HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes City Council - 04/06/2023 - RetreatI HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of the minutes of the
Workshop Meeting (Retreat) of the Corpus Christi City Council of April 6, 2023, which
were approved by the City Council on July 25, 2023.
WITNESSETH MY HAND AND SEAL, on this the 25th day of July 2023.
(SEAL)
Rebecca Huerta
City Secretary
Corpus Christi, Texas
City of Corpus Christi
Rebecca Huerta, City Secretary
P.O. Box 9277
Corpus Christi, Texas 78469-9277
(361) 826-3105
rebeccah@cctexas.com
cctexas.com
SCANNED
City of Corpus Christi
Meeting Minutes
City Council
1201 Leopard Street
Corpus Christi, TX 78401
cctexas.com
Thursday, April 6, 2023 8:00 AM
Executive Conference Room
Sixth Floor City Hall 1201 Leopard Street
with simulcast in Basement Training Room
City Council Retreat/Goal Setting Planning Workshop
A. Mayor Paulette Guajardo to call the meeting to order.
Mayor Guajardo called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m.
B. City Secretary Rebecca L. Huerta to call the roll of the required Charter Officers.
City Secretary Rebecca Huerta called the roll and verified that a quorum of the City
Council and the required Charter Officers were present to conduct the meeting.
Charter Officers: City Manager Peter Zanoni, City Attorney Miles Risley and City
Secretary Rebecca Huerta
Note: Council Member Klein arrived at 11:10 a.m.
Present: 9 - Mayor Paulette Guajardo,Council Member Roland Barrera,Council Member Gil
Hernandez,Council Member Michael Hunter, Council Member Mike Pusley,Council
Member Dan Suckley,Council Member Everett Roy,Council Member Jim Klein, and
Council Member Sylvia Campos
C. City Council Retreat on Governance and Agenda Setting for the Council
2023-2024 Term
The retreat was facilitated by Chief Vision Officer of Courageous Leadership Alliance
Todd Simmons and LaJuan Perronoski Fuller, Ph.D. (see attached after action
report/improvement plan).
I. Communication Accommodation:
Communication between council members, the mayor's office, and the city manager to
develop an environment of mutual respect and understanding.
What was your desire to serve the City?
1) Desire to serve and listen to the community by providing solutions
2) Public service is important to provide access and transparency to the community
3) Ability to use the skills, talents, and upbringing for a better community
4) Passion for humanity, helping people and having a direct impact on people's lives
What accomplishments are the Council members most proud of?
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1) Being part of the new Harbor Bridge development
2) Living in a diverse city
3) The progress and improvement to the community
4) Adding a swimming pool to Bill Witt Park and proposing the Regional Parkway
5) Being part of the change and growth of the city
6) The beaches and desire to protect what we have
7) The reinvestment in the downtown area
8) Improvements to sports facilities
11. Conflict Management:
Conflict management within societal and political norms.
1) Participants gave transparent and honest assessments of local issues
2) Successes and areas of improvement as a council
3) Willing to partner with unfamiliar team members to build rapport
III. Action Planning and Priorities:
Facilitate the process of developing council operating business rules/governance.
1) Working collaboratively with other council members and regional partners
2) Transportation infrastructure
3) Fiscally/environmentally responsible water supply
4) Economic development
5) Public safety
IV. Agenda Setting:
Agenda -setting and legacy (what will we be known for?).
What do you want to be known for as a Council?
1) Moving city/projects forward
2) Public safety
3) Working for the public
4) Addressing water
5) Addressing streets
How do we measure success with regard to implementing people's desires?
1) Less water boils
2) Budget record setting for water and streets
3) Brand new police academy
4) Master Planning
How do the citizens know about our successes?
1) Better attempt at transparency with budget
2) More public input sessions (ex: opening doors to public regarding drought contingency
plan, radio shows, hosting townhall meetings, creating newsletters)
3) Individual efforts
4) Respond to someone who has an issue
5) Testimonies
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Meeting Minutes April 6, 2023
6) Social outreach
Why is transparency important?
1) For constituents to trust their elected officials and know they are being represented
properly
Organizational Identity:
Organization Legitimacy -aligns organizational value to the social system in which it
operates
Regulatory Legitimacy -doing things correctly
Normative Legitimacy -doing things right
Agenda Setting -paint an image:
Assumption 1: the media filters and shapes what we see rather than just reflecting
stories.
Assumption 2: the more attention the media gives to an issue, the more likely the public
will consider that issue to be important.
