HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-04-23 City Council (14)City of Palo Alto
City Manager’s Report
TO:
FROM:
HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL
CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT: CITY MANAGER
CMR: 197:01
DATE:
SUBJECT:
APRIL 23, 2001
RESULTS OF COMMUNITY DIALOGUES ON BUDGET
AND INFRASTRUCTURE
This is an informational report and no Council action is required.
BACKGROUND
At a Forum on Infrastrucuture held on October 30, 2000, residents told City Council
Members that they support reinvesting in basic infrastrucuture and public facilities but
they wanted to know more about City finances and priorities. The City Council directed
the City Manager to go out into the community to present this information and to collect
input about community priorities, Consequently, in February and March, 2001, the City
held a series of Community Dialogues focusin’g on the 2001~03 budget as well as future
financial priorities.
The City held a total of 11 meetings: four Community Dialogues for the general public, a
special meeting for representatives of Palo Alto. services clubs, a meeting for City
employees, and five Family Room .Dialogues hosted by private citizens who invited their
friends and neighbors into their homes.
The four larger public meetings were held at a variety of times to allow all residents to
participate. The Dialogues were publicized in local papers, on the City’s web site, in the
first issue of CityPages, and by personal invitation to residents who had expressed
interest.
At the Dialogues, which lasted approximately two hours each, participants were given a
packet of information which included an agenda, a list of City Services, a Budget Primer,
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a flyer about upcoming Budget .Classes, .a printout of the budget and infras~tructure
presentations to-begiven at the meeting; anda survey to complete. " ’
Participants were asked to first fill out a card with the question, "One thing I want to tell
City officials about the budget priorities is..." After a greeting from a .Council Member,
the meeting began with participants reading from their cards. Then Carl Yeats,
Administrative Services Director, gave a short presentation on the City’s Budget,
highlighting General Fund revenue sources and expenditures. The budget presentation
was followed by questions from participants, who were given an opportunity to sign up
for more detailed sessions on the budget.
Assistant City Manager Emily Harrison then presented a 15-minute program about the
City’s current infrastructure program, highlighting the City’s infrastructure needs and the
funding identified to address the need. Based on an evaluation of all non-Utility
infrastructure, the City Council established a ten-year $100 million program to
rehabilitate our existing infrastructure. Unfortunately, only $78 million of the $100
million has been identified to erase the maintenance backlog. In other words, we have a
$22 million problem.
The remainder of the meeting was spent filling out and discussing a survey entitled
"Some Key Questions Regarding Our Priorities." The results of the survey are included
in this report. ~
Concluding remarks from City Manager Frank Benest identified the follow-up that would
occur, including producing and distributing this summary report, producing and
broadcasting a video oh the Community Dialogues, and using the themes generated by
the Dialogues to drive the 2001-03 Budget.
DISCUSSION
The comments from the "One thing I want to tell City officials" cards fell into ten basic
categories. Typical comments are included under each topic.
1. Basic Infrastructure
¯."Infrastructure improvements are the most important item and should be at the top
of the City’s list."
¯"Palo Alto spends more effort on enhancing its services and image than it
should...We should not be subject to a deteriorating sewer system, water lines,
etc."
2. Traffic / Transportation Issues
¯"Traffic law and enforcement must be augmented. Most drivers in Palo Alto
know they have nothing to fear."
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¯"Currently, there is not enough money budgeted fo~ traffic calming. We need
much more money alloted for this # 1 problem."
3. Storm Drain~ Flooding Issues
¯ "Storm drz ’r*~; ,and flood control should be moved to the top of the budget.
priorities. "
¯"Maintain pressure toward a solution for the San Francisquito Creek flooding."
4. Long-term Planning ¯
¯ "The City has discussed a bond measure for City facilities and capital
improvements. What is the status?"
¯"I would like to see examples of planning trade-offs. For example, adding two
more free or low-cost shuttles would cost me how much?"
5. Arts & Cultural Programs
¯ "Please remember the importance of the Childlren’s Theatre to our community
when establishing budget priorities."
¯"Please allot som? funds to put in a new air ventilation system at the Palo Alto Art
Center."
6. Human Services
¯ "Housing the homeless. I would be proud for Palo Alto to pioneer a solution to
this problem."
¯"Services to the community from nonprofits should be higher priority -- need for
rental relief of some kind."
7. Libraries
¯ "The City and the community just continue working very hard on getting the funds
raised for the new library plan implementation."
¯"Libraries form the heart of our community. They deserve high priority in the
budget process. Let us try to avoid ’analysis paralysis.’"
8. Parks / Open Space / Trees
¯ "There should be more money spent on keeping the value of our open spaces by
keeping out the invasive weeds so the native plants can be preserved."
¯"Maintain the ’urban forest.’"
9. Schools
¯ "People come to Palo Alto for the schools. We need to make sure they stay the
jewels of our community."
