04-24-1976 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Councilman Ward noted that one additional position is recom- mended for the Building Department because of a State mandated program, and he suggested that an engineer already on the City payroll could be trained for this purpose. He also commented that he would not like to see fees become a disincentive to developers. Councilman Brandt agreed that fees should be kept as low as possible. ADMINISTRATIVE & SUPPORTIVE Mr. Thomas Andrusky, SERVICES DIVISION Deputy City Manager for Administrative and Support Services, stated that he is evaluating all of the services within the Division with emphasis on quality and quantity of the work performed in order to develop work standards. He stated that a major goal in the Finance Department is to revise the Budget format and procedure for monitoring the Budget during the coming year, which will include increased use of charts and graphs for summary information. He pointed out that during the past year there has been a decrease of one full time person in the Finance Department, and that the Department will process 240,000 water bills and 60,000 paychecks during the year. He noted that the proposed Budget of the Finance Department has increased by 7.2% over last year. He described a geo-coded data base being developed by the Data Processing Section, for Planning,'Police and Fire use, and outlined plans to improve financial reporting and payment of water bills. Mr. Andrusky noted that the Personnel Department Budget is up 10.2% over last year, mainly because of accounting system changes and increased Personnel costs. He stated that a pro- gram is being developed to provide an integrated personnel information system. Mr. Andrusky also described the functions of Building and Equipment Maintenance, and reviewed some of the alternatives being considered for improved services, including contractual service. Councilman Yamamoto left the meeting at 11:00 A.M. FIRE DEPARTMENT Acting Fire Chief Ray Bachtelle stated that ~ the major increases in the departmental Budget are mostly fixed costs, equipment rental, and a new paramedic van. He stated that emergency responses have been rising at about 21% for paramedic calls, and that the fire calls have also increased with an estimated $15 per capita fire loss. He stated that the Fire Department does not have the manpower~or apparatus that it had five years ago; however, 90% of the calls are answered within five minutes of the time received, and 75% within four minutes. He added that the Department is understaffed by eight people. He described the Department's training programs and routine activities, includ- ing maintenance and commercial and industrial inspections. POLICE DEPARTMENT Police Chief Raymond Davis described the progress of the Com- munity Oriented Police Program (COP), and how it has succeeded in reducing crime in the City with the most significant reduction in burglaries. He stated that increases in the Police Budget are due to increased fixed costs and increased patrol car costs; that CITY COUNCIL MINUTES 155 APRIL 24, 1976