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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021 08-09 CCM Study Session MINUTES OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BROOKLYN CENTER IN THE COUNTY OF HENNEPIN AND THE STATE OF MINNESOTA STUDY SESSION AUGUST 9, 2021 VIA ZOOM CALL TO ORDER The Brooklyn Center City Council met in Study Session called to order by Mayor Mike Elliott at 6:03 p.m. ROLL CALL Mayor Mike Elliott and Councilmembers Marquita Butler, April Graves, City Manager Reggie Edwards, City Attorney Troy Gilchrist, and City Clerk Barb Suciu. CITY COUNCIL DISCUSSION OF AGENDA ITEMS AND QUESTIONS Mayor Elliott referenced the August 9, 2021, City Council/EDA Work Session agenda and added Item 1, Project Coordinator for Implementation Committee, and to then reorder the remaining two agenda items. He explained investments are coming in from non-profits so internal capacity is needed to accommodate that work. Mayor Elliott stated he would like City Council/EDA direction related to that item before the follow-up meeting on August 10, 2021. Mayor Elliott referenced August 9, 2021, City Council Regular Session agenda and requested to add Item 10a., Resolution Extending the Period of a Mayor-Declared Local Emergency and Emergency Ordinance Requiring the use of Face Coverings in Public Buildings within the City. There being no objection, August 9, 2021, City Council Regular Session and City Council/EDA Work Session agendas were amended as indicated above. City Manager Reggie Edwards announced that Phase 1 of the Community Center expansion study is now complete. This phase identified needs, economic conditions, cost, etc. He asked if the City Council would be open to scheduling a Work Session to receive a presentation on that study and discuss that item on August 23, 2021, at 5 p.m., before that night's Study Session. Following discussion, it was the consensus of the City Council to direct staff to schedule a Work Session on August 23, 2021, at 5 p.m.,to hear a presentation on the Phase 1 Community Center expansion study and discuss that item. MISCELLANEOUS None. 08/09/21 -1- DISCUSSION OF WORK SESSION AGENDA ITEMS AS TIME PERMITS PROJECT COORDINATOR FOR IMPLEMENTATION COMMITTEE Mayor Elliott explained the Implementation Committee's work is moving forward and they have been meeting with several organizations that have expressed interest in working with Brooklyn Center to implement the resolution. One of the organizations is Fuse who has come to the table and offered to provide two full-time positions to help with implementation. One of the positions will focus on data and the other on engagement around the implementation work. Mayor Elliott stated to take advantage of those positions, there needs to be an internal project coordinator. The City Council is being asked to consider adding an internal project coordinator position to help make sure the work of the Implementation Committee and all the pieces are moving together in unison, help provide critical capabilities that we need in project coordinating, and assuring timelines and goals are met around implementing the resolution. The position will work directly with Mayor Elliott and the Implementation Committee to assure we are working with the City's resources and partners. Councilmember Ryan stated he is listening carefully and believes the Mayor did not specifically mention what resolution he was talking about. He asked if it is the Violence Prevention and Public Safety Resolution. Mayor Elliott answered in the affirmative. Dr. Edwards explained that for the Implementation Committee to do some work in addition to the external entities that have pledged support and providing assistance,there needs to be coordination if anything in the resolution is to move forward. Currently, staff cannot serve as a coordinator so for that work to substantially move forward, some type of coordination is needed. Dr. Edwards stated staff submitted several grants they think are promising and anticipate coming forward, which could help provide funding for such a coordinator position. But, that funding is not in hand at this time so should the City Council determine to move forward with this position and direct staff to develop a coordinator description, it would have to be funded via contingencies as it is not budgeted. Dr. Edwards stated he discussed with Mayor Elliott and City Attorney Gilchrist as it relates to someone working directly with the Mayor and it would be appropriate, with this position working with the Implementation Committee, not execution and operations but on the policy, recommendation, development, and implementation side. That person would report to the Implementation Committee Chair, which is Mayor Elliott, as established by City Council resolution. So, this person would report to Mayor Elliott in providing coordination as it relates to the Implementation Committee. Dr.Edwards stated to pave the way where it does not in any way do harm or jeopardize the integrity of the City Council/Manager form of government as it relates to operations, this position would operate on the legislative political side and not be involved in the operation. To ensure that is the 08/09/21 -2- case and to protect and maintain the integrity of the City Council/Manager form of government with the City Manager being the principal director of operations for the City and single employee of the