing basis during the fiscal year, at least quarterly to determine what kind of progress has been made in terms of the budget and the operational plan, as well as the goals themselves. Those discussions would also provide the Council with the opportunity to modify, as would be necessary.
Mr. Perrault then asked the Council if there were any questions and then following that, a discussion occurred with the Council on the draft goals as presented. Mayor Julian verified that CM Ramirez, who was on zoom, was fully connected and he was. The mayor then asked the Council if there were any questions and said that the presentation was very well explained.
The next step in the process was Mr. Perrault going over the draft goal statements and the supported projects for implementation.
1. Continue to develop and grow the Recreation Department by providing sustainable programs and facilities for the Community.
- Adequately fund and allocate staff for Recreation & Parks Department, including permanent recreation manager and maintenance positions
- Develop facilities master plan for park improvement and maintenance for existing parks and those in the pipeline
- Increase recreational programing for use of facilities utilizing community priorities and coordinating with recreation/sports entities
Mr. Perrault: "As you are all aware, there are a number of projects, grant-funded projects that are currently in the pipeline. As you develop your budget, it is important to outline a maintenance program and to include these costs in the budget."
2. Develop and maintain a balanced budget for FY 22-23 Budget providing priority municipal services and securing the City's financial future with adequate reserve funds. - Identify and allocate funds to be used to meet General Fund Reserve Goal of 15% - Develop capacity and implement monitoring program to be sure contracted cannabis commitments are met
- Review revenue generation options for General Fund including possible Transient Occupancy Tax increase
- Provide staffing and complete implementation of new Finance software program Develop and provide for Council review quarterly reports on City finances and goal progress May 31, 2022 City of Guadalupe Council Meeting Minutes Page 4 of 16 Mr. Perrault: "There has been some discussion about developing a city-wide landscape maintenance district that might help facilities costs."
3. Create and implement economic development strategies for the City of Guadalupe that will promote the development and maintenance of a strong business sector including business retention, attraction, tourism marketing and revenue generation. - Work cooperatively with the Guadalupe Business association to identify a strategy for business retention and attraction.
- Identify and apply for grant funding for the creation and staffing of a business support program Mr. Perrault: "Economic development is all about strong communication between your various business sectors and the community at large. To do this will probably take more than the administrative staff that you have on board at present. That's why grant funding for the creation of that effort is so important."
4. Support the efforts to attract businesses to Pasadera Commercial Area to help create employment opportunities, provide local services identified by residents and generate tax revenue.
- Develop a team comprised of a council member, planning staff, City Administrator and consultants to support project proponents in their efforts to attract potential businesses to the commercial area
- Advocate for the completion of the necessary infrastructure to support the development of the commercial area using communication between CalTrans, Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG), the City's Development Team and DJ Farms Mr. Perrault: "There is a big desire on the part of the City to see the areas developed that have been set aside in the Pasadera project for business purposes. But one of the roadblocks that needs to be eliminated is, obviously, improvement of the access. That's only going to come about with the cooperation with CalTrans, City and SBCAG. Because, as we all know, that street is a state highway. So, that's not something you can perform on your own, though, that's something you wish you could."
Mayor Julian: "GBA should be a part of a team that's working on this area here. Also, on SBAG, there was an issue with property in Carpinteria, bluffs on the left side. There was significant opposition from the community of Carpinteria, especially pilots, hang gliding. And there was substantial opposition to what CalTrans and SBCAG wanted to do. This is an incident where the community said they didn't want the landscape changed because it would impact their flying.
Because of that, $11.OM went down the tubes. SBCAG didn't go forward with any of those renovations. It's important for us to involve this association and Los Amigos de Guadalupe in this area here.
One other point. You said these can be mixed up, these goal statements, in terms of priority.
Because 'Recreation' was the first doesn't mean that it is the first priority." Mr. Perrault then said, "One of the reasons I included this one right after 'Economic Development' is that it's a part of economic development, to a certain degree."
May 31, 2022 City of Guadalupe Council Meeting Minutes Page 5 of 16
5. Ensure that Public Facilities and Infrastructure (streets, water, wastewater) are capable of meeting current and future needs of the city.
