[24:47] Afternoon it's my pleasure to call to order the 12
[24:50] o'clock Department head budget presentation meeting of May 4th 2026
[24:56] Madam Clerk, please call the role Mayor Go here. Vice
[24:59] mayor core. Council member adyas. Council member Gonzalez I'm here.
[25:06] Councilmember Weir. Council member Smith I'm here. Councilmember Coleman here.
[25:14] And Councilmember Boshir Tash. Thank you and keeping welcome to
[25:19] all of you thank you for engaging with us today
[25:22] in keeping with Council's resolution the public statements portion is
[25:25] divided into two periods There's a period for items listed
[25:29] on the meeting agenda and items not on the agenda.
[25:33] Statements for items listed on this afternoon's agenda are given
[25:36] a two - minute time limit 20 minutes total per
[25:39] agenda item statements regarding items not listed on the Agenda
[25:43] are also given a two - minute time limit 20
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[25:49] than your verbal statement give them to the clerk who
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[26:00] ask that you mark whether you're here to speak on
[26:02] an item listed on this afternoon's agenda or no matter
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[26:10] agenda item will be presumed speakers for the non -
[26:13] agenda portion Those speakers will be called during the non
[26:16] - agenda portion of the meeting everyone in attendance is
[26:19] expected to adhere to the world's of decorum established by
[26:22] resolution of the City Council failure to abide by the
[26:25] City's World Sub Decorum including any disruptive behavior that interferes
[26:29] with our ability to heaven orderly and efficient meeting prevents
[26:32] the City Council from conducting the Business of the City.
[26:38] Consider this a first warning to everyone in attendance that
[26:42] disrupts this meeting may result in expulsion and or the
[26:45] chambers being cleared Madam Clerk do we have any public
[26:48] speakers regarding items not listed on the agenda. Marygo we
[26:53] have not received any speaker cards regarding items not listed
[26:56] on today's agenda nor have we received speaker cards for
[26:59] items listed on the agenda Thank you next item please.
[27:04] Reports item 3A fiscal year 2026 27 Department budget presentation
[27:11] Budget workshop number one. Budget workshop number one Mr. Clegg
[27:18] Mayor Go Honorable Mayor and Council this is one of
[27:21] two workshops that we will have the second one will
[27:24] be held on May 18th and I would note before
[27:26] we jump into our first department presentation that we will
[27:29] have some wrap - up content at May 18th that
[27:33] summarizes the budget in whole We're not starting off with
[27:38] that summary of budget and hole We're going to jump
[27:40] right into our Department presentations But at your May 18th
[27:44] you'll see what our numbers are for the capital improvement
[27:48] program the total general fund numbers at your last workshop
[27:52] you saw Um, uh preliminary numbers for the general fund
[27:58] Uh, and uh, and also in the memo for public
[28:01] safety public safety vital services tax You saw some preliminary
[28:06] numbers for that specific portion of the General Fund will
[28:10] have a summary of all of that on May 18th
[28:13] Um, prior to the more in - depth Uh... Considerations
[28:19] and vote for June But for today's meeting we're going
[28:22] to walk through first our General Government Um, then we're
[28:26] going to have our City Attorneys Office Finance Um... Present
[28:31] their budgets recreation and parks and then police and fire.
[28:35] Before we even get all the way to those departments
[28:38] Uh, each Department has been asked to follow a similar
[28:41] template that we've used the last couple of years An
[28:45] interesting Uh slight exception the police department recently presented a
[28:49] very lengthy public safety update And so the Police Department
[28:52] presentation is just a little bit shorter because we're not
[28:54] going to repeat the same content That was presented at
[28:58] your last city Council meeting So with that preface I'll
[29:02] just jump into General Government as we term it There
[29:06] are several portions of City managers office Um, and legislative
[29:13] budgets that we cover collectively in what we call this
[29:17] General Government portion And so This will be the first
[29:21] Department that will go through And again you'll see how
[29:24] that template plays out throughout Uh, the other Departments as
[29:28] well Great And you're going to be setting the tone
[29:30] and showing us that we don't have to have every
[29:33] word read to us Absolutely Okay, that's great Absolutely Uh
[29:38] And I was actually going to jump right to now
[29:42] again These numbers do reflect the budget reductions that you
[29:47] saw in your workshop in March. And so on the
[29:53] personnel services line there Um, the slight increase We know
[29:58] you were going to have some increases due to Uh
[30:02] Different factors Uh... The cost of living adjustments, the increases
[30:06] for health costs and for insurance costs Um... Those play
[30:11] out into all the personnel line items, all the departments
[30:14] Uh, but because we also saw the five percent reduction
[30:17] that went into the budget And you'll see that in
[30:19] the next slide Um... A very... Modest Overall increase in
[30:24] those personal services Operations has a much larger increase And
[30:28] that's because we took on the operating costs of the
[30:32] economic development function And so the economic development function has
[30:37] about 1. 5 million dollars of operating contract support dollars
[30:43] And so that's why you see Um... That large increase
[30:47] and operations there It's interesting to note actually And we'll
[30:51] see it a little bit more on the next slide
[30:52] as well Um... The City Manager's Office Uh, took on
[30:56] one position that had previously been in RISC and the
[31:01] three positions from an economic Um... And community development Department,
[31:06] and still our personal line item I was only modestly
[31:08] increased because we made Other reductions and personnel before Uh,
[31:12] uh, taking on those additional positions Uh, and you'll just
[31:16] note below Uh, in the funding sources That larger piece
[31:21] Uh... The operating costs is reflected in the General Fund
[31:25] Public Safety vital services Uh... economic development... Uh...
[31:35] Operating dollars that we principally use for contracting for the
[31:38] tools and resources and incentives to do economic development That's
[31:44] those are the biggest changes for the City manager's office
[31:46] budget. Just as a high - level reflection Again, I've
[31:50] already talked about Um... Economic development moving We also had
[31:53] some positions in community vitality That were associated in the
[31:58] City Manager's Office, as that program has evolved organically It
[32:02] makes the most sense For those individuals to be within
[32:06] the purview of the Police Department for being able to
[32:08] access confidential information That's in CAD and other... Reporting systems
[32:14] And so we'd been moving in that direction But formalized
[32:18] the shift Of those community vitality operations over to the
[32:22] Police Department And then, just as a note We've been
[32:25] preparing for... And we'll continue to move forward with some
[32:30] notable changes to how we manage parking Um... And... We'll
[32:37] be kicking off a pilot for that program in this
[32:39] coming year Uh... We'll just note that in this last
[32:42] year We've spent a lot of effort on the cohort
[32:45] V Grant award for CALVIP That's good news That's gonna
[32:49] help us continue to move forward with that program We've
[32:51] been working very hard Uh... Out of our office on
[32:55] a federal ADA requirement to update accessibility As well as...
[33:01] Uh... We've been continuing to push forward with... Some specific
[33:06] annexations as well as preparing for larger scale annexations We
[33:11] actually are in the process... Of the legal descriptions of
[33:14] several large... Um... SHATION requests... Early stages of... Setting... The...
[33:24] Pieces in place that we can submit those applications through
[33:28] LAFCO. Here, just again, the reflection of... The personnel changes
[33:35] as noted Uh... Eliminated an assistant City manager... Uh... We
[33:40] moved some of the community vitality staff And again took
[33:43] on the economic development And that one position from RISC.
[33:50] Where the City Clerk's Office You'll note that there's again
[33:53] a slight increase there in personal services That doesn't mean
[33:56] there were any increases in personnel But just... Those... Cost
[34:02] line items are not in control for the clerk's Office
[34:05] But Clerks did identify other... Um... Operating reductions That could
[34:11] be handled... For... Overall reduction in those operating costs We
[34:16] appreciate looking hard It's a very small budget and type
[34:20] budget But... Julian, our team found some ways to achieve
[34:24] some savings there for all of us. Um... We again
[34:31] are treating the hiring freeze and eliminations for all of
[34:36] General Government as a whole... And so with a very
[34:39] small Department For example In Clerks and RISC Um... combination
[34:48] with all of the different units of the City Manager's
[34:52] Offices So their personnel count Um... Does not have any
[34:55] changes Um... And again We saw... The personnel costs go
[35:01] up Uh... Due to some of the other... Health cost
[35:05] increases and the cost of living adjustment. Um... This past
[35:11] year We've had a lot going on Um... We actually
[35:15] had two different pieces for... Filing requirements... And you'll know
[35:21] that in the second and the fourth bullet That we
[35:24] had an enhancement TONET file as well as There's new
[35:28] Expanded Ethics and fiscal financial training requirements That clerks has
[35:33] helped to facilitate for us. Uh... We've also been able
[35:36] to continue to expand the use of e - scribe
[35:39] to more of our board's commissions Committees. And then we
[35:44] had a great team government day This past year that
[35:47] had a little bit of a reimagining and helped us
[35:51] to keep that engagement strong. For our Risk Division Uh...
[35:56] On the personnel side that top line reflects that one
[36:00] shift of that one position over to the City Manager's
[36:02] Office. Operating side You'll see a notable increase there And
[36:06] we'll cover that on these upcoming slides But in the
[36:09] risk space We just continue to see increases that our
[36:14] hard for us to negotiate any better Um... And they're
[36:17] not really, you know, within our control In fact I'll
[36:19] just shift over to the next slide And apologize for
[36:23] the size on that script Uh... But a lot to
[36:25] cover there And that... We had some specific operational needs
[36:32] in our fire department But then... And that's a small
[36:36] impact But much bigger impact You see there is the
[36:39] workers'compensation program So I have 15 percent increase A lot
[36:45] of that is our insurance premiums Uh... Medical costs have
[36:49] seen inflation We continue to see Um... Workplace injuries We've
[36:54] implemented... Um... Tracking systems and early warning detection systems Uh...
[37:01] But we're continuing to see heavy experience There. Um... And
[37:05] then... Our third - party administration fees are up But
[37:10] the bigger piece is really The insurance premiums and the
[37:15] state fees for self - insurance On the next section
[37:18] over for liability also And we're seeing that those insurance
[37:24] premiums continue to go up Uh... Escalated rates... Um... That
[37:28] haven't been seen in many years. It's probably been three
[37:31] decades since we've seen Uh things go up at the
[37:35] same level. And in large part That is the lack
[37:38] of tort caps or tort And then the need for
[37:40] tort reform at the state level Um... And it continues
[37:43] to be a pressure on not just local government agencies
[37:46] But many of our private entities as well And that's
[37:49] why it's been reflected in our legislative platform as an
[37:52] important priority. And then Fortunately our property insurance Uh... Slightly
[37:58] down Those sometimes go up and down in market cycles
[38:01] I wouldn't read too much into that Um... But we're,
[38:06] you know, thankful that we've seen some favorable pricing there
[38:09] in this last year. Our visit Bakersfield budget is fairly
[38:14] steady Um... The personnel services changes are reflective Again, of
[38:19] some of the same other increases The one other pieces
[38:22] that we actually... And as a reminder The visit Baker's
[38:25] field is funded out of our transient occupancy tax Um...
[38:29] It's still part of the General Fund But it's... All
[38:33] of the budgeted funds come from T. O. T. for
[38:38] Visit Bakersfield There was one portion of one of our
[38:41] staff members That could be charged to T. O. T.
[38:44] That was not And so we added that in As
[38:47] well as the other You know regular Increases are causing
[38:50] that slight increase there And the personal services line Uh...
[38:55] But then we were able to also identify some offsets
[38:58] and some shifts that helped us Uh... To get some
[39:00] operating savings without major changes in the programs that we
[39:04] provide Uh... For the benefit of the community and for
[39:07] the benefit of tourism. Um... And so I would just
[39:10] want to know Some of those different pieces Uh... Many
[39:14] of the events that we've been successful on in the
[39:16] past We've continued to be able to have those Similar
[39:19] events take place here Multiple, successful sporting events Uh... We
[39:25] also... We're able to get a couple of new events
[39:30] And so we're excited about those Uh... And want to
[39:33] continue to see that moving forward Um... And then In
[39:36] addition to the event specifically The combination of our communications
[39:41] and marketing with... Is it Baker's field We feel as
[39:44] providing good dividends That we've added some new... Tools We
[39:48] have a new Uh... Community Events calendar We've had the
[39:52] new Baker's Field Historic Trail And we had a lot
[39:55] of success with some of our other trails or walks
[39:58] And so we added the historic trail Um... We've got
[40:01] Improved Um... Noticing and sign Engine Our local airport Um...
[40:06] As well as a driving tour that folks can also
[40:09] take of Bakersfield Um... In this coming year We expect
[40:14] to continue to increase the social media presence We've got
[40:17] a new app that's gonna help us get a lot
[40:20] more exposure there And then we're gonna continue again Many
[40:24] of these same events and we're Thinking through ways that
[40:27] we can... Um... Expand out and get even some more
[40:31] of those larger events Um... And we're looking forward to
[40:34] the expansion of Mason Morin That's gonna put us on
[40:36] the map for much larger tournaments Um... In the next
[40:39] couple of years. With that I'll be happy to answer
[40:44] any questions on General Government. Thank you Mr. Clark. Colleagues
[40:49] Did you have any questions. Council
[40:59] Member Gonzalez Thank you Mayor Uh... Thank you Mr. Clegg
[41:01] for your presentation today Um I wanted to jump right
[41:04] into the topic of... RISC Management... So we have workers'compensation
[41:14] increase. Increased by 1. 4 million dollars That's a 4.
[41:21] 6 million dollar increase year over year So the same
[41:25] delivery of services as this current year for next year
[41:29] And yet all of our expenses have grown just by
[41:33] the insurance costs by 4. 6 million dollars That is
[41:36] correct A couple questions there Um... One is we've talked
[41:40] about cost - based accounting... Uh... For a while And
[41:43] I know the City Manager's Office is moving in that
[41:46] direction As it stands today. Do we And I know
[41:51] sounds odd to members of the public But does the
[41:54] City charge the Department. For these insurance - related costs
[41:59] based on employee counts or type of work? Or however
[42:03] you may do that But does our department's charge. Yeah
[42:09] Good question Council Me right I'll ask Ms. Unit Covey
[42:12] to come up and help add in detail where I'm
[42:16] lacking in that detail But it's interesting you point out
[42:19] the cost allocation plan is an area that we do
[42:21] need to move towards Fortunately in the area of Risk
[42:25] and insurance We are charging out to the departments And
[42:28] so when we do a cost allocation plan That won't
[42:31] I guess sort of solve that challenge because we are
[42:34] making allocations to the Department's But GNA Do you want
[42:37] to go a little more in detail about how we
[42:39] do that? Ms. Covey. Um That's correct Uh Gina Covey
[42:43] RISP Manager Uh Council Member Gonzalez Yes we do Allocation
[42:47] Method for all of our programs The RIST Department acts
[42:51] almost like an insurance Uh provider So we allocate costs
[42:56] out a little bit differently Um, payroll for workers comp
[43:00] and severity of claims Uh status And then for liability
[43:05] We do it by severity of claims and lawsuits. Okay
[43:10] great Um also want to mention that the You know
[43:16] This is not unique from my understanding Not unique to
[43:18] Bakersfield Right the increases in workers'compensation or liability increases. Correct
[43:24] That's correct We're seeing it across all public entities Um,
[43:27] that's why it's important Especially on the liability side to
[43:31] really be pushing for those TORT caps to try and
[43:33] control some of those costs for some of that litigation
[43:36] We're seeing across the state. And what are those... Actions
[43:42] Uh... We might be able to take as a council
[43:46] or City management Department heads might be able to take
[43:50] To help reduce those costs over time Reduce exposure Um...