City Council, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been created to articulate and provide clarity around roles and duties. Dr. Edward stated with this MOU, he does not believe any issues would compromise the integrity of the City Council/Manager form of government. He explained that should the City Council move the position forward, some coordination would be needed per the resolution passed and that work would take place under the auspices of the Implementation Committee Chair. Dr. Edwards stated if approved, he would work with Mayor Elliott, this staff person, and the Implementation Committee; however, there would be no staff on that Committee at this time. Councilmember Butler asked if there is an anticipated cost for this position. Dr. Edwards stated based on the direction of the City Council, staff will pull that information together but he imagines it will be in the range of$75,000 including benefits if a permanent position. If a temporary position is without benefits, it will be in the range of$50,000. Councilmember Ryan noted Dr. Edwards had mentioned that initially, no City staff would be included in the Implementation Committee. Dr. Edwards stated that is correct and as composed and passed in the City Council resolution, staff cannot serve on that Committee. Councilmember Ryan stated he has reservations about having discussions without any input from the Police Department, especially in a time where there are very legitimate public safety concerns. The other issue he has is that the City Council should have at least a Work Session during which they can have the opportunity to ask questions of an interview for candidates of this position. He felt this would be appropriate because of how important this is, to learn more about the expertise brought by the person so appointed, and to find out their expectations for what they would like to see done through this effort. Councilmember Ryan stated he would appreciate hearing from other members of the City Council. Councilmember Lawrence-Anderson stated she is not certain she understands, noting the City Council is in Work Session but received no information about everything been discussed as far as duties, responsibilities, and what City Attorney Gilchrist will weigh in on. She asked if the City Council will be voting on this issue tonight. She noted the City Council is in the time for budget sessions for next year and there is not a contingency,per Dr. Edwards, financially for this position. She stated she needs some clarity as far as what this discussion is about and the action to be taken this evening. Mayor Elliott stated this is talking about a position to support the work of implementing the Public Safety Resolution. This position will assist with project coordinating the work of the Implementation Committee,noting there are a lot of elements to the Public Safety Resolution. For the City to take advantage of the resources offered of two positions, which is the equivalent of $300,000, an internal project coordinator is needed. Tonight, the City Council is being asked to fund this position for the remainder of the year, essentially two months. Using Dr. Edward's estimates, he thinks that is the equivalent of about $10,000 to $12,000 for the remainder of this year. 08/09/21 -3- Councilmember Lawrence-Anderson asked what organizations are the $300,000 coming from and has the Implementation Committee has been established, noting members of the public safety community should have input as one objective is to be transparent. In that effort, we need all different voices at the table when talking about implementing something as important as improving upon our public safety role within our community. She asked where is the $300,000 and who is on the Implementation Committee. Councilmember Lawrence-Anderson stated the purpose of a Work Session is to discuss items that are then put on an agenda for a vote. Councilmember Butler stated sometimes we start going down `rabbit holes' and spend a lot of time on issues that are not in front of the City Council right now. She stated the point of the discussion is about having a project manager. The topic at hand is providing direction to staff in terms of having a project manager. Councilmember Butler noted the City Council has already adopted a resolution and wants it to be implemented. Staff is saying they can't do it so we then need to have someone in place to lead this. Councilmember Butler stated the City Council has been receiving weekly updates on the applications for the Committee so it has been actively recruiting. Those applications are still being received. She stated bringing up involving our Police Department is not what we are talking about right now. Of course, we want them to be involved in the changes that are being made but that is not what we are talking about now. We are talking about whether we, as a City Council, want to pay for somebody to lead this initiative. Staff is telling us they don't have the capacity so if we don't do it, how are we going to get this work done. Councilmember Butler noted we have organizations giving money and people to help do this work so she thinks we should consider that and make sure we are focusing on the question at hand and not get too far ahead of ourselves. She thinks the things that are being brought up are valid to the long-term plan but now we need to focus on the question at hand: