e e e morning everyone and good morning staff  good morning to our Media Partners   I will call this meeting to order for January  28th 2025 may we please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance IED Al to the flag of  the United States of America and   to the rep for it stands one nation  God indivisible withy and justice for all thank you all very much Madame Clerk and  Mr clerk can you please call the first item   getting sick again public agenda the public  agenda allows for up to five speakers to have   five minutes each to address the council no  action will be taken relative to items on the   public agenda other than referral to the city  manager for information as necessary speakers   will please State their name and address  for the record a Time clock will display   the speaker remaining time to speak order  and rules of De Quorum will be observed we invite any of five Community speakers to   come forward if you'd like to address  the council you will have up to five minutes I see none we will move on from public  agenda Madame clerk please call the next item Board of bids and contracts dated January 27th 2025 morning city council Josh laber  Department of Finance the board of   bids and contracts convene January 27 2025  for the following items for engineering we   have the 2024 outsourced pavement preservation  program CIP MacArthur Bridge expansion joint   replacement for Barkley Construction LLC  in the amount of $289,600 awarded to the   engineers estimate we have the Rainbow  Lake Street improvements to serve Bridger   at Central Edition for conspec Incorporated  doing business as Kansas Paving for $840,000 $180 for purchasing we have excuse me purchasing  we have welding gases for Lampton Welding Supply   Company Incorporated for an estimated annual  usage of to 42,000 we have the interior and   exterior modifications at two single family homes  for Dutton Construction Services LLC for $139,600   we have the repair of the Caterpillar wheel  loader for fley Industries Incorporated for $55,200 Air Cargo Road and 7710 Southwest  Boulevard rejecting all bids we have the   HVAC equipment replacement at 1801 Airport Road  and 1761 Airport Road and Airport parking garage   reject all bids this is how to become a vendor  with the city this is our purchasing calendar   of any items that the city staff will be  participating in or working with their   small business Resource Partners these are open  public opportunities out on the street today and   I'd recommend your approval and try to answer  any questions council members council member   Ballard thank you yeah thank you Josh I have a  couple questions um I think it's on page or slide four um maybe three okay no oh yes this one  um I just wondered if you could explain um the   price discrepancy or accepting the engineers bid  yeah uh Paul I'm gonna need you to help me with that Paul Gan Public Works and utilities for  the record yes we um Barkley's original bid   was 26188 3 which was the low bid however we  are warding it for $289,600 um just in case we   uh once we get into start construction if we  find anything unknown okay awesome thank you   I have a follow-up question to that so does  that mean that the contractors know that our   maximum is 289 so they have leeway to continue  charging up they that would we are a wardening   for that amount but we will only um only use  that that um we wouldn't go over that um but   we would pay like the measured quantities only  what the work they need Paul would you clarify   that this is a unit price bid yes it is a unit  price bid so um we'll take we'll keep track of   the unit um the measured quantities that are  utilized and we'll only pay for that amount   of the quantities utilized on the bid mayor the  contract can't it can't go up unless we approve   additional work because it is based on unit price  not on a to total cost for all the work thank you   both Josh I have a couple more questions  for you sorry thank you Paul um on slide six um similar to why one of the bids was  lower and we accepted a higher bid sure   that's a great question thank you for asking um  so on this one Ros and Construction LLC they're   a new vendor to us and they've done really  great work for our construction and Paving   um on this one specifically they don't  have a general contractor's license um   so the vendor is scheduled to test for the  general contractor's license in February uh   they've enrolled in study courses and the  general constructor's license test being   for hours covering the general aspects of  construction but the roson license is only   for concrete and asphalt so the reason we are  awarding the second low bid is that they are   the responsive bid meeting all specs awesome  thank you and last one is on um slide eight um there's just obviously a huge discrepancy  in the two bids that we did get yeah thank   you that's a great question as well so Thrasher  systems when they submitted um they were looking   for the manufacturer's quotation for raw goods  and materials for them to complete the final   completion um when they actually submitted the bid  they received the supplier quote my understanding   is after the bids were accepted um and the and  the supplier the raw manufacturer would have been   much higher than their bid allowed so that's  why they requested a bid withdrawal and that   uh without putting the actual price the the  modified price not allowing that modified   price but um it would be more closer in alignment  to what you're seeing with the second bidder okay   awesome and I was curious how your um events  are going trying to recruit uh new vendors uh   it's fantastic thank you for asking we've been  um working a lot more with Resource Partners   in the area we at the city we've been a a very  strong wrong advocate for small businesses within   the purchasing ecosystem but I think what we've  done more now is creating more marketing events   and more um Outreach with our partners I think  last year recently went to Topeka for Supplier   Diversity Fair um this year we're working with  McConnell on a boots to Business program for uh   V veterans who are exiting the service that may  be interested in Contracting with government so   anywhere we can find entrepreneurs or um small  businesses we are trying to partner with them   to to um Advocate and educate on government  contract processes because us we want to have   the largest pool possible so we've had a lot of  um success we've had a lot of Resource Partners   being impressed with the efforts that we're  doing and um I can't think uh Chris Hayes L   enough for his work on this awesome I appreciate  that and um you know I used to have a couple of   my own small businesses and I'm sure uh some  businesses are a little intimidated on what   that might look like uh doing work with local  government so I appreciate you trying every way   Poss possible in different Avenues and trying  to get creative to get new vendors so thank you absolutely I see no further questions for staff  I will move to approve the board of bids and   contracts for January 27th 2025 second motion  and a second any further discussion I see none   Madame Clerk or actually sorry we don't have  our buttons so uh we'll just do a Voice vote   all those in favor say I I all those oppose  same sign motion passes 70 Madame clerk I   believe we miss consent agenda so we'll go  back Madam clerk please call that item I   apologize for that it's consent agenda items  1 through 12 council members any items to be pulled I see none I will move to approve the  consent agenda as presented second motion and   a second any further discussion I see  none all those in favor say I I all   those oppose same sign motion passes  70 Madame clerk please call the next item petitions for public improvements Paul gunsman Public  Works and utilities for the record the uh I have a few petitions for your  consideration this morning the signatures   on the petitions represent 100% of the  improvement district and the petitions   are valid per Kansas statute cast away's North  Edition located in District 3 the project will   provide water storm water drain sanitary  sewer and Paving improvements required for   a new residential development and  to cover the cost of a private bid renri renri fourth edition and Castaways North  Edition again located in District Six the project   will provide water storm water drain sanitary  sewer and Paving improvements required for a   new residential development and to cover the cost  of a private bid Yellowstone commercial addition   located in District 4 the project will provide  water drainage and Sewer improvements require   for a new commercial development and Yellowstone  Edition located in District 4 the project will   provide water storm water drain sanitary  sewer and Paving improvements required for   a new residential development it is recommended  the city approve the new petitions and budgets   adopt the new resolutions and authorize  the necessary signatures and I will stand   for questions thank you Paul questions for staff  I have a couple uh can you just go back to one   of the slides to remind Community uh that these  improvements are mostly driven by specials and   not paid for by uh the rest of the community is  that accurate that is accurate yes these will be   special assessments and the other question I  had was is there um a way that staff can give   us the number of properties Within the city  limits that um could be infill locations that   means uh the water sewer streets have already  been provided for that area so an opportunity   to really be more um direct about housing as that  is our one of our biggest needs in our community   can we find the number of infill locations um in  the city mayor are you asking about properties   that we own uh not properties that we own but  properties already within the City Limits that   don't need additional new improvements but  could be potentially infill locations I don't   know if that there's already a number I've  heard a number but I want the number to be accurate mayor if I could uh Mr manager that might  be worth just revisiting the places for people   plan that we have and maybe just sending that back  out to council right and we have a definition of   of the ECA and the properties would be located  in the UCA we'll we'll find that thank you any   further questions for staff I see none I move  to approve the petitions for public improvements   second motion and a second any further discussion  I see none all those in favor say I I all those   oppose same sign motion passes 70 Madame clerk  please call the next item approve that pursuant   to section 2049 council member Johnson's travel  expenses as estimated on the Travel authorization   and expense form to attend black legislative day  at the capital inpa Kansas February 17 2025 for   the purpose of interacting with legislators  and building relationships with other allies   from across the state to Advocate connect and  Elevate black voices across Kansas consistent   with ar 3.1 be approved upon from travel actual  expenses shall be reported to the controller's office I move to approve that travel  second Motion in a second any further   discussion I see sure I would just  suggest that councilman Johnson not   drink any Pepsis when you're up there  apparently they make you a little tipsy so motion and a second any further discussion  no okay uh all those in favor say I I all those   oppose same sign motion passes 70 Madame clerk  please call the next item approve that pursuant to   section 20490 council member Becky tuttles travel  expenses as estimated on the Travel authorization   and expense form to Topeka Kansas January 29th  20125 for the purpose of providing testimony   on HB 2024 consistent with R 3.1 be approved  upon return from travel actual expenses shall   be reported to the controller's office I'm council  member T thank you um thank you for um considering   this travel request I will be going tomorrow for  Kansas day um but then also for the house taxation   committee this is our um piece of legislation  that we asked to be introduced regarding cancer   screenings for firefighters so very excited  to be able to go and and um provide testimony   I just want to make one correction um  there's been a little bit of change in   developments and I will not be requesting  any kind of expense reimbursement because   Chief snow has graciously um offered  for me to ride with her so thank you I moveed to approve the travel second  motion and a second any further discussion   I see none all those in favor say I I all  those oppose same sign motion passes 70   Madame clerk please call the next item  council member