[43:56] Perhaps in turn reducing the premiums. Great question So we
[44:01] are trying to work at thinking outside the box So
[44:05] just for litigation We have... And I know our City
[44:08] Attorney will talk about some of the lawsuits we have
[44:11] But motor vehicle accents is something we've really seen That
[44:14] we can work on So we're working on bringing in
[44:17] driving simulators to really further push our employees into more
[44:22] remediation training and training on the onset of coming into
[44:25] the organization On the workers comp side We're doing audits
[44:30] We're meeting with our largest departments all the time Once
[44:33] a month for our bakerSHOL Police Department to make sure
[44:36] they understand and stay on top of what those work
[44:38] - related injuries look like and how we can impact
[44:41] them in real time Great Thank you so much Thank
[44:44] you. Council Member You mentioned that other cities are experiencing
[44:48] the same issues And indeed they are The Exity Mayors
[44:51] is very concerned about the tort issues And so we
[44:54] have taken that on as a cause Thank you Miss
[44:58] Covey Ms. General for providing information that's needed for that
[45:02] I know Cal City's also Uh experience taking on that
[45:07] challenge Council Member Smith, please And just for the record
[45:11] City Clerk Council Member Beshrite at 12. 08. Thank you
[45:17] Mayor Just a couple questions Uh First the economic development
[45:22] operations were really kind of getting rid of a department
[45:26] But not getting rid of it and moving it If
[45:28] you could kind of explain that. In more detail And
[45:33] then also the parking you use the term Enterprise City
[45:38] Parking Enterprise What's really happening in the future with parking?
[45:42] Great questions Council Member So first on economic and community
[45:46] development Again as a combined Department Um... That was created
[45:51] Um... Uh... Four years ago Uh... As we move forward
[45:55] We're gonna continue to do the work of economic development
[45:58] And in fact I would suggest that that's one of
[45:59] the most important things that we can do to grow
[46:03] our revenue base and grow our tax base You know
[46:05] for the community is to continue to help create more
[46:09] quality jobs in this community And so rather than Um...
[46:13] Having those two functions combined You know community development is
[46:17] now gonna be part of development services We have a
[46:19] small team Three member team for economic development They'll be
[46:24] reporting to Gary Helen Assistant City Manager and the City
[46:26] Manager's Office. And the... That's actually the unit that was
[46:33] working specifically in economic development in the community economic development
[46:37] Department is about that same size Uh... But also we're
[46:41] taking the dollars that were available for our economic development
[46:44] strategic plan on our small business assistance Um... And also
[46:49] keeping those dollars intact. And we've already been in the
[46:53] process of creating several other Relationships with regional entities Uh...
[47:00] In Bakersfield and Kern like Chamber KDC B3K As well
[47:05] as also having some standalone contracts of the City Y'll
[47:09] remember For example we did When we did them mega
[47:14] - site contracts Some of the work was specific to
[47:18] that megacyte location uniquely But then some of the work
[47:21] that they did was to help us identify What are
[47:24] some of the things we just need to do to
[47:25] market better as a City and other locations that might
[47:30] also be for industrial or logistics And so you'll be
[47:33] seeing in coming months Contracts that we've actually been working
[47:37] on for You know Several months now Um... That would
[47:41] help give us more tools to continue to market the
[47:46] Baker Shield as a whole But then also specifically target
[47:49] Um... Site readiness of sites for some of our industry
[47:54] clusters And so The work of economic development absolutely is
[47:58] going to continue Um... But we're creating this ecosystem that
[48:04] is a mix of some Contracts Uh... Regional partners -
[48:09] specific contracts with private entities that are in support and
[48:12] giving us the tools that we need rather than Let's
[48:15] say necessarily build a bigger team of city employees But
[48:19] have folks deliver those services to us on contract But
[48:21] also still have that small core team That's really hyper
[48:24] - focused on job generation So that's the economic development
[48:27] portion Um. I forgot your segment Parking Yes, thank you
[48:33] So parking enterprise And I'm glad you used the word
[48:36] enterprise because Um... I was maybe getting a little ahead
[48:40] of myself That we haven't formalized. The parking Uh... Revenues
[48:45] and expenses as a separate enterprise yet But that is
[48:48] our intent in this coming year Right now It's actually
[48:52] Um... We do collect revenues into the General Fund But
[48:55] we actually pay more in operating costs out of the
[48:58] General Fund than revenues that we bring in Not a
[49:01] huge amount But we are subsidizing the parking Functions in
[49:05] downtown Um... Each year. And the intent is to separate
[49:10] those out To take another look at what do we
[49:13] charge But also make it easier to park and then
[49:17] also easier to charge by the use of technology And
[49:20] then we're gonna start at the 18th in I garage
[49:23] And then some street - level parking in the adjacent
[49:25] areas Um... We don't want anybody to get ahead of
[49:33] us on what that might look like Because we still
[49:35] need to go out to the businesses in the downtown
[49:37] area and have some of those conversations about what that
[49:39] could and should look like And so we're anticipating doing
[49:41] that community outreach Uh... Actually just in coming months We're
[49:45] having some meetings with downtown Business Association and other businesses
[49:49] in the downtown area But the plan is to then
[49:51] start Uh... Using our surface lots more... Intentionally that the
[49:55] City does own some service lots downtown We own the
[49:57] garage Um... If we move forward with acquisition of... The
[50:02] Truxton Towers That would give us more inventory to then
[50:05] also manage in this parking enterprise But it's been demonstrated
[50:09] in many communities that parking can pay for itself and
[50:13] even be a revenue generator And we're not doing it
[50:15] to try and make a lot of money But we
[50:17] think if it generates enough revenue that it can allow
[50:20] us The ability to build more parking to meet the
[50:24] demands where our demands and some places They're are more...
[50:29] And some places There's probably sufficient. But having an enterprise
[50:32] that focuses on that uses these newer technology tools to
[50:36] help us determine what our market rates Where is their
[50:39] demand or need. Um... We're excited to start using those
[50:43] tools now through We actually got a grant to start
[50:46] off this pilot program for the parking enterprise Um, and...
[50:51] Not only eliminate a small subsidy that comes from the
[50:55] General Fund But also just manage it much more intentionally
[50:57] to the benefit from an amenity standpoint for the downtown
[51:01] area. Right Thank you. Thank you Council Member Smith. Others.
[51:09] Let's see any other requests So we'll go on to
[51:11] our next one Which is our City Attorney's Office. Welcome.
[51:23] Good afternoon Uh I am Virginia Genero Your City Attorney
[51:26] And I will be giving the fiscal year. 26 -
[51:30] 27 Budget for the City Attorney's Office.
[51:43] So I start out with this slide every year And
[51:46] I do it really as a reminder for our listening
[51:49] audience to see that the City Council has two employees.
[51:53] You have the City Managers through contract. And you have
[51:56] your City Attorney Through contract And as you can see
[51:58] by this chart Uh, you now have a third Um...
[52:01] Employee And that is the chief assistant City Attorney Who
[52:05] has not yet been hired But I am hopeful will
[52:08] be hired here Uh... By the beginning of this upcoming
[52:11] fiscal year And so we've put that box on the
[52:15] slide in two places One as it's reporting directly to
[52:19] the City Council because that will be a contract position
[52:22] That chief assistant will not be part of any bargaining
[52:26] unit Um... And then we also put it in a
[52:28] great out version underneath the City Attorney because they will
[52:30] be... Loosely directed... Under me until I leave So it's
[52:36] a transitional position again For those in the listening audience...
[52:39] Um... Reporting to the Council But loosely directed under the
[52:43] City Attorney. S This is the slide that the City
[52:46] Manager indicated that the budget team is asking all departments
[52:50] and divisions to put before you Um... I have put
[52:52] it up in the front It's also a duplicate I've
[52:55] put it at the back And I just want to
[52:56] explain a little bit Um... In that... Lower right -
[53:01] hand corner You can see that our budget has increased
[53:03] by 9. 6 percent. Even though the City manager and
[53:07] the Finance Director have asked everyone to take a 5
[53:09] - percent cut I'm going to explain so that you
[53:12] understand why that really... Would be incredibly difficult If not
[53:17] impossible... For our office to do that with such a
[53:20] small size. Meaning that as City Manager Claig indicated with
[53:25] some of the other small Departments Even if we were
[53:27] to stay absolutely the same and not change anything Uh...
[53:30] With the generous cost of living that the Council recently
[53:32] authorized And the increase in operational costs, insurance, etc. It
[53:37] would still increase by 9. 6 percent. Having said that
[53:41] there are 13 positions... Um... Our complement within the City
[53:46] Attorney's Compliment You can see those there in a linear
[53:48] format I think what's critical to look at is the
[53:52] chief assistant City Attorney is not yet funded. The assistant
[53:55] City Attorney is not yet funded. There are two Deputy
[53:59] City Attorneys that are not yet funded Um... One of
[54:02] them is... Excuse me... Of the two Deputy City Attorneys
[54:07] Uh... One of them However, some of that money is
[54:11] going to be used for the salary for the chief
[54:14] Assistant City Attorney... So again You can already see that
[54:17] that's not going to be enough So the 9. 6
[54:20] percent is a very conservative number. We are actively recruiting
[54:24] for that remaining Deputy City Attorney. There are five staff
[54:28] members. When you look at it in the more traditional
[54:34] organizational chart format That's what you see Um... Again The
[54:39] Chief Assistant I've placed in yellow Because part of that
[54:41] salary will be coming from the funded deputy City Attorney
[54:45] Position. The Assistant City Attorney is in red because it
[54:48] is unfunded You may recall that that position was unfunded
[54:51] But left in the complement last year When I indicated
[54:55] that my retirement was imminent Um I felt and I
[54:58] believe the council also agreed that it would be better
[55:00] for the incoming City Attorney to decide what to do
[55:03] with that assistant City Attorney. I would tell you that
[55:06] You need four attorneys Um... In addition to the City
[55:11] Attorney Whether that's one assistant City Attorney and three deputies
[55:14] or four deputies That's for the next person to decide
[55:16] But right now that assistant City Attorney is unfunded You
[55:20] have two currently Um... Within the City Attorney's Office And
[55:23] the other Deputy City Attorney Although he is in my
[55:27] office And he is in a compliment for the City
[55:30] Attorney's Office He has paid from the water Department Which
[55:33] is an enterprise fund So again the 9. 6 percent
[55:37] is a number that again is a little on the
[55:39] low side. We do have 5 staff members And I
[55:43] can tell you I think it's one of the best
[55:44] staffs Uh... That the City Attorney's Office has ever had.
[55:47] So we rely heavily on outside council And that's going
[55:50] to become pretty apparent here shortly Uh this slide again
[55:54] A very common slide You can see when you compare
[55:56] our office. To the other top 10 cities Uh... In
[56:00] California and some of our sister Cities Uh... We are
[56:03] down to 4 That would be myself And that would
[56:06] be the three deputies within the office right now Again
[56:09] One of them Primarily exclusive to water. Uh... I oftentimes
[56:14] come before you And I say that we're lean and
[56:16] mean Uh... But we are down to the bone In
[56:18] fact I would tell you that we're into the bone
[56:20] now I mean we're minus an appendage I'm not I'm
[56:23] not sure you could go I'm not sure you could
[56:25] go any less than what we've had. And that is
[56:29] why we rely heavily on outside council Uh, you know
[56:32] that you are under contract with Klippernum Brown through 2030.
[56:37] Under contract with Martyrosion And Cohen through 2030 We do
[56:40] have a yearly contract with Dwayne Morris to deal with
[56:43] our water issues I believe that one will be coming
[56:46] a new contract We'll be coming forward Uh... For your
[56:50] consideration before the end of this budget year. And now
[56:53] what we're seeing though is we're seeing additional contracts. With
[56:57] other outside council So we do have one with Dwayne
[57:01] Morris in addition to the water to help us with
[57:02] the General Plan And we're using other outside council to
[57:07] help us in areas that frankly Um... We used to
[57:11] handle We used to handle in - house We're dealing
[57:13] with outside council now for short - term rentals Um...
[57:16] For CEQA for the MILS Act for POP 218 For
[57:20] eminent domain Um... For some of our economic and community
[57:23] development issues such as the LAN trust And for labor
[57:27] And so I think again When you go into the
[57:30] next fiscal year And you are with your next City
[57:32] Attorney That's one of the bigger issues I think this
[57:35] council is going to have to have a discussion with
[57:37] Right It's a balancing Act. How much do you really
[57:40] handle in - house with your deputies? And how much
[57:43] do you utilize and rely on outside council? There are
[57:47] pros and cons to each approach Uh... But that's probably
[57:49] something that You know You're gonna be hearing a little
[57:52] bit more of as the year progresses. Again We are
[57:57] very fortunate to have... Um... Our contracts with outside Council
[58:01] Particularly that of Clifford and Brown and Martyrosian and Cohen
[58:04] I mean just take a look at this chart It
[58:06] kind of goes hand in hand what Gina Covey just
[58:08] mentioned to you Incoming lawsuits alone These are just incoming
[58:12] You look at 2021 There's about 20 It's doubled 4
[58:17] or 5 years And remember when you have the 42
[58:21] in this year The others don't go away I mean
[58:23] you're handling the 42 as well as all of the
[58:25] others that have happened in the proceeding year And we
[58:27] are doing an excellent job of disposing of cases But
[58:31] it is very much within the standard practice of the
[58:33] industry to have a case that goes Uh, anywhere between
[58:37] 3 and 5 years So we're handling all of the
[58:40] red and all of the blue Uh, that you can
[58:43] see on there. Little. Bit of a pie chart here
[58:47] to show you what we're dealing with Um, again When
[58:50] you look at single category lawsuits Uh... By far the
[58:55] largest is motor vehicle. Um... And the next largest single
[58:58] category I would say to you is slip and falls
[59:02] Uh... Miscellaneous contains a lot of other items Some of
[59:05] those items too are items in which we, the City
[59:08] of Bakersfield are the plaintiff. So I would say to
[59:11] you We really want to concentrate on those items in
[59:13] red and those items in green And I think again
[59:15] Council Member Gonzalez asked inappropriate valid question as so You
[59:20] know what do we really do to cut that pie
[59:22] in half? You cut that pie in half And you've
[59:25] got a different story in front of you. Despite that
[59:31] again Our outside Council in terms of litigation is not
[59:33] a tremendous job Uh... We they have close six cases
[59:36] Four with no money State They've closed 25 13 without
[59:39] any monies But Um... I wish I could stand up
[59:43] here and tell you It's been a... It's been a
[59:45] great year But it's been a brutal year You all
[59:47] know it's been a brutal year Um... We've had three
[59:49] cases that we've had to settle for over a million
[59:51] dollars Two of them were over 15 million dollars. And
[59:55] yes insurance paid for those cases Um... But what you
[59:59] don't see on the chart And what I can't explain
[1:00:02] to you, not because I'm unable to explain to you
[1:00:05] But it's an unknown Which is... It's disappointing And we
[1:00:09] don't know When we pay that kind of money What
[1:00:12] that secondary Um... Are you gonna have the same insurance
[1:00:18] rates Uh... From here on out What are those premiums?