The participants were taught three types of agenda setting:
1. Public Agenda Setting- The public determines the agenda for what is essential.
2. Media Agenda Setting- The media determines the agenda for what is essential.
3. Policy Agenda Setting- The public and media agenda influences policy -maker
decisions.
D. FY 2024 Budget Goal Setting
Consensus Building for FY 2024 Budget Process:
City Manager Peter Zanoni stated that the goal of the presentation is to summarize 15
budget priorities and gather feedback for the development of the FY 2024 proposed
budget.
Police -Five Year Staffing Plan: concern with overall traffic issues throughout the city;
need to figure out how to address overtime or another alternative to compensate for staff
shortage; a Council Member would rather add more officers than increase overtime; and
consider reducing the speed limit in residential neighborhoods to reduce traffic
violations.
Fire -Four -Person Staffing Five -Year Plan: ensure island residents are included in
discussion for Emergency Service District #2.
Corpus Christi Fire Fighter Retirement System (CCFRS): it will cost the City $500,000
annually for the next five years to increase the firefighters salary $110 a month; and there
are about 342 retirees and 482 active firefighters.
Street Maintenance Fee: all residential customers who receive a utility bill will see this
fee increase; a Council Member's desire to concentrate funding on residential streets;
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residential streets are a priority but don't want others to fall into disrepair at the same
time; this money can be spent on curbs and gutters; and look at all funding alternatives
before raising the rates.
Funding for Residential Streets: the funding sources of $20 million is only for
reconstruction of residential streets; consider increasing the industrial district revenue to
determine how many streets will be impacted; the $6.1 million was calculated from what
was left after funding other initiatives from four years ago; and possibly reduce fund
balance for one-time projects.
Streets -Type B Sales Tax Venue: address the Sunbelt Industrial District streets that are
in poor condition; need to determine what industrial districts we have in each district and
decide which one needs the most work; an opportunity to utilize this funding in District 4,
specifically Compton Road; a Council Member commended staff for getting Prescott
Street from Trojan to Padre Island added to the street project list; and more streets will be
added to the list, but staff must start with a recommendation first, meet with council, and
then get community input.
Storm Water Fee and Storm Water Service Enhancements: the street sweeper on
Ocean Drive is important to keep trash out of the bay; and the street sweepers are used
throughout the city.
Solid Waste Fee and Monthly Solid Waste Fee: commercial companies do the most
damage to the streets; this rate increase was recommended by a rate consultant who
was hired to analyze costs for recycling, trash and brush operations; the department is
falling short on fuel costs and equipment; Solid Waste is behind about $500,000 on fuel
costs this year; and need to be realistic about costs going up and not impede
maintenance.
Water/Wastewater Rates: a Council Member recommends that Targe water users should
pay more per gallon; and full-time employees increased significantly because of the 20
percent vacancy rate in the water department due to competition with local industries.
Property Tax Rates: the governor announced a $35 billion surplus to give residents a tax
break; a Council Member's priority is a tax break for all residents; the tax break is a
regressive reduction, so a home with a higher value will get a bigger tax break; consider
looking at a dollar based tax break as opposed to a percentage based tax break;
consider doing a step-up program over several years; need to look at how it impacts the
budget; need workshop on Industrial District Agreements; and find ways to cut costs
rather than increase revenue.
San Patricio Economic Development Corporation (EDC): what do we get in return; why
does San Patricio need more money if they don't want to attract more industries; and
need to focus on giving that money to our own EDC rather than theirs.
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Animal Care Services: the major issue to address is why animals are being turned away;
focus on public safety; and a concern about keeping animals too long and hindering pick
up of potentially dangerous animals.
Environmental Sustainability Staffing: look at City's business process -is the City
environmentally sustainable; this would be the beginning of establishing a more robust
department; hopes that we could capture some TAMUCC graduates to keep them here;
a Council Member feels these positions should be part of the department's individual
operations; request for an analysis to see if it is needed; many departments already have
some type of component built in; this unit would focus on sustainability and create a
centralized plan; a Council Member's concern about creating a department without
specific goals in place; environmental sustainability would provide a lens with which other
departments could help create their own programs; need to find a way to reward industry
that is keeping their operations clean; look at current personnel -we may have the asset
and just need to reorganize what we already have; and the City Manager recommends
starting with one or two staff members to create this department.
Parker Pool: the need for a long-term plan to replace pools that have not been
addressed in the last 30 years; and need maintenance plan for pools citywide.
Future Mandated Increases for Maintenance and Operations: be cognizant of enterprise
funds.
E. ADJOURNMENT
Mayor Guajardo adjourned the meeting at 5:04 p.m.