appointments and comments   council members do you have appointments  I see none we'll move to council member comments I see none ma um I will now move to  adjourn the meeting second motion and a second   any further discussion I see none all those in  favor say I I I all those opposing sign motion   passes 70 city manager Leighton will now take  over the workshop portion of this meeting mayor   thank you very much I am extremely excited  about today I hope that you will be during   and afterwards um we are starting our work on  the budget today and we'll do it in two pieces   first of all we're going to share with you the  results from the 2024 Community survey and uh   I think you'll find the results informative and  interesting and then after that we're going to   outline for you a strategic framework for the  preparation of the 25 2026 and 2027 budget and   if we can get uh feedback from you on Direction  this will serve as the guidance for staff as we   prepare uh budget recommendations for you  for those fiscal years so with that I'm   first going to turn over to Elizabeth uh  gri to uh give you a little bit of a pre   Lim make some preliminary comments and lead  us into the survey discussion thank you good   morning everyone um as mentioned there are two  primary components of this workshop and they   will both guide the budget process this year um a  lot of times I hear people referring to a budget   cycle as being easy or hard um and even in one of  those so-called easy years if a budget is already   balanced I feel that there's a responsibility  to align Resources with Community priorities   and I think that that responsibility that feeling  of responsibility is shared amongst all of us um   with that in mind the starting point today is  um to receive feedback from the community from   our annual community survey Sonia whitn  Whit in I'm sorry with PCO has joined us   today and she will be providing an overview  of those results thanks for joining us Sonia all right well thank you very much um mayor  and council members for inviting me today   I'm happy to be here to present the summary of  the findings from the 2024 Witchita Community   survey as mentioned my name is Sonia whitin and  I'm the CEO of PCO I've been working with local   and state governments for the past 25 years  to help them do fulfill their research needs   uh it's a passion of mine so I love to be with  you all folks in local government improving our   communities before I began I would like to  thank Jim Jonas and Elizabeth gy for their   thoughtful and detailed feedback throughout  the project um they were incredible Partners   to my staff and especially during survey  development and implementation we love how   passionate they are about data and it's been  just wonderful to work with them I'd also like   to acknowledge my colleague Grace arneson who  was witch's um which's NCS project manager she   did the bulk of the work and I get to come  and present um so we greatly appreciate your   continued partnership it's an honor to have been  gathering this important feedback with you since 2010 so just a little bit about Poco we  provide tools to local governments that   they use to empower resident voices and get  input on strategic planning and budgeting and   performance measurement we strive to make civil  online engagement accessible for your community   uh NRC is the research arm of Poco and we've  been working with hundreds of jurisdictions   Nationwide for the past 30 years we're well  known for our national benchmarking surveys   such as the an National Community survey  which we'll discuss today and the national   employee survey we learn a lot when working with  governments and we're really proud to share that   knowledge and support thought leadership  and we partner with icma and NLC on that before we dive into the results I want to  emphasize that there's a variety of ways   that information can be used um to me you  know most commonly jurisdictions use their   survey to monitor Trends and Resident opinion  over time to measure government performance   and ratings of public trust to inform budget  processes and strategic plans as you guys are   doing today our results allow you to Benchmark  your community's characteristics and services   against other communities in our database  and we hope as these findings presented   it'll bring additional and important context to  the thoughtful work that you're doing for your community about the survey the national  Community Center survey or the NCS is a   standardized five-page comprehensive survey used  to assess resident opinion about community and   local government the NCS survey questions are  categorized on 10 facets of community livability   to provide a holistic picture of witcha from the  perspective of residents the these facets have   been identified through extensive research as  the most impactful to the quality of life for   your community there are many survey items  included in each of these 10 underlying each   of these 10 facets and the facets align with  Municipal departments making it easier for   staff and City staff to quickly find information  that's important specifically to them one of the   advantages to a local government of participating  in our community survey is the ability to compare   your ratings to those from communities Across  the Nation just to have a little more context   on you know what everyone does well and then  what everyone struggles with um and uh so NRC   was the first organization to conceive of the  idea of doing benchmarks and we currently have   about 500 communities in our Benchmark database  to compare to witcha received comparisons to the   entire Benchmark database which I'm going to call  National benchmarks throughout this presentation   but also opted to receive custom benchmarks  comparisons to a subset of communities and those   communities are those with a population between  200 and 500,000 and that can just be a easier   Target because you know you know you might you  might be compared to like large cities very small   cities but something a little closer to your own  can can give a even better context so I'm going   to go a lot into some surveyed details about  just uh some will find it fascinating and some   might find this part boring but um how a survey  conducted really matters and we use our expertise   to ensure your results are representative uh we  select our sample without bias over samp we over   sample multif family housing and make statistical  Corrections for common response disparities such   as older adults tend to respond more than the  younger adults all households within Witchita   were eligible to participate in the survey we  use a US Postal Service list of all households   because it is the most comprehensive coverage  of all of your all of your residents if you   think about utility Billings sometimes there's  a multif family home that maybe the people in   there don't get a utility bill but the landlord  does so those people would be missed so there's   just different reasons to use different uh or  we reasons we find the US Postal Service to be   the most inclusive list May quickly ask a question  uh what was the what were the number of responses   back in 2023 versus 2024 um I did not write down  the 2023 responses do you 500 so pretty close um   Al so all of the addresses are compared to a GIS  boundary file that the city provides and we just   make sure that everybody is in the right in in  within City boundaries and then also Define which   district they are because we were also looking at  results by District the data collection started   on November 4th 2024 and the survey remained open  for seven weeks that's really important to leave   a long area because people just need time to fill  something out return it by mail or get on to that   website and and and complete the survey the first  mailing was a postcard invitation to an online   survey and the next was a paper survey with a  postage paid envelope so it was easy to return   both mailings included a web link and a QR code  so that you could go to the online survey and the   survey was available in English and Spanish is  and all mailings comp contain paragraphs in both   languages inst instructing the participants on how  to complete the survey in their preferred language   461 completed surveys were received from these  efforts which is a great result um the margin   of error from that 461 is 4.6% we always Target  a margin of error between four and 6% and the   4.6% is excellent for this type of survey in add  addition to the randomly selected address based   sample that I've just spoken about we also had a  link to an online CommunityWide open participation   survey that was publicized by witches H staff  it's open to all residents starting November 25th   2024 for four weeks and 149 people responded  to that survey um just important and we have   that effort so that all community members can  have an opportunity to participate even if they   were not randomly selected this presentation  however based on the 461 responses from the   random address based survey and the responses  to the open participation you can find in the report oops did I go up I have one other one  I had one other slide that's not in here the   council the council has a paper copy oh okay great  so there's a there's just a slide that um when the   surveys were completed we combine all the paper  and the online responses and then we compare the   demographic profile of the survey respondents to  that of the adults and Witchita compared using   the American Community survey and the census  um so in in the slide in your packet you can   see that renters younger adults men and people  of color tend to respond in proportions lower   than their counterpart so to ensure your results  are representative we statistically adjust that   data so that their Cor in the proportion of your  actual population so we call this waiting and it's   a survey best statistical best practice for survey  research um asking these demographic questions   also allows us to wait but also allows you to  dig into your results to see if and how they   vary by different characteristics in the report  there are interactive tables for every question   with comparisons by nine demographic factors and  plus by District so for every line item in the Sur   you can go and dig in and see that see  those results there's also a few other   ways to filter for example to get it  a little closer in you can filter by   one facet at a time you can also filter  by whether or not there's a statistical difference so now on to the results in the survey we have two questions  that ask directly about the 10 larger facets   of community liability the first ask residents  to rate the quality of each facet the questions   are asked on a four-point scale where the  respondent could choose excellent good   fair or poor we consider excellent and good to be  positive ratings and for ease of the presentation   and comparison the percent excellent good is shown  here and throughout this presentation we also show   the comparison to the National Benchmark with  dating on this chart on the bars on the chart   and in later charts we add notations for Trends  and comparisons to the custom benchmark so these are not the custom benchmarks yeah we'll get into  details with the custom benchmarks that we go   through okay thank you um so the second question  refers to these same 10 facets but it's centered   on how important each facet is to Residents and we  asked them how how important it was to focus on in   the next two years we ask both the quality and  importance of these facets so we can add context   in creating this quality importance comparison  which is on this next slide oop and it's not on   the next slide but I will just I will just go  over through so there's a chart in the other   that um is one way to interpretate interpret the  data and I think we also have uh we I think there   there's also a more detailed one that your staff  has created um but this chart it basically gives   you quadrants of what is higher quality what  is lower quality what is higher importance and   what is lower importance and then when we look  at it you can have like well you can't see the   top right corner but that that has high quality  for instance there's high quality ratings for   things that people think are really important and  so though in that quadrant there was utilities   education arts and culture health and wellness  so people think it's super very important and   they give it really good ratings so those are  things where you're doing well probably stay   the course um and while another the bottom right  or