- Continue to maintain and update facility master plans including: Streets, Wastewater, Water and Capital Improvement Plan
- Prioritize City facilities in urgent need of city repair and identify costs and timing - Seek Grant Funding to assist with the above
- Develop and implement adequate staffing plan for the Department of Public Works Mr. Perrault: "At the last meeting, Public Works Director said that the Water Master Plan was recently updated, but the Wastewater Master Plan needs to be updated. There's been great progress on streets. I can tell you that having been a manager in Grover Beach for many years, your streets are still in much better shape than ours were at the time / was in Grover Beach. The important thing about the streets is keeping up on those maintenance activities. That will save you dollars over the long run. Also, always include review of your Capital Improvement Plan."
6. Ensure Public Safety staffing and facilities is sufficient to maintain the delivery of quality public safety services to the community.
- Complete the implementation of staffing plan for both Fire and Police including addition of a Battalion Chief in Fire Department as budget permits
- Continue to update facilities and equipment as budget permits Mr. Perrault: "You heard from the Director of Public Safety, in terms of fire staffing, the addition of a Battalion Chief in the Fire Department is very critical. Also noted, is that while there has been some improvement in facilities on the Police side - a good deal more needs to be done.
That's pretty much for all of the facilities. By establishing a priority list that identifies urgent needs...those that you need to get to as soon as possible, will be beneficial."
7. Develop and implement a communication strategy focused on improving flow of information between constituents, city staff and Council members.
- Cultivate relationship with community-based organizations to disseminate information Develop and implement social media policies for the City Increase the usage of Zoom to broadcast City Council meetings Mr. Perrault: "We've already acknowledged Los Amigos de Guadalupe group. There's also, certainly, the Guadalupe Business Association. You want to keep those lines open. You also have residents here, which is a good sign, because that shows they are vitally interested in progress the City is making."
8. Ensure that American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds are maximized to ensure that initially funded staffing and services are met and where feasible converted to General Fund support
May 31, 2022 City of Guadalupe Council Meeting Minutes Page 6 of 16 - Revisit ARRA line items to ensure that the allocation of funds to needed positions and services are justifiable and achieving goals set by City Council - On a quarterly basis, revisit the items supported by ARRA in comparison to quarterly expenses and revenues for the entire City budget
- Require justification of the remaining ARRA budget items requested to ensure allocation amount and intent is realized
9. Coordinate with Santa Barbara County Parks Master Plan to acquire property adjacent or near Guadalupe for camping and recreational facilities.
- Establish core team to include City Council representation, city staff and existing business groups, who will collaborate with Santa Barbara County parks Department in developing the Santa Barbara County Park Master Plan
- City representatives will include City Administrator, Public Works Department, Recreation Department, City Council representative and a representative of the business community Mr. Perrault: "This is a natural tie into the Levee Project." Mr. Perrault then said, "This concludes my brief review of the draft goal statements and implementation projects. Certainly, there's time for the City Council to discuss these items and make any changes, as required. You may want to hear again from the public as to what was just covered." Mayor Julian asked the Council if there were any additions, discussions, hot points at this time. CM Cardenas had some comments. She said, "Inclusion of our library and earmarking monies. I didn't see that on here. Two of us have requested that." Mr. Perrault responded, "We would put that as a 10th goal." CM Cardenas said, "I was thinking maybe in our 'facilities'... we've discussed about having an actual home for our library. So, if we could start earmarking dollars for support of our library because we struggle every year." CM Ramirez added, "I agree with CM Cardenas adding it to (draft goal statement) #5. 'Ensure that Public Facilities and infrastructure...'... I think we don't need to be as specific saying 'streets, water, wastewater'. We can include all of our public facilities including City Hall underneath all that, as well. I think we have a lot of goals, and we might need to consolidate a few."
Mir. Perrault then summarized the requested changes: "Prioritize City facilities in urgent need of City repair and identify costs and timing for all municipal facilities, including the library. That will be changed and included in Draft Goal Statement #5."
