The times they are a-changin’
Change is good, right? Our recent budget mess means things are going to change whether we like it or not. So why not embrace change and offer solutions to make sure that what we get is what we want?
Lately, there has been a great deal of “advice” being given to City Hall from various comments on Kirkland Views so I thought it might be good to start a thread for that purpose. What changes would you make to Kirkland if you had the power to do so? What do we need to improve for the betterment of our community? What advise would you give to our City Council as they struggle to dig ourselves out of the current budget mess?
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I have copied the following comments to this thread:
user fees
Kirkland provides too many “free” services which are quite expensive to maintain. User fees should be broadly implemented as a fair way to tax those who use services.
From Seattle City Hall stares at $50 million in cuts, 2008/07/31 at 10:42 AM
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dogwalk
Kirkland doesn’t provide too many free services. We all use them. We all pay for them. We all enjoy Kirkland for our quality of life. I would like to see a off leash park. Kirkland is a very dog friendly community and we should recognize this by fulfilling this need. Seattle seems to be better prepared and more friendly toward dogs.
From Seattle City Hall stares at $50 million in cuts, 2008/07/31 at 11:59 AM
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new2kland
There is a universal truth: NOTHING IS FREE! In this City as in all others the money comes from somewhere: that somewhere is us: primariliy property taxpayers. I don’t know nor care how much money CIVIK has. What I do know is that they didn’t cause the City’s financial shortfall. Disclaimer: I am not and have never been a member of CIVIK, nor any of their subsidiaries if any, nor do I think I know any these people, whoever they may be. I do feel a little slighted as they werent’ part of the welcome wagon when we moved in!
The time to ask questions of our City leaders is now. Budgets are being developed now. Without input from the folks who will pay the taxes and take the hit on a reduction in services don’t be surprised with the end result. I can attest to having to pay user fees for things in the last City I lived where I don’t here. In many ways the things I paid user fees for were better. I have grave concerns after viewing the last budget meeting. Specifically what happens if we use reserves, raise taxes and lower levels of service whatever that means and in another 2 years we are no better off? What if development stops? Then what? Having lived and worked in the midwest and the rust belt during the transition I can tell you that no one was immune. Get involved and tell your neighbors to.
From Seattle City Hall stares at $50 million in cuts, 2008/07/31 at 3:06 PM
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Shades of Goldwater
new2kirkland, your universal truth: NOTHING IS FREE does not apply here. How about free wireless internet in parks. Free hot showers at Houghton Beach. The most extensive television programming you will ever see for a city our size. More parks and recreation and human services programs than you could possibly imagine. Free recycling bins, yard waste bins, food scrap bins… oh those aren’t free, they are compulsory.
You have a lot to learn about Kirkland. It is going on twenty one years for me and I still remember when we didn’t have nor expect government to do so many things for us.
From Seattle City Hall stares at $50 million in cuts, 2008/07/31 at 5:23 PM
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I will start this list and try to be constructive. Someone else here suggested using Redmond’s budget prioritizing with citizen input given first priority. I certainly feel like this council is not listening to the people when I read what have planned for the budget. It is a protect the cronies budget. Cut services and raise taxes while protecting the cronies. That results in higher taxes for all of us. Listen to us. Be responsible with our money.
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First of all I think the Council needs to actually start making decisions in a timely manner. Studying topics to death and trying to please everyone is not effective. Take a stand and then take action.
I know some of these ideas may be unpopular, but if I were on the Council I would recommend:
1) Approving the 8 story ParkPlace design and doing everything possible to assist the developers in attracting quality retailers and service providers.
2) Start charging for parking in Downtown to help fund a parking garage on the Antique Mall site. Pass a bond to fund the rest.
3) Look at ways to significantly reduce auto traffic in Downtown and work with merchants and retailers to develop a pedestrian friendly area with core businesses and services that are open later and meet the needs of downtown office dwellers and residents.