corner there's relatively High importance but   lower quality ratings and the two things that  were in that quadrant were economy and safety   so those should probably be areas of focus  and we'll dig into those in the rest of the presentation so just another highlevel view uh of  the 112 survey items for which the pro residents   provided evaluative res ratings one was higher  than the national Benchmark 73 received similar   ratings and 38 received lower ratings that was  an improvement from 2023 when 55 receive lower   ratings than the Benchmark ratings are considered  similar if they're within 10 10 points of the   Benchmark as I said witcha also elected to  compare their results to a custom subset of   communities communities with population between  200 and 500,000 from their our National Database   and in those comparisons two were higher than the  custom Benchmark um it was actually 86 received   uh similar ratings and 24 lower ratings in  this one we include evaluated this slide   you're seeing here we included evaluative  and non-evaluative questions and this was   meant to be evaluated and I'll just explain the  difference of evaluated is like you're rating   a service and you're saying it's excellent good  Fair poor non-evaluative were things like um do   you use the library or like things like active  where where a benchmark isn't necessarily it's   interesting but it's not really as um it's it's  not as deterministic it might be good you whether   it's good or bad if you have more or less is less  important so overall about 80% were similar or better maybe the most important Benchmark you  have is yourself over time so when compared   to witch's results from 2023 2020 22 received  ratings that were statistically significantly   higher than the previous survey iteration  85 received similar ratings and only three   received lower ratings quick question I think  this is an incredibly exciting slide uh seems   that we're moving in the right direction I  was trying to look through the packet I was   looking a little bit ahead and I noticed  often it said the higher ratings of what   we've done better than last year what  were the three lower rating ones um I   did not rate those three down I could get  back to you after the I do have the list   of the full okay so I could bring that back  to you that's perfect thank you okay um all right so moving into more detailed highlight  or highlights of our findings so there's   a lot of data in the full report  that I'm not going to cover here I   will point I'm going to point out what  stood out for us as survey researchers   focusing on a few areas that we found most  noteworthy for which is has survey results   First witch government performance showed  significant improvement from 2023 to 2024 room for improvement always remains but  looking at the top items treating residents   with respect welcoming resident involvement  informing residents about issues facing the   community providing value for the taxes paid to  Witchita all were similar to both the national and   the custom benchmarks and three were higher than  the 2023 ratings the lowest rating was for overall   confidence in Witchita government which was lower  than the national benchmarks but it was similar to   like siiz cities and it was similar to 2023 quick  question when we're on this slide so when we're   looking at the increase um it looks like four  of them increased statistically what you said   the 33% is similar so how much does it have to  increase to get The annotation that it increased   it's approximately 6% but it's actually different  for every single question because sometimes people   skip skip a question so it literally matters how  many people answered each question in each year so   around 6% is the minimum 6% or higher yeah it  has to be at least a 6% difference okay thank you so residents indicated that  safety was a very important facet   as they do in all communities and  they also highlighted that it needs Improvement nine and 10 residents said safety  was essential or very important for the city   to focus on in the coming two years this was  considered a top priority by residents along   with economy over however overall feeling of  safety in wiah as a whole was given a postive   a rating by about 4 in 10 residents with only  one in 10 saying it was excellent this was much   lower than the national and the custom benchmarks  and statistically it was similar to the past few years similar to communities Across the Nation  as well as cities of a like size most residents   felt safe in their neighborhood during the day and  safe from fire flood or natural disasters similar   to past years but below both benchmarks about  three of four residents felt safe from violent   crime two-thirds felt safe in the downtown area  during the day and half felt safe from property crime when residents were asked about Safety  Services in Witchita 85% rated fire Services   is excellent good and 75 73% gave positive  ratings to fire prevention and education   with a positive trend on the ladder this  was similar to the benchmarks in contrast   50% rated police services positively and  43% of residents viewed Animal Control   favorably both were lower ratings than the  national and custom benchmarks but were similar to 2023 oops um in terms of demographic all  I'm just going to go back to in terms of   like demographic areas uh residents across the  district felt about the same in terms of safety   in their neighborhoods however when asked about  how they felt if whether they felt safe from   violent crime those in District three felt less  safe while those in District 5 felt more safe   additionally those in District Four attendance to  rate Police Services lower than people in other districts Witchita topped the charts  in terms of having a great cost of   living but like all communities  there were some economics concern concerns roughly 4 and 10 10 residents rated  witch's overall economic health as good or   as excellent or good another four indicated  it was fair and two said it was poor so it's   lower than the benchmarks in 2024 about three  and 10 felt the economy would have a positive   impact on their family income over the next 12  next six months this has improved significantly   over time from 20% positive in 2023 to 29% in  2024 and it's now similar to the benchmarks digging into some more detailed areas of  the economy about six and 10 residents   gave excellent or good ratings to both the  quality and the variety of businesses and   services service establishments and also  to Witchita as a place to work all three   aligning with 2023 ratings and the benchmarks  about half were positive about employment   opportunities which was also similar to  bench to the benchmarks and to the p last   years but as mentioned in the last slide  views on overall economic health were more negative residents had positive views  on the cost of living with 58% saying   this was excellent or good which is above  both the national and the custom Benchmark   cost of living is a major issue that local  governments find very challenging to impact   so this is definitely a highlight for  witcha however lower ratings were given   to the vibrancy of downtown commercial area and  witchat as a place to visit which may be places   for more to explore improvements can I just point  something out so I'm looking at last year's data   regarding uh which is a place to visit and back  then it was 34% which was lower than the national   Benchmark and now it looks like we've at least  Hit The Benchmark just not high enough um so it   is an improvement but just just a highlight  because that was absolutely a note last year yeah um in terms of the economy by some  demographics there there's a pretty clear   um Trend that adults over 55 tend to  rate the economy higher than those under 55 oh right there many of the ratings related to  the natural environment and Parks   received higher ratings in 2024 than they had in 2023 the ratings for parks in natural areas  overall shown earlier were similar to past years   but many of the components saw improvements  from 2023 ratings for city parks recreation   centers and Recreation programs and classes had  upward Trends and were similar to benchmarks   air quality and Water Resources had upward  Trends but remained below benchmarks while   ratings for cleanliness were  the same as in 2023 and Below Benchmark when looking at parks related results  by household income there wasn't really a strong   pattern those with lower incomes had the  highest ratings for overall quality of Parks   and Recreation opportunities city parks received  relatively higher ratings from those with moderate   incomes those who made between $100,000 and  $200,000 annually had the most positive rating   for recreation programs and classes additionally  there was a few differences by District those in   District 5 tended to have the highest ratings  for overall quality of Parks and Recreation   opportunities people in district one rated Parks  higher than other districts and District three   had higher ratings for both Recreation programs  or classes and recreation centers or facilities   three tended to provide higher ratings in  general older adults and men had slightly   higher ratings for some of the items but on the  whole there was not a lot of V variation by age or gender um your community feels educational   and cultural opportunities  are important and they value them residents feel it's important to have good  opportunities to participate in education culture   and arts they rank this just below the critical  areas of safety economy and Utilities in terms   of importance for focus and safety and economy  and utilities pretty much always top the survey   for most communities Public Library service  receiv received the highest rating with a 80   with 84% of residents rating them excellent  or good an increase from 2023 around six and   10 residents were satisfied with opportunities  to attend cultural Arts and Music activities   and opportunities to attend special events and  festivals community support for the Arts received   a slightly higher rating or sorry slightly  lower rating of 53% all were similar to the benchmarks looking at these by demographics  there were those with a household income between   100,000 and 200,000 had statistically  higher ratings those in the top bracket   look to have lower ratings but there's  not enough people in that group to be   statistically different from the other groups  um additionally residents from District Four   tended to rate items related to the arts and  culture lower than other districts also men   had higher ratings than women longer term  residents had higher ratings than newer   residents and people of color gave lower  ratings than those who identified as white only those are all that that's a summary of all  of the um questions that are included in the   National Community survey for all communities we  also have a little section where there are some   custom questions that we work with the city  to add to your survey and I'm going to show   the results here so residents were presented  with a list of 36 services and asked to rate   the importance of focusing on each one in the  next two years here we show the top eight all   with more than eight and 10 people saying they  were essential or very important the highest   priorities were drinking water crime prevention  and affordable housing um not shown but just to   give you a sense at the at the bottom of  the list of 36 were recreational centers   and Facilities Recreation programs and classes and  swimming and splash pad swimming pools and splash pads respondents were also asked about  which resources were most important for   getting information about the city and  the City website social media and local   te television news were considered  the top sources of information for residents so that was a lot of information  so just a real quick summary U Witchita   made some great gains in 2023 to 2024  and they should be acknowledged and   celebrated uh residents are pointing to  safety and economy as areas of important Focus that concludes my presentation I wasn't  sure if you wanted to have questions or yep uh   just one quick question here when we look at  the uh breakdown and the weighing um not white   alone having mean 16% of the respondents do we  break that up further in the details as to uh   what race a a respondent is or is it just we do in  the like in the demographics we can show what the   breakdown is but when we're looking at differences  in opinion the the subgroups would be too small to   be statistically um different which is why we do  group them together okay