Mayor Julian said, "Historically, about six (6) years ago, we were in the red, close to about $1.OM.
Slowly, one year we were about $17.0k in the black and we're getting there. One of the rationales for improving in 2014 were the three (3) measures. In 2020, one of the primary focuses was to get out of the red and to make sure to allocate resources to get out of the red." The mayor then asked, "A question to Ms. Zarate, Finance Director, what do we have for reserves for this budget year?" Ms. Zarate answered, "So far, as of April 30 2022, there's a positive $282,738. Based on the projections and analysis that were prepared for the background workshop, I estimated that at the end of June, we'd be at a positive $507,292."
The mayor then asked what our goal was. Ms. Zarate said, "15%.$1.OM in reserves is our goal." May 31, 2022 City of Guadalupe Council Meeting Minutes Page 7 of 16 Mayor Julian then said, "So we're a little shy on that. It goes back to...on (draft goal statement) Item #6, it says, 'Continue to update facilities and equipment as budget permits.' That goes across the board..'as budget permits'. There's a pie, and it's not a very big one. And what we're looking at now, each department has to carve a slice of that pie. Some of it could be fat...some of it could be thin. But that one goal is to get out of the red. And we're slowly, but surely doing that. The second goal is to support the downtown businesses because we see that sales tax and employment are important for Guadalupe. Next came Public Safety, both Fire and Police...that's always been a focus, maintaining that. There's that 'as budget permits'. In terms of what we're doing tonight, what we're doing in the future is make sure that we have a pocket of money to draw from that. And that's the only pocket of money that we have. Then looking forward to some of these developments, like Pasadera, like the cannabis...there's movement in downtown to bring jobs and sales tax. So, that's' a positive thing."
The mayor then asked if there was anyone in the audience who wished to speak.
Sudha Russell: I'm a local physician, pediatrician and I've just moved to Pasadera. I love my little house. I didn't expect to but it's a bit windy. I really like the little village of Guadalupe. I have a small idea. I don't know if it's even feasible or practical. I was thinking we could do a fundraiser or a 5k run. I do a lot of 5ks...l did one in 2011 for Children's Hospital in Los Angeles which was a pretty good fundraiser. I was in charge of that and was thinking we could do something like that." Mayor Julian commented, "In years past, when we were able to use the levee, we did have a marathon on the levee. There are some recreation folks who really want to get that going again. In fact, Hannah (Fuentes) was talking about doing a run here in town just to do that." Ms. Russell said that the 5k would be $35 per person and all monies would be for the City. The mayor thanked her for her comments and welcomed her to Guadalupe.
Ryan Mack: I'm here as a private citizen, not representing any organization. I just have three (3) concerns about (Draft Goal Statement) Item #6. Public Safety. My primary concern is that it says after both action items, it says 'as budget permits', which is an elastic clause.... which means it may or may not happen. That's concerning to me. I just wanted to make that known. The second is that it says 'including the addition of a Battalion Chief' but that's not a Fire Chief. He doesn't have an equal seat at the table. So, I don't feel like that would serve the community very well. The third is...it doesn't say anything about the Emergency Manager position which would be redundant if we were to hire a Fire Chief, as he could do those duties. Those are the only things / wanted to mention.
Thank you.
Mayor Julian commented, "The second bullet point (on Item #6) says 'Continue to update facilities and equipment 'as budget permits'. I think the higher priorities are looking at the administrative staffing that you're bringing up. Thank you."
Teresa Doty: Just a real quick question. I noticed that in some of the other goals, you mention grants.
Have there ever been grants for the Fire Department because I know they're out there. And if not, why?
Mayor Julian said, "I'm going to defer to Chief Cash. I think you mentioned in a meeting that there are several grants, maybe six (6) or seven (7) ones." Chief Cash added, "Yes, I responded that we had two (2) citizens who provided letters and spoke at the last council meeting, and / wrote a May 31, 2022 City of Guadalupe Council Meeting Minutes Page 8 of 16 response back. I haven't mailed that back to them yet. But specifically, we have written grants.
