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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil - 2010-06-14 SSPECIAL COUNCIL MINUTES JUNE 14, 2010 CITY OF KITCHENER A special meeting of city council was held at 8:40 a.m. this date, chaired by Mayor C. Zehr with all members present. Notice of this meeting had been previously given to all members of Council by the City Clerk pursuant to Chapter 25 (Council Procedure) of the Municipal Code. Moved by Councillor J. Smola Seconded by Councillor K. Galloway "That an in-camera meeting of City Council be held this date to consider a land acquisition l disposition matter, a matter subject tosolicitor-client privilege and two personal matters." The meeting then recessed at 8:41 a.m. and reconvened at 9:57 a.m. chaired by Mayor C. Zehr with all members present. Councillors G. Lorentz and J. Gazzola were in attendance for part of the meeting. It was noted that this portion of the special meeting was a strategic planning session which was being held to allow discussion on various strategic initiatives and directions being taken by the City. Council considered Chief Administrator's Office report CAO-10-024, dated June 9, 2010, regarding the introduction of a Corporate Online Communications Strategy. Mr. M. May, Director of Communications and Marketing, and Ms. J. Miller, Manager of Communications, presented the report noting that the strategy represents a collective corporate approach to the use of on-line cutting edge technologies including but not limited to, social media. This strategy does not include the web site which is being upgraded at the same time. Councillors Lorentz and Gazzola entered the meeting at this time. Councillor Lorentz spoke positively about the strategy; however, he questioned how it will mesh with the Corporate Contact Centre. Mr. May responded that use of these online communication tools will grow over time and will take some of the pressure off the Corporate Contact Centre. He further advised that one important aspect about online communications is that if a mistake is made, it has to be acknowledged immediately. Other important aspects are, legitimate criticism must remain on-line and staff will have to co-ordinate their responses. Mr. May also advised that unfair criticism of members of Council andlor staff can be removed from the City's Facebook page; however, given that Facebook is a social networking site, the criticism could be on someone else's page, or many other pages. He advised that he will provide a more complete answer at the June 21St Finance & Corporate Services Committee meeting when the strategy will be presented to the committee for approval. Councillor Lorentz asked how this online communication will be staffed and was advised that initially there will be one dedicated staff person and as communications shift from traditional methods to the new on-line methods, more staff will be shifted to this work over time, as warranted. Mr. May cautioned that fully maintaining traditional and on-line methods of communications may have an impact on staff resources and in achieving deadlines. Councillor Gazzola suggested that most of these online communication tools are primarily marketing tools. Mr. May disagreed advising that people are less and less trusting of traditional forms of communication and trust other people's comments more that anything else. Councillor Vrbanovic stated he is pleased with the strategy, noting that although negative comments will be posted, there will be comments made throughout the online community and, there will be a counter balance. He also advised that companies are recognizing that negativity transfers quickly and they need to respond within hours rather than days or weeks. Councillor Galloway commented that Mr. May has presented a very good strategy and this is a positive direction for the City. Council considered Community Services Department report CSD-10-047, dated June 10, 2010, regarding the Special Events Unit Strategic Review. The report was presented by Mr. Don Chapman, Manager of Special Events. In response to questions Mr. Chapman advised it has taken 1 '/2 years of working with the consultant to develop this plan and one year since staff reported to Council in this regard. In regard to the SPECIAL COUNCIL MINUTES JUNE 14, 2010 -151- CITY OF KITCHENER recommendation that some of the events currently run by the Special Events Unit may not be continued, Mr. Chapman advised staff will maintain them in the short term but will be looking for community partners to take over these events. Prior to doing so, each one will be evaluated in light of the Corporate Strategic Plan. Councillor Vrbanovic questioned the idea of creating anot-for-profit community organization for this purpose. Mr. Chapman advised it is being investigated by the community but is only in the discussion stage at this time. Councillor Vrbanovic noted that the public square on King Street in Waterloo is being programmed and organized by one staff person and they are taking events away from Kitchener; now staff is proposing not to increase the number of events they are working on for 2 years which seems to be the wrong direction. Mr. Chapman advised there is a disproportionate amount of staff