good morning to everyone so I've learned good  morning and welcome to City Hall to the folks   that are right behind us and to the folks who  are watching online um we would like to call   the meeting to order at this time and this is a  consent agenda item uh type of meeting so Madame   clerk can you please call the first item approve  the minutes of regular meeting of January 16th 2024 did everyone have a chance to  look at those minutes we have approval   of the minutes for the meeting  of January 16th any changes or corrections I see none I move that  we approve those minutes second we   have a motion in a second any other  discussion clerk will you open the   role and members cast your vote just  say oh Voice vote Voice vote I I I I   motion passes 70 Madame clerk please call the  next item cons consent agenda items 1 through 15 all right did everyone have  a chance to review the consent   agenda mayor woo I would like to pull  off item number five item number five all right any other items all right we have  a we will have a motion to approve consent   a agenda items 1 through 15 without with the  exception of item number five second any other discussion please voice your vote i i i i i  motion passes 70 on item number five council   member Glascock thank you mayor woo um Bob  would could we have staff um talk about any   updates uh to item number five and then I would  have some comments after that yes council member   thank you um I've got someone from public works  and Engineering that's going to give you just a   brief Aaron are you g to be the we have some  U we'll let you know what the current status   is of the order for the CH Chiller barrel and  how long we think uh it'll be until the work is completed good morning Aon Hing with public works  and utilities yeah we've uh so we learned January   2nd that there had been another slip in the  uh ship date for the new Chiller barrel and   at that time we were given a time frame of 8  to nine weeks to ship uh since the day after   that we don't have a direct relationship with  the manufacturer but since the day after that   we've been in direct communication with them  almost on a daily basis and as of uh last night   we're still uh we're still on track to have a  ship date of this Friday or sooner so they've   cut that deliver or that ship time more than  in half and so so that's going to reduce our   anticipated costs by $140 to $160,000 and it's  going to put us back to two ranks hopefully in   early March looking at around March 1st to 5th  somewhere around there depending on how things   go from here on out thank you Erin I just wanted  to let the council know that um the maximum cost   that's in the uh Council report will probably  not be realized but it was imperative that we   move forward with this because of us figure  skating synchronized um skating sectional   championships which are being conducted now  uh when that uh event was booked we uh pledged   two sheets of ice otherwise we would be able to  continue with the one she device that we have so   good news that we'll be able to get the final  repairs done um on a much quicker timetable   origin anticipated I'm sorry go ahead go ahead  uh just real quick if if the chiller um is not   available the one that we ordered by April are  we planning on continuing this possibly uh the   rental of this this new Chiller we need to work in  conjunction with rink management but at this point   I would if if worst case scenario happens which  unfortunately many times seems to be the case   here with the ice arena then we would probably  go back down to one sheet of ice okay thank you I have one more question what  is the status of the pending lawsuit   Also regarding the Ice Center is it still  pending it is yes believe they're still in Discovery all right um I move to approve consent  agenda item number four five I just want to speak   briefly about it um I've had the opportunity to  tour the Ice Center three times I perhaps four   uh in the past month I've been very impressed  uh with the new operator and the new uh manager   through RMS they've done a lot of improvements  thems uh from the new scoreboard to the lighting   um and they've been very hospital they open  a new bar so if you haven't had the chance to   go check it out um mayor woo and I were two of  the first people uh to have a drink at the new   bar um I'm very impressed with the new management  as well um yesterday had the opportunity to write   a Zamboni uh which was also a cool experience  I did not think would be my job title as well   um but I'm very excited about the impact when  Maru and I were there uh we had the chance to   talk uh with a family from Kansas City uh that  have often traveled across the region and the   country uh to different facilities and they said  that ours is the nicest that they've traveled to   there's nothing like that um in Kansas City or  their region and that they always look forward   to coming to witto so the economic impact  of the of upcoming competition um as well   as the city's investment and promise to have  two operating rinks I think something that   we need to keep um and so I'm very supportive of  this and the new management of the Ice Center as well thank you mayor um Bob what are the uh the  financials of the ice rink I I know it's it's   subcontracted but what is the actual cost  to the city on a yearly basis uh mayor yes   council member um the it depends on the  year of course right and the uh expenses   that we incur both from an operating  standpoint and a capital standpoint um   we provided the council a while back the  numbers for the sure I've got it right here previous years uh until we ran into the  significant ific problems with uh the uh chillers   we were basically netting the city was netting  anywhere from1 to $60,000 a year then when we   starting in 2018 running