4) Critically evaluate all staffers and programs. Ask City employees to provide recommendations on how to operate more effectively. Implement budgeting by priorities and seek input of citizens on what they feel is most important.
5) Search for ways to attract more corporations such as Google and work to stop the flood of businesses out of Kirkland. Providing a more attractive less restrictive manner of doing business would be a start. Putting developers through the wringer like the City did with the B of A project will not encourage developers and businesses to want to come to Kirkland.
6) Re-work the Downtown Comprehensive Plan (in the works I know) and the codes to make them clearer on things like superior retail. Make it so there is less ability to appeal. This is not to say give everything to the Developers - but work with all interested parties to ensure clear rules and then stick to them.
7) Continue to improve walking and bike paths and promoting alternative forms of transportation throughout all of Kirkland and the Eastside.
Kirkland has a lot going for it – the willingness of the community to participate, a great downtown with wonderful natural resources, excellent staff, new businesses coming into the city, and currently a number of developers who are still willing to work to create a new and vibrant downtown. But we need to take action and work to capitalize on these resources and stop studying them to death.
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I would like suggestions as to how to run City Council meetings more efficiently. For quite some time now, the Council meetings have run late. Very late. Many times they have not finished until well after midnight. Study sessions start at 6 p.m. so this makes for very long days. As one Councilmember stated at around 11:45 p.m. during a Council meeting, “our best decisions are not made at this hour.”
One possible change might be to have fewer items on the agenda at a Council meeting. Too many times I have watched the Council debate over changing a word here or a paragraph there on letters. Wordsmithing should not take up valuable time at Council meetings.
I agree with DCD and suggest we should eliminate the term “superior retail” as it is a ridiculous definition. All downtown retail should be superior and a builder should not get a bonus for making the ground floor of his building meet code.
I believe the height limits in downtown should be set regardless of whether the building is going to be office or residential. I believe the following to be true: Right now, an office building can go up to 4 stories in height. But if you want to build a residential building, then you can build 4 stories or maybe 5 if you include “superior retail” on your ground floor. The silly thing about this rule is that the 5 story residential building is the same height as a 4 story office building + or - about 12 inches. This is because office buildings require higher ceilings on each floor. The interior mix of residential or office space should be irrelevant to as to the height a building should have. And making height dependent upon “superior retail” is not working because ambiguous definitions in the code are leading to appeals. Decide what a bank is once and for all. Is a bank retail or is it not? Is a bank “superior retail”?
The DRB should be deciding how buildings should be designed. Not the City Council. The City Council is made up of politicians, not architects. The Council is no place for such technical decisions requiring expertise to be made.
Adopting a “Redmond style” budget in which the people’s ideas are a top priority would be welcome.
A focus on the economic vitality of our city is needed. Without a strong economic base from which businesses can grow, we have less sales tax and business tax, resulting in higher property and utility taxes for the citizens.
A downtown parking structure is needed. I know that some think cars are evil but they are a necessary evil and they will remain the primary mode of transportation for the foreseeable future. If you want downtown to thrive, you must allow customers to have easy access to downtown.
Openness in government and ethics in government should always be top priorities. Communicate with the people. Put this blog out of business.
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Rob,
Great start to a very complex process. I agree that it starts at the top. I once asked a staff type while waiting for a council meeting to start who sets the agenda for these meetings? This staffer said “the mayor and the city manager”. We also know that the Mayor runs the Council meetings. I think a very fast and efficient way for the Mayor and the City Manager to make some changes is for us to send them some letters requesting that they become more efficient in the use of their and our time. As Mr. Asher quite often says “there must be performance measures”, the elapsed time and what got accomplished that was on the agenda would be easy to calculate. BTW the worst offender of change a word in letters is Mr. Asher. the changes usually don’t bother me but the fact that we have staff who can’t write a concise letter that is then reviewed by the City Manager’s staff before going public does. I agree that time spent on this at the meetings could be used for other things that would shorten the meeting time.
