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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023 05.08 CCM STUDY SESSION5/8/23 -1- DRAFT 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 MAY 8, 2023 CITY HALL – COUNCIL CHAMBERS CALL TO ORDER The Brooklyn Center City Council met in Study Session called to order by Mayor April Graves at 6:04 p.m. ROLL CALL Mayor April Graves and Councilmembers Marquita Butler, Kris Lawrence-Anderson, Dan Jerzak, and Teneshia Kragness (arrived at 6:10 p.m.). Also present were City Manager Reggie Edwards, Equity and Human Resources Director Jim Langemo, City Clerk Barb Suciu, and City Attorney Jason Hill. CITY COUNCIL DISCUSSION OF AGENDA ITEMS AND QUESTIONS Councilmember Jerzak stated he thought there was going to be a Work Session discussion regarding the public broadcast of all parts of the City Council meeting. City Manager Reggie Edwards confirmed Staff would bring the item back to Council as soon as possible. Councilmember Lawrence-Anderson noted she had questions about Consent Item 6c. Resolution Accepting Livable Communities Demonstration Account (LCDA) funding for the Center for Asian and Pacific Islanders, and would like it to be moved to Council Consideration items. She explained she would prefer for grants to not be on the Consent Agenda to allow more detailed review by the Council. Councilmember Jerzak noted his agreement with the comments of Councilmember Lawrence- Anderson. It is important to review grants until there is a grant review process in place. City Clerk Barb Suciu pointed out the grant review process will be discussed at the next City Council meeting. It was a consensus for Consent Item 6c. Resolution Accepting Livable Communities Demonstration Account (LCDA) funding for Center for Asian and Pacific Islanders to become Council Consideration Item 10b. Resolution Accepting Livable Communities Demonstration Account (LCDA) funding for the Center for Asian and Pacific Islanders. Councilmember Lawrence-Anderson stated the audit presentation from Abdo isn’t scheduled until June 28, 2023. She asked if that is the soonest option available for Abdo. Dr. Edwards stated the date is based on the anticipated time Abdo will have the information ready for the Council. 5/8/23 -2- DRAFT Councilmember Lawrence-Anderson noted the Council usually reviews the audit before the budget process begins. Dr. Edwards stated the Council would only have gone through the capital improvement plan prior to the audit. Councilmember Lawrence-Anderson added that last Friday’s update was very lengthy. The Friday update is meant to be a snapshot of what went on during the week. She would prefer to see certain info, such as updates to Hwy. 252, in a separate email. Councilmember Butler stated reviewing the grants should depend on the number of grants on the agenda. The City applied for hundreds of grants, and it might not be feasible for Council to review each one. Councilmember Kragness arrived at 6:10 p.m. Councilmember Butler asked why there is a meeting specific for a city-wide survey discussion. Dr. Edwards stated the Study Session item will go into further detail. Councilmember Jerzak noted his agreement with Councilmember Butler regarding the Council reviewing grants and stated the grant review policy would help refine the process. Mayor Graves added she would like to adopt a resolution to recognize May as Mental Health Awareness Month, and that will be on an upcoming agenda. MISCELLANEOUS SET DATE FOR CITY-WIDE SURVEY DISCUSSION City Manager Reggie Edwards noted Staff provided a previous survey to the Council that includes some Staff comments. Staff was looking for Council to provide input on the survey at a future meeting. From there, Staff can compile a final draft for the survey. The meeting could be during a Work Session that is already on the calendar. Mayor Graves asked for more insight into the Staff comments already provided to Council. Dr. Edwards stated the intention is to go into more detail at a future meeting. Mayor Graves stated a Work Session is fine as the discussion wouldn’t require an entirely separate meeting. Councilmember Jerzak suggested that Councilmembers email Staff with bigger questions so those are hammered out in advance. 5/8/23 -3- DRAFT STAFF SURVEY City Manager Reggie Edwards explained the tool has been used to assess the temperature and culture of Staff. It is an opportunity for leadership to see what changes can be made to better the organization. A copy of the proposed survey was provided to the Council. Director of Equity and Human Resources Jim Langemo introduced himself and detailed his background in human resources. He explained the survey is intended to review employee engagement, which is a relatively new subject. The goal is to understand employee experience, especially the relationship between the manager and the employee. That relationship is the most telling sign of employee retention. Mr. Langemo pointed out he shopped around a bit to find the best survey. He likes Gallop, but they seem to be behind on the times. He chose to work with the organization called Culture Boosters. Coincidentally, one of the owners’ parents lives in Brooklyn Center. He noted all of the options were scientifically tested and had a high level of confidentiality for employees. Mr. Langemo added he hopes to promote transparency with the data and to act on any results of the data. Otherwise, the data collection is pointless. Once they get the data back, it will be tempting to implement all sorts of changes. However, he wants to be thoughtful in selecting the most impactful changes. Councilmember Lawrence-Anderson noted a lot of the questions are yes and no questions. Mr. Langemo stated there will be a five-point scale for employees to respond to. There are also options for comments on each question. Councilmember Kragness stated she has concerns about consistency because the survey refers to “Brooklyn Center” or the “City” or “here”. Mr. Langemo confirmed he could refine the questions to use the same terms throughout. There will also be some refinement with which pronouns are used. Councilmember Jerzak asked why an employee satisfaction survey was not considered, especially considering the high turnover rate in Staff. Also, how and when will the data be presented to the Council? Mr. Langemo stated employee satisfaction is the lowest tier, but employee engagement is a higher tier that has research showing its importance to retention. The results will be shared with Council as soon as possible by cascading. The information will not be emailed to Council as it requires some discussion. There will be facilitated meetings to work with leaders and their teams to review the data together. From there, action plans will be created and implemented. Dr. Edwards added this is the first time Staff has included the Council in the employee survey process. Therefore, there are some details that need to be worked out on how the information will be shared specifically with the Council, be it through a conversation or individual discussions. 5/8/23 -4- DRAFT Councilmember Jerzak pointed out he had completed a number of Brooklyn Center employee surveys during his 17 years working for the City. He stated some employees have high mistrust of the process. For example, some departments are so small that it may be easy to identify who said what. Also, there has been a history of no action following the survey. Mr. Langemo noted his agreement with Councilmember Jerzak. Leadership will look at themselves in the mirror and do a thorough reflection on the data. They are going to take the process seriously, and the outcome will be awesome. There will be the utmost confidentiality and no tolerance for retaliation. Councilmember Jerzak added there is a question asking if an employee sees oneself staying at Brooklyn Center for the next two years. He would like to see something specific asking what would keep employees at Brooklyn Center. Mayor Graves asked if the survey will be specific to employees’ current feelings or feelings related to previous incidents. Mr. Langemo explained he would be open to feedback at any time during an employee’s time with the City. Councilmember Butler asked what measurements will be in place to measure the success of action plans. Mr. Langemo stated it depends on the action implemented. Overall, it would be nice to see the survey feedback as more positive, but there may first be a dip in feedback due to changing processes. The action plan will include a specific desired outcome. CITY MANAGER’S PERFORMANCE REVIEW PROCESS This item was not addressed. ADJOURN STUDY SESSION TO INFORMAL OPEN FORUM WITH CITY COUNCIL Mayor Graves closed the Study Session at 6:46 p.m.