through 19 uh we saw um  subsidies of uh anywhere from $1 120 to $140,000   um our projections are that um subsidies will be  acquired for the next few years while uh the um   uh rink management staff uh get their programming  um back up to um full operations those uh deficits   for the next few years anticipate to be less  than $100,000 and then after that projections   uh moving forward of over $100,000 of net profit  what year is that starting starting in 2027 27 okay could I get a copy of those sure can I'll  send them out to all the council if you don't   mind yep and I have a couple more questions  what's the revenue for the ice dancing event   that we're on the hook for that I'm not aware of  would coming into our facility or total because   the the competition is actually at interest  it's at interest at interest just practicing   practicing the two rinks who were pledged for  practicing yes would it be possible just to   have one rink available for them I know  the contract says two right but would it   be possible to negotiate with them just for  one and not do a chiller they've had those   discussions I um representative from Brink  management is here and he could talk a little   bit about what we've pledged and how those  rinks are going to be used during the time okay good morning Council Troy hman director of  Parks and Recreation I work very closely   with rink Management Services in regards to the  contract management as well as the operations   of the ice rink and this particular event is a  partnership with visit Witchita as well as well   as interest Arena so there's a lot of different  moving Parts in regards to the economic impact   and there's also a lot of expectations from USA  uh figure skating so when we first negotiated   this contract it was with the expectation of  having two sheets of ice and um when they go   out there and actually bid to bring in a lot  of different folks from the competition from   all over the country their expectation is that  we'll have two sheets of ice for practice and   then obviously the competition is over at interest  so I do have Lewis here from r Management Services   and he's going to talk a little bit more  about uh the actual operation during the competition good morning I'm Lewis with rink  management uh I flew in last evening uh for   this weekend's event this week's event um the  economic the amount of Revenue coming in just   for the Ice Center is between 16 and 177,000  for the week um that is based on our $240 an   hour about 12 to 14 hours per day starting at  about 5:30 in the morning uh tomorrow um so   the facility itself is going to have a lot of use  the US figure skating has each of their time slots   broken down to specific when you walk through  the door when you do your off ice when you put   your skates on the time you're on the ice and  then when you're leave in the building so they   have a full rotation uh of all the teams  that are coming in from uh throughout the Midwest yes sorry and as uh Aon had mentioned  that second uh compressor is going to be around   for a couple more weeks and that's also going to  help us with our hockey competition which we have   uh we have a large hockey competition that's  going to be coming in with that expectation   of having two sheets of ice and obviously  they can provide twice as many games um   so that's another reason why uh the uh the  extra tiller has come in as a as a temporary mode H leis how how many uh competitors will there  be for the ice dancing about 1 1600 1,600 correct   okay for how many days uh from today through  Saturday today through Saturday okay so you're   looking at sorry rough math 700 hotel rooms being  booked so I guess we' probably already ordered the   the chiller yeah yes the temporary yes temporary  Chiller so we're already on the hook for it no   matter what we decide right welcome to government  right huh okay yeah okay thank you you're welcome thank you mayor R I have a final comment and a  motion as well I pulled this for transparency   sake so we could uh give communication in the  community uh because this has been a topic of   consideration I also pulled this um to highlight  the importance uh not to defer maintenance in the   future uh for our facilities that we need to be  sure to take care of our current facilities and   make sure that we have state thee art facilities  um so I hope that we continue to do this that make   sure that we're taking care of property that  the city owns as well um and I will highlight   lastly the $2.5 million um estimated impact of  the community um so while the ice skting rink   maybe only be seen 16 to $17,000 those coming  to our community can see far more um and hope   and encourage everybody to attend um and witness  uh the competition this weekend so with that um   I Mo or I move uh to approve um item consent  agenda item number five uh do I need to read   the entire subject line yes please okay uh move  to approve the public agency ratification for   renting a secondary temporary Chiller unit and  extending rental of an exist existing temporary   Chiller unit at the Witchita Ice Center second  motion and a second any other discussion uh clerk   open up the role please cast your vote by voice  I I I motion passes 70 Madame clerk please call   the next item board supportive bids and contracts  dated January 22nd 2024 good morning mayor city   council Josh laber Department of Finance the  board of bids and contracts convened January   22nd following recommendation is as follows  for purchasing we have the witcha downtown   streets two-way traffic conversion traffic signal  recommended for Mid-American signal Incorporated   for an aggregate bid total of $ 686,000 and a  change order with a combined aggregate total of7 $2,920 this is how to become a vendor with the  city of witch all these are open requests for   