The whole idea of efficiency in Kirkland City government has been raised numerous times by Sternoff. I remember watching a budget meeting last year where priorities were being established. Efficiency was the last bullet point. He stated to the City Manager to move it to the top. Just a few meetings ago when the discussion was regarding different things to balance the budget, Sternoff again made a great comment regarding something to the effect that he thought we the City had been spending money to become more efficient and where did those efficiencies show up in budget reductions? I would have to review the tape again but I don’t think he got an answer.
I have no problem with setting heights in downtown. I do remember that superior retail does give an extra floor for residential. The fact that it is wasn’t and still isn’t defined is troubling but then again we saw 4 members of the Council who didn ‘t think that a bank was superior retail. Yet they couldn’t define it nor describe it. That is in the least troubling. The definition per the DSP was space not use. I will tell you that if you ask the other employees where I work in downtown even those with direct deposit they like having a bank there. There are of course all sorts of other things we need in our downtown but this and previous Councils as well as proponents and oponents of development can’t seem to come to any agreement.
DRB should handle buildings. Clint Eastwood said it in a movie “a man has to know his limitations” We have several members on the Council who don’t seem to know theirs. They have proven that they aren’t architects, engineers, nor city planners. Leave the technical and the visual up to the pro’s.
Downtown parking structure? Yes! The Lakeshore Plaza plan. YES. Whichever way you go requires a leadership that goes beyond the topic of the day. The Council does not appear to be able to look past the next budget or green initiative. This is probably the overiding problem in Kirkland. No plan, No committment means no action. I hate to tell these folks but my employer has figured this out. I know for a fact that the powers that be are looking for space in other Cities just because there a sense that the majority of the City Council has no committment to the future. Not one initiative to encourage redevelopment of the waterfront or the downtown that would bring the same retail and commercial amenities here. I will tell you that as much as my fellow employees enjoy the lunch time strolls and taverns after work, most take off for bellevue, fremont or belltown. And these are people with families who even in these economic downtimes are spending money.
Openess in government. That’s a hard one. From my peripheral involvement in the City I can truthfully say that this is the worst I have seen. I don’t understand how an elected official can publicly violate some state statutue and in the least throw a quasi-judicial hearing into a potential costly lawsuit without swift and certain punishment? I had mentioned the tape of the incident to a co-worker who also lives in Kirkland. He played it for some of his fellow workers as part of a mellow out after a strategy meeting. Of course they were amazed at Hodgson but equally astounded that the Mayor and Ms. Greenway fully supported the effort. He said that after the laughter ended someone asked if they had all been replaced? Until this mess gets cleaned up I fear that we have more of this to look forward to. That is sad. But I am happy that things like this will keep Rob blogging along for some time to come.
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I think that strong leadership will result in shorter Council meetings. If wordsmithing is taking place and not being effective then the mayor should learn how to wrap it up and cut off discussion. Not saying that there should not be room for debate, but with reasonable limits and firm control meetings would run shorter.
More use of consent items might work as would setting shorter agendas. Not meddling quite so much in DRB matters would help as well.
Everything seems to go back to lack of leadership and a fear of saying no to anyone. With any decision someone is going to be unhappy. Read the information. Weigh the pros and cons. Listen to the experts and those that might have a say and then suck it up and make a decision based on what the evidence shows is best for the city as a whole. Even if it is unpopular with some subgroups. Leading means actually making tough decisions - not analyzing items to death and driving aways businesses that need answers.
As to openness in governement - any word at all as to what the outcome of the meeting was on Wed?
