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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-30-10 Admin. Committee MinutesDUBLIN CITY COUNCIL ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE Tuesday, March 30, 2010 8:30 a.m. — Council Chambers Minutes of Meeting Vice Mayor Salay called the meeting to order. Present was Committee Member Gerber. Committee Member Keenan was absent (excused). Also present were Mayor Lecklider and Ms. Chinnici - Zuercher. Discussion of process to be used for magistrate selection Vice Mayor Salay stated that her assumption is that all Council Members will want to be involved in the interviews, noting that the Mayor actually makes the appointment, with Council's approval, per the Charter. A determination of the process is needed so that the candidates can be informed about what is to occur. She asked for input. Mr. Gerber suggested that each Council Member do an initial review of the 16 applications. Vice Mayor Salay agreed, suggesting that five to seven candidates from the group. perhaps everyone could identify their top Ms. Chinnici - Zuercher stated that she would not recommend interviewing all 16 candidates, but perhaps a scoring system could be agreed upon, based on the criteria needed for the magistrate. The top five or six could then be selected for an interview. Council is already familiar with several of the candidates, and Kelleen Roth currently serves as a back -up magistrate for Dublin. Mr. Gerber indicated that, assuming the candidates all possess law degrees as required, he would want someone of reasonable temperament; someone familiar with Dublin; someone who could serve as Council's ambassador. He would prefer someone who is accustomed to doing this type of work. Some of these candidates have more legal experience than others, and many are already serving as magistrates. Ms. Chinnici - Zuercher indicated that courtroom experience is important, and ideally, the person would have experience as a magistrate. She does have a preference of a Dublin resident for the reasons she has previously stated — namely, that their knowledge of the community and the environment is helpful in rendering a decision in cases before the court. Mr. Gerber added that perhaps someone who is familiar with the Court personnel and familiar with the practices of the Dublin Mayor's Court over the years, i.e. typical sanctions for traffic violations in this community, is desirable in order to maintain consistency. Administrative Committee of City Council Tuesday, March 30, 2010 Page 2 Vice Mayor Salay asked what role the prosecutor plays if a magistrate is selected who has not previously served in Dublin. Ms. Chinnici - Zuercher responded that, currently, the prosecutor meets with those who want to plead not guilty or with those who have certain offenses. There is a form to be filled out, which is attached to the documents brought before the presiding officer. The presiding officer is not obligated to do what the prosecutor recommends, but generally the recommendation is followed. If a pattern emerges -- such as a prosecutor downgrading OMVIs -- and the presiding officer is not in agreement, it would be the responsibility of the magistrate to call for a meeting to discuss the situation. Mr. Gerber added that the obligation of the prosecutor is to ensure that justice is served. It would be important for the prosecutor as well to understand the City's policies and practices and to carry those forward in discussions and case presentations. Ms. Chinnici - Zuercher noted that currently, Schottenstein, Zox and Dunn hires the prosecutor; the prosecutor works for SZD and is under the supervision of Stephen Smith, Jr. If there is a major issue, Stephen Smith, Jr., would be contacted to set up a meeting. The prosecutors at SZD often work for multiple communities, and SZD would have a broader perspective of the work being done by the prosecutor across their client group. Mayor Lecklider stated that after the magistrate appointment is completed, it will be important to have a means of monitoring how the magistrate is fulfilling his /her role. This may include meeting with court personnel or others to ensure the criteria and expectations are met. Mr. Gerber stated that because the Court has been under the Mayor's charge for a number of years, it may make sense that the Mayor in some capacity oversee this -- ensuring the prosecutor is doing his /her job, and that the magistrate is fulfilling the role assigned by Council. Mayor Lecklider stated he would not object to this, if this is the desire of Council. He had assumed that the monitoring responsibility would fall to the Mayor, although he would encourage all Council Members at some point to visit Mayor's Court and observe the proceedings. It is a significant part of the City operations and currently runs very smoothly, based on his observation. Ms. Chinnici - Zuercher agreed, noting that the City is fortunate to have an excellent court staff, including long -term and very professional staff that process a large number of cases that come through the court each year. In their industry, the court employees are considered top notch and are certified, take continued training, and belong to national professional associations. The staff also keeps apprised of changes in the law, and the law for the most part dictates the parameters for sentencing. Administrative Committee of City Council Tuesday, March 30, 2010 Page 3 Mayor Lecklider summarized that he anticipates observing the court proceedings on perhaps a monthly basis and reporting back to Council, if desired. However, he does encourage all Council Members to attend and observe. He added that any