There are only three (3) of us. We have one (1) Fire Captain who writes grants on a regular basis.
Our former Emergency Preparedness Coordinator wrote grants and received monies and I write grants. Every year for the last three and one-half years, we've received grants, specifically for the Fire Department." Ms. Doty then asked, "...which funded the Fire Department?" Chief Cash responded, "No. No grant will fund the department. Grants are usually for equipment." Ms. Doty asked, "supported the Fire Department?" Chief Cash then said, "Yes." Thank you.
Mayor Julian added, "We had a meeting today with Los Amigos de Guadalupe, a non-profit that's brought in grants for Le Roy Park, a federal grant for $1.7M. Another $5M for Central Park.
Resiliency monies for Le Roy Park. Royal Theatre for about $7-8.OM for that. What I'm getting at is that in our discussion with Los Amigos de Guadalupe...is have them, because we support them through ARPA, to go after grants. At this point, we don't have, internally, staff that can do that other than working directly with Los Amigos de Guadalupe and other grant-generating entities that will help the City with grants. So, we know we're short-sighted on that side of things. That's why we've set aside $40k just to give them seed money to work on grants for the City of Guadalupe. We hear you, in terms of receiving grants. It's too bad that we're underserved. We know that and we're reaching out to different individuals, corporations and agencies to help us with that grant money.
Thank you for your comments on that."
Joslynn Flowers: I want to address or ask a question on (Draft Goal Statement) Item #7. When you guys discussed 'cultivating a relationship with community-based organizations...and, obviously, to implement social media policies and the use of zoom, I'm assuming it's to create somewhat of a communication with the City. The reason I bring that up is because I did email everyone on the City Council. The only person who responded to me was Antonio (CM Ramirez). He did pass on the email to Todd (Bodem) and that was last week. I've not heard from anyone else. So, I think a frustration comes in from being someone in the community where we feel we want to be a part of this community, make change and help develop Guadalupe. Obviously, we all live here for a reason. It's very frustrating or lackluster when you feel like you're trying to reach out...and one of the city council members didn't even accept email. It automatically bounced back. I sent it two (2) or three (3) times to him and it immediately bounced back to me. So, there's one council member who didn't get the email it's because it bounced back. And it is frustrating because my husband and / are very busy people, but we try to be very involved in the community. I have four (4) children. To feel like our opinions do not matter or are not valid is frustrating. Because then explain to us, the members of the community, why we should continue to be involved... continue to push Guadalupe to be the great community that I know it can? I'd like to know what you guys plan on doing...how you will interact with the community...how we can reach out to you. How we can have access to you to ask the questions other than these meetings where you guys sometimes aren't able to respond to us, which I fully understand. But then there needs to be follow-up with email. I know, Chief, you said that you had written it; however, you hadn't sent it yet. I think that is something that l'd like to be addressed because I think it's very important and vital to this community in order for us to continue to grow.
Mayor Julian responded, "I don't recall receiving an email from you, I might have. I think all of us get quite a few emails per day. (Ms. Flowers said that she understood that.) The intent on the city- side, instead of emailing each individual council members, which you still can, is to have a collection point, from the City's perspective, where we can share that information with department staff, to May 31, 2022 City of Guadalupe Council Meeting Minutes Page 9 of 16 get right to the individual you're trying to reach. You mentioned that there was kickback with no response and that's something we're trying to resolve. Again, your points are noted so thank you." Mr. Perrault added, "Mr. Mayor, just a comment on that, I think the emphasis on developing just this kind of communication strategy will help with that." Albert Nunez, Jr.: I'm a resident. To piggyback on what she was saying, I spoke at an earlier council meeting last year on something on communications, and just a suggestion or reflection on this in your (Draft Goal Statement) Item #7, we need a communication office. And it can be one person but a gateway that controls the narrative that goes out to the public and that collates all the views of the City so that no one's in question on where the City stands. And the City's not in question where the residents stand. Because I look around.../ knew about this because CM Ramirez put it on that one Facebook page that we all look at for Guadalupe. I knew about this meeting then. And, yes, / could be reading the council meeting minutes and being abreast and putting it on my calendar. But the point is, though, if we look around, there are 12 of us here, out of 8,000 people. There should be more of us here. And that could be helped with a formalized communication mechanism in the form of a position, a gateway that does that...that funnels things...makes sure everything's correct... makes sure...no disrespect to the young lady, but instead of emailing six (6) or seven (7) different people, there's one place to send your message. Have that collated and disseminated consistently. Thank you.