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I write a column for the Kirkland Reporter on Kirkland Businesses. Next week it is on How to Build a Sustainable Business Community. I think it is important not only for city council, and other city government offices, but business owners and residents to help our city get out of debt by keeping our existing businesses “in business”. We all complain about taxes, a downtown that seems to be constantly going out of business, parking, etc. but many local residents and businesses do not do business locally. AS a community I think it is critical that we keep our businesses here so they can help support themselves, stay in business and provide the sales revenue that will make our city budget stronger. Buying in another city, when you can buy locally, is like mailing a check to another country, it doesn’t help us build a strong Kirkland government, community or business and tourism environment. It may seem to cost less to take our business to the super stores, or other shopping zones, but if we have something here that could fill the need, why don’t we help our own economy survive and then thrive. It’s a winning proposition for both residents and businesses and it’s about sustainable living at its core! Just my two cents worth!
Susan Burnash
Purple Duck Marketing
A Kirkland Resident and business
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I appreciate all the above comments, we are mired in the here and now and not an overall picture of the future for Kirkland (except DowntownCondoOwners’ response).
If the big picture that was developed, understood, and accepted in the Downtown Strategic Plan of 2001 would be used as the guide for decision making with developers then decisions could be made more easily. (I am not aware if that plan actually was translated into code for building and designing, but it speaks to what professional planners assessed and what most homeowners want for their community). It is not just this City Council, but all Councils in the future to utilize for decision making.
Using this guide will assist in good times and in bad - expanding and contracting the budget to meet the plan by various percentages - much like a business to fit current conditions.
The overall design of the downtown is so important to the future of the city - but how do the changes being offered support the long-range plan. Redesigning project to project is exhausting - even as an onlooker. We are off track from the Strategic Plan and Getting nowhere…
Does anyone know if the Plan was actually translated to code for future building and development?
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Lisa Leo asked if there was information on the DSP and its implementation. Below are some documents from the City’s Planning department website on the current state of the plan the update.
There is currently a group studying the 2001 DSP to see how it can be updated. You can view information on their progress here:
http://www.ci.kirkland.wa.us/depart/Planning/Code_Updates/DSP.htm
As a kick off to that plan these documents were created explaining the 2001 plan and how it has been implemented to date:
http://www.ci.kirkland.wa.us/__shared/assets/DAC_Background_info_060720076227.pdf (including on p.3 a nice overview of the zoning requirements for Downtown)
This Powerpoint shows what has been developed downtown since then: http://www.ci.kirkland.wa.us/__shared/assets/DRC_project_status_060720076228.pdf
It does have a lot of good ideas and I think the new group looking at the plan has some good thoughts.
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Lisa, the DSP was not translated into code, and I think that would be difficult. The DSP is more a set of guidelines than anything else, and therin lies a problem. The DAT spent a lot of time developing the plan, and the Council accepted it, but some of those Council members never really meant to follow it. Now, whenever a proposal is made, it is analyzed in great detail with the DSP being a very minor part of the criteria for approval, even if it weas the DSP iteself that spoarked the idea. Ultimately, there is no acceptance of the DSP, and each idea has to stand alone for review.
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Budget suggestions
1. Stick with the adopted budget. The council adopts a two-year budget modified each year. It’s a public process that requires a balance budget. The council’s budget tells the citizens how much money it will take from them to run the city. They plan for reserves, fees, and taxes. Yet, each year for the past 20 years the council exceeds their budget. They take more from each citizen than what they need. It has averaged more than $12 million/year, money that could have improved each and every citizen’s quality of life. Surplus spending needs to stop. Because of gluttonous spending, there is now a $13.8 million shortfall in the budget.
2. Eliminate the “one-time” projects, subsidies, and people expenditures. It amounts to millions of dollars in non-essential slush funds that are not accounted for as an on-going budget expense.
3. Suspend or reduce capital facility spending for new facilities until the budget is balanced.
4. Stop hiring so many consultants. City staff including the city manager is hired at great expense because they supposedly bring with them the experience, knowledge, and ability to exceed at what they do. If true, we don’t need the additional expense of consultants. However, hiring consultants helps staff avoid the responsibility that should be theirs. We should not be paying consultants for information that staff already knows.