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After -Action Report/
Improvement Plan (AAR/IP)
City of Corpus Christi Leadership Retreat
Workshop Name
Date
Scope
Participating,;
Organizations
Point of Contact
OVERVIEW
City of Corpus Christi Leadership Retreat
Thursday, April 6, 2023
This retreat event aimed to facilitate communication between the City Council; introduce
conflict management techniques within societal and political norms; streamline processes
of developing/reviewing City Council operating business rules and governance; agenda
setting, and FY 2024 budget items for consideration.
Courageous Leadership Alliance INC.
Todd Simmons, Founder and Chief Vision Officer (CVO)
City of Corpus Christi
Leadership Retreat
After -Action Report/Improvement Plan
April 24, 2023
The After -Action Report/Improvement Plan (AAR/IP) aligns leadership retreat objectives with
the learning and application objectives (LAO) and with training and development grounded in
four main theories for governance/business rule development: Organizational Theory (OT),
Agency Theory (AT), Stakeholder Theory (ST1); and Sociological Theory (ST2).
After -Action Report/ City of Corpus Christi Leadership Retreat
Improvement Plan (AAR/IP)
Objective 1
Facilitate Communication Between Council Members
Core Capability
LAO 1. Communication between council members, the mayor's office, and the city manager to
develop an environment of mutual respect and understanding.
The retreat began with asking Council Members and the Mayor to reflect on "why" they wanted
to become representatives of their district/city. Each attendee provided the "why," which led to
an open discussion to advance available communication channels. The facilitator asked follow-
up questions to guide each participant to reveal overall objectives and potential goals to reflect
the best -case scenario for their district and city.
Affective (feeling) and cognitive (point of view) concepts to conclude the conversation.
Participants were informed that affective is emotion -based and can be a contagion. Contagion is
not sustainable and can degrade the communication. Cognitive was also introduced to mitigate
the impact of the affective reaction. Participants could listen to each other's "why" to build the
cognitive (point of view) approach to better understand each other's discussion in future
meetings.
Strengths
Strength 1: Participants were open to listening and sharing thoughts.
Strength 2: Participants were willing to listen and use non-verbal communication actively.
Strength 3: Participants experienced repeated interactions to reduce known/unknown
misconceptions.
Areas for Improvement
Area for Improvement 1: Participants should first include the "why" in all communication to
give listeners the purpose. Then, participants should apply active listening techniques and be
mindful of nonverbal communication movements.
Analysis: The root cause of the lack of mutual respect may be communication and listening
techniques that rely more on affective than cognitive. As a potential result, emotional contagion
(matching emotion for emotion) and lack of active listening (cognitive) may have contributed to
perceived or actual disrespectful communication between participants. Objective 2 introduces
potential societal and political factors that may degrade mutual respect meeting relationships.
Objective 2
Introduce Conflict Management Techniques
Core Capability
LAO 2: Conflict management within societal and political norms.
2 Courageous Leadership Alliance
After -Action Report/ City of Corpus Christi Leadership Retreat
Improvement Plan (AAR/IP)
Participants were given guidance on the social identity (SI) approach. SI approach consists of the
social norm theory (SNT) and social identity theory (SIT). Participants were given examples of
how the SI approach is applied in group dynamics. At the same time, a person is compelled to
become a member of a group with similar or desirable characteristics (in-group). In-groups are
known as "us," and non -similar or out -groups are known as "them." This may have created an
unlimited "us versus "them" power dynamics. For example, a representative from District A
speaks for their in-group (us) but considers District B, C, and so on as out -groups (them).
The participants were given guidance on empathetic leadership and professional relationship
trust (PRT). PRT is a stepwise method of building trust. First, calculus -based trust is the initial
step built by following written policy, procedures, and governance. Over time and repeated
interactions, the participants can transition to knowledge-based trust (KBT). KBT is the ability to
predict members' responses in certain situations. For example, Member A can predict that
Member B will or will not negatively react to a specific statement, behavior, or action. Then,
over time and repeated interactions, participants transition to identity -based trust (IBT). IBT is
the ability for members to speak on behalf of each other without asking for permission. IBT is
rarely achieved in business and is less likely relevant for the council.
Strengths
Strength 1: Participants gave transparent and honest assessments of local issues.
Strength 2: Participants provided successes and areas of improvement as a council.
Strength 3: Participants were willing to partner with unfamiliar team members to build rapport.
Areas for Improvement
Area for Improvement 1: Members should introduce more opportunities for team building to
build PRT or other trust -influencing tactics to improve the ability to predict behaviors and
actions of council members in certain situations. This may reduce conflict between "us" versus
"them" power dynamics that are unique to city councils.
