TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: Kim Summers, City Manager
PREPARED BY: Justin Clifton, Assistant City Manager
Kristen M. Crane, Assistant City Manager
SUBJECT:
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Recap of July 31, 2024, City Council Priority Setting Workshop
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RECOMMENDATION
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Receive and file.
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PRIOR ACTION/VOTE
The City Council held a priority-setting workshop on July 31, 2024, as a follow-up to the workshop held on January 11, 2024.
CITY COUNCIL GOAL
Coordinate and deliver responsive, effective community services.
BACKGROUND
The City Council has numerous priorities competing for limited time and resources. Periodically reviewing and refining priorities helps ensure the work of staff is aligned with the most important projects and programs that the City Council wants to complete. Without clear priorities, resources may be inadvertently spent on lower-priority programs/projects. Similarly, a lack of clear priorities and/or frequently shifting priorities contributes to organizational thrash, negatively impacts productivity, and confuses stakeholders and residents.
The January 11, 2024, workshop focused on outlining two to four high-level strategies tied to each of the six City Council goals. From there, the City Council engaged in a prioritization exercise to identify a handful of top priorities from among those strategies. Those priorities, in rank order, were:
• Construct new Fire Station 6;
• Amphitheater Parking Lot;
• Expand Los Alamos Soccer Complex;
• 215/Keller Interchange;
• Complete the Library Expansion;
• Build additional Pickleball Courts; and
• Plan, program, and create Infrastructure Development.
The July 31, 2024, workshop was an opportunity to review and refine top priorities, as well as to create a framework that addresses projects and programs beyond the top two to four strategies under each of the six City Council goals.
Review, refinement, and expansion of the January priority-setting workshop list was necessary for several reasons, such as declining revenues necessitating a rebalance of resource allocation and accounting for reduced operational capacity. The July workshop also included a more comprehensive list of strategies, all competing for limited time and resources, using a new framework to account for virtually all City Council priorities, while continuing to emphasize the most important ones.
In preparation for the July workshop, staff developed a new outline for organizing City Council priorities, intended to establish a comprehensive archive of all City Council priorities, while also maintaining a way to differentiate the most important priorities from the rest. This framework utilizes three tiers:
• Tier 1: Projects are solidified as top priorities by City Council that are fully programmed with strategies, workplans, and dedicated resources.
• Tier 2: Projects that are identified priorities by City Council that are partially programmed with conceptual strategies but where additional workplans and/or resource dedication are necessary.
• Tier 3: Unprogrammed projects/programs not yet prioritized by City Council pending development of strategies, workplans, and dedicated resources.
Within each tier, all projects/programs were divided into “large” or “small” projects, roughly estimating the effort they would take to complete.
Another aspect of the tiered system is that it provides a foundation for elevating and lowering priorities over time. In simple terms, most new ideas introduced by individual Council Members, members of the public, or staff, would be placed on Tier 3 pending consideration by City Council. The City Council would then elevate select ideas from Tier 3 to Tier 2 during prioritization workshops or through other formal consideration by the City Council. Lastly, a select few priorities from Tier 2 would move to Tier 1 as broad strategies are expanded to include workplans and resource allocation.
Tier 1 begins with the six specific projects prioritized during the January 2024 workshop, plus a few other large projects and numerous small projects that are already underway or imminent. Tier 2 includes large and small projects/programs that the City Council has expressed significant interest in but have not yet been identified as top priorities.
Advancing all projects listed in Tier 1 simultaneously requires deferring progress on items included in Tiers 2 and 3. Even then, the significant number of items on Tier 1 means staff will only make incremental progress on each priority. Making more rapid progress on select projects/programs likely means accepting less progress on others. This dynamic results from several factors, including:
• The vast majority of staff time is dedicated to providing direct City services. There are only a handful of select staff members with the skillset and role to advance complex projects/programs.
• Even staff members whose roles include advancing large projects/programs dedicate the vast majority of their time to day-to-day work, leaving fairly limited resources for new initiatives.
• New projects/programs compete for scarce resources against efforts to improve existing programs and services.
• While the list of City Council priorities is comprehensive, it is not exhaustive. The list does not include a large number of smaller projects that nevertheless need to be completed.
• Declining revenue limits available funding for CIP projects and for operational support needed to pursue new projects/programs.
• The exercise of setting priorities highlights tradeoffs, i.e., making more progress on the most important priorities requires delaying progress on lower priorities.
• Advancing projects/programs is a dynamic process. Timing is significantly impacted by revenue leveraging, mandates, regulations, staff capacity and more.
During the July 31, 2024 workshop, staff reviewed the Tier 1, 2, and 3 lists, and the City Council asked questions and provided feedback, which is reflected in the attached Tier 1, 2, and 3 lists. The modifications were:
• Tier 1 - Fire Station 6 - Added language to explore service delivery options in order to potentially provide service sooner.
• Tier 2 - Line F Drainage Improvements - Added language to proceed with the environmental permitting process.
• Tier 2 - Added a new project titled “Citywide Drainage Improvement Projects” to Develop a work plan for moving forward with drainage projects around the City that are funded/partially-funded in the Capital Improvement Plan.
Additionally, there was City Council consensus to bring back two items presently listed on Tier 3 for discussion at a future meeting, including 1) the concept of completing a Specific Plan for the area referred to as the “Keyhole,” which is north of Clinton Keith, east of Whitewood, and south of Baxter, and 2) potential future expansion of the Tour de Murrieta bicycle race. Staff is preparing agenda reports on these two topics for discussion at a future Council meeting.
Since the City Council workshop on July 31, 2024, three additional items have been requested by City Council Members, which are now listed on the Tier 3 table:
• Multi-Family Town Hall Meeting;
• Equestrian Evacuation Guidelines; and
• Hawk Ranch Conditional Use Permit Requirements.
Next Steps
The updated Tier 1, 2, and 3 lists provide a common reference point for the City Council and staff regarding the current list of priority projects. In preparation for the next City Council workshop, which will likely occur in early 2025 as part of the budget development process, this list will be reviewed to assess progress toward completing projects and/or any changes to City Council priorities.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no direct fiscal impact associated with this item.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Tier 1 City Council Priority List
2. Tier 2 City Council Priority List
3. Tier 3 City Council Priority List