appreciate it I had one   quick question on the I forget what slide it was  but downtown vibrancy uh-huh how do you like ask   that question like what are the details of getting  it that um let me find it is it just do you have a   vibrant downtown or do you feel you have a vibrant  downtown um it's actually it's an excellent good   Fair po rating okay so it's like consider like um  please rate Witchita on the following and it would   be a down it would be the words that were on that  slide okay I just I wonder because what I hear is   left less about the aesthetic of vibrancy and more  of wi talk closes his doors at like 900 p.m. and   I just I wonder if that's a thing that we could  quantify at some point to see if that's probably   combining it with the other one that was on that  slide which was the um variety of establishment   like about the established business establishments  um I would I think that that could point to that   for sure um I do think that you know the this  survey is meant to give you like the broad places   to look at but it's probably is something you need  to dig into a little more we'll say we have um on   PCO um for anyone who does the the survey online  they they have the opportunity to register for   your profile and you can ask additional questions  of your community um it's included in your   services so that's always the potential you know  obviously I know you're talking in the community   as well but I it it's always an area that like if  you're going to make the Improvement there's more   details to be found for sure awesome thank you  can I have a followup question to that comment um   how many people have registered so that we could  have additional feedback throughout the year when   we ask specific questions whether it's policy  or just anything that comes before a council because I know that last year there was a  follow-up survey regarding Street Maintenance   and specifically asking what types of streets  residential streets arterial streets so I think   that provided even greater um understanding  of the need so I think that this would be   a great tool that would be statistically if  there are enough respondents um that it would   represent the sentiment of the community  um I feel like we need more data driven   um feedback um I know that not every  Community member can come to a council   meeting so I appreciate the few that do come to  Council meetings um but I I do believe that it's   important to have the voice of the community  uh throughout the entire year not just once   a year with a community survey so I would  be interested in knowing how we can utilize   that service to really gauge the interests of the  community and really the pulse throughout the year absolutely will spoke cple Council about this  of doing some further looking at other issues   just caution and and you can help me with this of  of how valid that data is going to be versus what   his sample is um so the like the the good news  is that because you're doing this statistically   sampled survey um a lot of people who are signing  up for it came from that um but the the challenge   of the on like you the panel is that like how many  people respond it's a smaller group you can you   you can and that like it's not a statistically  valid uh having said that it is a like a very   good focus group I guess I would say like you  know if you think about like if you can get 10   people to come in and talk to you about something  in depth maybe you're going to get a 100 or maybe   you're going to get if you're lucky two three  400 you know but it's it might not be as like   I wouldn't put the margin of error on it but I  would say that usually when you're doing that   second layer of more indepth like when you're  asking like what what do you mean by the lower   rating for vibrancy of the downtown it's not so  much that you want to know that you know exactly   30% think it's this and exactly 40% think it's  this it's more like you want to hear more detail   from the community so it's not that it has to be  statistically valid for that next layer it's more   the depth of like the broad opinion like for  some people for a good number of people it's   that the business is closed at five so why am I  even downtown or for a number of people it's like   oh they don't have the type of restaurant I want  or I wish I could go shop for something that's not   there you know so so you're trying to get that um  context more than you are the statistically valid   input and that's where that tool is more powerful  so I I don't think it's um I don't think it is   it's not it's not as statistically robust it could  be if you had like a lot of really great Outreach   but um it's not necessarily the point of it either  to be statistically right mayor I think you're   right though it will help us expand our engagement  uh efforts and your example last from last year   on Street Maintenance was I think a great one  because yes it wasn't St statistically sound but   it gave us a really good indication because the  numbers are almost overwhelming in terms of people   focusing on residential streets so I I think in  the right for the right issues we got to remember   this as a as a good Tool uh to to include it with  social media Town Halls dabs and everything else   that we've used yeah I think you're Point  mayor is excellent in that not everyone can   come to a meeting and not everyone you know  so every way you can give them to engage is good if if you're ready I  think we're ready to move   on to the graphic depiction I'm  very excited for this part thank you great um I I I'm gonna step aside  and put up the big poster so are we ready we' got it okay all right well thank you Sonia  so much for joining us today and taking hard   questions about the survey as as she mentioned  you know we just got the survey data recently   so we're spending time as staff and and all  of us drilling into the data more and and you   know learning about the relationships between  different demographic groups how the survey   results changed over time and the like to  guide the budget process and just overall   operations um last year this visualization  was created and it it guided the budget   process it's even in the budget book twice um  so it was really it's very important and very   impactful um what we there are three items  in this visualization that are new to this   year they have asterisks next to them um and  there are a few items that change quadrants   but really not all that many um those items  that change quadrants are Utility Billing U   moved from magenta to Orange um but really it  was it didn't make a huge move but it did move   quadrant and then municipal court and Public  Information Services both moved from magenta to Blue um the upper right orange quadrant is  services that residents rate highly and they   also consider these to be the ones that the city  of which should be focused on in the next two   years storm water management um had a quality of  increase of 6% so that's greater than the margin   of error but there was no change in its importance  to Residents from 2023 to 2024 um overall customer   service didn't have a statistically significant  change in its service rating but interestingly   it's important to importance to the survey  respondents in the next two years decreased by 8% as I mentioned before um municipal court and  Public Information Services moved from the   magenta which is the lowquality high importance  quadrant to the high quality lower importance   quadrant they both had statistically significant  increases in ratings they were quite sizable   Municipal Court had a ratings increase of 13%  in public information had a ratings increase   also of 13% % but at the same time as the  service rating increased the respondents   found them to be less important to focus on the  next two years Municipal Court decreased in its   importance in the next two years by to focus  on by 7% and public information its importance   rating decreased by 11% so there seemed to  have been this we've only asked the question   about importance for two years now 2023 and  2024 but there seems to be some elasticity   um um and those two Services between um the  service quality and the importance next up   is the lower left um green quadrant this is  the lower quality lower importance quadrant   um the variety the the services in this quadrant  there really weren't any changes from last year   traffic enforcement if you notice on the big  one is On the Border in between um green and   magenta um it had a 5% increase in importance so  it scooted a little bit to the right compared to   um last year code enforcement had a 11% decrease  importance compared to the prior year but had no   significant change in its service rating so um  that's kind of similar to customer service in a way I'm going to focus the most on this magenta  quadrant because that's where most of the focus   was on the budget process last year so um I'm  going to point out some notes for each of the   dots well each of the dots in this area I already  mentioned about traffic enforcement moving um up   five in percent in importance um street cleaning  is an interesting one of all the services that   are on this um visualization it's the only service  that had a statistically significant increase in   its service rating and its level of importance  at the same time um I think this will be one   to watch for this to the 2025 survey after the  big snow event snow and Ice event we had um that   usually sometimes that makes a difference in  this one but that's the only service like that   so that's interesting um Economic Development  if you were to take out the visualization from   last year it is in the same place as the year  before so that's interesting to note um as I   I mentioned I think that there's it seems that  there's some elasticity when it comes to public   information and Municipal Court that's not the  case with Street repair there was a 13 let's see   14% increase in the service ating rating for  Street repair but there was no change in the   importance over the next two years so it seems to  be relatively inelastic you know to contrast with   with public information and municiple court and  then there were five other services that as the   service rating increased the importance decreased  so it's is as if there was higher satisfaction so   a less focus on less interest in focusing in that  on the next two years the only other examples that   had a statistically significant increase in  service quality but no change in importance   are um trees there's a question about trees  it's in the blue and then also fire prevention   those both and just like Street Maintenance  those import increased significantly in their   service um rating but there was no change in  importance so um the rating of importance of   crime prevention on the other hand it it didn't  change either so a lot of I think what I'm saying   here is a lot of these Services there wasn't big  changes in importance for them on these things   that are very important um so crime prevention  didn't have a change in its importance rating   but the service rating decreased by 6% compared  to last year which is statistically significant   and then affordable housing and homelessness  services are two that were not included in   the last survey they're new for this  year um so there's no comparison data   available um however the survey results Echo  ongoing resident concerns and they're also   reflective of the 2025 adopted budget  and the City of Witchita arpa recovery plan so with that that's the quadrants so  um um additionally in addition to um so this   the community survey results are an important  part of performance data move a slide along um   and since the it's a feedback from residents  about service quality and that's a component   of performance data an element that focuses  all of our work is a shared organizational   values and Mission and those should reflect  the community priorities um in the citizen   survey Kate bender and Julie steensen  from porch light insights have joined   us today to provide an up an update on  efforts to engage in datadriven decision making all right thank you Elizabeth and um  good morning to Madame mayor and city council   um we're really F to be here today uh we love a  survey day uh we ran the city of Kansas City's   community survey for many years and uh found it to  be a really useful tool for setting strategy and   and making data driven decisions so um again uh we  are PCH light insights I'm Julie steensen and my   colleague Kate bender and I um have been working  with uh City staff now um for a little while uh   but we want to