time spent on small events making it difficult to take on more events. Mr. K. Baulk, Director of Enterprises, advised that part of the issue is that the Special Events Unit has been without one senior position so they are handling an increased workload on a day to day basis. He noted that the Corporate Communications Division went through a similar process 2-3 years ago and today that division is much more solid. He suggested that the Special Events Unit needs to go through the same process. Mr. Baulk stated that at this time 75% of the strategic plan needs to be reviewed and there is a need to decide on the guiding principles in order to move forward. Councillor Vrbanovic stated that the City decided to animate Civic Square and King Street and although the King Street reconstruction has delayed things; the City is losing contracts. Ms. K. Kugler, Manager the Auditorium and Community Arenas, advised that staff is programming many areas in the downtown, not just one and staff needs to understand what the priorities are rather than trying to do everything. Councillor Vrbanovic stated that one of this city's successes has been community involvement and is concerned when staff advises they are going to move away from community events. It is harder and harder for community organizations to get volunteers, and questioned how staff can put more work on their shoulders. Councillor Gazzola questioned what is intended in "Financial and Administrative Integrity"? Mr. Chapman advised it involves working within the operating budget. He added that this work is very complex and it is essential to have good communications with and resources from other areas of the City. Councillor Gazzola questioned those events the Special Events Unit will no longer undertake. Mr. Chapman gave the example of Film K-W, advising it is a large amount of work and, originally it was assigned to Economic Development then transferred to the Special Events Unit. Mayor Zehr stated there are areas the City wants to be involved in but we do not want to abandon other areas of the City. He questioned how much support Economic Development Division can provide to the Special Events Unit. He also stated it will be interesting to see how Waterloo maintains events in the long run. Mayor Zehr stated that he is not sure where the Strategic Plan and implementation will end up in the long term and if this is strictly a resource issue, that it must be examined; however, he does not want to loose anything that the City can not get back. Mr. Chapman advised staff can continue to support all the events in the short term. Staff will regroup with the task force and report to Council in August. Staff was directed to provide members of Council with a list of all the events they are currently involved in, divided into 3 categories: the ones where staff does all the work, the ones were staff is assisted by a community group, and the ones were staff does very little work. Staff was also directed to provide members of Council with a calendar of the events that will take place over the next few months. Council considered Development & Technical Services Department report DTS-10-128, dated June 4, 2010, regarding the Fire Department Strategic Plan. This report was presented by Mr. T. Beckett, Fire Chief. Mayor C. Zehr left the meeting at this time and Councillor Gazzola, Acting Mayor assumed the chair. Councillor Vrbanovic noted that the Fire Department's situation with attraction and recruitment is common with the Police Department and questioned whether there could be a joint recruitment process for both emergency services. Chief Beckett stated that the Fire Department has had difficulties attracting people from diverse groups and discussion about joint recruitment has taken place; however, the Fire Department's work is more physically demanding. Councillor Vrbanovic stated that he is not necessarily interested in attracting the same person but from the same diverse SPECIAL COUNCIL MINUTES JUNE 14, 2010 -152- CITY OF KITCHENER groups. He suggested that the cost of such things as television advertising could be shared and Chief Beckett stated that he would investigate. In regard to greater communications with the public Chief Beckett stated they will commence using suppression Crews for Home Inspections so they can have greater contact with the public. Councillor Gazzola questioned costs and Chief Beckett advised that the cost of implementing the 2010 portion of the strategic plan is already included in this year's budget. Any future costs will be dealt with during future budget deliberations. In response to further questions Chief Beckett advised that the 17 tactics in the plan will be prioritized based on start dates, capacity, cost and time. With respect to tactic #13, he advised that the Fire Department wants to attract the best possible candidates and hire the best person for the job. The Fire Department is not attracting from diverse groups and we want to determine how we can help people in these groups become the best possible candidates for the job. He gave an example from the City of Toronto where they offer assistance to financially challenged groups to get the education they need. On motion the meeting adjourned at 11:55 p.m. MAYOR CLERK