5. Quit buying things on credit. The use of bonds to pay future debts adds to our deficit. Deficit spending should be limited. Too many ‘opportunity” cost have too much on-going debt associated with them.
6. Any adjustment to the budget should not adversely impact essential services. Fire, police, and transportation are essential. Almost everything else is secondary.
7. The un-funded needs list needs to be reduced and prioritized.
8. The cost increases of salaries and benefits needs scrutiny.
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I agree wholeheartedly with the suggestion that Kirkland stop hiring so many consultants, but I do not think it is necessarily because the staff wants to or does not believe they can do their jobs.
From several meetings I have attended and things I have read and heard I get the clear impression that consultants are hired because of the Council’s predilection for studying things to death. So the staff and boards and commissions believe that they have no choice but to seek outside verification of their ideas or the belief is that the Council will not listen to them. That perception combined with easy access to funds to hire them make for an expensive way to run a government.
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Bob,Bob,Bob,
You had me hooked in #1 till you started quoting huge numbers. The only one I agree with is the shortfall number because it was published. I actually think it has been revised to as much as $17mil. Please direct me to where you found the $12 mil a year. I am not a defender of this City Government. I just want to make sure I have all the facts before I drink your coolaid!
The reasons for the shortfall are numerous. I’ll give you overspending is a huge cause. There has also been a huge drop in retail sales tax due to the downturn in the construction industry, automobile sales and other consumer spending. There wasn’t anyone including you during your 3 minutes who predicted the decline in these taxes nor the rapid increase in energy and medical costs. Let’s talk property taxes. You rant and rave about how bad they are. I remember Council Member Sternoff breaking down how much the City of Kirkand gets as a percentage of your total tax bill. As I recall it was less than 15%. The rest goes to the State, County, Schools, and voted debt like parks, ems, etc. I will gladly pay my $1400 a year ($120 a month)to the City to make sure I get Police and Fire showing up when I call as well as reasonably clean parks and all the other things that are available to me from the City.
I agree with #2. I would think that if these one time positions are really necessary then budget for them and evaluate what current positions can be eliminated.
I agree with #3. The rehabilitation of the old hope link building is more feel good than financially sound. As per #2 the City may not need the space!
I wonder about #4 too. I know there is a need for expertise that the City can’t afford to hire full time. It does appear that there are a whole bunch of these guys around. I wonder what the yearly expense City wide is for consultants?
I don’t fully agree on #5. The life span of a bond is relatively short and provides the City with the ability to not use funds for things with longer life span like buildings or park land. I think the City has done a relatively good job in going to the voters to decide on the bigger ticket things.
I’m with you on #6. This is pure need.
I’m with you on #7 and don’t know why this can’t be done on right now. Maybe it is and we haven’t seen it.
I’m with you on #8. There is only so much money and that only buys so much. Union contracts are a tough one. I think the City is stuck here and hopefully there will be an awakening by the Unions that the City only has so much money before it cost their members some jobs.
I would add a #9. That is efficiency. This City has spent a whole bunch of money on upgrading computer systems (as they should)and other technology. I would like to see the payback in terms of reduction of personel etc.
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Downtown Condo Dweller is right on about sometimes needing to hire consultants to have the Council believe staff (sometimes citizens need to hear from a consultant as well). Many times they are used responsibly also…using consultants lets you not have to hire staff to get large projects done.
Annexation is a good example. Staff did the work a long time ago and people didn’t like the numbers (they can’t be that large is what I remember hearing). So, this time they used a consultant. On the other hand, this time the process was much larger and more detailed so they never could have kept they books, paid the bills, processed utility bills AND done all the work on the Annexation the Council and citizens wanted (what about like this, what about like that) without more staff if they didn’t use a consultant. I am sure they worked a lot of long nights on this even with a consultant. Consultants can be a good way to manage varying workloads if it is done correctly.
