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m20200414.spe.docx.pdf 1 April 14, 2020 CITY OF SANTA MONICA CITY COUNCIL MINUTES APRIL 14, 2020 A special emergency meeting of the Santa Monica City Council was called to order by Mayor McKeown at 5:00 p.m., on Tuesday, April 14, 2020, via teleconference pursuant to the Governor’s Executive Order N-29- 20 at http://primtime.bluejeans.com/am2/live-event/uukpvzaa Roll Call: Present: Mayor Kevin McKeown Mayor Pro Tem Terry O’Day Councilmember Gleam Davis Councilmember Sue Himmelrich Councilmember Ana M. Jara Councilmember Greg Morena Councilmember Ted Winterer Also Present: City Manager Rick Cole City Attorney Lane Dilg City Clerk Denise Anderson-Warren CONVENE On order of the Mayor, the City Council convened at 5:00 p.m., with all members present. STAFF ADMINISTRATIVE ITEMS: 8.A. Approval of Voluntary Employee Early Separation Incentive Program and Direction to Develop a Plan for Restructuring Operations and Balancing the Budget as a result of the COVID-19 Health Emergency, was presented. Recommended Action Staff recommends that Council: (1) Authorize the City Manager to implement a Voluntary Early Separation Incentive Program (VESIP) for eligible employees and (2) direct staff to report back no later than the April 28, 2020 Council meeting with a proposed plan for restructuring City operations and balancing the City budget to address impacts from the novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”) public health emergency. Comments from members of the public Somya Munjal, Melissa Zelenovic, Lauralee Asch, Ellis Raskin, Rubin Carter, John Kirkpatrick, Jasmine Durr, Mindi Shank, Leah Cornelius, and Benjamin M. Steers, ATA President, were read into the public record on the recommended action. DocuSign Envelope ID: 684D7036-0142-4672-BF19-4C31D8A5A9DA 2 April 14, 2020 Questions asked and answered of staff included: how did management come up with the options for Tier 1 and Tier 2 and the $5K and $10K amounts, and isn’t it typical to base these types of early separations based on salary and not a base amount; have we received any Federal funding for COVID-19, and if so how much; what would be an incentive for staff to take the early separation when they just took a big hit recently on their retirements; so now does an employee have to work that much longer to get the same benefit; what if someone is 51 years old, can they access their retirement benefits; in regards to the recall funds, are those funds transferred from other funds then transferred to the general fund; if this was protracted out to FY21/22, do you have the option to reduce capital projects to 21/22; is there a reconsideration of a plan that was originally scheduled for the April 28th meeting, but has now been delayed to May 8th to allow further consideration and propose a different plan; if someone takes advantage of the VESIP program, will they be able to be rehired, and could that language be included in the separation agreement; and, has anyone in HR asked the question about whether or not the proposed VESIP amount is high enough, and if there was a higher amount, would there be more people who would take advantage of the payout. Considerable discussion ensued on topics included but not limited to: Deeply concerned with the results of how this virus will impact the most vulnerable population and how it will affect diversity in the community; concern about diversity, and if there is plan for economic recovery after this pandemic is over, and if there’s a way to incorporate maintaining Virginia Avenue Park as the heart of the community. Motion by Councilmember Winterer, seconded by Councilmember Davis, to adopt the staff recommendation. Councilmember Winterer, proposed an amendment to make it a priority to make sure we have the tools for an economic recovery that across all spectrums of the city, and that through the lens of social justice make sure that the people who are most at risk from the economic crisis have the tools in place to continue to be valuable members of our community, and that we do everything in our power to preserve our socio-economic diversity. The motion was considered friendly by the seconder. Councilmember Davis, as the seconder added, regarding on-going and future impacts. There may be future impacts that we aren’t necessarily aware of; and would like to see the word “social justice and diversity” in the Philosophy for Restructuring as part of the city’s values. The motion was considered friendly by the maker. Councilmember Morena proposed a friendly amendment to reiterate knowledge preservation of certain staff members. The motion was friendly DocuSign Envelope ID: 684D7036-0142-4672-BF19-4C31D8A5A9DA 3 April 14, 2020 to the maker and the seconder. Councilmember Winterer, amended his motion to include, to direct staff to report back no later than May 5. The motion with the amendment was considered friendly by the seconder. Councilmember Morena, proposed a friendly amendment to add: create long term fiscal and community sustainability that preserves institutional knowledge, aligns available resources, to the extent possible. The motion was considered friendly by the maker and seconder. Councilmember Morena, proposed a friendly amendment to add to prioritize efforts that encourage business retention, rebuild the economic and social health of the community, to try to preserve what we have. The motion was considered friendly by maker and seconder. Councilmember Himmelrich, proposed a friendly amendment if an employee takes the VESIP, then they would need to return the cash payout if they return. The maker proposed instead a 2 year period before an employee could return. She also suggested that the amount should increase to $10K and $20K. The motion was not considered friendly by the maker. Councilmember Winterer, proposed an amendment to raise the payout for Tier 1 to $15,000 and Tier 2 to $10,000, in order to possibly increase the number of those who voluntarily leave, and reduce the number of layoffs. The motion was considered friendly by the seconder. Councilmember Jara, proposed a friendly amendment to modify Councilmember Morena’s amendment to change language in the philosophy to create long term fiscal and community sustainability that preserves institutional knowledge, to the extent possible, and add: “that aligns with available community centered resources, with the city values.” The motion was considered friendly by the maker and seconder. The motion, with amendments, was approved by the following vote: AYES: Councilmembers Morena, Himmelrich, Davis, Winterer, Jara, Mayor Pro Tem O’Day, Mayor McKeown NOES: None ABSENT: None DocuSign Envelope ID: 684D7036-0142-4672-BF19-4C31D8A5A9DA 4 April 14, 2020 ADJOURNMENT On order of the Mayor, the City Council meeting adjourned at 7:37 p.m. ATTEST: APPROVED: Denise Anderson-Warren Kevin McKeown City Clerk Mayor DocuSign Envelope ID: 684D7036-0142-4672-BF19-4C31D8A5A9DA