make sure we reintroduce ourselves  uh we were here last year around this time   um but just some background on who we are uh we're  a small uh small business and I know we heard from   the finance department about um working with  small businesses so our experience with city of   wial has been wonderful um from a small business  perspective and uh our experience is with uh city   government um we have a teammate who uh worked  for the city of San Antonio so we all come out   of a municipal government background um and some  uh quite a bit of our work was really focused on   data data driven decision-making and strategies so  we have been uh living in that world for many many   years uh and started our firm in 2022 to take some  of the experience we had and uh approach other   cities or bring that approach to other cities so  we do help uh our clients use data uh for better   outcomes and we try to tailor all the work we do  to the needs of the individual City and so it's   been really fun to work with the city of wiah and  to see the the unique challenges but also some of   the shared challenges that you have with similar  siiz cities so when we began this project uh   really the goal was to enhance the city's capacity  for data driven decision making and we left the   project intentionally iterative so that we could  Flex some of that uh strategy around datadriven   decision making but this goal has really  remained the same the impetus for the project   uh and we started working with uh specifically  the budget office and City manager's office   was to help really align operational systems  with strategy uh and build on a long-standing   commitment to measurement and I know that some of  you have gone through many budget Cycles with the   city already so you know that there is a robust  measurement system and that and widg should really   be commended for that uh lots and lots of good  performance measures um that are being tracked   by City staff we have been working with the  city manager's office uh the budget office and   also with uh individual Department staff so the  timeline so far um when we were here last year   we talked a lot about the work we were doing with  individual departments and that was uh library and   fire department uh and the public works department  and then some one-off engagements with with staff   throughout the organization and those were  really focused on departmental goals and   helping to establish some framework around data  in those departments we're now sort of zooming   out um and in 2025 our work will be really looking  at how to establish a city-wide framework and that   is some work we did with the city of Kansas City  in partnership with the finance department City   manager's office Mayor and councel to establish  a set of shared priorities that then could be   operationalized and put into action and so that's  what we'll be focusing on moving into uh this year   and then uh we talk a little bit about what that  will look like as we put that into action uh for   the city so these are the overarching pillars  for a operational plan or strategic plan uh   these should seem really familiar to you these  come right out of the uh City's mission statement   and then also some of the work that you have done  around strategy and goal setting and priorities   for you um as the city's uh elected officials so  the these uh fit right into some of the buckets   that you have created and we also hope that they  reflect well the priorities of the community   from the community survey that is something we  feel really strongly about that this survey is   is one input and one tool but they should be  reflected well in how the city is deploying a   strategy um and embedded and we will be working  to help make sure that the survey questions end   up being measurements for some of these pillars  and goal statements so I'll turn it over to Kate   to talk a little bit more about the process for  how we went from pillars to sort of a next stage down all right so yeah as Julie said the  really the foundational point for your   city-wide framework was what you already have  in place is things that you've already embraced   things that are already defining your budget  and other strategic documents and so the task   at hand really for your city leader ship  that we've kind of been involved with and   helped facilitate is to how to how to take these  pillars and add more definition and and really   um say what do what do we really mean by these  kind of broader statements and so this is the   goal framework um that has been established um  so as mentioned the pillar uh the pillars you   just saw but there was some intentional effort  then put into creating what we call pillar   definition so not just just a phrase but really  what do we mean um by living well you know by a   well-run city what what how would we put some  kind of meat on the bones there um next layer   down is goals which are really um if you know  the pillars are really kind of describing the   outcomes you're seeking uh the goals are kind of  refining a little further what are some areas of   focus or priority that will help to achieve the  pillar in turn strategies are maybe approaches   are programs you you can see continuing to narrow  as you go down as you all are probably familiar   with in kind of strategic Frameworks but uh at  a goal level pillar level you're talking cross-   departmentally at you know as you get further  down at a strategy level and then certainly   tactics and actions you're starting to talk about  individual actions programs that are pursued by   departments and crucially you can see at all  layers there are different measurement types   that are aligned and again that kind of accord  with the level of the framework you're at so   at the pillar level you're talking about highlevel  outcome measures resident survey measures are a   great uh there's a great opportunity to use your  resident survey measures at that level um but you   continue to focus on outcomes and then as you  get further down that's where you start to look   at the out you know um programs and activities  where you might be looking at outputs you might   be looking at efficiency measures you might even  be looking at demand measures and at the bottom   level you you know it's you your your measurement  is really kind of tracking the are you completing   the tasks and the next steps so to give you  a kind of a view into the process around the   pillar definitions these were um you know crafted  really developed by uh small groups of Department   leadership focusing on each pillar and then really  kind of refined and discussed across uh you know   a larger discussion of all Department management  including the city manager's office and the budget   office so it was a very collaborative very um  you know it was a great discussion you know I'm   glad we were able to be a part of it to to see how  these pillars were put together and then refined   and uh this my next few slides are going to lead  into the city manager you know sharing these all   with you in detail but before we get there again  wanted to give you just a little sense of the the   backdrop here so these are some elements that were  really crucial in in creating and defining these   pillars so certainly focusing on outcomes uh which  you can see really captured here thinking really   specifically about the role of the city to achieve  these outcomes because the city has a unique role   has unique opportunities to impact these things  and so honing in on that um you know seeking   opportunities to embed measures where possible  and then again these are very cross- departmental   in nature kind of taking the example and and  looking at it across uh the entire framework   um you can see that the same pillar for a living  well shown there and you but then you can also see   uh a goal which is one of the three to five goals  created for each pillar um and as you can see this   takes you know is certainly something that is  in support of the pillar but is just a little   bit more focused so in this case focusing in on  opportunities for residents with limited ability   to pay and then uh what you see under strategies  tactics and actions and measurements you can see   all of those are in italics and that's because  those are all examples uh these are the you know   next step in defining the goal framework is to  put some meat on the bones on these areas so these   are examples that we came up with not you know  necessarily will be in the in the final framework   but just to give you a sense of how this all  fits together and again how uh measurements also align so you know kind of to summarize go  framework where we've been where we're going   the pillar definitions and goals as we said  have been drafted by the city manager's office   and Department leadership um right now we are  at a point of seeking to finalize those goals   and pillars and so looking to dive into those uh  more deeply with the city manager coming up and   then uh next step is really to uh develop the  strategies actions and tactics um and uh align   the performance measures I don't want to say  create performance measures because as Julie   said you all really have a very robust set set  already and so it's really more a factor of taking   those and aligning them with the relevant goals  and strategies so I do want to underscore that a   goal framework by itself uh doesn't have value for  the city right it is uh where it becomes useful is   where it can actually be put into action um I  think everybody's familiar with the concept of   sort of a strategic framework that is so sits  on a shelf and doesn't get used and that's uh   you know really the opposite of what we would  ever recommend um so the the steps to take a   kind of goal framework like this and and make it  very actionable the first one is around further   definition which we've talked about the next step  that you know really uh you know Elizabeth kind   of LED with is the idea of of uh really applying  this goal framework in your resource allocation   decisions in your budget discussions you know  making it front and center making it be kind   of a a guiding framework in that way and then  the next uh thing that really will Elevate this   and turn it into U not something that's maybe  used one time right or at a single time during   the year is to put in place a robust kind of  measurement monitoring evaluation framework   around uh the goal framework and that is going to  be if you recall from the earlier timeline that is   the upcoming work that is anticipated this year  uh as the goal framework gets finalized you know   we will redirect to talking about a Performance  Management routine and system uh at a Citywide   level uh as it happens that's actually we've  spent a lot of time working with individual   departments um on Performance Management and  so it's it's certainly something that there's   a lot of familiarity with already um so I think  we'll be in a great position to really figure   out how to create a routine and a system that is  sustainable for the city of Witchita and really   um helps leadership make decisions um using your  priorities so that could look like a series of   you know routine meetings where measures are  reviewed and discussed and kind of integrated   into decisions so just to end uh uh our  piece here before we turn it over to the   city manager um this is really I think where city  of Witchita is looking to go is you know to have   an iterative cycle uh to inform your management  strategic decision- making and so you can see   at the top here uh that's is where we're at  affirming pillars and goals and you can see   as it comes on down the elements we've talked  about aligning performance measures developing   strategies getting to the bottom is where sort of  uh rubber meets the road actually starting to use   the Strategic framework to allocate resources  and then over here on the left kind of in the   purple and blue you start to see that element  of evaluating the results monitoring and then   uh as you kind of reach get back up to the top  there's the opportunity then to iterate on your   goal framework uh you know based on what you  have learned through your evaluation processes   what has worked what has moved the needle what  hasn't yet moved the needle where do you think   you need additional resources or additional Focus  how have Community priorities shifted so all of   all of the above and uh I think it's a um we're  really excited to be on this path to City of   wieta think that this is a great direction and  you all are um kicking it off well with what's   done on the been done on the