proposals out on the street today I'll be happy  to try to answer any questions and recommend your   approval I had one question um wanted to know  when installation will begin especially for   main market and Topeka streets sure um we have  a staff representative that can speak to that good morning Paul gunselman Public Works  and utilities the lead time on the traffic   signal equipment is approximately a year so  it'll be um hopefully um the polls will be   in sooner but uh the traffic signal cabinets  are approximately a year out so hopefully by   the end of this year we might be getting  started on some things so and the traffic   signal polls and Equipment need to be  in before we convert the streets to   the two-way so thank you Paul any other  questions for staff is there a motion to approve I will read the motion to approve  the board of bids contract second and any   other discussion clerk open up the role  members please voice your vote i i i i   motion passes 7 to zero Madame clerk please call  the next item council member appointments and comments council member Johnston I would  like to uh appoint the following uh the   board of Park Commissioners Kent ghost  go SE area Planning Commission Brian   fry uh County Board of zoning appeals  Brian fry a district Advisory Board   Dave Sanford da council member tutle  thank you to the citizen review board   I would like to appoint Brandy Willet and  I sent the information to the clerk thank you council member Glascock thank you mayor um I   would like to appoint Daniel Martin  Jr to the witcha citizens review board any additional nominations um I moved   uh sorry I have a motion to also uh  add myself to the WSU Tech Advisory Board all right is there any additional  comment on this um sorry I motion that we   approve the nominations um for these boards  second any additional discussion I see none   please cast your vote by voice I I motion  passes 70 Madame clerk please call the next item um I move to adjourn the cons the meeting  second please vote by voice I I I I motion passes   70 next time sorry uh city manager Bob Leighton  mayor thank you very much well this is your first   budget meeting U it's probably the earliest that  we've started discussing the budget but that was   the direction we had from the council last year  uh is to get an early start so we could maximize   our public engagement um we're I'm going to um  introduce uh Elizabeth gtre to talk a little bit   about uh two components um that I think are a good  starting point for this year's budget process and   and then um the first is the citizen survey and  we'll have a presentation on the results from the   survey then we'll also talk about a Performance  Management program that um we are implementing um   that actually is an enhancement of what we've done  in the past and then Elizabeth will talk a little   bit about how those items are tied together  to help you with the decision-making process   as you go forward with the budget so with that  Elizabeth yeah good morning everyone I'll start   us out with a budget overview just a reminder  if if people are joining us for the first time   um maybe this is their first time being exposed  to the budget um you can find all of our budget   documents online using this QR code so I'm going  to provide a brief overview of the 2024 um adopted   budget um just to provide some perspective as we  um start this discussion about the budget process   this year um the 2024 adopted budget this is  a general fund budget the general fund is of   course where most of the discussion um during  the budget process is focused um you'll notice   at the pie chart on the left that the Lion Share  of the budget in the general fund is for police   and fire followed by public works and utilities  um and that's important to note as we move into   the citizens the Community survey and look at what  residents rate is the most important services for   us to be focusing on in the next few years um  on the right side you'll notice that salaries   and benefits is 70% of the budget um so we are  very much in a service um oriented business   particularly in the police and fire department  um wages and salaries and benefits are from 90   to 95% of their budget so that's just a reminder  that anytime we talk about salaries and benefits   it has an out size impact on the general fund um  I haven't shared um the revenue pie chart today   but just um one of the reasons why we're talking  about um a structural deficit in the future is   because we've had um an outside slice of the  revenue pie chart has been interest earnings   in the last few years um that hadn't been a  slice of the pie chart in the past but it is   currently and we're expecting those to perform  um in 2024 similar to the projected budget but   that's not anticipated to continue in the future  so that being the case um these this framework   for developing the budget last year is is just  as relevant this year um arpa funding would be   unavailable to balance the budget starting in  2025 we haven't used any funding for general   fund support and we don't expect to um that is  terrific news from a standpoint of structural   sustainability but that safety net will be gone  um next January 1st we expect moderate Revenue   growth um that had was you'll receive the um  quarter 4 2023 financial report at some point   um we've already seen those Trends occurring  our Revenue growth is still outpacing inflation   to some extent which is great news but it is  not um the he Revenue growth that we had for   a period as we were um immediately recovering  from the covid pandemic recession wage costs   are expected to exceed seed Revenue growth um  this is something that we had said last year   it's just as true this year as it had been in  the past um and then the budget process we said   this last year and here we are um