do we want a project manager. Councilmember Butler stated we don't have the exact figures but noted that for some of the stuff we have spent money on, we have spent less time discussing. For instance, the RFP initiative to pay someone $60,000 to $70,000 to research art in Brooklyn Center. She stated she is not saying we shouldn't have spent the money on it but thinks we shouldn't get too hung up on numbers when in the grand scheme of things, it is not a lot of money. She stated she wanted to offer her perspective before we got too far. Councilmember Lawrence-Anderson stated she appreciates Councilmember Butler's comments but she believes it is necessary, from her side of it, and the questions are relevant to ask and get the answers. She stated Councilmember Butler may be right that this is not the time but she thinks it is a valid question. Councilmember Ryan stated this is an example of something brought up to the City Council without any information to which to consider and prepare for this discussion. That was one aspect of the actual Violence Prevention and Public Safety Resolution process that he was, frankly, very disappointed in. It felt like it was forced without being vetted by staff. Councilmember Ryan 08/09/21 -4- stated in this case yes, we should look at getting a project coordinator/director and he appreciates the offer of outside funds to support the effort. But he would like to know more about who is being considered for the position, have a chance to look that over, and consider a couple of candidates rather than just saying we are going to go ahead and do this and move on it right away. Councilmember Ryan noted that due process yields good results. City Attorney Gilchrist stated his understanding this is a discussion amongst the City Council at a Work Session tonight and not a request to vote on anything. He advised there is an MOU, which he would be happy to review for the City Council, but consistent within that MOU is the idea that the position is created by the resolution. That resolution is not before the City Council right now. It is just to seek consensus to develop the resolution and prepare the documents for the next City Council meeting when it will call for a vote during the Regular Session. Dr. Edwards stated that is consistent with his understanding as well. City Attorney Gilchrist stated it appeared there were thoughts that a vote would be called for tonight and that is not the case. Mayor Elliott agreed that is not the case and this is a Work Session item tonight. Councilmember Graves stated she has been listening to all the Councilmember's comments and tended to agree with all of them on at least a few things. She did see what the few applicants are so far for the Implementation Committee and thinks there needs to be some type of project management to move forward on items within that implementation that would have to be developed to execute on the different promises made within that resolution. Councilmember Graves stated one thing she is unsure about is the focus of this particular position. She stated Councilmember Butler referred to it as project management,but that is not exactly what was being described to her. She would like a better understanding of what this position, specifically, will be doing and especially if they are not working within operations at all and only with policy. She does not know how that would be connected with implementation or project management unless it is to be a facilitator of specific policies the Implementation Committee wants to present. But, that is not specific to changing operations, per se. She is not clear on the description of the position nor whether she thinks,personally,this is exactly what we need to move forward on some of the different specifics within the resolution. Councilmember Graves stated as a City Council and staff, it would be nice to sit down and have a more specific conversation around implementation and feasibility, and sustainability of different aspects within the resolution. She was hoping the City Council would get a chance to do that either at a Work Session or at the Council retreat. Mayor Elliott stated we are planning to do that at the upcoming meeting. He clarified that there is a lot of work to do even before we get on the staff side to do the hiring for the departments. The work of the Implementation Committee is a heavy lift and we have two interested organizations, Fuse and Leap. Mayor Elliott stated during the testimony of the Public Safety Resolution, one of the testifiers was 08/09/21 -5- the former chief and his organization has come forward saying they want to work with us. He stated this is talking about helping from the local perspective and making sure the facilitation process of the Implementation Committee is doing work in alignment with our values. The project coordinator role is critical as it will help us make sure all of the components are working in tandem. Also, it is a requirement for the two positions from Fuse, one focused on data we have on public safety and the other position specifically focused on community engagement around the implementation process. Mayor Elliott explained that to take advantage of those resources,we are asking for$10,000 to $12,000 for this year to support those positions. Councilmember Graves stated she appreciates the additional information but still feels a little out of the loop on what is