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Home My WebLink About0410.091'. , • I , August :29, 199'1 THE HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL PALO ALTO. CALIFORNIA Members of the Council: R~.RQJ"t in Brief THE SUBJECT OF TKISREPORT !SA COUNCIL PRIORITY This is an informational report and no Co~ncil action is requested. The purpose of this report is to describe the progress that has be2n made to date in the subj eet areas ... 'hich counci 1 selected a<; its highest priorities for 1991. The council, on February 11, 1991, selected thr~~ issues as its priorities for 1991; these are Appropriate Levels of Service, People in crisis, and Regional Governance. The Councills Finance coxnmittee (formerly Finance and Publ ic Works) has directed progress on the levels of service priority. The Policy and Services Committee (formerly Policy and Procedures) ~ along with the Human Relations commission. has guided the people in crisis priority. council Membe:-s agreed as a 'Whole to as:£;ume responsibility for the regional governance priority, because of their existing intergovernmental activities. Listed belo'fl are the three priocities selected by Council. Followi~g the description of each priority is a 5UmJ:1ary of the activities \l.'hich have occurred to date in that area and the plans for the fl..lture. Establish appl:opriate service levels consister.t 'With available funding. Improve communications 'With the public regarding the fU11ding levels required to provide needed service levels. CMR:410:91 L • " I - Page 2 The Fin~_nce Committee '-las charged with the resoonsibility of d~fin£n9 the mechanisms for carrying out this pricrity~ Co&~ittee discussions led to the decision to use th~ nservice inventory" as a tool, b~ilding on the wcrk done in previous budget years. Staff has assembled information on the current level of services provided to the public; the inventory indicates whether, in staff's professional j\Jdge~ent, the service provision is superior, average, or minimal. Only those programs '",hich directly serve the public a.re included. in the inventory~ From t~,at inv&ntory, the Finance Committee ~as asked to identify the services [or ~hich it wished to bave further information froIl! staff concerning the irnpa-;ts and costs of increasing or decreasing the level of service. The Finance Cow~ittee reviewed the service inventory at its August 21 tneeting. staff fro>n all departments participating in the survey was available to respond to questions from the committee. Two public D"leetings have also been scbeduled, on Octobe_r 3 and October 10, to solicit public input regarding: prioriti.es for service provision. The october 3 meeting 'Will be devoted to services provided by the Department of COrl'.r..unity Services.. 'I'he agenda for the October 10 meet ing is b.e Ing prepared in accord .... ,ith dirEction received at the August 27 Finance committee meeting. In addition to the regular public notice procedures, staff fro~ the divisions of the Department of CO:r.lmunity Services are lllaking personal contact -with their constituency g!'oups to ensure participation in the public meetings. The information on service provision ~hich the Finance Committee obtain$ from the public meetings "'ill be used by the Committee as a lead-in to the 1992-94 budget discussions and to construct Citywide priorities for service prevision .. PEQfl.]t IN eRl Sl S Services for families in crisis. Assessment and t01Iolo'-up action on access to services {or the homeless. Fostering better public/private partnerships to provide services. The Human Relations commission assisted the Policy and Procedures Committee in the further definition of the above-deserjbed priority by drafting an implementation plan .... hich provided a fOCUS,. worKing assumptions,. roles, tasks, and tirneline~ Tbis plan ... ·as. endorsed by t,he CO\lncil on April S, 1991.. CMR:410;91 L I I I I i ! f , " , \ • .~. ;. l , i ! 1 ~ , I Page 3 Among the tasi",s identified in the plan .. ere t'w'O focus group meetings, ~hich were held in April, for the purpose of assessing tt,e needs in the community related to t'ne subject of people in crisis. Representatives cf community agencies and other individuals with particular kno'.ledge in relevant areas lMere invited to participate in ti'le focus grc>up meetings. Following up on that input, the Hu!n~n f<elations Commission (HRC) returned to the Policy and Procedures Cor=unittee in May \dth suggestions for an action plan that IoIQuld carry out potential $olutions for the people in crisis priority~ From among the suggestions submitted by the HRC, the Policy and Procedures Committee recoInmended the follo ... ·ing to council l 'Which ~ere subsequently appro·.·ed by Counci I on July s: 1. The City of Palo Alto sponsor at least two rcund table meetings to facilitate the agendas of nonprofit agencies during fiscal year 1991-92; 2. Direct staff to undertake a review of the existing information and referral agencies and report back t,:. the Policy and Proceo:.Jres committee in october; 3~ The Human Relations co~.rni$sion .... ark ... ith the Urban Ministry and Palo Alto Community Child Care to develop a pil·~t program to provide occasional child care for homeless families~ staff has been communicating , .. i th various agencies t.o develop agendas for the round table meetIngs (ite~ 1 above). The dates for these meetings have not yet been set. A repo:-t responding to item 2 above .,-i 11 be presented at tne october 1 :J1eeting of the Policy and Services Cor.:mittec. In prep<J.ratio!1 for that l staff has me.t · ... ·ith the staff of the Palo Alto .Area Information and .Keferral 5ervi>:,;; (PAAIRS) and has talked .... ith all the representatives who \o,'cre. present at the two April public forums ~here this issue surfaced. staff is contim.:ing to meet " .. ith the Urban Ministry, Palo Alto Com..1l.unity Child Care, and Catholic Charities concerning