Mayor Julian said, "I know you're a communications guy. I remember your conversation from last year. You can volunteer at any time. But we'll look at all of this because it's important. Take this as a comment - the last time we had a meeting, there was one person in here and he's here again tonight. We should be in the auditorium with a bunch of people listening to what we have. You don't have any Latinos or Spanish speaking people in here. And 86% of our population is Spanish speaking. You don't have them in here saying this is what we need. And I appreciate those who are in the audience now. In fact, we set aside funds where we can reach the Spanish speaking, which is important for us, too. But I appreciate your suggestion and I think it's valuable. Thank you." CM Cardenas said, "I think that maybe we can consolidate some of these goals. For example, (Draft Goal Statement) Item #6 - 'Continue to update facilities and equipment as budget permits'...that can definitely go along with our 'facilities and infrastructure' which is Item #5. I almost see that as our master plan which is what we currently already have for this building. Right? So, maybe we can loop it into there, as well so we cannot duplicate unless there is a specific item for these facilities. " The mayor added, "Once we get into the weeds, we can do that... get it, in general, to cover that to be sure it's included."
Melanie Backer: I live in Pasadera...I missed part of the meeting and I apologize. The only thing I'm saying is that whatever we can do as citizens and council...this is such a great town. I'm so grateful to be here. All my friends who come, and visit want to stay. Just to have a fire department that we can..! just think of the 4ih of July. I remember last 4th of July and there were millions of fireworks above my house, my new house. I just feel like having a fire department... whatever we can do as citizens and as a team to make that happen. Because we want this to last, and we want it to be safe. Thank you.
Mayor Julian commented, "I was speaking with an individual last week from Fresno. Mr. Nunez probably knows this. At one point we only had one (1) fire station at the Veterans Building. And we May 31, 2022 City of Guadalupe Council Meeting Minutes Page 10 of 16 had a volunteer fire department. We had a siren that would go off at 12 o'clock. One sound that meant it was noon. If there was a fire on, I can't remember which, east-side of the railroad tracks, it was two (2) blasts. So, the volunteers would go and know that the fire was on this side of the tracks. If there were three (3) blasts, the fire was on the other side of the tracks. That was archaic.
And because of the railroad, we had to create this fire department which is about 30 years old or older. I don't know how old this station is. Maybe Mack knows how old it is.
We're looking at growth. We're looking at how...then the population was about 2,000. Now we're 8,500. Most of our calls, about 80%, are medical and we know that. If I had a heart attack, / wouldn't want to wait for someone from Santa Maria to come over here. I'm confident that we have the staff right now that can respond now and tell my wife that 'he's okay. We know that there's a need for a fire department, especially on the medical side.
In 2008 when the economy hit us hard, the Far Western left... with the sheds leaving...not being able to create jobs in town, it's turning around. So, that's just a comment. We're moving forward. And again, with your comments out there and with other comments, 1 am really happy and applaud Bob Perrault's ability to open this up to the public... to say, here's your chance. It needs to be in Spanish.
If we can do that so we can ask people 'What do you want for your community in Guadalupe?' I would say that 90% of those Latinos want recreation because there are families with children. And again, I just had my 74th birthday. I want medical attention, and we need to make sure we have that in our community. That doesn't come with a volunteer fire department. It comes from a staffed fire department. That may be a political downfall for me, but this is where I stand." CM Ramirez gave his comments saying, "For (Draft Goal Statement) Item #3, we can write something in there about County efforts, as well, for economic development, like supporting the Levee Project and things like that. That was one of the reasons we were so adamant about getting that project... not only for recreation, but it would be pretty cool for our downtown area. The other thing is that the public knows that the next step for us to be able to start looking at things is taking a dissected look at what the budget is, line item by line item. One of the things you may notice is that we may not get what we want this first go around when it comes to goals. When I was first on the City Council six (6) years ago, it was a very bleak picture when it came to finances at the time. I know the mayor can tell you more about the years prior to that.
