MAYOR
Mia Casey
COUNCIL MEMBERS
Rick Perez, District 1
Rolan Resendiz, District 2
Dolores Morales, District 3
Tim Burns, District 4
CITY MANAGER
David Mirrione
CITY ATTORNEY
Mary F. Lerner
CITY CLERK
Jennifer Woodworth
POLICE CHIEF
Carlos Reynoso
CITY TREASURER
Gordon Machado
CITY COUNCIL AGENDA
Special Meeting
April 22, 2024
6:00 PM
CITY OF HOLLISTER
CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL
375 FIFTH STREET
HOLLISTER, CA 95023
(831) 636-4300
www.hollister.ca.gov/
NOTICE TO PUBLIC
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PUBLIC PARTICIPATION NOTICE
The public may watch the meeting via live stream at:
City of Hollister Website:
http://hollisterca.iqm2.com/Citizens/Default.aspx
Community Media Access Partnership (CMAP):
City Council Monday, April 22, 2024 Page 2 of 3
http://cmaptv.com/watch/
City of Hollister YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@cityofhollistercalifornia1489
City of Hollister Facebook Live at:
https://www.facebook.com/cityofhollister
Public Participation:
The public may attend meetings.
NOTICE: The City Council will hold its public meetings in person, with a virtual option for public participation based on availability. The City of Hollister utilizes Zoom teleconferencing technology for virtual public participation; however, we make no representation or warranty of any kind, regarding the adequacy, reliability, or availability of the use of this platform in this manner. Participation by members of the public through this means is at their own risk. (Zoom teleconferencing may not be available at all meetings.)
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CALL TO ORDER
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
ROLL CALL
VERIFICATION OF AGENDA POSTING
A. COUNCIL BUSINESS
1. FISCAL YEAR 2024-25 CITY COUNCIL GOAL SETTING WORKSHOP (City Manager)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION: At the March 18, 2024 City Council meeting, the City Council approved a contract with Shawn Spano to design and facilitate the Council’s Fiscal Year 2024-25 Goal Setting Workshop.
RECOMMENDATION: Hold a Fiscal Year 2024-25 City Council Goal Setting Workshop and provide possible direction to staff.
ADJOURNMENT
In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if you need special assistance to participate in this meeting, please contact the City Clerk’s Office at (831) 636-4300. Notification of 48 hours prior to the meeting will enable the City to attempt to make reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility to this meeting [28 CFR 35.102-35.104 ADA Title II].
City Council Monday, April 22, 2024 Page 3 of 3
Materials related to an item on this agenda submitted to the City Council after distribution of the agenda packet are available for public inspection in the City Clerk’s Office at City Hall, 375 Fifth Street, Holli ster, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to noon, 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. (City Hall is closed between 12:00 and 1:00 p.m.)
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STAFF REPORT
CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING AGENDA
MEETING DATE: APRIL 22, 2024
SUBMITTED: April 19, 2024
DEPARTMENT:
DEPARTMENT HEAD:
City Manager
David Mirrione, City Manager
TITLE OF ITEM: FISCAL YEAR 2024-25 CITY COUNCIL GOAL SETTING
WORKSHOP
BRIEF DESCRIPTION: At the March 18, 2024 City Council meeting, the City Council approved a contract with Shawn Spano to design and facilitate the Council’s Fiscal Year 2024-25 Goal Setting Workshop.
RECOMMENDATION: Hold a Fiscal Year 2024-25 City Council Goal Setting Workshop and provide possible direction to staff.
DEPARTMENT SUMMARY: At the February 20, 2024 City Council meeting, Mayor Casey requested a future agenda item for the City Council to discuss scheduling a City Council Goal Setting workshop in an effort to inform the Fiscal Year 2024 -25 budget development process. Mayor Casey requested the goal setting workshop be facilitated by an outside facilitator with the funds coming from her discretionary funds. Staff returned to the March 18, 2024 meeting of the City Council and received approval to execute a contract with Shawn Spano, PhD to serve as the facilitator for the workshop.