goal framework  so far so excited to hear conversation about that I just have one quick question about the  performance measurements um is this based off   a national model is this the same performance  um measurements that you use and other studies   as this as well yeah so the crucial uh there's  you know a lot of criteria that that lead to   good performance measures certainly seeking out  measures that um are Benchmark that are industry   best practices that is one of the criteria for  establishing good measures I think that is again   an area where the city has been on a very strong  path in the past has really there's been a lot   of active attempts to align themselves with um  best practices and make sure that there's that   comparison basis another the other crucial point  though I would say is the relevance to the city   and so benchmarking doesn't give you much value  if that particular measure doesn't align with a   piece of your goals and your priorities so I think  that's where we're looking to kind of realign is   certainly keep alignment with best practices and  make sure that comparisons are possible and that   also that measurements are being done in a way  that reflects best practices but really hone   in on the measures that uh that show progress on  the city's goals and the city's priorities other   questions quick question so does our contract end  with porch light at the end of 2025 or when is the   expiration of the contract currently yes it was a  three-year contract starting in uh 2023 MH thank you I don't know if this is a city manager  question or if you guys can answer that since   you've been doing a lot of research on the city of  witcha when were those pillars created obviously   it's the city's Mission um I would like to know  when those were created and when they have been Revisited the pillars um actually were uh created  when the mission statement was created it was at   least five years ago um and it has been then used  to help Drive our initiatives in the budget uh we   I don't know about you but every time I'm out  in public and talking to a neighborhood group   I talk about the mission statement I ask if the  general elements of the mission statement are   relevant I always get very positive feedback from  the residents they seem to say these are the basic   things we want you to accomplish on our behalf um  obviously mission statements vision statements um   are subject to review can always be uh changed  and so um we've done it for consistency's sake   and kept it because people seem to think it's  relevant but always open to a process to to   review that I want to thank uh Julie and Kate  and Elizabeth for their work uh to get us to   this point but especially want to thank the  department directors that helped us bring   definition to the pillars uh the pillars are  great statements when you're out in public   it's great with our employees to have some basic  uh uh discussion or to be able to outline what   the basics are that in terms of issues that we uh  are focusing on and uh issues that are important   to us but we want to be able to operationalize  those short statements and so we have come up   with uh what I call pillar definitions for  your consideration today and then from that   we've identified some goals what I hope to do  is engage in a conversation to see if we're on   the right track and if you indorse these pillar  definitions when we talk about a well-run city   when I come to that definition is that accurate  is that how you perceive the pillar as we go   ahead and try to prioritize in our budget and  again this is meant to be a strategic framework   for the 20 uh 26 and 2027 operating budget and  we're going to use your feedback from today and   and probably over the next few weeks to help then  uh put together this overall uh or overarching uh   framework for our uh budget recommendations so  let's just jump into this I'm not a big believer   in Reading to adults and so what I'm going  to do is let you read this for a second and   then I'm going to highlight what I think are the  key elements to this and then I'd love to have a   discussion are we on the right track in defining  well-run City I've read it um so I'll give two   points of feedback I think the words efficiency  and transparency need to be part of that well-run City efficiency and and transparency the keywords to me in this uh definition are  trustworthy and effective Comm uh continuous   Improvement Innovative investments in staff  integration of technology and then stakeholder   priorities and financial stability those are  some key elements so we change stakeholder to   resident make it a little more personable we  can the reason we use the word stakeholder as   you can imagine we've debated word wording you  know and tried to word SMI this uh when you go   to resident it excludes every other population  in the um community so that doesn't talk about B   uh business owners doesn't talk about nonprofits  or any other folks that um uh do business or are   involved in the community I would even argue that  those who uh come into the community have some   interest in terms of what the services we provide  and they're not our residents so more than happy   to make that change if that's what the council  wants to put a fine point on it but we were trying   to be a little more inclusive in that regard let's  engineer speak there uh one thing that pops out to   me we talk about and we've seen an increase of on  Bon with our County Partners as well and I think   probably a well-run city under this would be how  are we working specifically with the county in uh   shared services or smart consolidation of certain  services that seems to be a will of this body but   I don't necessarily I think this is probably where  it falls in more than any of the other categories   council member I would argue that that probably  should be considered when we go to the next slide   and talk about goals because I would I would say  that that involves Innovative operations in kind   of a broad see I got I got ahead I thought we  were supposed to read the two slides that was the   adult rating but you're always an overachiever  so I get that but we just anything else on the   so I'm hearing try to trans try to bring in  efficiency and transparency uh reconsider the   issue of stakeholder versus resident what else  anything else data driven should be part of being   a well-run city um I really do appreciate having  porch light and the PCO survey I think again if we   moving forward have more datadriven decision  making and share that with community on why   we've arrived to a certain decision I think that  would be very helpful I would also May that's in   the second goal uh we that's when we talk about  strategic Performance Management framework okay I   would also add that governance in some way should  be part of that so because of our uh manager city   council type of government uh where you are the  CEO and we're really the board um folks might   not know the difference between us um and that uh  we are to ask you to direct staff to do something   so therefore somewhere in here uh explaining our  type of government would be helpful so I think   governance might city council governance  might be um an appropriate way to capture that so I have a concern about that I understand  the differences between city council and city   manager but we to the public are all working  together and that shows us together rather   than being separated if that makes sense CU  it's kind of saying yes acknowledging we're   together but like separating that but we're all  working towards the same thing that the majority   of the council wants to work toward and that the  city manager would be implementing I would push   back um simply because the only one individual  that the city council has any authority over is   the city manager it's not the the city staff  therefore we are the representation of the   community and there is a difference uh the city  manager represents the 3,000 employees for the   entity called the city of Witchita whereas the  council the seven of us are representatives of   the community so I do believe that there is  a difference and I do think that that needs   to be captured in a well-run city especially in  our type of local government now in other local   governments where the city manager is also the  mayor um I think that that delineation doesn't   need to um be stated but in our type of government  as is right now in ordinance it does need to be stated okay anything else on the goal okay we'll we'll take th those comments   back and then here are your goals  council member Glascock thank you y I think as you look at these goals this is  where I really want to make sure we're on the   right track because these are now drilling  down into the key elements of the U pillar   definition and these are the things we're going  to focus on as we're sorting through priorities   in our budget fiscal sustainability strategic  Performance Management framework communication   with internal and external stakeholders and  investment in organizational Workforce and   access to technology those are the main elements  of this U pillar ter of the goals the goal I'll   Echo again the goal that I would probably like  to see is exploration of shared services or smart   consolidation and how do we work with our also  state and federal Partners so something about   we're not just in as Silo but working with our  other institutions got it thank you I'm still   still a little leery of the consolidation piece  so I I mean uh I don't know would shared services   without the discussion of smart consolidation work  yeah and I mean I'm talking about consolidation   I'm not talking about full merging of County  and City operations but mabcd um mapc are good   examples of consolidated services that aren't just  shared service I mean they're fully consolidated   services so that's when I use the word smart  consolidation of what makes sense I'm fine   with shared services or exploration of  possible shared services and uh smart   consolidated services but not talking about full  City County consolidation streamlined Services   maybe working with other government partners  with government institutions I'm fine with that I guess my so is the is the goal to name  them or could we just look at number three and   without saying all of that just say strengthen  communication and collaboration with internal   and exteral stakeholders that kind of takes  that into account I would push back and say it   needs to be its own separate goal um so it's very  clear versus um because I believe Communication   in itself needs to be and you can add the word  strengthen communication and collaboration with   external partners and internal Partners but I  think a separate goal in itself talking about   um I know that we had an on buunk back in April  of last year talking more about shared services   and so this would really drive that conversation  of how can a government be more efficient if we're   going to add the word efficiency into will City  and I'll even expand on that too I mean I think   a good partnership this year that alliance with  well-run city is us collaborating with the school   district on Park Elementary um and that allowed  us to be a more well-run City by collaborating   with government other government institutions and  I guess internal external stakeholders as long as   we're defining that is also our other partners I  mean yes an external stakeholder would be that but   I see that maybe in a separate category um when  I think of external stakeholders I'm thinking of   nonprofit business sector less of other peer  institutions um but I think even the school   District so I just talked about County state  federal but I think we've had uh good examples   of how we can work well with the school district  as well to make sure that we we're a well-run city we'll play around with a new goal I think  if you add collaboration to the third one you're   moving away from the communication that whole  concept of trying to engage better with the public   so I think you're trying to make it do too much  if that's okay but so let me play with a a a   sixth goal any goal here that doesn't seem to be  in alignment with what you want to see us do going forward I think this looks good but I do um  like council member Ballard said have the   concern with the word um or not the word  but the whole intent of kind of bringing together consolidation like I don't I don't  think the entire or majority of the council is   full consolidation so I wouldn't necessarily want  to see that word in there but definitely working   together and what has