feedback from a resident about their experience in the court would also be shared with Council. Mr. Gerber noted he would expect that the Mayor would have this oversight role, even though the appointment does require the consent of Council per the Charter. Vice Mayor Salay called for discussion regarding the process to determine who will be interviewed. Mr. Gerber commented that he believes all Council Members would prefer to have input. Perhaps they could each review the packet of applications and a date could be established by which they select their top 5 -6 candidates. Ms. Chinnici - Zuercher agreed, suggesting the applications be provided to all of Council this week for review. Perhaps each Council Member could contact Vice Mayor Salay to share their list of the top 5 -6 candidates by Tuesday, April 6 — when Council is scheduled to meet for board and commission interviews. Ms. Chinnici - Zuercher asked how many appointments are anticipated to be made. Vice Mayor Salay responded that at a minimum, a primary and secondary magistrate need to be appointed. Mayor Lecklider stated that up to this point, there have been four persons serving in the Mayor's Court — Mayor, Vice Mayor, and two back -up magistrates. The question is whether more than one alternate magistrate is needed. Mr. Gerber stated that perhaps Council should have a primary magistrate and two secondary magistrates, given this history. Vice Mayor Salay agreed, noting that coverage is needed for vacations, etc. Mayor Lecklider summarized that perhaps a primary and one to two alternates will be selected. Ms. Chinnici - Zuercher stated that having more alternate magistrates will not result in additional costs, as only one would be serving on a given court night. Mayor Lecklider noted that with all of the arraignments and prisoner hearings, plus court nights, there is considerable time involved that a magistrate must be available. This would be an appropriate interview question — the candidate's availability to attend to these obligations. Ms. Chinnici - Zuercher added that this is another advantage to a Dublin resident serving as a magistrate. The call for a prisoner hearing is made on short notice to the magistrate. Mr. Gerber noted that he recalls that the Mayor and Vice Mayor have been handling these hearings on an alternating basis. A magistrate would now be required to handle these as well. Administrative Committee of City Council Tuesday, March 30, 2010 Page 4 Ms. Chinnici - Zuercher stated that she typically would provide court staff with a monthly calendar with her planned absences, so that they could arrange for the Vice Mayor or a magistrate to be available for court or prisoner hearings. Vice Mayor Salay stated that she will ensure that all of the other Council Members receive the applications and will ask them to provide her with their top five to six candidates by Tuesday. Discussion about the next step can take place on April 6. Mayor Lecklider asked at what point it would be appropriate to involve the court staff. Some of them have made comments to him about what they would desire in a magistrate candidate and they may have some valuable insight to offer. Ms. Chinnici - Zuercher stated that the court staff may have interaction with their peers in the area who have personal knowledge about the magistrates who work in these other jurisdictions. They may have some insight to offer. Mayor Lecklider stated some have expressed a preference for a particular style in a magistrate, essentially one who can move through the case load efficiently. Mr. Gerber suggested that a contact be made with court staff regarding their insight. Vice Mayor Salay responded that she will do so. Vice Mayor Salay asked everyone present to consider potential questions for the magistrate applicant interviews. Mayor Chinnici - Zuercher stated it would be helpful to know if a candidate has a particular view regarding certain issues. When she served as the presider, she was sensitive to speeding in school zones and generally imposed a strong penalty. Mr. Gerber stated that perhaps questions could be framed that relate to the City policies; how a candidate views a Mayor's Court versus a Common Pleas Court; and how they envision a magistrate would function in Dublin's court. Mayor Lecklider noted that the hourly rate projected appears to be an increase over what the City has been paying. It was the consensus of the Committee to obtain additional information on this from staff. Ms. Chinnici - Zuercher noted that her assumption is that a full -time magistrate would potentially be paid more per hour than the current back -up magistrates, although she is not aware of what information has been gathered by staff about what full -time magistrates are paid in the area. Vice Mayor Salay asked that staff provide this information. Mayor Lecklider agreed that asking someone to commit to serving as a magistrate on a full -time basis may result in a higher cost. Administrative Committee of City Council Tuesday, March 30, 2010 Page 5 Goal Setting Retreat Topics Vice Mayor Salay noted that a copy of the client letter from Julia Novak of The Novak Group has been provided to the Committee. She received this when she met with Mr. Foegler. Ms. Novak has a background in working with and for government entities, and her background seems a good fit for this facilitation. Ms. Chinnici - Zuercher noted that before deciding on a facilitator, it may be helpful to determine the agenda items for the retreat. Vice Mayor Salay noted that Council had some previous discussion about retreat topics and she gave the suggestions to Mr. Foegler. The list includes the library expansion, citizen engagement /volunteering, continuing the performance measurement process, and the 33 Corridor /ERAC /interchange matters. Mr. Foegler suggested discussion of the City's regional role and the Columbus 2020 plan. He had also forwarded an e-mail to Council from Ken Danter regarding housing projections, and suggested some discussion about this and related planning based on these forecasts. Mr. Foegler suggested discussion of the employee survey responses and plans to address the findings. Another suggested topic is planning and how the City's process might change in the future. In addition, Ms. Chinnici - Zuercher and Mr. Gerber suggested having Bill Hutter, Founder /CEO of Sequent present on future workforce needs. Council needs to determine how much time is available at the retreat for the topics, based on how much time everyone is willing to set aside for the retreat. How does Council want to accommodate Mr. Nutter's presentation in the retreat program? Perhaps he could present at dinner on a Thursday evening, with time for questions /discussion. The members present agreed with having a dinner presentation with discussion to follow. Mr. Gerber added that Mr. Nutter's presentation, as heard at the Dublin AM Rotary meeting has a global focus, and it would be a good lead -in and discussion topic for the retreat. Ms. Chinnici - Zuercher noted that his approach was quite different from what Council has heard previously. In response to Mayor Lecklider, she noted that Sequent is a firm founded by Bill Hutter that provides HR services and consultation services for businesses. Mr. Gerber noted that all of the topics are worthwhile, time permitting, but he was hoping for something more global and policy driven. Council Members have recently read the book, Good to Great and he is interested in having an opportunity for discussion among the seven Council Members. He is hopeful that the facilitator could lend her expertise in structuring such a session. There are many ideas he would like to review, and he is interested in discussion about who Dublin is now, what Dublin wants to be, and how Dublin can be even better. He would not be opposed to having additional meetings throughout the year to discuss all of the topics suggested, as they are all important. Administrative Committee of City Council Tuesday, March 30, 2010 Page 6 Vice Mayor Salay suggested that some of the suggested topics be covered in the morning session, with global and policy discussions in the afternoon — building in time for conversation. Ms. Chinnici - Zuercher suggested reversing the order, as the global discussion in the morning may bring a different approach to the specific topic discussion in the afternoon. Perhaps the "good to great" concept can be woven into that conversation, although not all of the topics lend themselves to this. Civic engagement, performance measurement, and Dublin's regional role would certainly relate to this concept. In terms of the library topic, everyone agrees that a new and larger library is needed for Dublin. Perhaps a decision could be made to establish a committee to carry this out. Vice Mayor Salay noted that the library topic has been discussed, but moving it forward to implementation has not occurred. That would be a good topic for the retreat. Ms. Chinnici - Zuercher stated that she views the library topic as appropriate for the afternoon discussion. But she is not certain that the planning process would be an appropriate retreat topic. She would prefer to have a joint meeting with the P &Z Commission and Council for this discussion. The dialogue would be more beneficial with everyone participating. Vice Mayor Salay agreed. Brief discussion followed about the employee survey. Mr. Gerber suggested that this topic could possibly be discussed as part of the performance evaluation for the City Manager. Mayor Lecklider noted that business retention and expansion is not on the topic list. He would be interested in a discussion regarding the current philosophy and approach, and involving Council in this business outreach. Is this something others are interested in discussing? Vice Mayor Salay responded that this item was actually discussed with Mr. Foegler, and she intended to include it on the proposed list of topics. Ms. Chinnici - Zuercher supports having this type of discussion. In the past, there has been much focus on numbers, but she is more interested in the philosophy underlying the R &E efforts. This would be an excellent discussion in follow -up to Mr. Nutter's presentation. Having the answers to these philosophical questions would be key before determining whether the current approach should be continued. Vice Mayor Salay added that at times, it seems the approach is a case -by -case basis, and there is not an overarching philosophy in the efforts. Administrative Committee of City Council Tuesday, March 30, 2010 Page 7 Mayor Lecklider commented that the resources that exist within the Dublin business community are largely untapped. There are many successful businesses and business people in Dublin, and creating a means for them to be more involved would be desirable. There is much available talent not being utilized. Perhaps Dublin could marshal these resources to present a united front in statehouse issues, for example, resulting in a more recognizable voice. Dublin could convene a group which could address not only those issues, but which could foster whatever philosophy develops for Dublin about how the City wants to be perceived by businesses that want to expand or locate in Dublin. Essentially, the question for discussion could be, "What is Dublin's identity ?" Mr. Gerber added that companies are part of the Dublin community as