¯"Be proactive with the school board (and don’t rob their dollars) to get Terman up
and running as well as future facilities as needed for schools."
10. Miscellaneous / Multiple Answers
¯ "Be decisive rather than study to the nth degree. There is no such thing as perfect
information."
¯"The City should take more of a regional approach in dealing with many of the
pressing issues."
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A complete list of residents’ comments is available on the City of Palo Alto web site:
www.citv.palo-alto.ca.us/dialogue
A total of 307 participants filled out the "Key Questions" survey. The questions and a
summary of the answers follow.
To help us prioritize services and funding, which of the City of Palo Alto services
are the most important to your quality of life? (Participants were given a list of
13 City services and asked to check no more than five).
traffic/transportation
8%
utilities cultural programs
11%4%
fire/paramedics
12%
human services
2%
streets/sidewalks libraries
10%10%
storm/flood control
9%
police
14%
open space
4%
other
5%
parks/recreation
7%
planning/land use
4%
Most participants indicated that basic public safety services are most important to their
quality of life, with utilities, streets and sidewalks, and libraries high on the list. Storm
drain/flood control, traffic and transportation, and parks and recreation also received a
number of votes.
Five percent of the choices were in the "Other" category. These votes were generally
used to single out particular interests of the participants. Most often mentioned (in
descending order) were City employee needs, the Palo Alto Art Center, growth/housing
issues, schools, the Children’s Theatre, and the Junior Museum.
Obviously, Palo Altans have a lot of different priorities.
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Even if the City must cut back on some programs in order to free up monies,
how important is it to significantly increase the funding available for
infrastructure maintenance and improvements?
Somewhat Important
26%
Not Important
0%
Ven]Important.
74%
An overwhelming majority, 74 percent, felt it was very important to increase the funding
available for our infrastructure, even if it means Cutting back on other programs.
3.Should the City Council focus existing revenues on adequately maintaining and
reinvesting in current infrastructure or on developing new public facilities?
I Don’t Know
2%
New Facilities
lO%
Current
InfrastnJcture
88%
The majority, 88 percent, agreed that the City’s focus should be on existing infrastructure.
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4. Do our current infrastructure priorities seem appropriate to you?
I Don’t Know
21%
22%
Yes
57%
The majority of participants, after hearing a summary of our current .infrastructure
priorities, said that they seem appropriate. The comments of those who answered "No"
fell into several categories. Some expressed frustration with the slow speed at which
infrastructure maintenance is done. Some questioned the wisdom of spending money to
maintain buildings and systems that are obsolete. Many participants felt that storm drain
maintenance and repair should be at the top of the list.
NEXT STEPS
In summary, the themes heard at the Community Dialogues were:
¯ Existing dollars should be used to take care of our existing infrastructure before
adding nev~ public facilities.
¯It is very important to significantly increase the funding available for infrastructure.
¯There is citizen demand for new facilities and services, but there is no clear consensus
on how to prioritize them or fund them.
¯Citizens were appreciative of becoming more aware of City financial issues and many
indicated interest in working with their city govemment to address long-term
infrastructure challenges.
The results of the Community Dialogues will be used in several ways. First, the themes
that emerged are being used to drive the budget process for the 2001-03 budget. The
community’s expressed desire to get "back to basics" will be reflected both in the 2-year
budget and in the City Manager’s proposed "$22 Million Solution" to address the
funding gap between our infrastructure needs and the funds identified to fill those needs
over the next 10 years. The proposed "$22 Million Solution" has three components:
(1) capping spending on new services to free up dollars for the infrastructure program;
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(2) restructuring the General Fund Reserves, to further fund infrastructure projects; and
(3) seekings grants so that Palo Alto recaptures tax dollars that now go to the State and
U.S. governments.
As a second follow-up to the Community Dialogues, we will continue our community
outreach. A copy of this report will be sent to all Dialogue participants. A summary
appears in the next issue of CityPages, being mailed this week to all Palo Alto residences
and businesses. Complete results and comments have been posted on a special web site as
well. (www~city.palo-alto.ca.us/dialogue)
Additional budget information is available on the web site, including a "calculator" that
figures the share of the cost of City services that a resident pays, based on property tax
assessment.
Because of the increased emphasis on our infrastructure, the City will begin "branding"
its projects with the new "CityWorks" name and !ogo. Residents will be able to learn
first-hand about CityWorks at the CityWorks Festival, scheduled for May -12, 10:00 -
2:30 at the Municipal Services Center.
To build awareness and answer questions about CityWorks projects, the City Manager’s
Office will establish a CityWorks hotline which residents can call, starting in June, to
find out about proj ects in their neighborhoods.
Residents who were unable to attend the Dialogues can also watch the video, to be
broadcast on Channel 6 in the coming weeks.
Prepared by: Mary Hanna, Public Cfl~~st~o~/Manager .
CITY MANAGER APPROVAL: "~ 1/,~ ,,wd, ~ ’
FRANK BENEST, CITY MANAGER
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