As we continue to grow and get out of the hole, there is light at the end of the tunnel. I think we need to keep that in mind as we're looking at each one of these goal cycles. Next year, we might want to add 'XYZ position'...we might need to look at this position. That's how I'm looking at this.
We're looking at facilities. If you look at the wall where I usually sit next to, that has been repaired That has been the bane of our existence...one of our goals for like the last five (5) years. It's finally fixed..but it couldn't be built overnight, like Rome. I think that if we have the trust with communication and everything with our community to know that this is Step 1. Then we'll go to Step 2, then Step 3, we're going to be able to get to those goals that the community has, long-term wise.
Like, maybe the Battalion Chief can eventually become a Fire Chief. When we take a look at the budget, you'll see that everything will be down to fine-tuning it. Now that having that effect of making sure the community has that survey in both electronic and paper copy because we know that there is that digital divide with our residents on there, as well. That will have a nice balance and well-rounded approach to everything."
May 31, 2022 City of Guadalupe Council Meeting Minutes Page 11 of 16 Mayor Julian then said "To your point on Item #3 on the levee, we're really pushing the broadband effort. For communication, we really need that in this whole community so you can sit in your home, your motel or wherever you are and communicate with us. A lot of folks can't get out. And we need to be able to do that. Even though Covid is here, that's one of the reasons zoom was brought into all of the city governments is that we need to be able to communicate to all residents. Broadband should be included in there in that business element, too." The mayor then asked if the Santa Barbara County Master Plan was in the back of the chambers for the audience to see. He said, "This is a recreation item. What the Santa Barbara County Master Plan is doing is working with all cities in Santa Barbara County to develop strategies to upgrade their parks and recreation. It mentions that the County is interested in purchasing land adjacent to our community to expand camping, for hook-ups and things like that. So, we really need to look at that as part of our realm. This question of why we have a recreation person...there are 7-9 parks in our system. Our whole parks and recreation budget, total budget is about $160,000 for the year, total staffing to manage our parks and recreation facilities which is requested by our community." Moving on, Mayor Julian said, "I had the pleasure of meeting twice with the Grand Jury. When Todd (Bodem) first got here, we were questioned by the Grand Jury. They asked, 'What are you guys going to do? Why don't you just disincorporate. Basically, give up as a city?' That's when the residents of Guadalupe said, 'No, we don't want to go into the hands of the County! The County won't take us anyway because the County would have to assume our bills. I think it was 2.5 years ago when we met with the Grand Jury, they said to keep moving forward. I do like meeting with the Grand Jury because we can tell them where we're going and what we're trying to do. Things are looking better." The discussion was then turned back over to Mr. Perrault to talk more about the process. He said, "The next step is the rating, if you want to proceed with that. Each council member will rate the draft goals, using a scale of 'O to 4'. Obviously, 'O' not being a priority and '4' being the most important to accomplish within the next 1-3 years. '3' is important goal to achieve. '2' is address if resources are available and 'I' is defer to next budget cycle. My suggestion, if you want to do that tonight, would simply to recognize that some of these goals have changed according to the modifications that you have here. But use the rating sheet accordingly and that will..take a few minutes and rate them. Then we'll take a break and staff will calculate what those results are. We'll be able to see whether or not any of these goals fall off. Then following this meeting, once that list has been finalized, we'll continue with the public content process, putting the revised list out in survey form and asking for input from the general public. I've drafted a press release with a link to the survey and that will go out, as well."
