SPECIAL MEETING OF THE
MILPITAS CITY COUNCIL
CALIFORNIA MINUTES
JANUARY. 20, 1854 TUESDAY, MAY 23, 2023
The City Council of the City of Militas convened in a Special Meeting of the Militas City Council on May 23, 2023, in the City Hall Council Chamber, 455 E. Calaveras Blvd, Milpitas, CA, and via teleconference/ Zoom webinar.
CALL MEETING TO ORDER by Mayor and ROLL CALL by City Clerk Mayor Montano called the meeting to order at 5:35 p.m. Roll Call was taken by City Clerk Guzzetta.
PRESENT: Mayor Montano, Vice Mayor Chua, Councilmembers Barbadillo, Lien and Phan.
ABSENT: None.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Vice Mayor Chua led the pledge of allegiance.
PUBLIC FORUM
There were the following public speakers:
1. Voltaire Montemayor
ANNOUNCEMENT OF CONFLICT OF INTEREST
City Attorney Mutalipassi asked the Mayor and City Councilmembers if they had any personal conflicts of interest. By roll call, there were no conflicts of interest.
READING OF THE CITY COUNCIL CODE OF CONDUCT
Mayor Montano read the City Council Code of Conduct.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Motion: to approve the May 23, 2023 Special Meeting Agenda.
Motion/Second: Vice Mayor Chua / Councilmember Barbadillo Motion carried by the following:
AYES: Councilmembers Barbadillo, Lien, Phan, Vice Mayor Chua, and Mayor Montano NOES: None.
AGENDA ITEMS
Receive Supplemental Presentation on the FY 2023-24 Proposed City of Militas Operating Budget and Provide Feedback (Staff Contact: Matt Cano, Deputy City Manager, 408-586-3012; Lauren Lai, Finance Director, 408-586-3111)
Acting City Manager Kantak provided opening remarks. Deputy City Manager Cano and Finance Director Lai presented the report.
May 23, 2023 Milpitas City Council Summary Page 1
Staff responded to questions from the City Council.
After asking questions of staff, Mayor Montano emphasized the importance of funding additional Public Works staff and suggested not moving forward with the Management Analyst position in the City Manager's Office.
Acting City Manager Kantak noted that the position would not be funded by the General Fund.
Vice Mayor Chua voiced concerns about not funding the Building Inspector position and reclassifying a Customer Service position to Finance Manager.
Councilmember Barbadillo emphasized the importance of the budget being sustainable.
Councilmember Phan questioned the proposal to move Housing under the auspices of the Deputy City Manager and suggested that Housing would be better served moved under the Planning Department. He proposed reviewing City executive positions.
Vice Mayor Chua noted that City Management would soon change and recommended maintaining the current organizational structure. Acting City Manager Kantak responded that maintaining the current organizational structure would leave two director positions vacant and lose the savings from consolidations. She noted that if the City moves forward with a status quo budget, the current proposals will need to be taken into consideration and emphasized the need to have an adopted budget by the end of the fiscal year.
Councilmember Phan voiced support for the consolidation of Housing and Economic Development. He re- emphasized that now would be a good opportunity to reorganize the executive levels.
Mayor Montano thanked staff and reiterated her opposition to the consolidation of Housing and Economic Development. She voiced support for holding off on making organizational changes until there is a new City Manager.
Councilmember Lien noted that staff worked hard to propose a budget with savings, and supported moving forward with the budget as proposed including the consolidation of Housing and Economic Development.
Vice Mayor Chua enumerated the positions to include in a status quo budget including two Maintenance Worker Ils, upgrading a Maintenance Worker from II to III, adding one Fleet Maintenance Worker, Instrument Control Technician, Environmental Inspector, a Public Works Inspector, a Cross Connection Specialist, and one Parks and Recreation Supervisor. She suggested no changes to Information Technology but asked for a quarterly status report, agreed with the Human Resources proposal, recommended status quo for Planning and Building Safety, continue with the current status of Housing and Economic Development, in the City.
Manager's office and not including the Management Analyst position.
Councilmember Phan suggested that the City Attorney's Office remodel is a CIP discussion.
Acting City Manager Kantak asked for consensus from the City Council on the status quo recommendation.
Vice Mayor Chua and Mayor Montano both voiced support for the status quo recommendation.
Finance Director Lai reported on the numbers related to maintaining the status quo and funding additional positions.
Councilmember Phan suggested additional areas to not fund in the executive budget including the office space renovation for the City Attorney's Office.
Councilmember Barbadillo suggested reaching a compromise and searching for additional sources to fund the proposed positions. He noted that without an alternative proposal, he would agree with the Mayor and Vice Mayor's proposal for a status quo budget.
May 23, 2023 Militas City Council Minutes Page 2
Mayor Montano stressed the importance of increasing revenues and creating revenue generators for the City.
Finance Director Lai summarized the direction from City Council:
- Maintain a status quo budget with no department consolidation. - Add three Maintenance Worker positions.
- Keep the vacant Building Inspector position.
Direction to staff to come back with a budget to be adopted with various ways of balancing the recommended service level including cutting costs or looking at revenue opportunities. - Support to de-fund the two vacant director positions.
Councilmember Phan noted that he did not hear support for not funding the City Attorney office renovation.
Vice Mayor Chua suggested there may be alternative renovation plans for the City Attorney's office.
Councilmember Barbadillo recommended looking at the organizational structure of the City Manager's office.
Acting City Manager Kantak provided closing comments.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Vice Mayor Chua asked Acting City Manager Kantak to draft a letter to County Supervisor Otto Lee to request assistance in addressing the challenges at 1000 Hillview Drive. There was consensus to move the item
ADJOURN TO CLOSED SESSION
City Attorney Mutalipassi announced the closed session item.
There were the following public speakers:
1. Voltaire Montemayor
The City Council adjourned to Closed Session at 8:29 PM. (a) PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION
Pursuant to California Government Code Section 54957
Position: City Attorney
The City Council reconvened in open session at 9:02 PM
CLOSED SESSION ANNOUNCEMENT:
Mayor Montano reported on the City Attorney's performance evaluation and stated that it was determined that overall his performance meets expectations.
May 23, 2023 Milpitas City Council Minutes Page 3
ADJOURNMENT
Mayor Montano adjourned the meeting at 9:02 pm.
The foregoing minutes were approved by the Milpitas City Council on June 6, 2023.
Suzanne Guzzetta
Milpitas City Clerk
May 23, 2023 Milpitas City Council Minutes Page 4