formulation of the horn~less child care project~ (Catholic Charities operates the Families in Trar,sition child care program~) Furthermore l two new contracts authorized by the City Council and ~anag~d by the Human Services Division are direct results of this Council priority. The City in cooperation ~ith the Palo Alto Uoi- CHR:410:91 . ,. "~f~- ,<--': - o Page 4. Unified School District is funding two ful1time comm'J.nity crisis counselors situated at Palo AltQ and Gunn high schools to assist teens in crisis. The city has a1 so directed funds to the Urban Ministry for a casew~rker to work .,dth the homeless popul~tion. The review, evaluation, and de-veloprr.er;.t of Council policy related' to the various regional goverlldJ1Ce proposals. A.'tIong the proposaJs yarra~."ting council policy development and leadership are Bay Vision 2020 and st~te legislation such as AB 3~ In conjunction with the issue of regional work to strengthen relationships with communi ties. governance~ neighboring Establish a mechanism fo~ Co~ncil ,lfJembers to regularly share inform3tio.'l with ea:::J-... oth€r rs-lated tt..' the various regional bodies on which they serve as liaisons. The Council began to address the issue cf regional governance by means of a pair of joint study sessions ~ith the Planning Commission~ The first, on April 29, ad·::tn;ssed the ""ork of several legislators and various groups that are developing recommendations concerning regional governance and grc,r,.,rth :;r,anageme.'1tj foremost among these 'Was the proposal of t:he Bay Vision 2020 ConLmi;s;sion. The second stUdy session, held on June 3, focused on the interrelationships of re9ional transportation, air quality, and land use planning issues. The pol icy [orIr'.ulatic:\ .... hich occurred at these study se-ssioTis enabled staff to draft pos i tion statements which '''''ere subsequentl)' adopted b~~ the Council regarding Bay Vision 2020 on June 10, the Regional Transportat ien Plan on June 10, the Con<;estion Manage~ent Frogram on June 17, and the 1991 Clean Air Plan on July 22. The council position on the 1991 Clean Air Plan included direction to work ~ith legislators, the Air Quality District~ and the Air ResourcEs Board to secure a:!lendr.-,ents to the State' 5 atta inment criteria standards a~d to the California Cle~n Air Act ~hich ~ill tIlake compliance ... ·ith the state standards f€.<lsible. Staff has begun this effort. CMR:410:91 • • , l I t ." , f I I -- page 5 It is the ccunci 1 position that it is preferable for lc.ca 1 jurisdictions to take ~n active part in crafting the regional structure ~hich shall govern thern l rather than havi~g it imposed upon them by the State. In that light/ the council has encouraged th~ Santa Clara County Cities Association to become. a.ctively involved in furthering the Bay vision 2020 Cow~i$sion proposal and to become a foru~ for ~orKing out the de~ails ~hich ~ould enable the proposal to ... 'ork to the satisfaction of this :subregion. at parti::;ular importanc€. at this time is the issue of rever<ue sharing. presently, an interim steering committee kno .... n 3.S the 8ay Vision Action Coalitiol"l. is ... 'orking to advance the Bay Vision 2020 Commission's recommendations~ and staff is monit~ring its progress~ The .a.ssociation of Bay Area Governments and the Say Area League of Women Voters are co-sponsoring subregional meetings in september to discuss the major issues involved in the Ba.r Vision 2020 proposal. The San Jose area meeting viII be held on September 12. The Governor's Interagency Council on Gro' ... ·th Management, a special body charged writh developing recommendations concerning state actions .... hich must be taken ir. order to :r.ar,age the economic and environmental ilt'.pacts resulting frem California's growth, held a hear ing in San Jose on July 30. Jlfa:~ror Sutor ius presented testimony expressing the Palo Alt~ City Council's vievs on issues related to regional go\'ernance and grO'..rth :management. Staff continues tc :monitor state legislation ;,:hich has been introduced regarding regional governance issues, h""'ever it has been agreed in Sacramento that no final action on such legislation ~ill occur before 1992. Council Members and staff are also participating in~ or monitoring, activities regarding a number of other regional iss"\,!€s; among these are Peninsula train service, Santa Clara County tcansportation plannin9~ t'he San Francisco Estuary Project~ the Bay Basin Plan, solid ~aste planning, ~nd non-point source programs. Tbe Council has also responded to its concern that each Council Member should be well-informed about the activities of the various boards, cOm:llissions, and agencies that hisiher COlleagues serve on. In April, the counci 1 adopted a fcr~ that Council Members are to use regu.larly to report to their colleagues on their particular liaison responsibi 1 i ties. These reports are to be agendi zed if necessary for action or to s':Jlicit informal commer,ts; otherlllise they <!Ire sil;',ply included in the counci 1 packet as infoT'mation items. CKR: 4.10: 91 .J .....•.. -. ,~~~i:;:~1 '~",~:}ll~:":>~.~_"_ '~-·f~·":f~0·3·--_:_" __ ~ .-~-r"",,",--_~ __ Ji f! " I o o Page 6 Respectfl..llly s'..lbJlitted, !Lf1:~~- Assistant to the City Manage!' ) / ? i / ,/--,: / [<----:J:e. -,6~ FLEMING ~ jSistant City ~~ Relate-d CMRs: 156:91, 2/14/91, 215:91, 4/-4/91, 2;>0:91, 4/4/91, 242:91, 4/25/91, 244:91, 4/25/91, 281:91, 5/16/91 1 306:91, 5/30191, 315:91, 6/6/91, 3BS:91, 8/22/91, 402:91, 8/15/91, CMR:410:91 Confirmation and Referral of Council Priorities for 1991 _B..ppropriate Levels of Service HRC Plan to Irnpl~!'nent Council Priority: People in Crisis Bay Vision 2020 Regional Governance HRC Report on People in crisis Priority Overview of Regio~al Air Quality, Transportation, and Land Use PlanI1 ing Issues Bay Vision 202C; City Response Appropriate Levels of Service The Governor ' s Interage!"1Ci~ Council on. Growth Management •