CM Ramirez asked, "For clarification, for the 0-4 scale, for a 'I', you'd still consider that a priority, wouldn't you? If I left something blank, I'd consider that more of a 'O' or blank, that shouldn't necessarily be thrown away but maybe put in as a secondary." Mr. Perrault responded, "If you marked something 'I', it would still stay on the list. That's pretty much an indication that you're going to defer it. It would be on the list but you're not going to pick it up until at least the next budget year. That's my perception."
Mayor Julian said, "Some of us may have already rated these." CM Ramirez said, "I'm in the process of doing that now. I guess / want to push back a little on that process. Because I think we can have four (4) strong goals and still be able to deliver on them vs saying if a '1' would be deferred to next May 31, 2022 City of Guadalupe Council Meeting Minutes Page 12 of 16 year, I'd say anything rated 'O' or blank would be deferred to the next year. The 'I' rated goal would still be considered. That's just my personal thought." Mr. Perrault then said, "As we go through the process, everybody's going, I assume, to rank these somewhat differently. It could be, though, that you end up with these goals that are equally as important." With the council members finished ranking the draft goal statements, Mr. Perrault said, "We'll do a calculation." The mayor requested that the rating sheets be made available to the audience which they were. Also, at the request of the audience, the definitions of the ratings were repeated. Mr.
Perrault continued explaining the process, "My suggestion, Amelia (City Clerk), if you can help us out with this, like you were calling the roll, call it the same way each time. We'll call the roll for goal #1, then each council member will provide what their rating is, etc. We'll keep a note of that and then at the end, we'll take a short break and then calculate those. We'll then have a total number for each of the goals."
The following are the ratings for each council member per goal statement:
Goal Statements
Council Member #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9
CM Ramirez 2 4 3 2 3 3 4 2 2
CM Cardenas 4 4 3 2 3 2 2 4 3
CM Costa, Jr. 4 4 3 4 3 4 2 2 2
CM Robles 4 4 3 4 3 3 2 3 4
Mayor Julian 4 4 3 3 3 4 2 3 3
At 7:07 p.m. a break was taken to allow for Mr. Perrault and Mr. Bodem to calculate all the ratings.
The meeting resumed at 7:19 p.m. The following are the draft goal statement rankings based on the cumulative ratings:
Ranking Total Points Item # Goal Statement
1 20 #2. Develop and maintain a balanced budget for FY 22-23 budget providing priority municipal services and securing the City's financial future with adequate reserve funds.
2 18 #1. Continue to develop and grow the Recreation Department by providing sustainable programs and facilities for the Community. 3 16 #6. Ensure Public Safety staffing and facilities is sufficient to maintain the delivery of quality public safety services to the community.
May 31, 2022 City of Guadalupe Council Meeting Minutes Page 13 of 16 4 15 #3. Create and implement economic development strategies for the City of Guadalupe that will promote the development and maintenance of a strong business sector including business retention, attraction, tourism marketing and revenue generation. 15 #4. Support the efforts to attract businesses to Pasadera Commercial Area to help create employment opportunities, provide local services identified by residents and generate tax revenue. 15 #5. Ensure that Public Facilities and infrastructure (streets, water, wastewater) are capable of meeting current and future needs of the City.
5 14 #8. Ensure that American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds are maximized to ensure that initially funded staffing and services are met and where feasible converted to General Fund support.
14 #9. Coordinate with Santa Barbara County Parks Master Plan to acquire property adjacent or near Guadalupe for camping and recreational facilities.
6 #7. Develop and implement a communication strategy focused on improving flow of information between constituents, City staff and Council members.
Mayor Julian commented, "Some of these don't take funds. They just take coordination." Mr.
Perrault then said, "My suggestion is that we repackage this and get it out in survey form to the general public, in both English and Spanish. There will be a press release which will identify a link to the actual survey. "The mayor asked if there was a Spanish speaking newspaper. CM Cardenas said, "Mostly use radio, Little House by the Park, People Self Help Housing, Santa Barbara Housing Authorit..."
Mr. Perrault continued, "We'll hold the public comment open until the Friday before the next City Council meeting, which is June 10th. That will give people time. " The mayor said that that's not very long. Mr. Perrault said, "it isn't. We could go longer but that would delay the adoption of the goals.
