Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Open Board of Directors Meeting
San Bernardino Community College District
114 S. Del Rosa Drive
San Bernardino, CA 92408
Minutes
Present: Dimitrios Alexiou,Carole Beswick, Tom Brickley, Erin Brinker, Ann Bryan, Ken Coate, Bill Easley, Jill Eaton, Dick Hart, Mark Kaenel, Lowell King, Pam Langford, Bill Lemann, Temetry Lindsey, John Mirau, Tom Nightingale, Bev Powell, Brian Reider, Kristine Scott, Larry Sharp, Steve von Rajcs, Janet Weder, Kim Wilcox and Ray Wolfe.
Guests: Oz Garcia, Sheriff John McMahon, Todd Warden
Announcements: 1) The two San Bernardino County Supervisors with whom Inland Action members met have expressed support for the Express Lanes. 2) Testimony at SANBAG’s Board of Directors in favor of the Express Lanes will be led by John Mirau tomorrow July 2, 2014. 3) Loma Linda University Health will roll out their “Vision 2020 Revealed” on Tuesday, July, 15, at 10:00 a.m. 4) Orientation lunches hosted by John Mirau will be held on Tuesday, July 8 & Thursday, July 10 at noon at the Redlands Country Club. Anyone interested who has not been invited should contact Carole or Deborah. 5) Please remember to remit as soon as possible for Sacramento expenses invoiced in June.
M/S/P: Minutes from June 24, 2014.
Tom Brickley introduced Mayor Carey Davis, City of San Bernardino.
Since being in office, Mayor Davis has spent the last three and a half months getting the “pulse” of city hall and the city council. His challenges are enormous and will take longer than the next few years to turn around.
The Mayor has created a “core” team that discusses priorities and how to push them forward through the system. Mayor Davis has initiated some fundamental changes initiated, such as weekly meetings with all department heads together, including the city manager and city attorney. These meetings have created a free flow 0f information and communication that has been lacking in the past.
Led by an element of fear in the past, the culture at city hall is difficult to turn around but the new City Attorney Gary Saenz is making a difference and will continue breaking down these negative barriers.
The city council members are the policy makers of the City and must be focused on this. They must learn to refrain from attempting to influence individual department heads in order to push their own agendas, as they have in the past. Allen Parker, City Manager is working on this transition with the council members. These challenges are enormous as there has been a large legacy in the city.
The City bankruptcy filed in August 2012 has created uncertainty for the future and a loss of investments and opportunities for the city. However, the City budget for 2014-15 was passed by the city council on Monday, June 30, 2014 in a 5-2 vote. Mayor Davis praised the budget as paving a path out of bankruptcy. Bankruptcy Judge Meredith Jury has expressed frustration that the City is not moving fast enough and there is a growing sense of urgency. This budget approval supports the intention of the city to move forward through the process.
The Mayor stated that negotiations, which are handled through court ordered mediation, have been very difficult but both sides have made concessions. Recently the Fire Department Union requested to be moved out of the mediation process saying talks with the city were stalemated. All other creditors such as unions and bond-holders have worked through the mediation process. The city has $322 million in unfunded liability to CalPERS and that figure continues to increase.
Section 186 in the city charter links the city police and fire fighters pay to the average pay in 10 other cities, most much wealthier than San Bernardino. This unsustainable part of the city charter must be revisited. The Mayor has a citizens review committee appointed by the city council. After several public hearings this group has recommended that Section 186 be reviewed and changes made. The city council is expected to put a measure on the November 2014 ballot to amend the city charter.
Mayor Davis emphasized the importance of:
Economic development: the city has favorable prices and two deputy positions will assist the city manager to help wind down the RDA and replace it with more public private partnerships.
Improved city appearance/impression: identify and target areas that will impact impressions like downtown revitalization, entrance of city, encourage sale of the old Radisson Hotel.
RDA wind down: determine obligations part of previous redevelopment, obtain acknowledgement of all properties, and liquidate properties.
A Q & A period followed.
The meeting adjourned at 8:15 a.m.