HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 231-08City of Palo Alto
City Manager’s Report
TO:HONOIL6~BLE CITY COUNCIL
FROM:CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT: UTILITIES
DATE:MAY 12, 2008 CMR: 231:08
SUBJECT:DECEMBER 2007 - 5L~kRCH 2008 REPORT ON PROGRESS OF
NEGOTIATIONS FOR A NEW WATER AGREEMENT BETWEEN SAN
FRANCISCO AND THE BAY AREA WATER SUPPLY AND
CONSERVATION AGENCY (BAWSCA)
This is an informational report and no Council action is required.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
On September 11, 2006, Council authorized the Bay Area Water Supplymad Conservation
Agency (BAWSCA) to negotiate on behalf of the City for a water services agreement with the
City and Coun~ of San Francisco[CMR:341:06]. BAWSCA prepares quarterly reports on the
progress of the negotiations. The fourth such report, produced on April 17, 2008, is attached.
The attached report states that progress on the contract negotiations is expected to accelerate now
that the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) has its new General Manager in
place. The attached letter from San Francisco Mayor Newsom advises that San Francisco
supports Assembly Member Ira Ruskin’s bill extending the State’s oversight of the SFPUC’s
Water System Improvement Program as well as expresses support proceeding expeditiously on
the new- water contract negotiations.
ATTACHMENTS
A. December 2007 - March 2008 Report on Progress of Negotiations for a New Water
Agreement between the City mad County of San Francisco and BAWSCA agencies
B.March 11, 2008 letter from San Francisco Mayor Newsom to Assemblyman Ira Ruskin
PREPARED BY:NE RATCHYE, Assistant Director, Resource Management, Utilities
DEPARTMENT HEAD:
VALERII~ !(~.
Director of~Utili~’ ~es
CITY MANAGER APPROVAL:
STEVE
Depu~~ City Managers
MORARIU
CMR: 231:08 Page 1 of 1
Bay Area Water Supply & Conservation Agency
ATTACHMENT
Report on Progress of Negotiations
for a New Water Agreement between
the City and County. of San Francisco and BAWSCA Agencies
December 2007 - March 2008
This is the fourth progress report on the negotiations for a new water agreement with San Fran-
cisco, covering the period from December 2007 through March 2008. No negotiating meetings
were held bem, een early December 2007 and March 31, 2008, because a change in SFPUC gen-
eral managers was underway. Ed Harrin~on, San Francisco’s former and widely respected Con-
troller, took office as the new general manager on the latter date.
Mv Overall Assessment: New Commitment to Complete the Negotiations
I can report several encouraging developments that suggest we can finish negotiations in time to
have a new Master A~eement and individual agreements that your agencies/governmental bo-
dies can approve and sign by June 30, 2009. But much work must be expedited by the two nego-
tiating teams between now and then to achieve that outcome.
To this end, an important meeting with Mayor Newsom, initiated by Assembly Member Ira
Ruskin in January, was held on February 22nd. At that meeting, the Mayor made important deci-
sions and demonstrated his valuable leadership once again to serve the interests of BAWSCA’s
member agencies and their water customers. His decisions included an agreement that Ed Har-
rington and I "will begin immediately to put negotiation of a new long-term water agreement on
a fast track to completion by the expiration of the present contract on June 30, 2009."
This and other decisions are included in the attached letter from Mayor Newsom to Assembly
Member Ruskin, dated March 11, 2008. Mr. Ruskin’s continuing actions to meet the needs of
BAWSCA’s constituents, including valuable amendments to AB 1823, are greatly appreciated.
Also present at that meeting were San Jose Mayor and BAWSCA Director Chuck Reed, Burlin-
game Mayor and BAWSCA Chair Rosalie O’Mahony, Bud Wendell and me. Representatives of
the City and County of San Francisco included Ed Harrin~on, Tony Irons and Mayor Newsom’s
director of government affairs, Nancy Kirshner-Rodriguez.
In addition. I met with all BAWSCA member agency representatives in December and January
to present a list of issues pertinent to the contract, to recommend a package of principles that
support reaching their objectives, submitted to San Francisco on October 30, 2006, and to obtain
their input.
I met with Ed Harrin~on on March 11 to review BAWSCA members’ objectives and principles
for the new agreement, as well as the principles that San Francisco would like to see incorpo-
rated in the new water agreement. Many of San Francisco’s principles address issues in ways
1
155 £ovet Road. Suite 302, ¯San Mateo, CA 94402 ° ph 650 349 3000 ¯~ 650349 8395 ,, w~’~.bawsca.org
BAWSCA’s members could accept, at least in general terms. That is promising, although much
additional discussion and work is needed to ensure that resulting contractual provisions will im-
plement the members’ objectives.
Meetings of the negotiating teams have been tentatively scheduled to discuss these principles in
detail and resolve differences so that the task of writing sections of the agreement can begin. Ed
Harrin~on’s willingness to engage in a comprehensive discussion of principles is encouraging
and indicates his personal commitment, as San Francisco’s chief negotiator, to the task at hand.
We have also met with Mr. Harrin~on and his staff to discuss decisions that might affect the
content of the new agreement and a revised and attainable schedule for negotiations. Both sides
must focus on results, which is how we measure success.
Next Steps
We agree that regular meetings will be held at an increased frequency in order to complete the
negotiations on schedule.
The next quarterly report will be issued early in July, at which time we expect specific results in
the form of decisions on objectives, principles, and the development of agreement language.
Arthur Jensen
Chief Executive Officer and General Manager
Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency
April 17, 2008
2
ATTACHMENT
Office of the Mayor
CiW & CounW of San Francisco Gavin Newsom
March 11, 2008
The Honorable Ira Ruskin
Assemblymember, 21st District
California State Assembly
State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 94249
Dear Assemblyman Rus~n:
The recent meeting with Chuck Reed, Rosalie O’Mahony, Art Jensen, and you was very
constructive and productive. Thank you for suggesting it.
San Francisco will support your bill, AB 2437, as presently x~Mtten to provide continuing,
valuable state oversight of our Water System Improvement Program. The legal opinion provided
by BAWSCA’s attorney appears to eliminate the concern expressed by Mr. Irons that the State’s
role might impact the resolution of disputes between the City and County of San Francisco and
its contractors.
I am pleased that Ed Harrin~on and Art Jensen will begin immediately to put negotiation of a
new, long-term water agreement on a fast track to completion by the expiration of the present
contract on June 30, 2009. We need to focus on results that are fair and satisfactory to everyone
who is dependent on the regional water system.
Finally, I was especially pleased with Rosalie’s remarks about building a strong relationship
between San Francisco and BAWSCA. I agree fully that that San Francisco must treat
BAWSCA’s .gencies and their customers as well as our water users in San Francisco,
as .~mers who deserve to be satisfied with our product and service.
Si
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 200, San Francisco, California 94102-4641
gavin.newsom@sfgov.org ¯ (415) 5566141