already been Consolidated  and again I don't know how to word that right now   but I don't think uh a number six should have a  consolidation because a majority of us I do not   believe we pushing toward that looking for more  more efficiencies with what we already have I   think we are can we take a nonbinding vote to show  if there's will from the majority of council and I   I and I would um say that the word consolidation  shouldn't be used but shared services should be   used and have that be the just a non-binding vote  who on this council is in favor of more shared services I would need that to be defined and what  that looks like not full consolidation between   city and county but shared services yeah I still  um and I've said this consistently from the venine   in the community until I see the data we just said  a couple minutes ago we want to make data driven   decisions so if there was a potential for shared  services what is the cost benefit going to be and   what is the increased efficiency going to be and  so I and and I don't think and I could ask legal   but I don't think we can even make it non-binding  vote from here so I mean with all due respect   councilwoman are you asking those same questions  on goals one through five as well I think that   your questions for talking about shared services  aren't also exhibited in goals one through five all I know is we can't make a vote today I  will say from the record I want shared services   I I would say you once you have a goal then you  asked those questions uh of Is it feasible is   it manageable is it efficient it's cost effective  but you have to have the goal first to try to get   there so I I would favor the wording of shared  services doesn't mean we have to do it well I   heard the first word is explore right so I mean  it's that's I think what we would put is the at   the beginning of this it's explored we'll either  look at streamlined services or shared services   I think both were offered out okay city manager  do with that the just if you just boil it down to   exploration of shared services is there a majority  of this Council that wants to explore shared   services would that be helpful because according  to some council members there's no majority for   just the exploration so can we have a can we give  you a uh is it a majority or is it just two of us   or three of us do you want to know if this is  truly the majority asking for the exploration   of shared services I don't think anybody here is  against the exploration of shared services I think   it's just not defined enough right now as to what  that would include and also potentially locking   us into something that we don't necessarily know  what we're locking ourselves into at this time I   think irregardless of if it's in the the goals or  not we're going to explore um you know some some   smart decisions with other government entities so  I'm not sure it's even worth a big you know kind   of debate over this right now because we're still  going to move in that direction irregardless again   it's just kind of getting locked into something  that's not really well defined with us at this   moment I think again he the city manager would  need direction that the majority of this Council   either wants to explore again not the um decision  of shared services but the the exploration of   shared services so could we have a at least  non-binding but at least it lets the community   understand where this body um or a majority  of the body is thinking in regards to sharing   Services I think that's where I struggle with  it is I worry about um whatever language we use   that it could give the perception to the public  that we are already on this sh and it's like in   motion you know for consolidation so like council  member hoisel said I'm willing to you know look or   see what that looks like I just don't want to give  the idea that this is something we're all on board   with and we're making it happen without getting  a bunch of community engagement talking you know   to the residents um obviously we have to make  you know the best decisions but I I am far away   from you know committing to anything like that  I mean we've had one onbon and a couple side   conversations maybe in passing I I just I need a  lot more to even you know I'll explore it but I   mean I just need a lot more to get on board  with that and I'm just I'm I am not saying   uh we should Vote or even have that type of  vote so in the workshop we're just talking   the manager hears what we're all saying if he  hears a majority of us he'll it'll be there   but I even think in this are just asking for  feedback so he likely will bring back a number   six or something that says that anyway and  then we'll talk about it then when we need   to vote on it I'm just expressing during this  discussion my thoughts about that um not saying   the manager shouldn't do it but just saying  my thoughts on it and then when it comes back   up this body has heard my thoughts I'll probably  repeat them again before or if we have a vote on it manager you able to gain a consensus or  at least having had some of the feedback I   think the issue mayor is whether or not we have  a standalone goal I think goal number one gives   us the authority to continue discussions with the  with various jurisdictions because we're talking   about we have to get towards fiscal sustainability  we have to have an efficient use of our resources   um and we have to follow Financial best practices  so I I'm okay with that but if the you know I'm   more than happy to put a sixth one together  and let you react to that um that specifically   calls out uh shared services okay we'll we'll do  that I don't want to uh belabor the point at at   this point okay so let's move into keep witcha  safe an extremely important one uh based on uh   Council priorities as well as what's come from our  citizen survey I'll let you take a look at that key words here are personal safety prevention risk   reduction timely emergency response and the  whole concept of residents feeling and being safe how do you feel about the goal are we  are we getting there yes I would also ask   the word technology um I know that there are  some innovative solutions that the police   department has been working on I know that the  fire department and the police department both   heard from another tech company regarding um  smart smart Emergency Management so I would   like to um add the word technology or Innovative  technological solutions May if I can we tried to   avoid duplication as much as we could Tech  technology is in um the first and well-run   City and we purposefully have it there and thought  about that technology will be is important across   the organization but we've had very specific  conversations about the greater use of technology   in public safety actually one of the Technologies  we talked about would help both police and fire   and so um I think we purposely put technology in  the well-run city we originally had it in a couple   of these spots and didn't want to get overly  complicated with the goals I mean with the uh   uh State uh pillar definitions um so I had I have  a word but I want to ask a question first would   you consider risk reduction the same or similar to  intervention no well yes it's part risk reduction   is part of intervention is part of a risk red  reduction strategy and it's in the goals okay if we're generally okay with this then let's move   on to the goals because this is really  these are very important we kept them simple it's dealing with the underlying  causes of crime which goes back to the   crime prevention work that we've done then  the report we prepared for you it's part it's   encouraging our residents or empowering our  residents to be partners in crime prevention   and reduction um and then effective  enforcement appropriate intervention and   timely emergency response Mr maor can I ask  a question in goal number one when it says um   economic housing and educational outcomes  can you just explain a little bit about   educational outcomes what what that means let  me ask uh someone that was part of that group um Scott you w to talk about  that yeah that's fine to yeah number one predictor of adult health  and adult incarceration is third grade   literacy so our role I'm assuming in that  educational outcomes is Library Services   is that kind of what we're thinking  didn't get superf on it still high LEL   okay thank you so much now I'll bring back the  technology and add that as a fourth goal then   since we have made this body in particular has  made significant investments into technology   um whether it's the new RMS system or the new  um Artic with WTOP Police Department which and   then the wi fire department's new storage unit  SL emergency communications um I think all of   it has to do with some technology we've done the  same thing in courts we have a new record system   there okay I the one thing I'll also hype on what  I talked about previous owner well run City and   how are we working with our partners um because we  talk about how residents can be partners in crime   prevention and reduction but how are you working  with the Sheriff's Office how are you working with   the court system across the street how are you  working with other partners in the community and   so if that's going to be left off the well-run  city component I think the number one aspect   of what people want us to do is focus on crime  prevention and they don't think we're necessarily   doing it well and so how can we increase it I  think that's working with our other partners   people don't care if the sheriff shows up or the  police officer shows up they just want someone to   show up when there's uh something happening okay  I could support that and also looking at how we   interact with people who are currently in the the  penal systems and that way we can make sure to   offer uh what we need to us as far as addiction  resources while they're in jail and whatnot as   well so I think there's a lot of room to work with  um other law enforcement departments in that one okay okay think I've got that anything  else on the goals all right then next   is grow our economy this one is a little  tougher because again we don't create jobs   sector does so it's how do we come alongside  them to help that happen I'll let you look at   this real quickly my first thought when I  see this one is uh just to the exact point   you just say that local businesses through work  for through Workforce Development job growth and   economic policies because we don't create jobs  I think job growth could be removed and that   we're going to support local businesses through  Workforce Development and economic policies that   create adverse Dynamic and prosper for City for  all that leads to job growth I'm just worried   about job growth if it's internally increasing  jobs in the city that I would have a problem   with that being under grower economy um so  supporting work force development economic   policies with a job growth period just  seems a little out of place it's a good point what else this pretty well defined  okay let's move on to the goals then first one talks about uh working with businesses  to provide conditions for them to grow and to   develop a highly skilled Workforce second one is  meant to talk about our limited role in public   support for economic development and what we're  trying to do there is the key wordss I think are   provide capital investment or actually encourage  businesses to provide capital investment expanded   job opportunities and economic stability again  recognizing our role is limited third one is   investing in cultural artistic and entertainment  experiences to have a positive economic impact   that's reflective of some of the feedback you got  in the survey today and the last one I think is   high priority based on survey and your discussions  during earlier this year year on uh goals for the   upcoming um couple of years and that is abundant  affordable and broad range of housing options one   thing that I would maybe like added because I  think it ties into the last slide where we talk   about economic policies well we don't have a goal  that necessarily Flex that and so maybe economic   and Regulatory policies so number five would be  review regulatory policies whether that be mabcd   whether mapc that might either limit job growth or  what can we do to change policies that encourages   private sector job growth so maybe review  regulations and ordinances and policies in the city on um number four uh for like affordable what   would the thought be if we said more  affordable and not just affordable in the eye of the beholder