[1:00:21] You already heard Gina in the City Manager tell you
[1:00:24] that the premiums have skyrocketed Well There's probably no doubt
[1:00:28] It's because of the number of motor Vehicle cases The
[1:00:31] number of trip and falls And the fact that we
[1:00:33] had to settle Um... So that's not something that I
[1:00:41] relish coming up here and telling you But it's the
[1:00:44] truth. Department highlights Uh you're looking at 184 active litigation
[1:00:50] matters that our office handles right now That is by
[1:00:53] far the most Uh... That the City Attorney's Office has
[1:00:56] ever handled Um... In the history of the City of
[1:00:59] Bakersfield Um... Yes We are handling some of them in
[1:01:03] - house But the weight of those 184 litigation matters
[1:01:07] Uh that has an impact internally to our office Even
[1:01:10] though we rely heavily on outside counsel Uh... We are
[1:01:14] handling some of our own in - house That we
[1:01:16] realize have nothing to do with the City of Bakersfield
[1:01:19] I cannot tell you how many times we have been
[1:01:21] sued for accidents Uh... Because of get bus Even though
[1:01:25] we have absolutely nothing to do with get bus We
[1:01:28] get lawsuits from attorneys in LA that think that the
[1:01:32] City of Lancaster is somehow associated with the City of
[1:01:35] Bakersfield Those types of cases My deputies and myself, we
[1:01:40] handle But that weight of the 184 and that weight
[1:01:43] of Nothing is an accident anymore It's always a lottery
[1:01:46] ticket Is impacting your City Attorney's Office That's more monitoring
[1:01:51] that we need to do That's more invoices Cost invoices
[1:01:54] that we need to process Uh that means the more
[1:01:57] work for finance Department to do Because again There's more
[1:02:00] paperwork associated with that. Um... And again at the bottom
[1:02:04] line I get back to that balancing Act But that
[1:02:06] means the more work for the deputies to do with
[1:02:10] litigation. Then with your municipal issues Which I would tell
[1:02:14] you from my perspective And being your City Attorney That's
[1:02:17] where your priority is. That's where it should be But
[1:02:20] it's those municipal issues Uh... We are struggling Frankly to
[1:02:24] keep up with because of the weight of those litigated
[1:02:27] matters. So again Uh the slide is there Uh... I
[1:02:32] think you'll have a better feel now For that slide
[1:02:35] I'm not sure Again I know that that increase of
[1:02:37] 9. 6 is accurate But I think It should be
[1:02:40] a much higher number. And when you look at the
[1:02:44] changes between last year and coming up again That chief
[1:02:47] assistant City Attorney really needs to be funded. I understand
[1:02:51] that one of the funded Deputy City Attorney Salaries will
[1:02:55] be going to that But that simply is not enough
[1:02:58] That needs to be increased. Um... The unfunded assistant City
[1:03:02] Attorney Position eventually is going to come back to you
[1:03:04] And I would suggest probably needs to be funded And
[1:03:08] we are actively recruiting not only for the chief Assistant
[1:03:11] City Attorney But we are actively recruiting for that one
[1:03:13] remaining vacant Uh... Deputy City Attorney 2 position. DEATTON Uh
[1:03:20] So with that Um, we're going to try to continue
[1:03:22] that litigation posture As much as possible Um... Maintain those
[1:03:26] municipal services were necessary We will continue to use outside
[1:03:30] Council Um... Handle what we can in - house and
[1:03:33] continue to recruit for that UhECA position. Thank you Thank
[1:03:38] you Mr. Gennaro. Thank you for a very clear Report
[1:03:43] And it's always reassuring to Know that you have a
[1:03:48] City Attorney and a team that is doing everything possible
[1:03:53] Uh... With such outstanding success You can't control the things
[1:03:56] that you can't control But you've been able to deliver
[1:04:00] with Outstanding Success So thank you so much Questions from
[1:04:06] the Council. Council Member Gonzalez Thank you Mayor I think
[1:04:11] You Mr. Now for your presentation And I concur with
[1:04:14] the mayor Uh... I think you've been Your Department has
[1:04:17] been very effective in Projecting the City And I think
[1:04:20] You for that Um I did want to touch on
[1:04:23] a point that you made just a moment ago Because
[1:04:25] I do understand and sensitive to the burdens Of the
[1:04:30] Department as it relates to the number of incoming cases
[1:04:33] Um... I am also mindful though That there are opportunities
[1:04:37] for us through your department Uh... To help us move
[1:04:41] the City as a whole forward Um... Number one is
[1:04:45] The short - term vacation rental ordinance Uh... That we
[1:04:49] see that in full effect So that we can increase
[1:04:54] the TOT That the City currently receives I think that's
[1:04:58] one key area And then also Um... The area of
[1:05:03] receivership Uh... Because I think that strategy has been proven
[1:05:08] very successful Uh... And it's very strategic in that... We
[1:05:11] are able to get a handle on some of these
[1:05:14] properties with property owners who are unresponsive And allows us
[1:05:18] to address the property But also in turn help Ugra
[1:05:24] the neighborhood Um... Reduces longer term reduces the number of
[1:05:28] calls for service Uh... Among police and fire and flood
[1:05:33] ministries and other agencies that may respond Code enforcement obviously
[1:05:37] Um... And I think overall could help us Alleviate some
[1:05:41] of that pressure for other departments in the City overall
[1:05:45] Um... My question is Where are we with receivership? Do
[1:05:48] we have any active cases? And how can we expand
[1:05:52] that? Uh... I am concerned with some of the Code
[1:05:56] Enforcement actions that currently are pending And as required us
[1:05:59] to take action... Remediate some sites And as a result
[1:06:05] We're putting liens on properties But those are real dollars
[1:06:07] That are coming from our General Fund today In order
[1:06:11] for us to clean up properties that the City doesn't
[1:06:13] even own Uh... I think it seems unfair to the
[1:06:16] people of Bakersfield that we're having to take responsibility Uh...
[1:06:20] For these properties that are owned by private property owners
[1:06:23] And my point is that the receivership program I feel
[1:06:26] like is a much more assertive approach And can help
[1:06:30] prevent some of those expenditures But also helps get to
[1:06:33] the heart of some of these issues That are facing
[1:06:36] Uh... Our community Certainly in War II Some of the
[1:06:39] more historic neighborhoods. Mayor Council Member Gonzalez With regard to
[1:06:44] the short - term rentals My understanding is is that
[1:06:46] staff is coming back to you If it's not The
[1:06:48] May 13th meeting It will be the second meeting in
[1:06:51] May. Um... With regard for the receivership Um... Could agree
[1:06:57] with you more Um... And it would be... I would
[1:07:01] love Right to have that deputy City Attorney that I
[1:07:04] could just say You know the old Mark Selvaggio Go
[1:07:07] be a rat on a Cheeto Um... And do that
[1:07:10] Right? Because I think that's what having the Deputy City
[1:07:14] Attorneys give you... And let them Uh... Let their creativity
[1:07:19] run wild And do that Um... The receivership program has
[1:07:22] been a success I believe the Deputy City Attorney Ashley
[1:07:26] Zambrano has worked with Phil Burns And the two that
[1:07:29] have been filed. Positive results for the City of Bakersfield
[1:07:35] It's my understanding that we do not have any right
[1:07:37] now When I say in the queue I mean at
[1:07:41] that have been filed with court We have been working
[1:07:44] with the receiver Mark Adams to see if he'll take
[1:07:46] some of those additional properties on Um... But again You
[1:07:49] know the pros and cons with that How much equity
[1:07:52] is in the property Etc And that's where it really
[1:07:55] gets to the You know to those creative ideas But
[1:07:59] That is a priority in my office Yes Great Thank
[1:08:02] you so much. Thank you Council Member Coleman.
[1:08:12] Thank You Mayor Uh. Mr. Narrow Thank you very much
[1:08:14] for your presentation And I really appreciate you showing that
[1:08:18] comparison Uh... Staffing what other communities are doing That really
[1:08:24] helps keep things in perspective. Uh... I'm real supportive of
[1:08:30] the outside council thing And it's very easy to measure
[1:08:35] how well outside Council is doing In the liability and
[1:08:40] the criminal kinds of cases Because this win or lose
[1:08:44] And we can tell But I'm more concerned about what
[1:08:47] we're doing to Make sure that we're getting our money's
[1:08:52] worth for the ones that are not in those kind
[1:08:55] of situations Like. The ones that are consulting on. Water
[1:09:00] issues And general plan issues and other things Can you
[1:09:03] speak a little bit about that? Sure Mayor Council Member
[1:09:06] Coleman. Um At this point There isn't a metric system
[1:09:12] really As you point out to determine how well they're
[1:09:14] doing win or lose. I Will tell you that Um...
[1:09:19] How I typically do it and how I look at
[1:09:21] those outside Council firms is ideal with the Department head
[1:09:25] So if it's a labor issue I'm dealing with HR
[1:09:29] If it's with the general plan I'm working with Phil
[1:09:33] And I reach out to those Department heads and say
[1:09:35] Look What is your relationship with outside council? Are they
[1:09:39] coming to the City of Bakersfield? Do you have a
[1:09:42] relationship with them A personal relationship with them That you
[1:09:45] would or did with a Deputy City Attorney My office
[1:09:50] And then ultimately The Buck stops with me Right And
[1:09:53] so when the issues finally get up to my level
[1:09:56] Um... I have to make that determination whether outside Council
[1:09:59] is being more conservative than I would necessarily be Because
[1:10:03] that is one In my opinion of the disadvantages of
[1:10:06] relying on outside council They provide you with the most
[1:10:08] conservative advice that they can and that Generally doesn't accomplish
[1:10:13] what the City Council wants to do So it's that
[1:10:16] level of just having multiple eyes on the topic And...
[1:10:21] And a personal relationship. And if the topic ends up
[1:10:25] If the Council passes that short - term rental agreement
[1:10:27] And you're happy with it Then hey that's a plus
[1:10:30] for outside Council If you're not happy with it For
[1:10:32] whatever reason Then we need to reevaluate. Okay Thank you
[1:10:38] very much And thank you for all your department is
[1:10:41] doing I have no further questions Thank you Councilmember Coleman.
[1:10:45] I don't see any other requests for this So thank
[1:10:48] you very much Thank you And now moving on to
[1:10:51] finance Department. Oh I see you're trying to set the
[1:10:55] example within Decreasing budget. Welcome. Thank you Mayor Good afternoon
[1:11:05] Mayor Council members taking the queue from what you hinted
[1:11:08] at Try to be as brief as possible As you
[1:11:12] can see four slides Hopefully that's as brief as I
[1:11:14] can Appreciate the opportunity to present the proposed budget for
[1:11:19] the finance Department for the upcoming fiscal year. As you
[1:11:23] saw As was mentioned earlier This is the standard presentation
[1:11:27] We're just showing every department And this is our budget
[1:11:29] for next Episcopal year Uh... Compared to last We anticipated
[1:11:33] or proposing a budget of 5. 5 million dollars Broken
[1:11:37] down between those funding sources. As we talked about every
[1:11:40] department was requested to reduce budget personnel budget specifically in
[1:11:45] the general fund We are able to do that But
[1:11:47] you do see as the General Fund did increase though
[1:11:51] Specifically because of two areas Obviously we had COSA living
[1:11:54] increases But in addition to that You'll see a reduction
[1:11:57] in the trip funds. What's happening there is the distribution
[1:12:01] of our staff has actually been increased to the General
[1:12:05] Fund because that work from RAFF has been reduced So
[1:12:08] we're shifted some of those costs from trip to the
[1:12:11] General Fund So that's offset at some of the decreases
[1:12:14] that we saw from the staffing reductions In addition to
[1:12:18] that we did have a reduction in capital cost Specifically
[1:12:21] related to our purchasing department that 30, 000 dollar reduction
[1:12:25] We have the responsibility of purchasing copiers for all the
[1:12:30] departments And that has this has been a significant reduction
[1:12:33] in the need for those So we're continuing to reduce
[1:12:35] that number this year It's a 30, 000 dollar reduction
[1:12:38] for copier replacements for the upcoming fiscal year So what
[1:12:41] you see here is about a half percent reduction from
[1:12:43] prior year in the General Fund as a whole. Alright
[1:12:52] So as we see these we took to heart the
[1:12:56] need to reduce budget So we have no new proposals
[1:12:59] for the department No specific growth We were actually able
[1:13:02] to reduce the budget by actually six percent We met
[1:13:06] the five percent goal reducing two positions which I'll touch
[1:13:09] on in the next slide And addition to that we
[1:13:12] are moving forward with as we move into next fiscal
[1:13:14] year our plans are We have no major CIP projects
[1:13:18] moving forward And we will continue to move forward with
[1:13:21] the ERP implementation So we've stood up in pretty much
[1:13:24] stabilized REERP for the financials We've helped stabilize the permitting
[1:13:29] system And now we're moving forward with the HCM or
[1:13:32] the payroll system in the upcoming fiscal year That is
[1:13:35] planned to be completed by the March of the 2027
[1:13:40] So next fiscal year In addition to that we will
[1:13:42] move forward with the utility billing system We also hope
[1:13:45] to complete that implementation by the end of this calendar
[1:13:48] year. So here you see our complement as you see
[1:13:52] here in 2526 We had an increase of five individuals
[1:13:56] That was because we shifted the budget office and the
[1:13:59] ERP team Five individuals moved to the Finance Department This
[1:14:03] year we reduced by that number by two I'm mounting
[1:14:06] to about a 280, 000 dollar reduction in the General
[1:14:09] Fund budget A business analyst. Related to our ERP team
[1:14:12] And we reduced the one treasury account specialist Uh, related
[1:14:17] to the work we do downstairs in the first Forest
[1:14:20] City Hall North. Again resulting in a current complement of
[1:14:24] 35 individuals. So that is the budget Before I move
[1:14:28] on I want Do you have any questions specifically overreated
[1:14:31] to finance budget. Don't see any requests Okay So we're
[1:14:38] going to move on to the next slide related to
[1:14:40] calipers It was requested by council about a month and
[1:14:43] a half ago to go through the caliper's contributions And
[1:14:46] what we're showing here is based on the most recent
[1:14:49] actuarial reports Uh... From CALPERRS and where we see our
[1:14:54] contributions and our costs for calipers going in the next
[1:14:58] Well... A number of years 25 years So what you
[1:15:02] see here is over the next five years We expect
[1:15:06] our costs to go up by 14 million dollars in
[1:15:08] total Peaking in 2030 31 at 98 million dollars. From
[1:15:12] that point down We've shown this slide before Just I'm
[1:15:16] sorry I'll back up a little bit The two amounts
[1:15:20] of costs related to our calipers are Ununfunded Actuarial determined
[1:15:23] liability Which is red. And then our normal cost Which
[1:15:27] is based on our current complement Which is blue So
[1:15:29] what you see is by 2045 If caliper earns it
[1:15:34] what they expected to earn. Are unfunded liability We reduced
[1:15:37] to zero And our costs would go down by 47
[1:15:41] percent from that peak in 2031. One of the things
[1:15:44] that we want to talk about though Again That's the
[1:15:48] expectation We understand We've talked about this before CalPERS is
[1:15:52] supposed to earn 6. 8 percent on its investments And
[1:15:55] they've actually done pretty well Last three years they earned
[1:15:58] nine percent And then based on the current performance this
[1:16:03] year They had expected to earn 12 percent So they
[1:16:06] are meeting their requirements And so based on that performance
[1:16:09] We don't expect over the next two years We don't
[1:16:11] expect that peak to go up Because they've been meeting
[1:16:14] they are required Uh, earnings And that's that discount rate
[1:16:17] as it's called I did want to touch on one
[1:16:19] thing though As we move forward into the next fiscal
[1:16:23] year There are there are certain challenges to this We've
[1:16:25] we've relied on that peak of 2031 of pension costs.