You could do that during the second meeting. Unless something substantially changes, your staff would have enough direction based on what you've done to have them begin putting the budget in place." The mayor asked Ms. Zarate, Finance Director, if she'll have enough time. Ms. Zarate said that she thinks she does.
The mayor said, "It just seems like Friday is a..." Mr. Perrault then responded, "We'll get the survey and the press release out tomorrow. That would then give everyone at least a week to comment back." Mayor Julian commented, "And this doesn't mean that at the next council meeting that we don't set this in concrete. We'll get some preliminary information." May 31, 2022 City of Guadalupe Council Meeting Minutes Page 14 of 16 Teresa Doty asked, "How does the rest of the public then, if it goes out tomorrow, how do we know that it's out there?" Mr. Perrault responded, "It will be sent to the press in a press release. It will also be posted on the website. " Ms. Doty then said, "If it's on the City of Guadalupe website, then it means one of us need to put it on a Facebook page. We have a Pasadera Facebook page and that's the only reason that any of us know anything that's going on. I'll check and put it on the Facebook page."
Mr. Perrault added "If anyone has addresses, identification for organizations that we should be sending this to, we will certainly take those into account and give them out." Ms. Doty then said, "I know that Los Amigos de Guadalupe is a great place to get information. Also, if you guys can also send it to the GBA, too."
Albert Nunez commented, "I just have a comment. I don't know if your intention was just put these elements out as written in a survey format. I think what also might be helpful would be to quantify some of these right up next to each other. For example, if you ask someone, 'Do you want to continue to develop and grow the Recreation Department by providing sustainable programs and facilities for the community?'...of course you do. Why wouldn't you? You'd want to have activities for your kids.
But then when you turn the page, and then you say, 'Ensure that Public Facilities and Infrastructure are capable of meeting current and future needs of the city'... when there's building going up in almost everyone's backyards.../ have two backyards that come up and abut us...'ve built structures.
I'm just saying is there a mechanism to quantify and measure on more of a discussion about what these topics are for the general public?"
Mr. Perrault addressed Mr. Nunez's question. He said, "It might make this a little cumbersome and I'd hate to have that happen. I would also suggest that we would use the same rating format, with Rating '4' being the most important or more of a priority need. Then I think we also should leave a section for comments, all comments as they relate to the goals and the budget process. And we l entertain those comments." The mayor said that that might address concerns raised. Mr. Nunez added, "You mentioned this before that some of these don't require funding. I think that should be more prominent when discussing...maybe a paragraph or a couple of sentences, at least to qualify these goals for the public."
CM Cardenas asked, "When we post these, will we be posting the three (3) implementation projects under these goals?" Mr. Perrault said, "Yes, that will give people a fuller idea what that goal actually The mayor asked if there were any more comments from the Council or the audience. Mr. Nunez asked, "Just to be clear. The survey will be publicly available, and we can just log in, give their credentials and then they're off and running? Is that how it's going to work?" Mr. Perrault said, "What I hope we will be using is a monkey survey. And yes, that's pretty wide open, in terms of being able to follow the link and complete it."
Mr. Rob Doty spoke saying, "I just want to thank Mayor Julian and CM Costa, Jr. on your '4' ratings on our public safety. I think that it is a shame that one member of the council values the library and recreation over saving our lives. Thank you"
May 31, 2022 City of Guadalupe Council Meeting Minutes Page 15 of 16 Mayor Julian commented, "Thank you. We all have our opinions and they're represented here on the Council, as it is out in the public. Is there a motion...anymore comments from the staff? Bob? That was great." Mr. Perrault, "No. Thank you for everybody's participation."
6. ADJOURNMENT
Motion was made by Council Member Costa, Jr. and seconded by Council Member Cardenas to adjourn the meeting. 5-0 Motion passed. Meeting was adjourned at 7:35 p.m.
Prepared by: Approved by:
Quebe tief
Amelia M. Villegas, City Clerk Ariston Julian, Mayor
May 31, 2022 City of Guadalupe Council Meeting Minutes Page 16 of 16