right yeah I  could support that but also on number four I think maybe something that speaks to the uh  living standards within the housing as well   because we can have affordable housing but  uh some of the affordable housing we've seen   is not quite up to to uh to snu I think what  you're doing you're talking about safe housing options I'd like to focus more not more but  especially on how do we get the private sector in   affordable housing I I realize the public sector's  got a roll in too but the private sector seems to   be able to act quicker and more efficiently and  I'd like to see how we can get them involved   that that's that's was our whole thought on four  we're not going to be able to do this on our own   but what can we do to incentivize and I that's  probably the wrong word to use but to encourage   the private sector to be able to meet these needs  um and that we are talk we we'll be talking as a   staff about what is working successfully in  other cities some experiments we may want to   try here again to make uh make it easier for the  private sector to be able to fill the housing void   yeah that's when I when I read encourage that's  the interpretation I have of it okay would it   be appropriate here also to add the partnership  portion so um obviously the city doesn't create   jobs um but we do support uh the greater witcha  partnership that does help us create jobs um the   witcha Chamber of Commerce so are is there anywh  that we can reflect that continued collaboration we'll put something together on that  okay any anything else all right here's   the build and maintain Dependable  infrastructure another key uh item   uh listed from the citizen survey  and from your previous discussions I will push back and ask um that maintenance comes  before building so the city of which Tom maintains   and builds to provide a greater emphasis on the  assets we currently have and that that should be   Priority One um I would also push back and  say that uh public facilities should even   be first um ahead of Transportation options  so I would put utilities public facilities   Transportation wreck assets and vital networks  in that order mayor we if I can just explain   what why we did what we did the transportation  is meant to Target streets the street Network   primarily it's um we wanted to recognize  there are various elements or components to   our transportation system but that streets was  really you water is is utilities basically so   it's water and streets we heard from the public  are our two two top infrastructure categories   and that's why they're worded the way they are  public facilities is our basically our buildings   and our water treatment plant sewage treatment  plant all of those and we don't those are very   important but we don't hear from the public  as much and that's why we put those the way we did then I would maybe push back and say we  have a department called Public Works and   utilities why wouldn't you put it in that  sense versus m multi modal Transportation   because immediately when someone sees that  they'll think of the transit system yeah we   tried not to identify specific departments  or elements of the Departments but we'll go   ahead and come up with a different term for  that transp for the transportation system and we'll make it more streets oriented what else okay let's moving to the goals the only uh   feedback I have here is I think  three and four should be one and two I don't know if they're  listed in order of priority   but when I see goals I usually see them in list of priority and number one by the  way we'll make the change Again On multimodal and Here here we did specifically  talk about Public Safety facilities we've   put those out you have fire stations police  stations that are being planned for the next   10 years and plus this allows us to make  other Investments similar what you talked   about before mayor I would consider some of  those Technologies to be infrastructure uh   benefits for the public safety departments I  would second what council member um glasscock   said in making number three the very first  one addressing defer maint maintenance in infrastructure if we're ranking them  I think number two should be number   one because that that speaks directly to Public Safety I would push back and say that the pillar  in itself the one prior to um the economy is about   safety so the pillar in itself is ranked so  um well-run city is number number one pillar   number two pillar is about safety number three  pillar is about Economic Development the fourth   one now is infrastructure so wouldn't would it  already have been prioritized in the right level   you should say infrastructure is prioritized in  those as well we yeah when we gave these to of   you we didn't give them in rank order thank you  that's what I was just going to ask we haven't   talked about rank in any of the other one so  I'm not sure why we're infusing it into this one   I think goals are typically ranked and so says  the pillar itself actually says the city of WIA   as I gave a commentary maintains and builds a  connected safe Etc so I do believe that because   of the way that the pillar is worded therefore  the goal should reflect the pillar itself in its order would that mean that Public Safety  infrastructure should go to the top no oh I just want to make the comment that I'm  extremely glad that number four is there I think   as we're moving forward and we're still in drought  and um obviously worried about going into phase   three of drought which could have a huge impact  on our economy and our community um I think this   is an ideal time for us to be forward thinking  not only for the city of Witchita but a leader   across the state so I I just want to applaud staff  for making sure that that got in there I think as   we're looking at you know what we do in the city  ensuring that we have clean and safe water for   not only residents but business and industry is  probably the most important thing that we do so   cud is to staff thank you I don't have any problem  with reordering these as long as we're going to   maintain these components we these are going to be  elements of our operating budget recommendations so let's move on to the last one  that's provide conditions for living well probably the key phrase in here  is Affordable access to Arts Civic   engagement housing libraries Parks and Recreation any thoughts on this pillar here are the goals first goal talks  about safe neighborhoods parks and public   spaces second one talks about access to cultural  educational recreational opportunities with   uh for residents with limited ability to  pay the third is community literacy which   goes back to I think what council member  tutle was talking about that educational   piece we play a role there and then the last  one is one that is high priority I think for   the council as well as the community and that  is supporting appropriate Sheltering wraparound   services for our homeless population  or those who are risking moving into homelessness try to put a pretty  fine point on this these goals I would just add a word regarding collaboration  or partnership with organizations regarding the   literacy rate I don't believe that that is  the sole purpose of local government so uh   usd259 could be an asset um I know there  are several nonprofit storytime Village so   I would add Partnerships or collaboration  yeah I think you do internal external and   maybe other government institutions  we figure something out on that one so I'd ask you to do what I've done four  or five times now go back real quickly   if you don't mind and go through all the goals  knowing that you're going to shape the upcoming   budget discussions do these goals reflect  your priorities for us are there any that   you would say you know maybe it's a second tier  issue or priority um because I'm frankly going   to be developing a matrix and as I go through  reviewing all of our budget requests and even   reviewing programs that we're doing today  I'm going to be using uh these goals as our   criteria for judging programs that go forward  and those that we recommend for possible change uh just like I did on a previous goal um I  would like to see when we were talking about   keeping witch toss safe the goal of empowering  residents to be partners in crime prevention   should really be number one officers can't be  everywhere firefighters can't be everywhere   we really do need neighbors to tell us where  we can help but also be part of that solution   so I would say empowering residents should  really be number one in keeping witch TOS safe I think a majority of the goals reflect the   community survey I think you did a  great job about including that thank you anything else all right I think we've  set the stage for your up   coming um budget workshops through the  remainder of uh our budget calendar   which is a perfect handoff to Elizabeth to go  through the last few slides about our budget process thank you all right so I just have a few  slides informational slides as um to close out   this presentation today this Workshop um moving  forward some next steps um this is a note where   the budget pres budget workshop and that  there was not a single dollar sign in this   entire presentation which is um I guess something  noteworthy um regarding financial analysis that's   really one of the phases that we're in in the  budget process concurrently with um supporting   this effort um just to remind you the quarter  for 2024 report is scheduled to be presented   um in February um Mark Manning and Nikki Babcock  generally present that report they do a fabulous   job um but every every quarterly report is really  important and I really encourage you I know that   you've all spend a lot of time reviewing the  budget document when it's published every year in   July and I really encourage you to dig into this  quarterly report is a starting another um element   of the starting point of the budget process  this year um and they do a great job with all   of the visualizations in that report of providing  a good um some context for our financial position   um based on your feedback today um we are going  to be working on starting to work on the things   that Kate and Julie highlighted on slide number  49 um which is looking at performance measures   that exist aligning those to goals um aligning  strategies to goals and so forth so that's the   work that will be happening next during the budget  process also be working on budget projections and   then reviewing um the research and requests  um that have been that have stemmed from the   adoption of the 2025 budget um this is a budget  calendar for upcoming workshops in my excitement   of adding all the dates for these workshops I  forgot to add in and that we'll be launching the   simulator in early May and that we also plan  to visiting all the dabs in May to providing   an update similar to what will be presented  in April and then also demonstrating how the   simulator works and getting people um people who  um attend and members of dabs really are connected   to the community so having encouraging them to  take that out to the community and share with   others um per state statute the budget will be  presented on July 15th um there will be two more   um so the budget um presentation date and the  budget adoption date are both they have um not   not the specific dates are set by State Statute  but there's certain time frames that you have   to do with those within so those are both set by  State Statute um and then there'll be two other   non-mandatory public hearings that are really our  best opportunities for feedback from the community   um to get feedback at those public hearings in  August before the budget is adopted on August   26th so that is the work ahead for us um I guess  the next six months um thank you all for your   attention today this is exciting and important  work and I'm proud to be part of it thank you thank you Elizabeth City Manager well I'd just like to recognize that  you guys are the ones doing the hard work here   so I really appreciate all the effort  that You' put into it so far and I know   going to be a tricky process this year but I  have all the confidence that U everybody who   works for the city is going to really do the work  and make sure that we have the best pro product possible well thank you all appreciate  you and we'll see you back here for   city council meeting actually across  the hallway city council meeting next   Tuesday at 9 thank you mayy you may want  to remind everybody of an onun tomorrow   we have an on buun tomorrow morning at  9:00 a.m. the public is welcome to also attend e