well, and have many resources. It would be ideal to have them join the City in these community efforts. Mayor Lecklider responded that the suggestion of having coffees or roundtables with business leaders would help to engage these individuals. Ms. Chinnici - Zuercher stated that it would be interesting to consider a "Dublin Partnership" — what that would look like and what the purpose would be. It seems that the Columbus urban community emphasizes their Chamber, the Columbus Partnership, the Columbus 2020 plan, and the "Compete Columbus" theme. They all work to drive the brand of Columbus. Perhaps having a "Dublin Partnership" could bring conversation with their peers around the world and promote the benefits of bringing a business to Dublin. This proposal is very interesting. Vice Mayor Salay noted that Dublin does need to do a better job of advocating for itself. Regionalism is important, but perhaps Dublin can lead in ways it has not done in the past. Ms. Chinnici - Zuercher stated that she is very intrigued with this idea. Perhaps having a Dublin Partnership connected to Dublin would be very beneficial in retention and expansion efforts. The Columbus Partnership has specific goals regarding the types of industries they are seeking. They have identified the growing industries. Benchmarking is updated for the Partnership every two years and is done for the region. It indicates the industries that are advancing, and a plan is then established to pursue them. Because Dublin is very dependent upon its corporate tax base, it would be very worthwhile to employ some of the same strategies in Dublin. Vice Mayor Salay noted that Dublin is a unique suburb in terms of its corporate tax base, which was established years ago — unlike some other suburban communities. Mr. Gerber noted that Dublin's employment base is very large and many of the businesses may have ideas for attracting other similar businesses to Dublin. Dublin has been somewhat of a "lone ranger" in the efforts to secure an anchor for the COIC, and there are many Dublin businesses who would want to be involved in this effort. Administrative Committee of City Council Tuesday, March 30, 2010 Page 8 Ms. Chinnici - Zuercher stated that private sector investment will be needed for much of the Bridge Street corridor development. Perhaps having businesses involved in the creation and conversation phase would result in more future partnerships. Mr. Gerber added that trends indicate that public /private partnerships will be essential in future development. Mayor Lecklider confirmed that the retreat is envisioned as a Thursday evening and all day Friday, based on what has been done in recent years. Vice Mayor Salay responded that this is her assumption as well. She asked that everyone check their availability on Thursday evening, April 29 and Friday, April 30. Staff and the facilitator are available on those dates. Ms. Chinnici - Zuercher suggested that the dates be checked when discussion takes place with individual Council Members about their top 5 -6 magistrate candidates. Vice Mayor Salay agreed to do so. [At this point, Ms. Chinnici - Zuercher and Mayor Lecklider departed the meeting.] Rules and Regulations for PRAC, CSAC, Records Commission, Personnel Board of Review, and Tax Board of Review Vice Mayor Salay noted that the draft Rules and Regulations for all of these boards and commissions were previously provided to the Committee for review. Mr. Gerber asked who initiated this update project. The Clerk responded that it was initiated after the board and commission training last year, when staff determined that some boards and commissions did not have current Rules. The Clerk indicated that with the Committee's recommendation of approval, the Rules and Regulations would be scheduled on the April 12 Council agenda for adoption. Legal staff has reviewed these Rules and Regulations as well. Mr. Gerber asked if the Tax Incentive Review Council and the Community Reinvestment Area Housing Council have specific Rules and Regulations. Vice Mayor Salay stated that those are prescribed by statute. The Clerk noted that the TIRC and CRAHC have a meeting scheduled on Tuesday, May 25 at 6 p.m. The Chair of the Community Development Committee, the Chair of the Finance Committee and the Vice Chair of P &Z are members. Mr. Gerber moved to recommend approval of the PRAC, CSAC, Records Commission, Personnel Board of Review, and Tax Board of Review Rules and Regulations to Council. Vice Mayor seconded the motion. Administrative Committee of City Council Tuesday, March 30, 2010 Page 9 Motion carried. The recommendation for adoption of these Rules and Regulations will be scheduled for the April 12 Council agenda. Proposed City Tour - Planning Commission and City Council Vice Mayor Salay noted that she assumes that Planning staff is aware of this request from the Commission. Discussion followed about potential dates /times. Vice Mayor Salay suggested that the Clerk identify some potential dates in June in the early evening for this tour. Vice Mayor Salay added that she will contact Ms. Amorose Groomes to discuss the proposed tour. Mr. Gerber noted he had understood that the goal was to visit sites in the City which have been developed, in order to view /critique the various aspects of development done over the years. Perhaps some criteria could be agreed upon with staff prior to determining which sites to visit. Mr. Gerber moved to adjourn to executive session at 9:46 a.m. for discussion of personnel matters. Vice Mayor Salay seconded the motion. Vote on the motion: Mr. Gerber, yes; Vice Mayor Salay, yes. The meeting was reconvened at 10:05 a.m. and formally adjourned. Clerk of Council