Analysis: The participants represent a population that views them as the in-group leader.
Nonetheless, each District can be considered or perceived as opposing the other. For example,
District A may perceive District C as non -similar based on demographics such as economic
status/income. Suppose a District A representative perceives that District C's representative has
more positive outcomes associated with their area. In that case, the District A representative will
likely rely on stereotypes, unfounded opinions, and biases that accelerate conflict. Therefore,
teambuilding events such as this retreat provide opportunities to reduce these negative attributes
and, over time, manage conflict. This approach integrates with the Sociological theory, which
suggests that transparent accounting and accountability promote social fairness and impartiality.
Objective 3
Facilitate developing/reviewing City Council Operating Business Rules/Governance.
Core Capability
LAO 3. Facilitate the process of developing council operating business rules/governance.
3 Courageous Leadership Alliance
After -Action Report/ City of Corpus Christi Leadership Retreat
Improvement Plan (AAR/IP)
Participants were presented with Organizational Theory (OT). OT is a framework and tool for
developing local government business rules and/or governance. The facilitator reinforced the
importance of developing and abiding by operating business rules based on the countless "us"
versus "them" power dynamics in city councils. For example, the facilitator used the NCAA
football teams Alabama (us) versus Auburn (them). The NCAA set the governing rules that both
teams should follow.
Consequently, without NCAA governance, the outcomes are less likely to advance competition
that leads to positive results regardless of the win/loss scenario. Participants were introduced
briefly to the importance of developing business rules to govern the vast representation within
the council. The goal is to establish regulations that benefit the city's good without bias to a
particular section or District that promote fairness and equal opportunities to present interests.
Strengths
Strength 1: Participants were willing to speak about situations, where rules may or may not have
been considered.
Strength 2: Participants unknowingly used language associated with in-group versus out-group
opposition but could insert active listening that activates cognitive coupled with affective.
Strength 3: Participants appear honest and passionate about the city's future and its residents.
Areas for Improvement
Area for Improvement 1: Participants should have a workshop to discuss current and proposed
operating business rules. The workshop should provide an opportunity to evaluate current
processes based on Agent Theory (AT). AT focuses on positions that require persons to act as an
agent for shareholders and represent the best interest without regard for self -interests.
Analysis: The facilitator explained these concepts to improve competitive interactions that
promoie overall improvements for the city. The council's passion for the city's future may
overcome self-interest and provide an avenue to review, revise, or draft rules that allow for
fairness and equal opportunity for each representative to present district interests.
Objective 4
Agenda Setting for 2023-2024
Core Capability
LAO 4. Agenda -setting and legacy (what will we be known for?").
The facilitator explained that the identity (what we will be known for) is based on organizational
legitimacy (OL) and agenda -setting theory (AST). OL suggests that organizations must strive for
regulatory legitimacy (doing things right) and normative legitimacy (doing this correctly). If
people perceive one or more is not followed, it will influence their overall identity. For example,
if council members do not follow general rules or governance, citizens may view them as not
having legitimacy. Comparative, if citizens perceive that the council followed the rules, but their
4 Courageous Leadership Alliance
After -Action Report/ City of Corpus Christi Leadership Retreat
Improvement Plan (AAR/IP)
actions are not "right," it has a similar effect. Therefore, the participants were briefed on the third
construct of the agenda -setting theory.
AST suggests that media filters and shapes what we see rather than just reflecting stories to the
audience. The more attention the media gives to an issue, the more likely the public will consider
that issue important. Based on this, the participants were taught the three types of agenda setting.
1. Public Agenda Setting: The public determines the agenda for what is essential.
2. Media Agenda Setting: Media determines the agenda for what is essential.
3. Policy Agenda Setting: The public and media agenda influences policy -maker decisions.
Strengths
Participants knew the influence of media on resident perceptions.
Strength 1: Participants are aware of media influence on resident perceptions.
Strength 2: Participants understand that word of mouth and imagery are effective
communication tactics that set most agendas.
Areas for Improvement
Area for Improvement: The council should apply the Policy Agenda Setting technique to
account for the media and the public. Clarity is needed in the evaluation process to set current
agenda items; however, this does not suggest that a function does not exist. The Policy Agenda
Setting method can build on doing this right and doing things correctly.
Analysis: Some inconsistencies may be associated with how items should be added to the
agenda. A few questions addressed the fairness and reasonability of the current process. If no
review process exists, an annual review and revision recommendations on agenda setting should
occur at least annually. This annual review will allow participants to address relevance and
fairness in agenda -setting.
5 Courageous Leadership Alliance