HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-03-22 Admin. Com. MinutesDUBLIN CITY COUNCIL
ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE
Tuesday, May 3, 2022
430 p.m.
5555 Perimeter Drive
[4= Usulz
Commirtee meeting to order at
4:30 p,m.
Armroval of Minutes
Vice Mayor De Rosa moved to approve the March 1, 2022 minutes of the Administrative
Committee:
Ms. Alutto seconded the motion.
Vote: Ms. Kramb, yes; Ms. Alutto, yes; Vice Mayor De Rosa, yes.
Moving Council Initiatives Forward
Vice Mayor De Rosa introduced the Council Initiatives Item, a topic identified at Council's
Retreat on March 17 and 18, 2022. At the retreat, Council discussed how to introduce
Council initiatives, and once introduced, how to move them through the process. Jeffrey
Sturm, Retreat facilitator, has developed a document suggesting how to move ideas
forward from concept to community. He will guide tonight"s discussion.
Mr. Sturm stated that the goal of todays discussion is to obtain feedback from the
Committee on what they want to create, guidance on the approach, and a framework. He
stated that incorporated into the setup guidance and conceptual framework is information
that he gathered from Councils Retreat discussion.
Mr. Sturm explained that the goal is to create a simplified process flow to assess,
determine, and implement ideas that start with City Council Members. The process must
fulfill clarity, transparency, and efficiency. There needs to be a simple tool or template to
support Council. Integration with staff is a necessary component to achieve a smooth
handoff and retain Council connection throughout. The Administrative Committee will
steer the creation of this process and take it back to Council. The end product must be
simple, practical, specific, and easily applied.
Administrative Committee Meeting
May 3, 2022
Page 2
Ms. Kramb stated that she feels the first question to other Council members should be
whether staff time should be spent on the idea. The easiest solution would be a one-page
document that outlines what the Council Member is looking for and why. Questions of
who a topic might be assigned to and is the idea gets implemented can come later in
the process. The document could be provided to Council and the City Manager prior to a
Council meeting letting Council members know that this item will be brought up during
roundtable. Mr. Sturm stated that what she has suggested articulates how the discovery
stage might occur. The discovery stage is first. It gets everyone on the same page. As an
idea moves through the process, more detail and information is gathered. The one-page
document suggested would stay with the item throughout the process, providing history
of how the idea was initiated and sponsored. Ideas try to solve a problem or seize some
opportunity.
Ms. Alutto stated that there is a stage prior to presenting a fully formed idea. That prior
stage considers how Council members get ideas. Sometimes, ideas can be generated
through Council meeting discussions, and the ideas can be then be gathered in a format
for further discussion. Ideas also can come from individual Council member discussions,
conversations with residents, information gathered from media, and from individual
research.
Ms. Kramb agreed, but at some point there is a need to articulate the idea for a Council
meeting to assess support before forwarding to staff to determine if the idea has been
looked at previously or if such an initiative is already occurring. Staff could also identify
who or how the initiative could be handled.
Ms. Alutto asked how it would be handled if an idea comes from multiple people. Ms.
Kramb responded that someone would volunteer to bring it forward. Similar to
introducing a bill, one or more people could work together to "sponsor"' or articulate an
iE• . Before an idea moves to staff, it needs the support of a majority of Council.
Vice Mayor De Rosa stated that a one -sheet document stating what winning looks like will
be important. For example, she has heard from residents the suggestion for a climbing
wall. She would want staff input before she could articulate the idea for Council
discussion. Putting the one-page document together may require some staff time prior to
introducing a fully formed idea to Council.
Ms. Kramb stated that the question to Council could be whether or not staff should
investigate the feasibility of an idea.
Ms. Alutto stated that two different levels of staff input are suggested, but preliminary
input, or a quick litmus test with staff could be obtained before Council discussion occurs.
Mr. Sturm stated that what is being discussed is actually those 5 phases. By outlining this
process, thresholds will be defined. The great thing about a process like this is that the
only decision making is whether or not it is worth taking the next step. The work now is
defining those steps. He will meet with staff as well as individual Committee Members for
.?dditional input.
Administrative Committee Meeting
May 3, 2022
Page 3
Vice Mayor De Rosa stated that the question was raised regarding who would
introduce/sponsor an idea. The difference between the City's process and another
legislative process is that we do not actually sponsor items. However, there are some
initiatives that Council members may be passionate about and there is an expectation of
Council members taking the lead on items they are passionate about.
Ms. Alutto stated that the question of who would like to be involved can be asked to allis
Council. Getting others involved also offers an opportunity for teamwork. Vice Mayor De
Rosa stated that figuring out sponsorship and touchpoints would be helpful. Ms. Alutto
stated that she would prefer softer language than sponsoring an item. Ms. Kramb state(
that a point person can be selected during the discovery phase, Ms. Alutto stated that a
lot of factors will determine the number of touchpoints and point people. At the outset,
one of the ways to define this process is setting parameters for how council members wi
interact. Mr. Sturm stated that these ideas can take on a whole different life and
comeone else may be more suited to step
Mr. Sturm stated that he would like to set up a few one -on -ones to get more input act',
then bring it back before The Committee.
Vice Mayor De Rosa stated that this item will be back on the Committee's June agenda.
Council Liaison/Council Rules of Order
Ms. Readler stated that the document provided (in the packet materials) is an attempt t#
capture Council comments from the February 28 meeting. During that meeting, it was
brought up that liaisons to other organizations should also be defined and that has been
included as well.