[1:16:31] If you're not aware Assembly bill 1383 is currently been
[1:16:36] passed by the assembly and is in the Senate. And
[1:16:39] what that does is it reverses the public employee pension
[1:16:43] reform Act of 2013 for public safety employees In essence
[1:16:47] it reduces It increases I should say the cost by
[1:16:51] reducing the years The peak year It goes from you
[1:16:55] can retire at 55 Instead of 57 at the peak
[1:16:59] amount of 3 percent versus 2. 7 percent So they
[1:17:02] are reversing some of the PEPRA benefits And that if
[1:17:08] it passes that peak in 2031 will likely go away.
[1:17:12] So I just wanted to highlight that And it is
[1:17:14] a challenge that we foresee Uh, again the legislature has
[1:17:19] to officially approve it It passed one of the houses
[1:17:21] And it is currently in front of the Senate for
[1:17:24] potential approval So I want to talk about this We've
[1:17:27] again shown this slide We've said we have a light
[1:17:31] at the end of the tunnel But that light may
[1:17:34] dim if the legislature continues in its current path. So
[1:17:38] that is my presentation If you have any questions I'm
[1:17:40] open for those Thank you Mr. McKeegan Questions. Council Member
[1:17:46] Smith. Thank You Mayor I just wanted to follow up
[1:17:50] There's been conversations in the past about the annual audits
[1:17:54] And the single audit and just You know Are we
[1:17:57] getting there? Where are we at? Yeah We've talked about
[1:18:00] this at budget finance Uh as I still call it
[1:18:03] Um So we did We were able to reach out
[1:18:06] Uh we have a completed the late year 2024 Uh...
[1:18:11] It was completed and submitted But the single audit. Is
[1:18:15] still being worked on by staff And... Specifically our auditor.
[1:18:22] One of the upcoming Council meeting You will note that
[1:18:25] we are switching auditors We have a new audit firm
[1:18:28] that is moving forward Next year So they will be
[1:18:31] taking over For the 25 fiscal year and 26 We
[1:18:35] have plans with them We've worked with them Really a
[1:18:40] good timeline of what we can do to catch up
[1:18:42] So we have In essence We're going to combine our
[1:18:46] processes for 25 and 26 for things like the inner
[1:18:49] work So they can all be done and expedite that
[1:18:51] process We anticipate that the 25 fiscal year audit can
[1:18:55] be done by the fall So October is the plan
[1:18:58] that I see They actually said potentially September But I
[1:19:02] want to have a reasonable expectation So it's 2025 We
[1:19:06] should the 2025 fiscal year out It should be done
[1:19:08] by October And then we anticipate that we will be
[1:19:12] caught up for 26 So the 26 audit should be
[1:19:14] done based on our current scheduled by December January Uh
[1:19:18] that's the normal timeline And we based on our conversations
[1:19:23] We feel that we can catch up by 26 for
[1:19:26] the 26 year audit Which ends this fiscal June 30th
[1:19:30] of this year We should be able to get back
[1:19:31] on track and actually complete that audit by the end
[1:19:35] of this calendar year And Mr. McDo track Thank you
[1:19:38] for that response Randy Could you also just highlight for
[1:19:42] councils benefit because I don't think we've done that in
[1:19:44] a public setting. The fix to the reporting for capital
[1:19:49] assets that was needed in this last year that we
[1:19:52] are now able to get all the information out of
[1:19:53] the system The delay on the ERB Sure That is
[1:19:57] the reason for the delay in 2024 Uh we talked
[1:20:01] about in the budget and finance. The the resulting delay
[1:20:05] the additional delay Uh... Resulting from 2024 was caused by
[1:20:09] the ERP implementation So what happened was we had anticipated
[1:20:13] that our fixed asset module would be in place in
[1:20:16] the new Oracle system And what happened is the system
[1:20:21] didn't properly convert all our assets So we went back
[1:20:25] and forth with our implementer for about three to four
[1:20:28] months Trying to get it right And ultimately I basically
[1:20:31] said we need to just get this done So we
[1:20:35] had a built - a work around to complete that
[1:20:36] audit and complete that fixed acid information So that added
[1:20:40] delays because we had anticipated that fixed asset information to
[1:20:44] be properly Put into the individual fiscal year for 2024
[1:20:48] And it was not done And it created significant delays
[1:20:51] just waiting on that implementation to be complete Which wasn't
[1:20:55] the complete now. Thank you Look forward to being caught
[1:21:01] up So do I. Thank you Council Member Smith Anyone
[1:21:04] else. Thank you Mr. McKeeken. And now we move on
[1:21:09] to Recreation and parks. Well today we had people from
[1:21:17] the state and another group actually here talking about How
[1:21:22] we can get more funding for parks And I saw
[1:21:26] some of your representatives out there Uh, this morning at
[1:21:29] that meeting. Thank you Absolutely And that's going to be
[1:21:32] a big part of our budget moving forward Mayor So
[1:21:35] I'm good afternoon Mayor Council members Uh Darren Budak recreation
[1:21:38] Parks director has requested I will move through these very
[1:21:42] quickly Um, and fortunately you're maybe unfortunately some of the
[1:21:47] items that were discussed earlier when it comes to the
[1:21:50] rates and stuff Compound on my budget in particular Uh,
[1:21:54] we have a very large budget when it comes to
[1:21:56] personnel and stuff So these cost when it comes to
[1:21:59] fleet cost Uh, workman's comms cost All those things that
[1:22:03] are Somewhat out of our control really hit our budget
[1:22:06] hard One thing I do want to point out here
[1:22:08] is you'll notice on our first line item under personnel
[1:22:11] services It shows a moderate increase And that's even with
[1:22:16] us meeting the City manager's direction of reducing our budget
[1:22:20] Um, our staffing personnel now getting into that in a
[1:22:23] little bit later But the two big driving forces in
[1:22:26] our increase You can see at 6. 36 percent is
[1:22:29] Rital outlay Our projects, our operations cost And so. And
[1:22:38] as you can see in its states here You know
[1:22:41] as already been labored many many times already is these
[1:22:45] costs are being driven by things that I would say
[1:22:48] are outside of the Department's control Um... Your fleet cost
[1:22:52] your technical services and all those things Um... We get
[1:22:55] told what those costs will be And then we have
[1:22:58] to implement them into our budget I can tell you
[1:23:00] My staff and my department did a great job in
[1:23:03] providing a flat budget But when you put these cost
[1:23:05] in there Then you see these costs. Um... On the
[1:23:08] capital side You can see we proposed 10 projects We
[1:23:11] brought 10 projects forward and working with City Manager's Office
[1:23:14] 3 of them are currently on recommended list And then
[1:23:18] another 7 are up for Council's consideration And happy to
[1:23:22] ask answering any questions about those at the end. And
[1:23:27] then moving on. Our Department As you can see topped
[1:23:36] out at 202 full - time employees That's a very
[1:23:39] large Department takes a lot of staff to do the
[1:23:42] work that's going on out there in our Parks and
[1:23:44] streetscapes Um... And in following direction We did reduce RT
[1:23:49] - full - time complement And we took a serious
[1:23:51] look at it And we went from the top down
[1:23:54] We looked at our upper level supervisory positions all the
[1:23:57] way down to our entry level One key thing I
[1:24:00] do want to point out is in this... Well there's
[1:24:03] a mistake there My fault Uh we had reduction of
[1:24:06] 6 positions We have 5 General fund positions and 1
[1:24:09] PS VS position Um... As outlined there Worth noting is
[1:24:14] that this is all happening in a time that this
[1:24:17] Department is growing Um... Each and every year Uh... We
[1:24:22] acquire anywhere from 5 to 10 new acres of streetscapes
[1:24:25] Every single year because a new development In City Baker's
[1:24:29] field is very developer friendly And we encourage that But
[1:24:32] we every single one of those streetscapes We get those
[1:24:34] We have to maintain them And that's happened every single
[1:24:37] year for the last Several years So why we maintain
[1:24:42] 202 R8 grades over the last 3 to 4 years
[1:24:44] is increased Anywhere from I'll say 20 to 35 acres
[1:24:48] and streetscapes Now This does not include the new parks
[1:24:52] Lynell Brahma that was opened up Uh... Year and a
[1:24:55] half ago Mason Moran We just talked about Um... We
[1:24:58] have three new parks Um... That are in design right
[1:25:01] now Anton Giovanni Herschel Moore and Alondra Park So those
[1:25:07] are all parks that are gonna come online in some
[1:25:10] phase in the next two to three years So I
[1:25:12] think that's gonna be a challenge moving forward As you
[1:25:15] see our acreage is increasing And staffing introducing So it's
[1:25:20] a... But as in As we always do in Parks
[1:25:26] and recreation I do want to celebrate the wins we've
[1:25:28] had in the last year Um... My staff has done
[1:25:32] a phenomenal job It'd be in stewards of the money
[1:25:34] that we are provided to do these projects And you
[1:25:37] can see just in some of these pictures Uh this
[1:25:40] is centennial park rehab Uh taken it from an unusable
[1:25:45] condition to a state ART pickleball and tennis court facility.
[1:25:52] So some other great win through one of the grants
[1:25:56] As you were talking about mayor was one of these
[1:25:58] arts and parks that we did over there at Saunders.
[1:26:01] And Took What was a very attractive Walker graffiti at
[1:26:05] one point and turned it into an art for the
[1:26:07] city and the residents And it's been very well received.
[1:26:12] Uh... And last but our latest But this is This
[1:26:19] one's been a long time coming Jastro Park Stage has
[1:26:21] been on the plans for several years Because of various
[1:26:25] requirements with historic and funding and stuff We finally pulled
[1:26:28] it together Thank you to the City Council Councilman Gonzalez
[1:26:31] for pushing so hard on that Uh... And look at
[1:26:34] it now It's been restored It's being used I know
[1:26:38] we've already had multiple concerts out there And it's been
[1:26:41] a great success for that Um... For that park And
[1:26:44] reinviting the community and getting those positive activities back in
[1:26:48] the area. And then this one was a unique opportunity
[1:26:52] for us to collaborate with BLNC down there. When they
[1:26:58] first opened that facility They had a lot of open
[1:27:00] space and encouraging people to go out and use the
[1:27:03] space But as we found out very quickly as we
[1:27:05] know In recreation and parks You know That's nice in
[1:27:09] spring and summer But when our NFL When summer hits
[1:27:12] these outside areas need shade So we were able to
[1:27:15] partner with them and get in there and provide these
[1:27:18] shade structures over these areas Which allow them to be
[1:27:21] used year - round. Uh I can keep going Jefferson
[1:27:26] Park Uh total remodel Well actually replaced the entire bathroom
[1:27:31] there Made an ADA compliant Um... Just a great improvement
[1:27:35] up there. And then Sternpark was a unique one where
[1:27:38] we actually went in And this is First Time in
[1:27:41] a very long time where we put in a new
[1:27:43] restroom facility into a park that did not have one
[1:27:46] But because of the use and the local group Uh...
[1:27:50] The stern walking group It was a sought after It's
[1:27:53] been on a plan for several years And we were
[1:27:57] able finally pulled it together And it was very well
[1:27:59] received. And then just some ADA accomplishments We've done Excuse
[1:28:05] me throughout the year As you can see throughout our
[1:28:07] parks. So with that I'm happy to answer any questions
[1:28:14] Thank you Mr. Budak And then just speaking of ADA
[1:28:17] and special needs I have received so many positive compliments
[1:28:21] about Wilson Park and the fencing that goes around that
[1:28:26] area now that provides families with children who are autistic
[1:28:32] and with special needs The safety the security in a
[1:28:35] really beautiful setting So thank you to your entire team
[1:28:39] This came about when I got an email and the
[1:28:41] person said to me I didn't think you'd ever do
[1:28:43] anything about it But since it on to you all
[1:28:46] and you all did something very very wonderful and the
[1:28:49] community is extremely grateful for that So thank you I
[1:28:53] was able to note that this morning in the presentation
[1:28:56] with the state office Thank you very much And now
[1:29:00] on to Council Member Gonzalez Thank you Mayor Uh thank
[1:29:02] you Mr. Budick for your presentation And thank you to
[1:29:05] your Department for all the wonderful work you guys do
[1:29:07] day in and day out for our city. Parks. Really
[1:29:10] make our city a community Uh that's what really brings
[1:29:14] people together these public spaces And we're seeing it time
[1:29:17] and time again And I appreciate Jostro Park improvement That
[1:29:21] was a that was a longtime coming Uh decades of
[1:29:25] disrepair and it looks beautiful We just had a concert
[1:29:28] there Actually three concerts over the last Three Sundays in
[1:29:31] April after Easter And last one we had over 500
[1:29:35] people at Jostro Park on a Sunday afternoon People picnicking
[1:29:39] people on What looked like for his dates People at
[1:29:42] BBQs And it was just wonderful to see all the
[1:29:44] families utilizing the park And uh... And being very positive
[1:29:49] And you know I believe You know parks actually do
[1:29:51] contribute to public safety Because not only does it allow
[1:29:55] for more people to come into spaces that are large
[1:29:59] and You know fill in with positive activity But it
[1:30:01] also gives youth an opportunity to engage in positive ways
[1:30:05] get their You know energy out and also Um there's
[1:30:11] a lot to be said about Um... The effects of
[1:30:14] mental health The positive effects that green spaces provide So
[1:30:17] I want to thank you for your work Um... Just
[1:30:22] one anecdote Uh lower park Uh... There was a softball
[1:30:28] field Uh... There was... I felt underutilized for quite some
[1:30:32] time Um... And we were able to convert that into
[1:30:36] soccer field And I was getting a little concerned because
[1:30:39] I hadn't seen anybody really use it But this last
[1:30:42] weekend as I was going by Uh... I noticed kids
[1:30:47] actually playing soccer in the park And that really warned
[1:30:50] my heart Because that is exactly what we're trying to
[1:30:52] do Get more people to utilize our spaces in better
[1:30:55] ways So I want to thank you again A couple
[1:30:58] questions Uh under personnel services What percentage of the personnel
[1:31:03] Uh service expenditures Are the park rangers. Percentage of our...
[1:31:10] Yeah Do we know what the cost is for Park
[1:31:12] Rangers annually. I don't have that. Cost breakout percentage wise.
[1:31:20] Okay I'm wondering if as we prepare the final budget
[1:31:24] If we can differentiate the personnel costs related to PARC
[1:31:28] Rangers Um... From all other personnel costs in the budget.
[1:31:34] Specific to this Department I assume Correct Yes we can
[1:31:36] do that Yeah. Alright And then as I look at
[1:31:40] the requested items Recommended projects I noticed that the PARC
[1:31:49] amenities and renovation improvements The PARI account. Were recommending Stop
[1:31:53] is recommending half a million dollars Um... And then as
[1:31:56] we look at the projects to consider Um... Imagine these
[1:32:00] are projects pending any type of budget opportunity or Opportunities
[1:32:06] in the discretionary fund Mr. Cleck How would we decide
[1:32:12] if we should fund some of these projects? We're experiencing
[1:32:17] a flat budget this year. Yeah indeed So as I
[1:32:21] noted earlier today on your May 18th We will tee
[1:32:25] up Uh summary of what is available for capital projects.
