HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - City Council Goal-Update Session 02/02/2019MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL GOAL-UPDATE SESSION
AMES, IOWA
FEBRUARY 2, 2019
The Ames City Council meeting was called to order by Mayor John Haila at 8:35 a.m. on the 2nd
day of February, 2019, in Parks and Recreation Office, 1500 Gateway Hills Park Drive. City
Council Members present were Bronwyn Beatty-Hansen, Gloria Betcher, Amber Corrieri, Tim
Gartin, David Martin, and Chris Nelson. Ex officio Council Member Allie Hoskins was also
present. City Manager Steven Schainker, City Attorney Mark Lambert, Assistant City Manager
Bob Kindred, Assistant City Manager Brian Phillips, and Management Analyst Tasheik Kerr
were also present.
COUNCIL GOAL UPDATE: Mayor Haila reviewed the agenda and introduced Donna
Gilligan, who was to facilitate discussion. Ms. Gilligan outlined the assumptions she had
prepared in advance of the meeting. The Council Members provided their reflections regarding
the Council’s work and activities during the past year.
Ms. Gilligan led the Council Members through an activity. The Council Members then reviewed
the ground rules established in January 2018.
The discussion then turned to the City Council Goals. Council Members provided direction to
add and modify additional tasks, including:
Strengthen Downtown and Campustown: o The Council determined that the objective to
standardize and simplify the parking regulations in
the neighborhoods surrounding Campustown is not a
priority for 2019.
o A task was added to the objective to evaluate
safety for pedestrians crossing Lincoln Way between
Campustown and the ISU campus. The task is for staff
to provide an update regarding the success of the
safety changes after an appropriate time has elapsed,
including data regarding vehicle collisions and
pedestrian accidents.
Expand Sustainability Efforts o Under the objective to define the City’s role
(e.g., codes, incentives) in maintaining existing
buildings, the Council clarified that the report from
Jim Thompson regarding strategies to maintain downtown
buildings may be delivered at a regular Council
meeting, rather than a workshop.
o An objective was added to evaluate the
community’s greenhouse gas impact and look for ways to
reduce it. A task beneath this objective was added,
which is to appropriate funding and perform a
community-wide greenhouse gas inventory for FY
2019/20.
The meeting recessed at 10:16 a.m. and reconvened at 10:22 a.m.
The Council continued its discussion of the current goals, and
modified and added the following tasks:
Promote a Sense of One Community: o The City Council added a task to direct the
Campus and Community Commission to assess the state of
student tenant/landlord relationships in Ames,
including: 1) What information landlords commonly
wished student renters to have, 2) What students wish
they knew about tenant responsibilities before
renting, and 3) Where rent informational resources
exist. Once this evaluation is completed, a joint
discussion among student renters and landlords will be
hosted by CCC to discuss these concerns. The CCC will
then report to the City Council regarding its
assessment and the outcome of the discussion.
It was moved by Nelson, seconded by Corrieri, to adopt the
revised goals. Motion carried unanimously.
The meeting recessed at 11:34 a.m. and reconvened at 11:43 a.m.
Ms. Gilligan facilitated a discussion of the Council’s
effectiveness as a team, including a summary of the themes she
gathered through her individual conversations with Council
Members. The Council Members provided their reactions to this
summary.
The Council Members discussed the length of Council meetings.
Mr. Schainker noted the aspects of the meeting that contribute
to its length are: 1) the number of items on the agenda, which
is impacted by the number of referrals, 2) staff presentations,
3) public input, and 4) the discussion, debate, and decision-
making.
Ms. Gilligan asked the Council Members to write down individual
responses to the question: “What is the purpose of the City
Council meeting?” The Council Members discussed their responses
to this question. To increase effectiveness, ideas included:
putting more on the consent agenda, dealing with the outcomes of
policies, striving for less than three hours in meetings, asking
if issues fit with goals, having the Mayor define the expected
discussion time per item, self-managing speaking time,
empowering staff to make decisions, having the Mayor manage
contributions to stop redundancy, and considering whether an
idea has a broad impact or an individual impact.
The Council discussed ways to improve communication with
stakeholders. Mr. Schainker indicated staff could look into the
notification system on the City’s website to make notifications
of agenda items more automatic.
Ms. Gilligan led the Council Members through a plus/delta.
Plus:- Open, honest, helpful, incredible conversations.
- Raised questions about the Campus and Community
Commission.
- Made focused additions to the goals.
- Identified action items for increased effectiveness.
- Helpful to have free-form discussion.
Delta:- Meeting day and time for goal-setting (could we
consider Sunday or Monday)?
- Frustrated that more ideas were not brought regarding
what Campus and Community Commission should do.
- Work on the goals throughout the year.
- Need to become one-minded around the purpose of the
Council meeting.
COMMENTS:
Moved by Betcher, seconded by Gartin, to put on a future agenda
the discussion of whether or not to hire Denise Vrchota to
assess the Council’s effectiveness.
Vote on Motion: 3-3 (Voting aye: Betcher, Gartin, Nelson. Voting
nay: Beatty-Hansen, Corrieri, Martin). Motion failed.
ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 1:51 p.m.
________________________________________________________________
Brian Phillips, Assistant City Manager John A. Haila, Mayor