Dr. Spano will facilitate the Fiscal Year 2024-25 City Council Goal Setting Workshop and prepare a report upon completion of the meeting. The agenda for the workshop and the workshop handouts are included as attachments to this staff report.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Council Goal Setting Workshop - Annotated Agenda
2. Iceberg Model of Muncipal Work
3. Strategic Planning Elements
4. City Council preliminary strategic goals
5. Attributes of Exceptional Councils, ILG
THIS REPORT WAS REVIEWED BY THE CITY MANAGER WHO CONCURS WITH
THE STAFF RECOMMENDATION
David Mirrione, City Manager
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1 ANNOTATED AGENDA
Hollister City Council Goal-Setting Workshop
April 22, 2024
6:00 - 9:00pm
Materials
✓ Iceberg Model of Municipal Work
✓ Strategic Planning Elements
✓ Preliminary Strategic Goals
✓ “Attributes of Exceptional Councils” (Institute for Local Government article)
I. Set Workshop Context
• Welcome – Mayor Mia Casey and City Manager David Mirrione • Preview agenda and format – Facilitator
• Pre-interview summary: Council and staff hopes for the workshop:
Council is prepared to have a thoughtful and substantive discussion about issues Focus on identifying a small number of key goals (3 - 5) that are best for the City (be realistic about what can be achieved given current resources and staffing) Council achieves consensus on the goals by the end of the workshop, with clear direction and expectations for staff
Collaborate and engage in productive discussion
Ensure all Council members are invited to participate; no one dominates and no one is excluded
Send the workshop materials in advance
Council and staff commit to the goals for the coming year, following through and making them a priority
The goals that are identified take precedent over the “one -off” tasks that Council requests of staff
• Pre-interview summary: How can the consultant be most helpful in facilitating the workshop?
Keep the group on task and on time, ensuring that the workshop purposes are achieved
Intervene if the discussion becomes personal, unprofessional, or veers away from the workshop purposes
• Agreements for effective retreat communication:
Be present and engaged
Speak freely
Listen to understand
Challenge ideas, not the person
Maximize participation
II. Warm Up Exercise - Accomplishments
Members of Council respond to this prompt:
• What do you see as the top one or two City accomplishments in the past year? A.1.a
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2 III. Strategic Goals - Select and Provide Direction
We will begin this segment by reviewing the Iceberg Model of City Work and Strategic Planning Elements handouts, followed by a review of the preliminary strategic goals identified by Council in the pre-interviews:
• What goals does Council want to select?
• What are Council’s expectations for each of the goals selected? That is, what objectives does Council want staff to accomplish for the goals?
• Note: Staff and the consultant will develop the specific wording for the goals and objectives following the workshop, based on Council’s direction. These will be presented to Council for discussion and approval at a future council meeting.
IV. Achieving Organizational Success
We will begin this segment with consultant observations from the pre-interviews, highlighting areas that are working well and areas that need improvement, followed by a discussion with Council and staff:
• How can Council and staff leverage what is working well, and continue or expand on these successes in the future?
• What can/should be done to address areas for improvement? What can Council do? What can staff do?
• How can the six attributes of exceptional councils help facilitate the improvements:
1. Exceptional councils develop a sense of team – a partnership with the city manager to govern and manage the city
2. Have clear roles and responsibilities that are understood and adhered
3. Honor the relationship with staff and each other
4. Routinely conduct effective meetings
5. Hold themselves and the City accountable
6. Have members who practice continuous personal learning and development
V. Wrap Up and Next Steps
• Summarize and affirm key points, agreements, and the actions needed to finalize the strategic goals and objectives, leverage what is working well, and address areas for improvement.
• Consider developing a City-wide mission statement, vision statement, and set of values as a possible next step.
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Strategic Goal-Setting Process:
Strategic Goals, Objectives and Work Plans
What are Strategic Goals?
Strategic goals are statements that identify what the organization wants to achieve over a period of time (e.g. over the next year, five years, ten years, etc.). Strategic goals are identified and developed based on current issues, needs, and interests that are of strategic importance to the quality of life in the community. Strategic goals are different from day-to-day operations and service delivery. They are unique because they have an urgent impact on the community and require special attention and resources.
What are Objectives?
Objectives are specific statements that contribute to or enable the achievement of the larger, strategic goals. For this reason they are sometimes called "sub-goals" or "enabling goals." Objectives are more specific and action-oriented than strategic goals.
What are Work Plans?