happening. She stated what the Mayor has explained is giving her a little bit and asked if there is a proposal or graph that shows how these different things are connected and the way this position will work. Councilmember Graves stated she is not opposed to talking about it further and drafting a resolution but wants to be more clear about how Mayor Elliott sees the specific different components and what exactly they will be doing. She asked what are the specific outcomes and tasks that will happen. She explained she gets frustrated because she feels like she is out of the loop and does not know what conversations are happening. Also, as Councilmember Ryan mentioned, the City Council has nothing to look at or read; it is just a conversation about conversations that Mayor Elliott has had with people the City Council does not know. Councilmember Graves stated after the meeting she can look up the two organizations Mayor Elliott mentioned and do some background research but she did not know that before right now. Mayor Elliott stated he gets it and he communicated with the City Clerk about this before the meeting, that the intention was to schedule another time when we can give that whole update on the implementation process. He again stated he gets it, that the City Council was not in on these conversations and does not know what is going on. He stated the update is coming and there will be more information about the work done so far with the Implementation Committee. Mayor Elliott stated he hopes he has given enough high-level information tonight about the need to have an over project coordinator, noting Councilmember Graves has said she does see the need but wants more specifics and understanding on this position and overall, how the implementation process will work. Councilmember Graves stated that is correct. Councilmember Ryan stated he understands what a Work Session is to be and that the City Council will not be voting. But he mentioned the process for the passing of the resolution where it was backward. The City Council did not have material that was properly vetted that they could look at and review before the opportunity to consider what we are doing. He stated he took the leap of faith with that police reform. Councilmember Ryan noted that Councilmember Graves brought up a very good point about needing more specifics as to who and what the position will be and what it will mean. He stated he is not opposed to having a coordinator in some form but would like to have more information 08/09/21 -6- about the process and an idea to vet the organizations that the candidates come from. Then the City Council can talk about coming to a consensus about hiring said director/coordinator. Councilmember Ryan stated this is about being left out of the loop and he feels like he has been left out of the loop. Mayor Elliott stated he understands that and will take that to heart and continue, from his end. He offered to meet with Councilmember Ryan,to sit down, and talk. He stated he is happy to do that at any time and will also schedule a time to have the City Council be presented on the full implementation process. He noted this item is timely and he will be having a follow-up conversation tomorrow so he wanted to get a sense from the City Council about supporting this position. Mayor Elliott stated this position will serve as coordinator overall on the implementation process and staff will go back, draft the position description, and flush out the details of what that role looks like. Tonight, he is asking for the City Council to speak about the need for this supporting coordinator position. Councilmember Butler stated she wanted to piggyback on comments made about feeling left out of the loop. She stated she had reached out to Dr. Edwards a couple of weeks ago because she felt the same way, noting Council Members are often asked what is happening and she wants to be able to better speak to it. That is why the City Council started getting Friday updates. Councilmember Butler supported continuing to get the Friday updates with the last page focusing on whatever meetings Mayor Elliott is having so that information can be shared. Or, that could occur bi-monthly if weekly is too frequently. She stated meetings are good but all have busy schedules and not all will be able to meet outside of the City Council meeting schedule so the Friday update may be the best medium to keep the City Council abreast. Councilmember Butler stated in terms of this position, she thinks the City will need someone who will coordinate the work since the staff has said they do not have the capacity. She supports the position. She thinks $10,000 for this year is a small and insignificant amount compared to the City's overall budget, noting the City Council has found money for other things and can find $10,000 to support this position. She hoped that within the next week or two, the City Council will have more information on the cost for moving forward so that can be considered as the budget is discussed to assure funds are allocated for it. Councilmember Butler stated the more information and clarity that Mayor Elliott can give towards the process of this position will be helpful by the time the resolution comes before the City Council. Mayor Elliott polled the City Council for direction on whether they support establishing this position. Councilmember Lawrence-Anderson stated this will most likely be something that is necessary but since she does not know when any of the meetings have taken place, she also feels out of the loop, does not know where$300,000 is coming from,who has been meeting,or the job description for this position. She stated this needs to be discussed more before she can commit tax dollars to a position that she knows nothing about since it has been very vague. 