City Council Special Meeting

17:00 on May 17, 2011

Utility Collections Conference Room

For a report of the regularly scheduled City Council Workshop, scroll down.

This city council meeting was called to canvass the results of Saturday's election. All 7 council members and the mayor were present.

Headlines:

1. In district 3, 570 votes were cast:
   • Mrs Purser 138
   • Mr Burkart 128
   • Mr Terry Clark 306
2. Transfer of $45K in funds from confiscated property account for purchase of new police vehicles was approved.

My commments:

I'm sure there's no serious question about KPD needing the vehicles. But there were no serious questions from the council. Here are questions I wish had been asked (and they were not asked at previous workshop sessions):

1. This is a supplementary request, correct?
2. What changed that made 6 more vehicles necessary now?
3. Please review for the council the bid procedures for new KPD vehicles.

City Council Workshop

17:15 on May 17, 2011

Utility Collections Conference Room

Headlines:

1. Council members acknowledged the recall several times. Cosper thinks the recall will prevent the city from attracting good City Manager candidates.
2. Council members and the mayor are trying harder: they're paying attention and asking questions
3. The mayor said "I'm recalled because I am doing my job."
4. There may be some back-room dealing going on with respect to land use around the new TAMU-CT campus.

Agenda items:

• Land use. Another rezoning issue involving Purser property came up. Cole and Wilkerson asked some intelligent questions about traffic and drainage.

• November 2009 Memorial. There's a committee that includes the mayor and city attorney, but which otherwise is not connected with the city. They're working on a funds management plan and site development plan and will bring them to the council (for information only, I think) when they are ready. SPJST is raising the funds; no city funds are involved.

  Questions I wish had been asked:

  • Since the mayor will brief the council, it sounds like the city is going to be involved somehow. What involvement is anticipated by the mayor?
  • The mayor said no city funds would be involved. Would any other city resources be involved?

• Carole Smith and Chief Baldwin presented the Kid Watch Program. This is a joint effort among Killeen, Harker Heights, Nolanville, Fort Hood and KISD to find volunteers to minotor the more than 1100 area school bus stops to prevent crime against school children. Volunteers would be screened, trained, and issued distinctive clothing. The effort will probably require a new full-time "child safety coordinator".

  Mrs Purser was praised for her work on this program.

  Questions I wish had been asked:

  • What would be the city's involvement?
  • What additional police resources will be devoted to this?
  • Who would pay for the "child safety coordinator?" To whom would this person report?
  • Can you point to other communities where this kind of program was successful? Where it failed?

• Discuss the Comprehensive Plan as it relates to the University Overlay District.

  City Director of Planning Dr Ray Shanaa made a very confused presentation about the University Overlay District. If I understood correctly (and I doubt that anyone did), he said

  • There were conflicts between the Comprehensive Plan and the Overlay restrictions.
  • He'd had "some people complain" that too much property along TX 195 was too restricted by the University Overlay.
  • That he'd like to know whether the council wants him to recommend changes. And by the way there a similar issues with regard to the Cemetary Overlay District farther out 195.

  I found this disturbing on several counts:

  • Why is Dr Shanaa asking permission to do work that presumably is part of his job?
  • Is Dr Shanaa making requests to the council on behalf of the anaonymous "complainers"? Would that not be inappropriate?
  • What factors are driving us to make changes to a plan that is only 9 months old involving land that is so far completely undeveloped?
  • Why was TAMU-CT not invited to give an opinion?

• Options for proceeding with hiring a new City Manager.

  Ms Maynor did a good job of laying out the staff's analysis of executive search firms. I wish she had been prepared to discuss the weights she gave various criteria, but I don't think there's much to quibble with.

  The main discussion was whether the city should proceed or not. Mr Cosper thinks the "situation with the citizens" is so volatile that good candidates will not be willing to apply, at least until after the recall election. Staff said the alternatives are:

  • Wait for some period of time to engage an executive search term (this would probably mean getting new quotes later).
  • Engage a "city manager service". That's essentially a contract City Manager, hired under a professional services agreement.
  • Leave the current interim City Manager in place.

  After long and not very illuminating discussion, the council decided to proceed with interviewing the staff's recommended executive search firms.

  During the discussion, Mayor Hancock said "I'm recalled because I did my job." The context was that he was going to give his opinion because sitting back and running the council had just got him in trouble.