[1:32:30] Um... We will also list out what are the recommended
[1:32:38] and the optional projects And then it will come to
[1:32:41] Council could provide You know some direction Even at that
[1:32:44] time on May 18 Or following your budget public hearing
[1:32:49] in June You can provide direction about which of those
[1:32:52] projects to include Or I would recommend at the council
[1:32:54] We don't have to do the optional projects We can
[1:32:56] also decide to wait and forego those projects and wait
[1:33:00] to future years and bank some additional one - time
[1:33:03] money just as savings That's another option Um but those
[1:33:07] decisions will come 18th And in the June budget adoption
[1:33:10] Okay great So are the pari Expenditures are those in
[1:33:17] response to You know Destruction of Park Equipment or things
[1:33:26] that we have to repair Or are those enhanced features
[1:33:30] that were installing? It's a mix I'll let Mr. Budak
[1:33:33] outline Yeah so as a matter of fact Um I
[1:33:36] can say the two projects that was brought up by
[1:33:38] the mayor and yourself were both done out of the
[1:33:41] party The soccer field at low was part of the
[1:33:45] party Money We use that And then the pilot project
[1:33:49] for their autism fans at Wilson Park was done out
[1:33:52] of that part But to answer your question Yes It
[1:33:54] is a mix Sometimes we will get big vandalism done
[1:33:58] to a park where they'll go in. Off top of
[1:34:02] my head We're a little stripped the copper out of
[1:34:04] our security lighting and stuff We'll go back and we
[1:34:06] use PARI Or we are also using when we're doing
[1:34:10] some of these other playground We have we will come
[1:34:12] in there Um, supplement maybe add some additional sidewalk to
[1:34:17] some amenities and or shade So it is a mix.
[1:34:21] Got it And I'm headed somewhere with these questions So
[1:34:24] What percentage of the PARIA counties use to address vandalism
[1:34:30] issues. I can't give you an exact percentage But I
[1:34:34] would say probably at least a third of it. Okay,
[1:34:39] so 150, 000 perhaps in this 500, 000 dollar allocation.
[1:34:46] Is used just to respond to vandalism. That would be
[1:34:50] fair Okay What I'd like us to consider if possible
[1:34:55] with staff Uh, analyzing this request Is that we reduce
[1:35:01] the party amount this upcoming year. Um... But we actually
[1:35:05] create some room for one of the items for council
[1:35:11] to consider related to the PARC security cameras Um... So
[1:35:14] that we can perhaps prevent some of this vandalism in
[1:35:17] the future Uh... And perhaps overall reduce the expenses related
[1:35:23] to vandalism Uh... In some of our parks. Okay Thank
[1:35:28] you. And now cancel member Smith. Thank you Mayor. I
[1:35:37] just want to say to the Wilson Park I've gotten
[1:35:40] feedback on also And the ability for schools and parks.
[1:35:47] To start to work together is a great opportunity. And
[1:35:53] the history of the frustration of people saying Ayy You
[1:35:57] know that school's empty all the time Or that park
[1:35:59] work together So that's great to start that and to
[1:36:03] move forward in different areas. Uh I also like to
[1:36:07] bring up Riverwalk Park some years ago I said We
[1:36:10] can wait on that And it turned out being I
[1:36:13] don't know Felt like five years instead of one year
[1:36:16] Uh Great to see that work being done and look
[1:36:19] forward to it being finished. On the funding sources I
[1:36:23] don't see a separate for the maintenance district funds Are
[1:36:27] those just included in general fund? Or where's that? Yeah
[1:36:30] They're included in our overall budget. But you've got General
[1:36:35] You've got funding sources and different sources So which source
[1:36:40] are they actually in. Just under the General Fund tab.
[1:36:44] Okay. And then we've had a lot of community input
[1:36:49] on the tree planning urban Canopy NICU show that And
[1:36:54] also the input on trimming trees less Are we cutting
[1:36:59] our trimming. Tree budget or where we at on that?
[1:37:04] No we are not cutting our tree We have an
[1:37:06] annual contract in our operating for tree trimming And we're
[1:37:09] not reducing that Now we're trying to reallocate and come
[1:37:14] up with a trimming cycle That will help reduce that
[1:37:18] This was our first year working with TAG And we're
[1:37:21] evaluating with what I'll say the new standard of our
[1:37:25] trimming during certain times of the year So this was
[1:37:28] our first year But we're hopeful that we will be
[1:37:30] able to reduce that cycle in the coming years. In
[1:37:34] different locations on different species throughout the city. So but
[1:37:39] the recommendation was that we trimmed them too often. Not
[1:37:45] just the time of year I mean it was both.
[1:37:47] So you know Instead of every year every two years
[1:37:50] Whatever it was every five years So we're still studying
[1:37:53] that or where are we at on that? Yeah We're
[1:37:54] just in the first year looking at that We started
[1:37:57] that process Um... I'll say in August of last year
[1:38:00] When we got outside of the nesting season And so
[1:38:03] we looked at that and we're going through our annual
[1:38:06] contractor and then our tree division We are hopefully we'll
[1:38:10] have a recommendation Um... Early next year to say Okay
[1:38:14] here's the new cycle We're going to be on a
[1:38:17] two - year in this area with these trees Depending
[1:38:19] on maturity and location types of trees Street escapes versus
[1:38:24] Parks You know There was a lot of different things
[1:38:27] elements that go into that But yeah our goal is
[1:38:29] to reduce it But in this current budget year We
[1:38:32] did not because we didn't know where we were going
[1:38:34] to be at We were hopeful with the tree inventory
[1:38:37] We're going to get to that someday Great Thank you.
[1:38:41] Thank you Council Member Smith. I don't see any other
[1:38:43] requests So thank you Mr. Budak. And now we'll move
[1:38:46] on to the Police Department and colleagues We do not
[1:38:50] have a PowerPoint print net on this in case you're
[1:38:54] looking for it. Well Welcome Chief Stratton We can say
[1:39:04] chief. Thank you. Let's ask him some very hard questions
[1:39:11] for his first one. Forget any grace to blame Chief
[1:39:16] Terry for things for a little bit Hoping. Thank you
[1:39:21] for the opportunity to be here Uh... Today and discuss
[1:39:26] the proposed budget for Biscalyar 26 and 27.
[1:40:02] Well she's working on bringing up the presentation. I can
[1:40:05] we're sitting here Uh, thankfully we have Ariam who's Crunching
[1:40:09] extra numbers. And so we updated the presentation while we
[1:40:13] were. While we were seated. But in taking a look
[1:40:18] at what we were working to do this year Um...
[1:40:21] We worked on making sure that we had still three
[1:40:24] core priorities that we wanted to ensure that we were
[1:40:27] able to preserve essential public safety operations That provide for
[1:40:30] the immediate protection Uh... Of life property and community safety.
[1:40:34] We wanted to ensure that we were sustaining proactive and
[1:40:37] evidence - based crime prevention strategies And sound management practices
[1:40:40] to ensure that accountability and measurable public safety outcomes And
[1:40:44] we were wanting to identify reductions in lower impact or
[1:40:47] non - core functions while seeking to minimize the adverse
[1:40:49] effects on vital services and community trust. So it was
[1:40:52] actually really good exercise for us to be able to
[1:40:54] look at where we could find efficiencies and where we
[1:40:56] might be able to ensure that we were Um... Being
[1:40:59] as efficient and as effective as we could be... And
[1:41:03] that we're being good stewards of taxpayer dollars We're able
[1:41:06] to identify some areas for some reductions And we were
[1:41:09] able to make significant amount of reductions in personnel. Um...
[1:41:16] And looking at some of our personnel reductions We looked
[1:41:19] at areas where we could reclassify positions Areas where we
[1:41:23] could Uh... We were utilizing positions Uh... We see some
[1:41:28] potential for technology coming in the next few years Uh...
[1:41:31] Which will allow us to make some... Some additional realize
[1:41:34] some additional efficiencies. Uh... We were able to look at
[1:41:37] where we could reduce Um... Some of our overtime and
[1:41:41] callback Uh... In trying to be more efficient with. Um...
[1:41:46] Our overtime budget We're able to make some cuts and
[1:41:49] some outside services as well as some equipment. Um... We
[1:41:53] were able to expand our school resource officer program Which
[1:41:57] will offset some funds Some salaries that are being paid
[1:42:00] by the school districts Um... And then we're looking at
[1:42:03] the expansion of our red flex program to ensure traffic
[1:42:08] safety We think that has the potential to offset some
[1:42:12] of our financial costs as well. Even with making all
[1:42:17] those cuts and trying to project out what we believe
[1:42:19] some of the growth can be Um... We were able
[1:42:22] to make a 5 percent. What we thought was a
[1:42:25] 5 percent reduction Some of those areas It still results
[1:42:29] in approximately 2. 39 percent increase in overall expenditure And
[1:42:35] breaking those down in two separate areas Uh The first
[1:42:38] is in salaries and benefits Even though we were able
[1:42:40] to make as many of the cuts and the efficiencies
[1:42:43] As I previously described with increases in medical insurance and
[1:42:46] workers'compensation as well as with purge contributions We're still seeing
[1:42:50] Um... And... And an increase of approximately 2. 78 percent
[1:42:54] And then we saw a 1. 05 percent increases Um
[1:43:00] as it relates to some of our service rates for
[1:43:03] vehicles and technologies Again arriving at an overall increase of
[1:43:08] 2. 39 percent Um to our budget Um, we think
[1:43:14] that You know just looking ahead over the next couple
[1:43:16] years as we've been able to implement our real -
[1:43:19] time information Center and just getting that started We anticipate
[1:43:22] that there will be growth there as we look at
[1:43:24] You know drone is a first responder and things like
[1:43:26] that over the next couple years and where a lot
[1:43:28] of agencies are going and where we think technology is
[1:43:31] taking us We do think that there's an opportunity for
[1:43:33] additional efficiencies and looking for additional savings moving forward And
[1:43:39] as I start to kind of wrap my arms around
[1:43:41] the Department a little bit more and from the handoff
[1:43:44] with Chief Terry Um, I'm interested in seeing where some
[1:43:46] of those other efficiencies Uh... May lie. So that is
[1:43:50] the presentation that we have here I'm happy to do
[1:43:54] the very best that I can to answer any questions
[1:43:56] you may have. Thank you chief That was the shortest
[1:43:58] presentation ever I think. I think so Colleagues Any questions.
[1:44:08] Council Member Coleman. Thank you Mayor Chief Congratulations your selection
[1:44:16] and deployment is chief. And I think the City is
[1:44:20] going to be great Uh... What do you in charge.
[1:44:23] Um... Thank you sir Try not to let you down.
[1:44:27] I wanted to ask you about where you are in
[1:44:33] terms of. Compared to your full compliment Where are you
[1:44:37] at with staffing. Yeah I don't know off the exact
[1:44:42] top of my head You know our compliment coming in
[1:44:45] this year is 512 I want to say we were
[1:44:47] probably close to about 470 We have 35 that were
[1:44:51] in the Academy right now And those are those count
[1:44:53] towards our overall complement Even though they're not realized actual
[1:44:56] officers on the street So we always have a little
[1:44:59] bit of a gap there Um... But I want to
[1:45:01] say we're probably close to be a 94 percent staffed
[1:45:04] Uh over the last couple of weeks we have had
[1:45:08] You know we're in a constant state of attrition Every
[1:45:11] year I've got 14 years worth of data It says
[1:45:14] we lose somewhere between 25 and 30 people a year
[1:45:16] Um... Just for a variety of different reasons And that's
[1:45:19] right about... We're trending towards this year as well So
[1:45:24] I don't have the exact number off my head But
[1:45:26] I want to say we're at that 460 to 470
[1:45:28] range Something like that This elastic Academy that graduated I
[1:45:32] believe in December They're on field training They should be
[1:45:35] coming off of field training here in the next week
[1:45:38] or two And so that's going to be able to
[1:45:41] increase the number of officers on the street Biden number
[1:45:43] 20 or 25 The Academy that we just started in
[1:45:46] March They won't graduate until October by the time they
[1:45:49] get off field training It'll be the early part of
[1:45:51] 2027 before they're really able to be handling culture service
[1:45:55] and being able to help So we'll have a little
[1:45:57] bit of a gap in that timeframe But we're doing
[1:46:02] okay. So what are your priorities for the coming years
[1:46:08] as far as the enforcement. Yeah I think Yeah They'll
[1:46:13] be very similar to where we are and what we've
[1:46:16] been doing You know want to just be as open
[1:46:18] as we can And as flexible as we can to
[1:46:21] handling problems and things as they come up and they
[1:46:23] arise It's great to have some plans and some ideas
[1:46:26] But things can change operationally depending on the issues that
[1:46:30] arise So I want to just continue to do very
[1:46:32] best that we can to solve problems and looking at
[1:46:34] long - term chronic problems that we're having there How
[1:46:37] we how can we build relationships and partnerships within our
[1:46:40] community to try to solve those long - term chronic
[1:46:43] problems that are arising I want to continue to focus
[1:46:46] on our gun violence reduction strategy Um, and as we've
[1:46:50] focused on that gun violence reduction strategy I see that
[1:46:52] that model works Um, so we're... Being able to use
[1:46:56] some of the Calvip Grant funds that have come up
[1:46:59] to be able to study intimate partner violence and doing
[1:47:02] some studies over the last couple years and working with
[1:47:05] Um, with Stanford as well as some other groups to
[1:47:08] be able to look at are there other things that
[1:47:09] we can do and look at not necessarily as a
[1:47:13] predictor of violence But look at some of our past
[1:47:16] for intimate partner violence and seeing if we can bring
[1:47:18] some overall reductions in that area Been partnering with the
[1:47:23] open door network to take a look at some of
[1:47:25] those areas too And I think that there's a real
[1:47:27] potential that we might be able to bring some reductions
[1:47:30] in intimate partner violence I want to continue to look
[1:47:32] at roadway safety and ensuring that our LR roads are
[1:47:35] safe I'm excited about Um The expansion of the red
[1:47:39] flex program I think that has the potential to continue
[1:47:43] to calm some of our roadways Um, there's some additional
[1:47:48] areas as it relates to traffic There's some interesting technology
[1:47:50] that's out there that Um, we're looking at through like
[1:47:53] the international associations the chief of police I don't know
[1:47:56] that California laws caught up with it and is going
[1:47:59] to allow for some of the AI - based traffic
[1:48:02] cameras and things Um... But it'll be interesting to see
[1:48:06] You know where the laws go with that in the
[1:48:09] next couple years has technology develops But I think our
[1:48:12] real - time information center will have Um, the ability
[1:48:15] to help us maybe with some of the traffic combing
[1:48:17] stuff as well So that's absolutely something I want to
[1:48:19] continue to focus on. As we get closer up to
[1:48:24] complement and as the school resource officer program has shown
[1:48:28] to be effective Um, we have more school districts that
[1:48:32] are coming online Uh, I like the idea behind that
[1:48:35] too I think it provides for a safe and a
[1:48:38] secure school environment and the chance that the unthinkable could
[1:48:42] happen Um, but it also creates an opportunity for positive
[1:48:46] work in relationships and mentorship with kids And so I
[1:48:50] like to see that potential growth as well So those
[1:48:53] are some of the things that are that are on
[1:48:55] the forefront of my mind But ensuring that we have
[1:48:57] strong patrol staffing that we're responsive to be able to
[1:49:00] meet the immediate needs of any corner of the city
[1:49:04] of Bakersfield Is going to continue to be a priority
[1:49:06] for our department. Thank you. You mentioned the school resource
[1:49:15] officer and dad reminded me I wanted to thank you
[1:49:18] for the word Captain Crowder has done to respond to
[1:49:23] Uh, demands in the Harris Road area after the last
[1:49:28] accident. Uh, he's mobilized officers that do a little bit
[1:49:33] maximum enforcement kind of things on Harris Road And also
[1:49:37] I was working with the resource officer from the schools
[1:49:39] there Apparently they share them now. Uh, to try to
[1:49:45] make sure that they're deployed in the areas they need
[1:49:47] to be during the school in and out time So
[1:49:50] I want to thank you for allowing him to do
[1:49:54] that and give him the resources he needs. Just on
[1:49:59] that on that note Yes, so Captain Kirkker is the
[1:50:02] captain over our traffic Uh, over many things, but traffic
[1:50:05] is one of the areas there And we do have
[1:50:07] officers in that area I believe is the Panama Buenavesta
[1:50:09] school district And we've been able to grow within the
[1:50:12] Panama One of us at school district that partnership that
[1:50:14] we've had with that district has been exceptional Um, and
[1:50:17] they've I believe were at two, if not three officers
[1:50:22] They're that they're funding And so being able to share
[1:50:25] them amongst the school districts has been very very helpful
[1:50:29] So hope to continue to see growth, but A big
[1:50:33] partnership with Panama Bunavista And they've been fantastic partners. One
[1:50:38] last question Uh One of the complaints I get Uh,
[1:50:43] a lot is the people that are panhandling and the
[1:50:46] median of the streets. Uh... all over town And I
[1:50:49] go to a lot of communities in California I don't
[1:50:53] see that everywhere And I was wondering if you could
[1:50:55] talk about that a little bit about What might be
[1:50:59] able to be done about that? Yeah There has been
[1:51:01] a variety of different enforcement options and things that we've
[1:51:04] looked at Um. For quite some time We've spoken with
[1:51:11] the traffic judge as well to gain an understanding about
[1:51:14] him And we have different medians that our position differently
[1:51:19] within our city And I'll have to get myself completely
[1:51:24] refreshed back up with it But I recall that in
[1:51:27] certain areas where there's a narrow median And the first
[1:51:29] one that comes to mind is at California and oak
[1:51:34] If you can envision the median there at Californian Oak,
[1:51:37] and that meeting is very narrow The traffic judge Um
[1:51:42] told us that how they see it as that median
[1:51:45] is almost extending upward and upward into the sky And
[1:51:48] so median like that They see that a person is
[1:51:53] potentially in danger It could be impeding traffic Um, and
[1:51:57] that's a median that they agree would be enforceable And
[1:52:01] some of the other medians where there's more area and
[1:52:03] the more space Um... There they don't see that as
[1:52:06] necessarily being a median that is as enforceable So it's
[1:52:10] not really a black and white enforcement Um... Issue It
[1:52:14] does require a little bit of a critical thinking and
[1:52:16] some focus for our officers But there is absolute enforcement
[1:52:20] That can be done Um... They are citations that can
[1:52:24] be issued It's not an arrestable offense It's not a
[1:52:27] bookable offense But there are citations that can be issued
[1:52:31] And I think You know There's a variety of different
[1:52:33] opinions about the overall effectiveness of whether a person That's
[1:52:37] issued a traffic Citation is going to show up to
[1:52:39] court and pay Uh, uh, traffic Citation or not So
[1:52:45] there are steps that can be taken I don't know
[1:52:47] the overall long - term effectiveness of it But it's
[1:52:50] absolutely things that we can continue to explore and work
[1:52:54] towards and have a proactive stance Tourist. Thank you Chief
[1:52:58] I have no further questions Thank you Council Member Coleman
[1:53:01] Just following up on that same line of questioning about
[1:53:04] the medians You mentioned the traffic. Court judge Yes, is
[1:53:10] that the local one? I know that Mayor Dyer in
[1:53:13] Fresno has talked about not allowing anyone on the medians
[1:53:17] And they go after them right away So is it
[1:53:20] a local interpretation. Uh No I believe it's the vehicle
[1:53:24] code And I think that vehicle code is a statewide
[1:53:27] vehicle code Um... Again, I don't know necessarily what the
[1:53:30] medians are looking like in Fresno As opposed to what
[1:53:33] they look like here But our court's interpretation is that
[1:53:38] it does vary depending on how The layout of that
[1:53:43] median looks And so it's something I can I can...