08/09/21 -7- Councilmember Lawrence-Anderson stated she is more than happy to discuss this at a future Work Session and then it could be an immediate Regular Session agenda item so it can be voted upon. She stated right now, she has more questions than she has answered so she is not moving forward at this time. Councilmember Ryan stated in the interest of time, he follows the same remarks as Councilmember Lawrence-Anderson. That is where he is at now too. Councilmember Graves stated she definitely can sympathize with what Councilmembers Ryan and Lawrence-Anderson have said. She does not think the position is being voted on right now and she has voiced her concerns about the focus specifically on policy and what that looks like. She is unclear about specifically what the person will do if they are creating a new policy, working with the Implementation Committee to create policy, and what is the position doing beyond coordination and policy. She stated she is not opposed to the position but does not necessarily think that is the right role of the position we need. She wants to discuss and get more clarity on what that specifically is. She is not opposed to a small amount of money being spent on the position for the rest of the year but wants to be clear on what the position is. Councilmember Graves asked if this position is a facilitator, a director, or a coordinator of policy. Mayor Elliott stated no, they are helping us. The Implementation Committee wants to establish some subcommittees to focus on different areas of the work. To coordinate all of that takes a lot of time, timelining the implementation process, and keeping all of the different parties we are working with, the facilitator, the folks coming on to help us review the different policies we have in the City, folks coming on to help us review the data we have in the City on public safety, and help us analyze and make sense of it. All of these subcommittees and other people we have coming on to help us implement the resolution require coordination. This person will be responsible for the timelining, all of it, and keeping everything on track. Councilmember Graves stated they will not only be leading the facilitator and implementation group, but they will also coordinate with these different partners that have pledged some support, and specifically working with Mayor Elliott and the resolution to figure out the first implementation steps. She asked if that is correct. Mayor Elliott answered in the affirmative and stated as the Implementation Committee and its subcommittees continue to meet, they will be establishing the policies. Councilmember Graves asked if they will do any recruitment to help fill out the Implementation Committee. Mayor Elliott answered in the affirmative. Councilmember Graves asked if the City Council will be part of the hiring process and know who this person is that gets hired or is that only Mayor Elliott's prevue. Mayor Elliott stated it will involve him and Dr. Edwards but if Councilmember Graves wants to be part of that, sure. Councilmember Graves stated she is curious because she is thinking about the work she does with Opposite Bounds (49) Prevention that has a steering committee, a multijurisdictional group with 08/09/21 -8- some more specifically in community with business, and some specifically with law enforcement and other jurisdictional partners like parks, etc. She is trying to understand the framework of what Mayor Elliott is trying to create so she can better understand where are the gaps and where he is starting. That is why she needs more information. Councilmember Graves stated she feels like she understands what Mayor Elliott is trying to do and thinks as a first step to get things going, it makes sense. She can support it but hopes the resolution is clearer than this initial discussion. Councilmember Lawrence-Anderson asked about the group meeting tomorrow that Mayor Elliott had mentioned and asked if she can attend. Mayor Elliott stated Councilmember Lawrence Anderson can attend and asked other members who are interested to message him. Mayor Elliott thanked the City Council for their input and noted staff will draft and present a resolution that has more clarity at the next meeting. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Elliott adjourned the Study Session at 6:51 p.m. STATE OF MINNESOTA) COUNTY OF HENNEPIN) ss. Certification of Minutes CITY OF BROOKLYN CENTER) The undersigned,being the duly qualified and appointed City Clerk of the City of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, certifies: 1. That attached hereto is a full,true,and complete transcript of the minutes of a Study Session of the City Council of the City of Brooklyn Center held on August 9, 2021. 2. That said meeting was held pursuant to due call and notice thereof and was duly held at Brooklyn Center City Hall. 3. That the City Council adopted said minutes at its August 23, 2021, Regular Session. Barbara Suciu, City Clerk Mike Elliott, Mayor 08/09/21 -9-