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To Kirkland Busy Body,
I don’t know which city you are talking about but the City Of Kirkland is in dire need of more space as we are overflowing into the halls! What makes you say we don’t need the space?
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Downtown Condo,
Thank you for the links to those websites. I love it when people are so helpful to eachother. This is a good community despite the troubles everyone else is talking about. What the council does is not reflective of me, my friends or the people who care enough to give an opinion here.
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Kenneth,
Either you work for the City or are a contractor wanting to bid on the work!
Seriously, I don’t think you or I know what the real City need is. I work for a company that requires all divisions to do a zero based budget. In other words: how many people are needed (read cost) and what addtional resources do they need to do the tasks assigned (cost)? While there may very well be a need for new space I ask the questions I am asked at my company. Why? Again it starts at what really needs to be done? These questions are at this time answered. I guarantee that if they build it they will fill it!
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Igo,
Consultants seem to limit the number of city employees that would be needed or they lessen the workload on those already there to allow for more work to be done.
kbb,
Zero based budgets sound like a good way to monitor if a department is needed.
I hope the council is using these ideas (and more) in their deliberations over the budget.
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The problem is not fat in the regular, basic department budgets. While the budget process may not have a name like “zero based budgeting” or the Redmond thing it is reviewed and questioned by a lot of people. It takes a great deal of staff time in each department. Kirkland is always looking for ways to make the budget process tighter because if the Finance department can get the departments to need less money, it makes their job of balancing the budget easier. The Kirkland budget process and on-going department spending monitoring is pretty tight compared to other cities I have seen. The spending impacts happen at the decision making point. Do we want to have a tree program, do we want to have an on-line parks registration system, do we want to have another parks maintenance person, do we want to remodel this old building, do we want to approve this union contract? These decisions are all made by the Council and all have interest groups. The Council is the one making these decisions and the City Manager implements the decisions for the Council on a day-to-day basis.
BYW - Bob I agree with KKB that you make some good points but they get lost in the stuff like $12M…
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Consultants are hopefully one time expenses utilized only if expertise is not available internally. I am not sure that some departments who constantly utilize consultants (like planning) are over worked. Once again I think it is a matter of priorities. IGO is correct that the Counci comes up with a lot of the “needs”. I am not sure why and it appears that they don’ know what the costs are. Mayor is now wanting a new sustainablility board. Does anyone know how much that will cost? My guess is that the Mayor and Council don’t either. Besides the fab 4 will only meet with them once a year like they do the rest of the boards and commissions. I also somewhat agree with IGO on the City manager’s role in all this. He serves at the favor of the 4 Council members who suport him. So he has to be political as well. Is it time for Kirkland to have a strong Mayor form of government? We can vote them in and we can vote them out. Thoughts anyone?
Hey Bob: Where’s the $12mil?
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Here is my recommendation to our city council for the budget.
Do Not Raise My Taxes. Do not raise my Utility Fees. I can’t afford any more. Times are tough for everyone. Government needs to cut back more.
Treat the city budget like it is a home budget. Cut Spending if you don’t have enough money. If you are in debt, Cut Spending. It is simple.
Question - You just learned that your job will cut your income by over 12% next year. What will you do?
City of Kirkland Answer - Force your employer to give you more money, AND cut the output of work you give him. Cut a little spending here and there, but still go to Hawaii for vacation and still buy that new car because you have savings in the bank that you can spend during down times. Your living standard is what should be maintained.
This makes no sense yet it is what the city is planning to do to us.
A Real Person’s Answer - Cut spending, eat out less, don’t buy a new car, don’t go on vacation, don’t dine out, don’t go to the movies, cut back on spending, cut back on activities, cut back on everything but the essentials. Don’t dip into savings unless it is an emergency because that is what you have a savings account for: emergencies.
What is wrong with our city? It is not cutting enough and it is asking us to pay for it’s spending habits.
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