[1:53:46] Devil Deeper into and make sure I'm a little more
[1:53:49] firm on my understanding On something I'm happy to be
[1:53:51] able to bring back and speak about Thank you Chief
[1:53:53] I get many queries about that issue Council Member Smith.
[1:53:59] Thank You Mayor Uh just a couple things Uh... Appreciate
[1:54:04] your focus on Traffic Comming and doing what we can
[1:54:08] We continue to lose too many lives on the streets
[1:54:11] of Bakersfield Uh... There are cities that I think the
[1:54:16] state is having a pilot Speed cameras Uh... So that'd
[1:54:20] be nice if the state would move forward That's kind
[1:54:23] of what I was referring to when I talked about
[1:54:24] some of the laws haven't really caught up with some
[1:54:27] of the emerging technology That's out there But I would
[1:54:29] anticipate that in the next couple years as that technology
[1:54:33] becomes Um... Little more prevalent It would almost be a
[1:54:37] very similar principle who we have with RedFLEX cameras But
[1:54:40] there's some technology that's being piloted as it relates to
[1:54:43] stop sign enforcement as it relates to crosswalk infringement in
[1:54:48] general Speed cameras and things like that again It's not
[1:54:51] something that the state has, but the other states that
[1:54:54] are doing it The technology is certainly out there So
[1:54:57] I think that that's something that will be coming towards
[1:55:01] our state in the next few years Alright, I appreciate
[1:55:03] that And the number of red light. Citations that we
[1:55:09] give a year astronomical And I anticipate you're going to
[1:55:16] see an explosion of it. This next year is we're
[1:55:19] essentially doubling the amount of cameras that we have within
[1:55:21] our city And it's probably still not probably still not
[1:55:25] enough And so we were looking at a phased in
[1:55:28] approach Let's put in this next phase and see where
[1:55:31] it takes us Um, but I would anticipate that there's
[1:55:34] still going to be additional Um, room There's room for
[1:55:38] additional growth in that regard And we're trying to take
[1:55:40] a look at where the collisions are occurring and where
[1:55:43] these intersections are occurring Um... And can we make them
[1:55:46] safer? Interestingly enough that sometimes red light cameras increase the
[1:55:49] number of collisions But generally they're rear end collisions that
[1:55:53] are not fatal They're being big reductions in those broadside
[1:55:57] head - on collisions Which are the things that bring
[1:55:59] fatalities But you do see people slamming on the brakes
[1:56:02] and slowing down until you get an increase in some
[1:56:05] of the rear end collisions Those caused me less concern
[1:56:08] obviously We're really trying to save lives And so if
[1:56:10] we can bring a reduction in those broadside and head
[1:56:13] - on collisions That's where a big portion were our
[1:56:15] effort lies Appreciate that attitude. Uh. I think that's all
[1:56:21] I had Thank you Yes sir. Thank you Council Member
[1:56:24] Coleman. Council Murphy Gonzalez Thank you Mayor Um Just wanted
[1:56:29] to dovetile off this First and foremost Congratulations Chief Thank
[1:56:32] you sir Excited to see you at the helm Thank
[1:56:35] you Um and looking forward to working with you Um
[1:56:39] Council Member Smith's Um point Uh that Rite cameras I
[1:56:42] feel are effective There's so many times where I'm at
[1:56:46] a red light And I as a rule We like
[1:56:50] three seconds before I proceed to enter the intersection upon
[1:56:53] a green Because I don't know how many times now
[1:56:55] There's been a car that's been You know running that
[1:56:58] red and what have You know T - boned That's
[1:57:00] right And so every time I'm in Uber or Lyft
[1:57:03] always Gently remind the drive Hey just be sure to
[1:57:05] take a few seconds Take an extra couple seconds When
[1:57:08] you're out and about Because I want to try to
[1:57:11] help Encourage people to be a defensive driver That's right
[1:57:14] Um, and so I really appreciate that But also You
[1:57:18] know the traffic enforcement The motorcycles that we've deployed I
[1:57:23] think have been really effective Agreed You may not be
[1:57:26] prepared today But I would love to see over a
[1:57:29] longer period of time Uh... What the trends are as
[1:57:33] a result of those investments Um... And I think that'll
[1:57:36] help us kind of paint a bigger picture of what
[1:57:38] we can do moving forward And how this council might
[1:57:42] be more strategic Uh... Moving forward... The other thing that
[1:57:46] comes to mind is that. Um... When in 2018 We
[1:57:52] were discussing PSVS And... We did a lot of analysis
[1:57:56] Um... Other jurisdictions and what the Police compliments Uh... Look
[1:58:01] like in comparable cities And we often looked at You
[1:58:06] know A number of officers per capita Um... Because we
[1:58:09] recognize that some communities are much larger Some smaller Uh...
[1:58:13] But that's really Eye - opening For many of us
[1:58:19] Uh... And really helpful for the community to kind of
[1:58:21] understand what we have And how we compare. Um... I'm
[1:58:26] wondering if in the future I know the demands on
[1:58:30] your time as you've entered this position But in the
[1:58:33] future If we might be able to analyze that... Comparison...
[1:58:38] As a council Um... And... And help guide some of
[1:58:41] our future decisions related to the budget Yes And something
[1:58:45] I've done kind of informally on my own I've looked
[1:58:47] at the top 20 Cities and reached out to those
[1:58:49] police chiefs to get what they're compliment is and Look
[1:58:51] at some of those things We are definitely much... We're
[1:58:54] on the leaner end You look at a City like
[1:58:56] Oakland Which is smaller than us geographically Which only has
[1:58:59] maybe 6 or 10, 000 more people And has 300
[1:59:03] more police officers The city of Fresno has almost double
[1:59:07] the complement of police officers that we have And I
[1:59:09] don't know that they're double the size of our city
[1:59:12] Um... In some of these areas We are covering more
[1:59:15] areas geographically Um... Our City is continuing to grow And
[1:59:19] we do believe that our police forces is lean We
[1:59:21] believe we have the tools and the resources that we
[1:59:23] need to be able to respond to our city But
[1:59:25] it does It means that we're able to spend less
[1:59:28] time focused in on certain areas And you're constantly just
[1:59:33] trying to get to something Bring some... Some calm to
[1:59:37] it Restore it to its homeostasis And then you'll be
[1:59:40] able to get on And so I do believe that...
[1:59:42] That... That our compliment at some point When we can
[1:59:44] get to that growth within our City And whenever we
[1:59:47] can get to a spot where we're being good stewards
[1:59:49] economically That we can move towards a more structured growth
[1:59:52] But I do believe that that would be in order.
[1:59:56] Homeostasis That's the first time I've heard that in the
[1:59:59] Council Chambers That's great I love that word Um But
[2:00:01] I appreciate you And also just want to say Thank
[2:00:04] you to the Impact Team And for all the work
[2:00:07] that those... They do fantastic Let's do every single day
[2:00:11] I work with them I feel like daily And that
[2:00:14] includes the weekends And they're just completely responsive And... It's
[2:00:18] very much appreciated... In War 2 And all the Business
[2:00:22] Owners and homeowners Uh... Who rely on in the Impact
[2:00:26] Team to resolve many of the issues Uh... That we're
[2:00:29] facing So thank you so much to that Well Thank
[2:00:31] you for saying that I really appreciate the impact team
[2:00:33] too But I'd be remiss if I didn't give a
[2:00:34] lot of credit to the entire community Vitality Program And
[2:00:38] there's people from across the entire City that are all
[2:00:40] working towards that And really been proud over the last
[2:00:42] couple years Um that the City has been able to
[2:00:45] take more holistic and comprehensive approach at kind of looking
[2:00:49] at the Just The entire You know City ecosystem and
[2:00:53] how we're able to operate and move within There So
[2:00:55] I think it's a really great program I'm hopeful that
[2:00:59] we're able to see some improvement as far as long
[2:01:02] - term effectiveness goes But being able to get to
[2:01:04] there and be able to get to an initial response
[2:01:07] I'm very very pleased with where that's at. Thank You
[2:01:12] and now Voice Mayer. Thank you Mayor Hi Chief Stratton
[2:01:17] Hi good morning Good morning Um one welcome And congratulations
[2:01:21] on your first budget workshop Thank you First Day Right
[2:01:24] into Um You get to say that your first day
[2:01:29] starts with a budget earring That's right Like every police
[2:01:32] officer's dream Yes exactly I'm sure this is exactly how
[2:01:35] you drafted up Always wanted to be Well I wanted
[2:01:40] to join in on just sharing that even before today
[2:01:44] You've always had a traffic calming - oriented approach to
[2:01:48] how we make our streets safer And just on the
[2:01:50] heels of the accident that happened in Ward 7 Um,
[2:01:55] you know us folks Council member Smith Council Member Coleman
[2:01:58] Council Member Bashir Tasha have really been putting our heads
[2:02:00] together as to How we Come up with solutions that
[2:02:05] aren't just Uh incident - based and responsive And in
[2:02:10] our conversations with the neighbors in and around the area
[2:02:14] And looking to get the school district involved in the
[2:02:16] conversation Um, one of course accountability being with us Um
[2:02:22] residents and constituents And everyday Citizens who are on the
[2:02:25] roads But also how do we as a City ensure
[2:02:28] that we meet our end of the responsibility with one
[2:02:31] How we design our streets and then to how we
[2:02:33] enforce Um, and it kind of being You know At
[2:02:37] least what I shared with neighbors is You know it's
[2:02:39] not just one size fits all It is a two
[2:02:44] things can be true at the same time while also
[2:02:46] Uh needing like a multi - pronged approach Uh... As
[2:02:50] to how we truly make street safer And I feel
[2:02:53] in this moment that Harris Road example and a very
[2:02:56] tragic example can be utilized for us at the City
[2:03:00] to design Um. Designate system of not only response But
[2:03:07] also prevention And that being You know Police Department as
[2:03:12] well as public works You know sitting at the table
[2:03:15] together And that being kind of the system of how
[2:03:17] we operate It is the design of the road while
[2:03:21] also knowing that you all are already doing targeted enforcement
[2:03:24] in these high risk corridors. And I think while the
[2:03:28] neighbors were not surprised by You know how many accidents
[2:03:32] happened on that corridor You know for some of us
[2:03:35] A Harris Road might not be the first street that
[2:03:37] comes to mind It might be a pan mole or
[2:03:39] white lane Um So just some initial thoughts But also
[2:03:43] if within a budget hearing like today Um as a
[2:03:48] city start thinking through what is a system of whether
[2:03:51] it's shared resources share dollars across to Departments Or maybe
[2:03:55] you're already thinking of some like cross - collaboration I
[2:03:58] just wanted to put that out there and knowing that
[2:03:59] you have You do your own research on your own
[2:04:03] And have shared different ideas in the past especially Um...
[2:04:06] In places like Ward 7 were cycle Cyclist accidents and
[2:04:10] pedestrian accidents have been You know One of the reasons
[2:04:13] why I've called you many times And you've been incredibly
[2:04:16] helpful with that And coming up with ideas Um... Just
[2:04:19] wanted to use this as an opportunity to brainstorming kind
[2:04:22] of see a few had ideas as well Love it
[2:04:24] Thank you Well first of all I'd like to thank
[2:04:26] the council because Um... You may not know it But
[2:04:29] you each of you have shaped and challenged my own
[2:04:31] thought process as it relates to traffic I have a
[2:04:33] very operational base background in gangs and SWAT and a
[2:04:36] homicide I didn't work traffic coming up So it's not
[2:04:38] something that I have this firsthand close Uh understanding of...