Work plans provide the detailed implementation steps that will be taken in order to accomplish the desired objectives and strategic goals. They are working documents, developed and used by staff to ensure that the steps required to accomplish the objectives are identified, resourced, assigned, and communicated. They are task oriented and tactical in nature. They are used to keep the achievement of goals and objectives on track.
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City of Hollister
Preliminary Strategic Goals
April 2024
Overview
This list of preliminary strategic goals was compiled from the one-on-one interviews that the consultant conducted with members of the Council.
Preliminary Strategic Goals
The following goals were identified for potential consideration. The first four goals were identified multiple times.
1. Infrastructure
2. Budget, Finances & Economic Development
3. Quality of Life, including Public Safety
4. Community Engagement, Communication & Transparency
5. Downtown Revitalization
6. Development and Housing
7. Environment and Sustainability
8. Campaign Finance Reform
9. Organizational/Administrative Improvements
10. Services for Vulnerable Communities
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1 Leading public organizations and governing with colleagues on a council is a challenging art of community service. The Institute recognizes that many aspects of leadership and governance are not intuitive. This piece is intended to provide councilmembers and city managers insight into the attributes of exceptional councils as well as provide practical tips to help them become exceptional.
1. Exceptional councils develop a sense
of team – a partnership with the city
manager to govern and manage the city
The mayor, councilmembers and city manager see
themselves and work as a team as they undertake a
series of tasks to further their common purpose. The
individual team members work in a coordinated and
collaborative manner with a high degree of respect, tru st and openness. The team values diversity in style and
perspective. The team thinks and acts strategically as it examines issues/situations and decides on a course of
action serving their city’s mission and goals.
KEY CHARACTERISTICS
Successfully transition from candidate
to a member of the council.
Become a champion of the city. Make
decisions based on the needs and
interests of the community at-large / the
greater good.
Develop, communicate and support
policy goals and council decisions.
Demonstrate a willingness to work
collaboratively (as a team) and have a
citywide perspective.
BEST PRACTICE TIPS
Build capacity to create a more effective team. The governance team (mayor, councilmembers and city manager) should get to know each other; how each person approaches issues, decision making style and so on. This can be accomplished at annual meetings or workshops through-out the year.
In the event that councilmembers disagree, clear ground rules (norms of behavior and practice) can help quell acrimony before it becomes a problem. It’s important to remember that trust is built around understanding and respect, not necessarily agreement.
Attributes of Exceptional Councils
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Attributes of Exceptional Councils
2 2. Exceptional councils have clear
roles and responsibilities that are
understood and adhered.
Exceptional councils understand their role is to serve as policy maker - to represent the values, beliefs and priorities of their community while serving in the community’s be st interest. They carry out a variety of responsibilities including:
developing and adopting a vision for the city; focusing and aligning plans, policies, agreements and budgets in furtherance of this vision; and holding themselves and
the city manager accountable for results.
Exceptional councils understand that the city manager
is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the city.
The city manager is responsible for undertaking and
accomplishing the policy objectives of the council.
Exceptional councils recognize the subject matter expertise of staff and utilize their knowledge and experience to
guide and inform decision making.
KEY CHARACTERISTICS
Understand the role of local
government and their responsibilities.
Know their role- to set vision and policy,
avoid micromanagement.
Councilmembers should strive to be
informed about the issues facing the
city and be prepared to ask questions of
staff and each other.
BEST PRACTICE TIPS
Create a shared understanding of the city manager’s role and the council’s expectations to optimize the working relationships. This shared understanding is informed by local charter and ordinance provisions that provide the overall framework for the relationship. The council should make time to have conversations during retreats and or study sessions to define and/or reveal and refine their role and responsibilities. Since role clarity between the city council and city management is critical to mutual success, having clear protocols helps avoid misunderstandings.
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Attributes of Exceptional Councils
3 3. Exceptional councils honor the
relationship with staff and each other
Exceptional councils understand that a good working
relationship with staff is vital for the city to be run successfully. Exceptional councils treat each other and staff with dignity and respect. They act with civility and a high level of professional decorum. Councilmembers
build trust by not playing the “gotcha game” and strive to have a no secrets, no surprises approach as an operating norm. Finally, they respect the diversity of styles and perspectives among their colleagues and staff and are
open to new ideas.
KEY CHARACTERISTICS
Councilmembers have the ability to
respectfully disagree (to disagree
without being disagreeable).