Ms. Kramb stated that she likes the changes, which are very high level. Ms. Alutto stated
that she thinks it is appropriate.
Vice Mayor De Rosa stated that she would like to review comments from the previous
meeting to confirm that those questions have been answered by the definitions. The
answer to the purpose of the role is answered in Letter C. The primary role would be to
serve as a facilitator of communication from the board or commission to Council. Ms.
Kramb stated that communications should be "between" Council and boards and
commissions. Vice Mayor De Rosa stated that there was discussion about training
opportunities and joint meetings. There was also discussion that liaison will provide
regular updates during the Report section of the agenda at a Council meeting. The
Committee offered consensus that those items were addressed. Vice Mayor De Rosa
noted that language was added to allow Council to add a liaison to more groups if
desired. Ms. Alutto stated that if there requests for liaisons in the future, this document
can act as a reference. Vice Mayor De Rosa stated that there is currently one liaison and
she asked for a recommendation for any groups that should have liaisons at this point. A
Administrative Committee Meeting
May 3, 2022
Page 4
possible way to delineate that need could be which boards/commissions are decision
making bodies Ms. Kramb stated that the Architectural Review Board might benefit for
having a liaison and Council is currently considering the historic district. Ms. Alutto, stated
that the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) caseload may not be heavy enough to warrant a
liaison. Ms. Kramb stated that BZA's purview is also more straightforward. Vice Mayor De
Rosa stated that r may be an appropriate board as a decision making body. Ms. Alutto
and Ms. Kramb stated that they could try assigning a liaison to PZC, ARB, and BZA and
review that at a later date. Vice Mayor De Rosa suggested bringing the topic back to
work session instead of a regular Council meeting to allow for easier discussion.
Mr. McDaniel referenced Section 12.03 C. The Rules stated that the liaison shall .. help
facilitate training opportunities and proactive planning for the future. He stated that he
thinks the intent is to get ideas flowing but it might be clearer if that is stricken and
instead it states that the liaison should be bringing back topics of training to greater
Council. Ms. Kramb suggested changing the word "facilitate" to "identify". Ms. t
suggested highlighting this topic for further discussion. Ms. Readler asked about language
to make sure training opportunities are brought to Council. Vice Mayor De Rosa stated
that there was discussion about the workload of boards and commission members. It
may be helpful to bring it to Council before assigning more work. Ms. Alutto, stated
that the concern was respecting board and commissioner memberstime. The
communication back and forth is covered in the definition of the role. Mr. McDaniel stated
that money is set aside in the budget and it can be used for that. It may not need to
come back. His concern was that this not be worded in such a way that the liaison alone
is responsible for the trag.
Vice Mayor De Rosa requested Mr. Rogers place this item on a future work session
agenda.
of. new (Draft) Website including pages for Council and Boards and Commission
Mr. Kohn shared the proposed updated website in beta with The Committee, He stated
that they hope to go live in a couple of weeks.
Mr. Edwards provided a brief background of the current site noting that it has been in
existence for many years and has become a collection of everything. The key for the
update was to look at data and streamlining things. There are analytics to show what
people are looking for. Staff is committed to sitting down with different departments and
hearing what they want to share through the website. The needs of end users have
changed and they have focused on a user -centric design. The current front page had a
lot of different content; they wanted to clean that up with the use of icons. The majority
*f people look at the website on a mobile device so it is designed mobile -first. They
wanted the front page to have a large search bar. The sub icons are designed by
popularity. Recreation is the most popular section and the news icon is the second most
Administrative Committee Meeting
May 3, 2022
Page 5
Ms. Alutto referenced "Projects"' and stated that there is a big map and she is unclear as
to its purpose. She would prefer a thumbnail or something like that. Ms. Alutto asked if
there is a serious effort to find broken links, orphaned pages, etc. Mr. Edwards stated
that staff has a check sheet of things that need to carry over and things that need to be
deleted. Ms. Alutto stated that the photographs on the pages are massive. This has to be
sized for PC and mobile and be tested on every possible device. Mr. Edwards stated that
those are easy fixes. Ms. Alutto stated that she likes the overall look and feel. It would bQ
great if the search tool worked well. She loves that GIS data is easy to get to.
Administrative Committee Meeting
May 3, 2022
Page 6
Pr'Pro
want.
Vice Mayor De Rosa stated that the bottom of each page looks and feel very dated. It
looks very different than the rest of the page. Ms. Alutto, stated that the Rules of Order
and Code & Charter do not need to be here. She suggested a place to easily make a
records request as well as contact information. She really likes the building mapping with
directions. Mr. Edwards stated that staff will make something specific for boards and
commissions. Vice Mayor De Rosa suggested adding a phone number on the bottom.
Mr. McDaniel stated that an imitative he would like to start but does not have the time to
roll out is a non -emergency dispatch center. We have enough people who are
knowledgeable that we need to pool into a central location.
Ms. Alutto stated GoDublin can still be leveraged through the website. Vice Mayor De
Rosa stated that she would love to have another discussion on the GoDublin app.
Administrative Committee Meeting
May 3, 2022
Page 7
Adiournment to Executive Session
Vice Mayor De Rosa moved to adjourn to executive session for discussion of personnel
matters considering the employment of a public employee.
Ms. Alutto seconded the motion.
Vote: Vice Mayor De Rosa, yes; Ms. Alutto, yes; Ms. Kramb, yes.
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