[2:04:45] In working with you over the last couple years Each
[2:04:47] of you talked about traffic safety and the technology that's
[2:04:50] coming with cars and vehicles And I've thought through that
[2:04:53] And you talk to me about... You know just speeds
[2:04:57] and narrowing roads in a variety of different things And
[2:04:59] so in some of the my own research and things
[2:05:01] that I've done I've really kind of distilled down our
[2:05:03] approach Kind of the R3Es You know where I look
[2:05:06] at our education environment and enforcement And oftentimes the police
[2:05:09] department is really only enforcement - based And that's really
[2:05:13] where my head has been limited to quite frankly But
[2:05:15] as you know We've looked at the gun violence reduction
[2:05:17] strategy and figuring out How can we look at things
[2:05:19] from a more systems - based approach? It's something that
[2:05:22] I'm very interested in so I don't stand here before
[2:05:24] you today and have the answers to it But collaboration
[2:05:27] is something I'm absolutely dedicated to and I know that
[2:05:30] Um... There's a variety of different big brains that I'd
[2:05:32] like to be able to tap into in some best
[2:05:34] practices from across the country and things that we can
[2:05:36] try to implement here We're totally open to those things
[2:05:38] because our end state is what we are holding tight
[2:05:40] to our end state is to bring a reduction in
[2:05:44] fatalities and making sure that year over year We're bringing
[2:05:46] reductions into that note We have in the last couple
[2:05:49] years we are seeing reductions. I want more and I
[2:05:52] want more reductions We're not going to take our foot
[2:05:55] off the gas We're going to continue pushing towards that
[2:05:57] Um, but it is absolutely something we're open to We
[2:05:59] want to continue to look at what enforcement and what...
[2:06:03] Education can look like and we're open to idea So
[2:06:05] if you all have ideas of ways of things that
[2:06:08] you think the Police Department can be doing We're open
[2:06:10] to any and all of those things to try to
[2:06:12] bring some reductions But you're right Harris Road is not
[2:06:15] something that would have come to my mind I would
[2:06:16] have told you Panama Lane And I think the data
[2:06:18] would support that But I told you white lane And
[2:06:21] I think the data would have supported that as well
[2:06:23] Um, and that's what led us to some of the
[2:06:25] locations as it relates to our red flex cameras and
[2:06:27] where we're putting cameras Um, as well to try to
[2:06:30] bring some of those reductions But it just shows that
[2:06:32] these things can happen anywhere Um... I do think that...
[2:06:37] You know some of the street racing and things like
[2:06:39] that It's very transient in nature, not transient in this
[2:06:43] sense that what we talk about Like transients and homelessness
[2:06:45] But it really moves around We are seeing areas And
[2:06:51] kind of you're going to see it on some of
[2:06:53] the outer portions of town But something like this It's
[2:06:56] becomes pretty central And you look geographically now in Harris
[2:07:00] Road is kind of central to our map in our
[2:07:04] area So Open to ways that we can do. We
[2:07:07] want to be Perflexive, responsive and the ability to be
[2:07:12] able to move around to be as effective as we
[2:07:13] can. Thank you I appreciate that. Thank you Vice Mayor
[2:07:18] Chief Op in times when there are accidents The public
[2:07:22] calls for stoplights instead Street lights and stoplights instead of
[2:07:28] stop signs Can you comment a little bit about the
[2:07:31] data says about those? I heard some conversation I think
[2:07:35] in the Police Department about the efficacy of stop signs.
[2:07:40] As compared with stop lights Interesting I don't have any
[2:07:45] of that information I don't know it off the top
[2:07:46] of my head Um... Totally open to those And again
[2:07:49] That's something that... I need to get more educated on
[2:07:52] myself is quite frankly from an enforcement standpoint It's like
[2:07:56] Okay, there's a stop sign And here's the code when
[2:07:57] you run a stop And here's the vehicle code for
[2:07:59] that When you run a stoplight Here's a vehicle code
[2:08:01] for that And when you run a stop light If
[2:08:03] the traffic camera Here's the vehicle code for that And
[2:08:06] that's really been very reactive in enforcement based throughout the
[2:08:08] entirety of my career on it It's really only been
[2:08:11] the last year or so Last year or two of
[2:08:13] working with you all Is this become a focus of
[2:08:15] the council It's becoming more of a focus of my
[2:08:17] own to be able to look at some of those
[2:08:18] things So I definitely think it's worth looking at. And
[2:08:24] we work really closely with traffic engineering within the city
[2:08:27] And so we rely on them for their expertise too
[2:08:29] Is to what the standards are And I don't know
[2:08:32] what they are is to win a stop sign is
[2:08:34] put up versus when Uh stop light is put up
[2:08:38] Um... But these are conversations As we're having closer partnerships
[2:08:41] with the schools and the school districts are asking questions
[2:08:43] about Um... About what can be put up and when
[2:08:48] speed bumps can be put up And I've got several
[2:08:51] different We stop and talk with crossing guards And stop
[2:08:56] and just chat with them And they have some. Amazing
[2:09:00] horror stories about the things that they see every day
[2:09:02] And so... You know We want to make sure that
[2:09:05] we're trying to do the very best that we can
[2:09:06] to prioritize school district enforcement and working with the current
[2:09:10] high school district to see if they're able to maximize
[2:09:12] enforcement And some of their areas their schools as well
[2:09:14] And so... All definite options for trying to bring some
[2:09:19] improvement and ensure that we're safe everywhere But certainly some
[2:09:23] of the school zones would be some of the highest
[2:09:24] priorities for me And just in my heart And you
[2:09:28] know in the morning and in the afternoons Ensuring that
[2:09:30] our children are able to get to and from school
[2:09:33] in a safe manner And I do think that high
[2:09:35] visibility traffic - based enforcement is going to be a
[2:09:37] component of that Thank you chief If I understood the
[2:09:39] conversation correctly Stop signs might even be more effective in
[2:09:44] certain situations Because everybody has to come to a stop
[2:09:47] So I was just curious about that But thank you
[2:09:49] so much for your presentation I don't see any other
[2:09:52] requests to speak So thank you for that And now
[2:09:55] we move on to our last presentation of this session
[2:09:58] And that would be fire. Chiefs Thank you so much
[2:10:04] for their successful Fire Department open house It seemed like
[2:10:09] the public was very engaged I heard a lot of
[2:10:11] appreciation Express by families who were there They really seem
[2:10:15] to enjoy that And a good turnout Even earlier in
[2:10:19] the day Maybe then in past years Yeah it was
[2:10:22] actually a great turnout Uh... Wonderful Saturday. Um couple hours
[2:10:26] well spent. Uh... We're guessing anywhere between 5 and 800
[2:10:30] It's hard to count But we're incredible opportunity to demonstrate
[2:10:37] Uh... What our Department does Our partners with PD and
[2:10:41] Parks with their ranger program were there. Uh... We had
[2:10:44] Cal Water PGE So a little bit of everything there
[2:10:48] And uh... Everybody got an opportunity to come out Enjoy
[2:10:52] a great day Um... Go through a couple water events
[2:10:56] CS Repel and Tara Bakar and learn about the fire
[2:11:00] service We love talking about the fire service So it
[2:11:03] was great for us. Uh So Unreal Mayor Council members
[2:11:07] Thank you very much for this opportunity to present Uhr
[2:11:10] propose 26 - 27 Budget Uh... I always like to
[2:11:13] start off our presentations with our mission statement The mission
[2:11:16] of the Big Shrill Fire Department Protect Engage and inspire
[2:11:18] safe community through all hazard response. Community risk reduction while
[2:11:22] delivering legendary customer service That's something we really take the
[2:11:25] heart Something that's really important to us I'd like to
[2:11:28] give you just a quick update on Uh... BakerSville Fire
[2:11:32] Department. Um... You have a very capable BakerSfield Fire Department
[2:11:37] Over the past 10 or 15 years are call volume
[2:11:39] is doubled. Uh... And in that 10 or 15 years
[2:11:42] Our Department capabilities have expanded. Uh... We now have a
[2:11:46] Type 1 hazmat Uh... Hazmat rescue team We also have
[2:11:50] a regional USAR Urban Search and Rescue Task Force. Uh...
[2:11:53] That was the one that deployed to the Palisade's Fire
[2:11:57] A year and a half or so ago Uh... We
[2:11:59] have a Swiftwater Rescue team, a state certified Swift water
[2:12:02] rescue team Which responds all throughout the Western United States.
[2:12:08] Um... Last year we responded nearly 50, 000 incidents. And
[2:12:11] I would like to point out something nearly 2, 700
[2:12:15] of those were advanced life Uh... Support So our paramedic
[2:12:19] services. Which is an incredible accomplishment for us. Uh... As
[2:12:24] you know We do provide a paramedical level of care.
[2:12:26] Uh... We respond to many fires outside of Bakerfield Supporting
[2:12:32] Uh... Both... Our surrounding states And our surrounding communities I
[2:12:37] think last year The year before we Actually A couple
[2:12:41] of our members went up to Alaska And then of
[2:12:43] course we have our prevention and inspection services. Some of
[2:12:48] the accomplishments for this last year Uh... One that... I
[2:12:51] really like And you guys have received a copy of
[2:12:53] it as our annual report Which really talks about Um...
[2:12:56] Our last year. And some of our accomplishments in the
[2:13:00] year last year And then How we're moving forward. Uh...
[2:13:03] Department Dwight Infrastructure Uh improvements Um... Of course we had
[2:13:08] our... This is really speaking to our last open house
[2:13:11] Uh... A year or so ago. Uh, but we did
[2:13:14] just have her open house Uh... On Sunday or on
[2:13:17] Saturday And then responding to multiple fires Uh We've also
[2:13:21] deployed our parametric bike team and UTV team throughout BakerSilled
[2:13:26] I think probably our most recent deployment is a BakerShield
[2:13:29] Marathon Where they were actually put into use a couple
[2:13:31] times As we know Some of those marathon routes. Are
[2:13:34] a little harder to get our large Fire engines Our
[2:13:37] rescues into so The bike Uh... And UTVs make a
[2:13:41] lot of sense in those. So our goals Um we
[2:13:45] have many goals These are just a couple of them
[2:13:47] Uh... Funding opportunities Uh... Whether it be Grant or revenue
[2:13:52] generation through cost recovery. Fees Uh... Continued enhancement through developing
[2:13:58] a new EOP and Expanding or improving upon our services
[2:14:03] to handle a large - scale Um... Mass disaster event
[2:14:07] Which we hope we never have to use But your
[2:14:09] bake shoulder Firefighters are prepared for that. Uh... BakerShield Fire
[2:14:13] Department Social media sites We realized that Um... A lot
[2:14:17] of people use social media out there And it's a
[2:14:19] good way to get our story out there And a
[2:14:21] good way to inform the community. And then of course
[2:14:24] URating Our updating our current CountyOut plan That's something that
[2:14:28] we're in the process of doing right now That is
[2:14:30] critical for some of our FEMA funding. Um... And then
[2:14:36] Uh... Implaying our Department - wide dashboard Which will be
[2:14:40] both an internal and external facing Dashboard 4 Our community
[2:14:44] to actually look into. Now to actually get into the
[2:14:48] budget Um... Like all the other departments This budget is
[2:14:53] reflective of our budget cuts And we have seen a
[2:14:56] 9. 23 And overall budget Uh... Like I just said
[2:15:03] This is reflective. Of Uh... The cut set We have
[2:15:06] had, and I'll talk specifically about that Uh... Coming in.
[2:15:11] The next couple slides. Uh... Our primary drivers for the
[2:15:14] increase Our COLAS, our salaries and benefits. Uh... Departmental CIP
[2:15:19] request. Uh... And then our internal rates And we've heard...
[2:15:24] Um... The EQO I know those internal rates insurance fleet.
[2:15:28] Um... CS. Those drivers. Uh... That's are one of those
[2:15:35] things that... Our hard to control. Um... But... Are necessary
[2:15:39] cost. So Budget reduction impacts. These are the impacts that
[2:15:47] the Department is going to actualize... Come... July 1st with
[2:15:52] these... Proposed budget cuts. Uh... The first one is we're
[2:15:56] gonna remove one rescue. Uh... From service. It's actually gonna
[2:16:01] be rescue 2 out of Station 2. Uh... That's gonna
[2:16:04] result in a reduction of three captains and three firefighters.
[2:16:07] Uh... Those positions will be eliminated and they'll go away.
[2:16:10] Uh... We'll also eliminate one Deputy Chief Uh... Position... And
[2:16:14] we will restaff the additional two rescues through attrition to
[2:16:20] two firefighters as opposed to a captain and a firefighter.
[2:16:25] So they'll go from a captain and a Firefighter to
[2:16:28] two firefighters. Uh, we will also carry four Firefighter and
[2:16:33] four engineer Vacancies throughout the fiscal year Will to result
[2:16:37] in salary savings of essentially the salary and benefits Minus
[2:16:44] the time and half for overtime. We do have some
[2:16:50] capital improvement request Um... As you guys have seen as
[2:16:54] Council seen. Uh, there are two different kind of categories
[2:16:58] for our capital improvement request. The first one is our
[2:17:01] recommended projects. Uh The first one is an NFPA, an
[2:17:06] OSHA compliant Turnout replacement. Uh... Recently matter of fact, as
[2:17:12] late as soon as April Last month. Oh she has
[2:17:15] adopted NFP 1850, 1851 Which is going to require an
[2:17:19] advanced testing on our turnouts. And we actually have started
[2:17:23] a very minimal amount of that testing And we anticipate.
[2:17:26] A large replacement in our turnouts. Um... HVAC systems for
[2:17:32] station 5, 6, and 13. And then our body armor
[2:17:37] Uh gonna be expired here soon Uh, and replacing that
[2:17:41] for all of our... Firefighters in the field. And then
[2:17:46] Products Uh projects for consideration. Floor rehab at Fire Station
[2:17:51] 6, 7, and 11. Which essentially is removing the tile.
[2:17:58] Um... Pulling up all the glue And just taking it
[2:18:01] down to Polishing the concrete. Uh... We found in our
[2:18:04] past couple stations. Concrete is easy to maintain And it
[2:18:10] never goes bad So, and then Uh... New parking area
[2:18:12] for Fire Station 3. Uh... Next year Uh, we will
[2:18:16] actually celebrate our 150th anniversary for the Big Shield Fire
[2:18:19] Department As you guys can see from... Pictures there Now
[2:18:24] None of our stations are 150 years old But we
[2:18:27] do have some old stations that do need some... Uh...
[2:18:30] TLC Station 1 right there is actually built in 1939
[2:18:35] And I believe that pump RE UC there is 1800s
[2:18:40] Uh... So. With that. Um... I'd be happy to answer
[2:18:45] any questions. Thank You Council Member Gonzalez Thank you Mayor
[2:18:50] Chief Thank you so much for the presentation Again, thank
[2:18:53] you for all the work that You do every day
[2:18:56] And all of the Department I appreciate. I appreciate I
[2:19:00] think we all very much appreciate Fire Department Um... And
[2:19:04] all of the Firefighters who would get out there every
[2:19:06] day Um... Calls have increased. That's a trend that continues
[2:19:13] over the last What... I've been on the City Council
[2:19:16] Forever, yes Um... What are your... Some of your busiest.
[2:19:22] Stations. Yeah You know this downtown corridor is some of
[2:19:27] our busier stations. Station 1, station 2, station 6. Station
[2:19:32] 7 are probably our 4 busiest stations. Um... And the
[2:19:35] calls... The call types range anywhere from EMS calls to
[2:19:39] fire calls. I would say we probably have most of
[2:19:42] our fires and our downtown corridor within Station 2 Station
[2:19:46] 1, station 6 Okay And... One of the proposed. Budget
[2:19:54] reductions is to remove... A rescue, and it's a rescue
[2:19:59] 2 out of Station 2. Correct. What types of calls
[2:20:05] does a rescue respond to? Yeah The rescue concept is
[2:20:10] actually a great concept. Uh... These were... Uh... Brought around...