They are able to leave it at the dais;
debates are about policy, not
personality.
Exceptional councilmembers reflect
positive decorum/model of leadership
by providing respectful tone with
colleagues.
Establish a set of behaviors ahead of
time, potentially documented in a code
of conduct, to help promote civility and
respect.
BEST PRACTICE TIPS
Set council priorities and strategic goals at an annual meeting; these goals and priorities are a tool to guide the city manager and staff on where to focus their efforts. This annual meeting provides time for the council to reflect on community priorities as well as offer an opportunity to discuss their decorum and their relationship among each other and the relationship between the city manager/staff and the council.
4. Exceptional councils routinely conduct
effective meetings
Open and public meetings are central to democratic
decision-making. Exceptional councils master the art
of effective meetings. They develop and adhere to meeting protocols and processes. They spend time planning and
organizing the agenda with the aim of having a more
focused meeting. They allocate the council’s time and
energy appropriately (focused on the council’s role and responsibilities) and meeting short- and long-term priorities.
They honor the public’s participation and engagement
and they generally start on time and are held during
reasonable hours.
Exceptional councils use public meetings not only for their intended purpose, information sharing and decision-making,
KEY CHARACTERISTICS
Councilmembers are respectful of each
other, the public and everyone’s time.
Councilmembers use engaging body
language as a way to demonstrate
respect.
Issues are not personalized, thoughtful
dialogue is the objective.
Agenda packets are read,
councilmembers come prepared and
have an open mind
Respect is demonstrated for varied
opinions.
Everyone strives to be civil and act with
decorum.
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Attributes of Exceptional Councils
4 but they also use the meeting to demonstrate respect and civility for each other, staff and the public. Exceptional councilmembers prepare in advance of the meeting, remain focused on the city goals and objectives and mindful of their role and responsibilities.
BEST PRACTICE TIPS
Develop and adopt (with regular reviews and updates), guidelines for conducting meetings and making decisions. These governance protocols typically address meeting procedures (agenda preparation, how to put issues on the agenda, debate and voting procedure s (parliamentary rules) and standards of decorum (civility)). As part of a regular self-assessment, councils should evaluate their meetings and their effectiveness and adjust behavior and practices for better results .
5. Exceptional councils hold themselves
and the city accountable
Exceptional councils operate openly, ethically and work to engage the community in a myriad of decisions impacting the prosperity and well-being of their community. Toward that end, exceptional councils consistently provide short- and long-term strategic direction and goals, as well as provide budget, program and policy oversight.
Exceptional councils hold themselves accountable for the conduct, behavior and effectiveness of the council. They establish clear priorities and goals and hold the city
manager accountable for results. And finally, they embrace accountability as a process and tool to calibrate ongoing efforts to address and meet policy and program objectives.
KEY CHARACTERISTICS
Councilmembers operate ethically and
with integrity.
Councils conduct team building / goal
setting exercise to track progress
towards mutually agreed upon goals
Councils taking responsibility for the
results (good and bad).
Councils celebrate success.
Councilmembers hold themselves
responsible for adhering to operating
protocols and codes of conduct.
BEST PRACTICE TIPS
Annually evaluate council and city manager performance toward achieving the city’s priorities and goals (consider having this be part of an annual goal setting meeting). Council should consider assessing its own behavior and effectiveness as part of its annual self -assessment.
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Attributes of Exceptional Councils
5 6. Exceptional councils have members
who practice continuous personal
learning and development
Governance is not intuitive. In addition, the policy and economic environment impacting cities are ever changing.
Exceptional councils continually provide the opportunity to build their knowledge and skills, to enhance their
understanding of key issues, increase their awareness
of best practices and sharpen their leadership and
governance skills.
KEY CHARACTERISTICS
Stay informed on key issues
Gain key insights and knowledge on all
aspects of governing, from budgets to
plans and everything in between.
Learning to listen is sometimes more
important than learning to give a
speech.
BEST PRACTICE TIPS
Seek out national, state and local professional growth and educational opportunities. These opportunities can focus on the nuts and bolts of governing to helping you gain valuable information and/or insights on key policy issues facing your city. In addition, city run orientations for newly elected officials provide a good way to acclimate new m embers to the council’s norms and protocols as well as the budget and key policy issues.
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