[2:20:14] Uh... After PSVS was approved. And Essentially what they are
[2:20:18] is A2 - person Firefighter and a captain. Uh... Pick
[2:20:23] - up truck And they respond to the first medical
[2:20:27] A call that is in that station. And the whole
[2:20:30] idea behind it was we analyzed Uh... The station, the
[2:20:34] call volume, the station had, and then the current calls
[2:20:36] And that's really the important thing is looking at the
[2:20:39] concurrent calls. And... The idea is we wanted to make...
[2:20:46] Our response time is short as possible. Uh... So we
[2:20:49] deployed rescues to... Initially station 2 and station 6, and
[2:20:54] then Station 1 And they would respond to the initial
[2:20:56] medical aid call Leaving that engine available for potentially that
[2:21:01] next fire or rescue call Or even that next medical
[2:21:04] 8PAL. Okay, so... If we remove rescue 2 at a
[2:21:12] station 2. One of the busiest stations. In the entire
[2:21:18] City... What happens? Who then responds? We then require an
[2:21:23] engine to respond? Certainly, yeah It does have some operational
[2:21:27] impacts for sure. Um... In fiscal year 24 - 25
[2:21:31] We had just around 700. Um... Concurrent calls and station
[2:21:36] 2's area. Uh... Last year Rescue 2 ran nearly 3,
[2:21:42] 100. Incidents, and those are both medical Aid and fires,
[2:21:47] mainly medical Aids. Um... So what will happen is On
[2:21:51] those concurrent calls, Um, we're gonna see increased response times.
[2:21:55] Uh... And what's gonna happen We'll be Engine 2 will
[2:22:00] respond to the First Medical Aid, call That comes in
[2:22:03] for that area, whether it's a fire Uh... Vehicle Accident,
[2:22:07] pedestrian... Or a medical ACOL. Uh... An apparatus from outside
[2:22:12] of that first - in, commonly Station 1, station 4,
[2:22:16] station 6. Engine 41 Uh... We'll be responding into that
[2:22:21] area. And... Servicing that Paul. So there is a longer
[2:22:25] response time when it comes to Uh... Not having rescue
[2:22:29] 2 There. It sounds like this... Not only will Impact...
[2:22:35] Uh... The area surrounding station 2, but will have implications
[2:22:38] for the City. Potentially You know when we have another
[2:22:43] Resource responding into another first - end. If we get
[2:22:47] a call, not first in, you know, the resource. For
[2:22:51] that first - in that's already responded to another person
[2:22:53] has to have another apparatus Respond from another area into
[2:22:58] that area. Once a BakerSield Fire Department apparatus is committed
[2:23:02] to a call Uh... We don't stop and change our
[2:23:06] priority to another Incident. So It's not something where... Say
[2:23:12] we have a call that Engine 4s respond into Station
[2:23:16] 2s area, and they get another call in there, their
[2:23:18] first - end They don't stop responding to Station 2
[2:23:21] and go back to their first end. They keep responding
[2:23:23] to Station 2 in another apparatus, or another resources responded
[2:23:28] into the Station 4s area. So, yeah, it definitely could
[2:23:32] create increased response times. And these positions are actually filled
[2:23:38] positions, is that It isn't the scenario where... You know,
[2:23:42] in many other cases throughout the City in other departments...
[2:23:45] Where when we actually remove positions They're vacant. These are
[2:23:49] actually filled positions today, is that correct? They are. Uh,
[2:23:53] rescue 2 is staff today, and it is running incidents
[2:23:56] today. Uh... I will say that... Those positions... Uh... If
[2:24:01] rescue 2 does get eliminated, will be eliminated through attrition
[2:24:05] So there won't be anybody laid off. But it is
[2:24:07] a resource right now that is... Uh... Utilized. Utilize. Right
[2:24:13] now And responding to incidents today. Okay, I appreciate that
[2:24:17] so much. I just... I just want to voice my
[2:24:20] concerns colleagues of this particular recommendation, and this potential cut
[2:24:26] Uh... And the impacts that it has to Public safety.
[2:24:30] Uh... Amongst our community. Um... I, for one, will not
[2:24:34] be supporting this particular reduction and cannot support a budget
[2:24:39] that includes this Uh... Reduction. Um... Given the impacts to
[2:24:44] those in our community who desperately need it. Given the
[2:24:47] fact That increases... For calls for service, are being experienced
[2:24:54] year after year, and given the innovation really Of these
[2:24:59] rescues. And the fact that we're able to respond much
[2:25:02] more swiftly, much more nimbly... To some of these... Live
[2:25:06] - or - death situations that our community members face.
[2:25:10] Um... I think it is important for us to maintain
[2:25:15] Uh... This same level of service, and to figure out
[2:25:18] ways in which we can make that. Happen, and to
[2:25:21] maintain these services. And so... I'm going to make a
[2:25:26] referral that we look towards other Options in terms of
[2:25:30] budget reductions, but we not include this reduction in the
[2:25:35] upcoming budget. Thank you, Chief. Appreciate it. You're welcome. Thank
[2:25:38] you Chief, vice mayor. Hi Chief, thank you so much
[2:25:41] for the presentation Thank you. It's nice to see you
[2:25:43] this afternoon. My question's actually for our City manager. What
[2:25:46] is the status on our Fire Master Plan. Thank you
[2:25:50] Ayes Mayer. I'm actually turned back to Chief Albertson to
[2:25:54] give us an update on where the Firefighters Association is
[2:25:59] at on that Yeah, thank you. I can provide an
[2:26:01] update on that. We've actually been in contact with them.
[2:26:05] They required some additional information RGIS Department has delivered that
[2:26:09] to them, and we should see some results here soon,
[2:26:12] probably within the next month or two. Okay. As what
[2:26:14] we were told. I will say we were told that
[2:26:17] about three months ago Uh... But we have been in
[2:26:20] contact with them, and they are... For lack of a
[2:26:24] better terms, uh, crunching the data. Okay Yeah. I think
[2:26:28] it's been over a year since we first since I
[2:26:31] first made that referral, and I... It's unfortunate that it
[2:26:34] takes so long, and it is something that is so
[2:26:36] urgent. Um... Given that fires don't wait, and we could
[2:26:44] really use that data to be able to make some
[2:26:47] informed decisions so that we don't have to make unfortunate
[2:26:50] cuts Um... To any department, but particularly your department That
[2:26:54] is responding to such urgent and dire needs in our
[2:26:57] community. Um... So I still very much look forward to
[2:27:01] that plan coming back and Hoping that it shows that
[2:27:06] as call times increase. Um... We need more substations. We
[2:27:10] need to be developing more infrastructure as our City grows,
[2:27:14] especially as our City grows south. Um I was just
[2:27:18] at Mountain View Elementary School at their opening and their
[2:27:21] south of Taftair, only building south of Taftaiway, and I
[2:27:26] was sharing with them how we often... I often have
[2:27:29] conversations with the Fire Department about Master Planning and how
[2:27:34] schools kind of are dictating You know where our community
[2:27:37] is moving. Um... And so, you know, in the same
[2:27:40] similar spirit Uh... I hope that it reflects exactly what
[2:27:44] we need, and so we can make really pointed decisions
[2:27:47] related to our budget. I had a question about the
[2:27:51] paramedic level of care. You had shared 2, 700 advanced
[2:27:56] life support paramedic responses Um... And that is... Extremely high.
[2:28:04] Is there like a comparison of, has that also increases
[2:28:08] as a data point? Or is that pretty consistent with
[2:28:11] waves? Well, I would say it has increased, but it
[2:28:14] necessarily has an increase because there's more ALS calls, but
[2:28:17] because we have more paramedics out in the field. Okay.
[2:28:19] Um... We run roughly, uh, respond roughly to 37, 000
[2:28:24] EMS calls a year. Uh... In the past, we haven't
[2:28:27] had paradics. And over the past years we have slowly
[2:28:31] developed a paramedic program. We currently have four resources running,
[2:28:35] uh, ALS balls. Uh, rescue one, Agent 15, engine four,
[2:28:39] and engine 13. Engine 13 is there at Panama Einstein.
[2:28:43] Um... So, uh... That is something that myself and our
[2:28:51] chief staff are constantly licking to see where we can
[2:28:53] expand those services. Uh, couple of the places that we
[2:28:56] have expand those services. Is with our Bike team and
[2:28:59] UTV team. Like I talked about earlier where we respond
[2:29:03] to large events. We staff the marathon, we staff big
[2:29:06] concerts. Uh, we also have SWAT paramedics now. In the
[2:29:10] past, when PD had a SWAT call, they would ask
[2:29:15] for an engine to come respond. And as you may
[2:29:19] or may not know, SWAT call - outs are usually
[2:29:22] lengthy call - outs. And that engine resources committed to
[2:29:27] that call - out for that long time, that period
[2:29:29] of time, which is sometimes significant. So now we have
[2:29:33] to actually developed a SWAT paramedic program where... Where we
[2:29:37] have specially trained paramedics, uh, that integrate into the SWAT
[2:29:42] team. And now when they get a call out, our
[2:29:44] SWAT parabnetic candles, the EMS portion of it. And now
[2:29:47] we do not respond in engine or an apparatus to
[2:29:49] that. Which has been great. So we constantly look to
[2:29:54] see where we can expand our advanced level care resources.
[2:29:57] Okay, that's kind of where my question was as well.
[2:30:01] Does our department do other departments kind of separate out
[2:30:04] like the paramedic responses versus buyers, physical fires? Um, and
[2:30:10] how... How that kind of looks at CitySilmilar to ours.
[2:30:14] Yeah, I will say not every other department. Um... Does
[2:30:19] the SWAT paramedic? Uh, program like we do. But a
[2:30:25] lot of them do like a UTV or bike team.
[2:30:27] Um, a lot of other departments provide advanced level. Uh...
[2:30:32] CARE. Like REERMICTO. We see it here in Current County
[2:30:38] with their medic squads. Uh, they don't necessarily provide, do
[2:30:43] the same platform that we do. But much like LA
[2:30:46] County. Um, LA City, things like that. Other departments like
[2:30:52] that. We mirror kind of how our program performs off
[2:30:57] of theirs. And then the specialized programs. Are one of
[2:31:01] those things that we've really kind of adapted to. We've
[2:31:04] seen a need there with the marathons. We've seen a
[2:31:07] need there with a large events. Um... The Christmas parade
[2:31:11] was a great one. Um... And as we saw a
[2:31:14] couple years ago, it was a huge benefit. That and
[2:31:18] the fact that the incident happened right in front of
[2:31:20] a fire station definitely helped. Uh, but, uh, we've seen
[2:31:24] the need for that. And that's something that, as well
[2:31:28] as BPD, have been able to address those. Thank you,
[2:31:32] Chief. Chief, what percentage of the total 50, 000 incidents
[2:31:38] are non - fire - related. You mentioned in 37,
[2:31:42] 000 EMS, that's about 74 percent of the total. Roughly
[2:31:48] 90 percent are non - fire - related. There's about
[2:31:50] 10 percent of them there. Maybe a little bit over,
[2:31:53] maybe even into the 11 or 12 percent that are
[2:31:55] fire - related. Which is higher than, um, a lot
[2:31:59] of other communities. Uh, BakerSield is a very active community
[2:32:02] when it comes into one we're talking fires. Uh, we
[2:32:06] run anywhere between five to 6, 000 fires a year.
[2:32:09] Um, not all of those are structure fires. Roughly a
[2:32:13] thousand to 1100 of those are structure fires. Um, I
[2:32:18] am a board member for Cal Chiefs in California training
[2:32:21] officers, association. Um, and a network with other departments on
[2:32:28] a regular basis. And most of them don't see the
[2:32:31] activity that we see. Um, so, um, yeah, we're definitely
[2:32:36] very active department when it comes to buyers. Thank you.
[2:32:39] Council Member Smith. Thank you Mayor. I was just wondering
[2:32:44] how it has worked out. We talked for years about
[2:32:48] reimbursement from insurance companies and where we're at on that.
[2:32:53] We are actively collecting reimbursement for insurance companies, mainly our
[2:32:57] vehicle accidents. Uh, we were doing it for structure fires
[2:33:01] for a little bit. And we stopped and we just
[2:33:02] restarted again. Uh, we are receiving some reinbursements. It's not
[2:33:06] a lot. Um, it's anywhere between seven to 11, 000
[2:33:12] a month. Uh, but we currently are looking at a
[2:33:15] cost recovery platform for what's called first responder fees. And
[2:33:20] essentially what we're looking at is doing some cost recovery
[2:33:24] through insurance companies. And once again, uh, for our medical
[2:33:27] calls. Um, as I just stated we run around 36,
[2:33:33] 000 to 37, 000 medical calls every year. Um, that
[2:33:37] could have a significant impact on revenue generation. And I
[2:33:41] hate to use a word revenue. It's more of a
[2:33:42] cost recovery generation. Um, and, um, we are in the
[2:33:47] process of doing a study. Uh, to determine what that
[2:33:50] fee is going to be. And then, uh, hopefully here
[2:33:53] in the next three or four months we'll bring, uh,
[2:33:56] that study and that recommendation to council, uh, for your
[2:34:01] approval and we'll implement that. So which calls are we?
[2:34:06] So currently we are collecting for V collection structure fires.
[2:34:10] If we get a large rescue, um, a while back
[2:34:14] we had a trench rescue. They're kind of lengthy. We'll
[2:34:17] do the cost recovery for that. But some of the
[2:34:19] things that, uh, are required for this is they have
[2:34:22] to have insurance. Um, one of the agreements that we,
[2:34:26] uh, had with you, the council is that we were
[2:34:28] not going to direct Bill our community members. Right. Now,
[2:34:33] uh, you could potentially see where community members community members
[2:34:37] could get a bill. But it's because insurance has already
[2:34:41] reimbursed them for that amount on the structure fires. And
[2:34:43] then they just need to remit that to the recovery
[2:34:45] company. But it's not, it's not additional money out of
[2:34:49] their pocket. What you're looking to look at the EMS
[2:34:52] also. Yeah. We're in the process of doing that right
[2:34:54] now. Um, the study is going to start here soon.
[2:34:58] We're just gathering some information together to send it off
[2:35:01] to a company called DTA. They're going to establish. We
[2:35:06] wanted to make sure that we had a fair equitable
[2:35:09] rate as far as the COS recovery component. Right. Um,
[2:35:12] and, uh, we should have that here soon. And we'll
[2:35:16] be bringing it to Council. Hopefully here in the next
[2:35:17] three or four months. Okay. Great. Thank you very much.
[2:35:22] Thank you, chief. I don't see any of their requests
[2:35:25] to speak. City Manager colleague. Would you like to offer
[2:35:28] some closing comments? Just really briefly mayor and council again.
[2:35:32] We'll be back here on May 18th. We'll have the
[2:35:34] remainder of the departments. And then also again, a summary
[2:35:37] of where we're at with general fund and capital improvement,
[2:35:41] um, budget. And we'll, we'll, we'll see us back at
[2:35:44] that time. Thank you. Colleagues, do you have any other
[2:35:47] questions. Seeing none. We stand adjourned at 214. Sorry. Oh,
[2:35:57] this is big. Motion to receive and file motion. Okay.
[2:36:02] Please cast your votes. I know. I saw that right
[2:36:06] there. It's like, remember to do that. You got to
[2:36:09] vote.
[2:36:23] And just motion is approved with council members audience. Gonzales.
[2:36:29] And Bashir Tash absinthe. And we're. Just. And we are.
[2:36:35] Sorry, Mayor. Thank you. And so now we stand a
[2:36:37] journa 215.