we're going to  be focusing on addressing forecasted structural   imbalances in the future so this is um a copy of  a very highlevel financial plan that was included   in the 2024 adopted budget um we this will be up  updated is we update um our budget projections   and we'll be back on February 27th to provide an  updated forecast um the good news for all of us   um is that the reserve policy that was adopted  last August um is a is um a really comprehensive   and sustainable framework for decision-making  regarding priorities in the budget process um I   only I don't review everybody else's budgets but  the ones that I've looked at I can tell you that   we are in um we're in an inable place as far as  having time to pause and make decisions about the   budget in the future as opposed to being in a spot  where we are facing some tough tactical decisions   immediately so there's still time to plan and  planning takes time which is why I'm here in   January instead of March or April so some of the  forecast variables for 2025 so if you hear these   types of things you might notice that's going you  know think that's going to impact the budget so   overall economic conditions have an impact on the  budget as do wage and benefit costs um for a long   time we had been saying that I think globally um  that healthc care costs were outpacing inflation   um recently that's not been the case in our budget  so that provides us um a Tailwind though we're   facing um headwinds on wage costs um vacancies  and IM employee demographics impact the budget   as do any sort of policy changes regarding  Service delivery and and things along those lines so what the purpose of this  Workshop today is to focus on the   strategic planning side of the  budget process so um Joe from Poco   is here to review some Community  survey results with you um the oh dear um then the next step in the budget  process after we review the community   survey results and then portate insights  will be providing you an overview of the   Performance Management framework that we've  been working on um after that the next step   is to engage residents and that starts  this Thursday evening and I've already   got a list of interested people um and  then we'll move into setting goals and   priorities for the budget process so like I  said I will will be back in February um and   this just a reminder it's going to be heavily  Focus this year on integrating survey data and   performance data to develop that financial  plan so Joe if you want to come on up thank you good morning mayor member of the council  again my name is Joe doio I'm a senior survey   associate at PCO National Research Center  and I want to thank you so much for having   me in this morning to speak on witas National  Community survey uh would especially like to   thank you for having me in person from our um  headquarters in Madison Wisconsin uh this is   the first day over freezing I've experienced in  I think about two weeks so it was lovely being   able to walk outside here this morning well  was the same here too we're we're enjoying it   together together um before jumping in um I  do want to thank a couple folks um certainly   uh the staff with Witchita for uh the help uh  they were indispensable throughout this survey   process would also like to thank my colleague  Brandy Barnett who was the main project manager   throughout this NCS process and a little bit  about us um poco's online community engagement   polling platform provides uh information tools uh  local governments and other public sector leaders   need um hundreds of organizations Nationwide  use Poco for strategic planning budgeting and   empowering resident voices uh we make civil  verified Community Engagement online not only   possible but accessible uh and a national Research  Center merged with PCO in 2019 to more effectively   serve local government and project uh project  resident voices uh a little bit National bit   about National Research Center uh at Poco uh  this gives governments and other public sector   organizations the data the need to make more  informed formed decisions um since 1994 we've   worked with hundreds of jurisdictions Nationwide  we also do have long-standing Partnerships with   icma uh National League of cities elgl and a  number of other communities and before diving   into results I want to emphasize that there are  a variety of ways that these results can be used   most commonly the jurisdictions we work with  user survey data to monitor Trends and Resident   opinion over time measure government performance  uh and rate of public trust to inform budgeting   processes and strategic planning our results also  allow you to Benchmark your community specific   characteristics uh and services against those same  characteristics uh within other communities in our   Benchmark database and our hope really is that  these findings are presented uh they will spur   ideas for uh what can be done with these results  and in areas that we might want to dig a little deeper and the national uh Community survey or  the n CS as I'll most commonly refer to it as   is a standardized five-page comprehensive survey  uh that allows municipalities to assess resident   opinion about their community and local government  the NCS focuses on the livability of Witchita by   categorizing survey questions into 10 main facets  of community livability as shown here uh these   facets are those that have been identified  through extensive survey research as those   that are most impactful to Residents uh quality  of life the NCS includes items um uh underneath   these categories to to dive deeper and get more  granular information on these 10 facets and we   do also find that these facets tend to align well  with Municipal departments making it easy for City   staff to quickly find the information that's  most pertinent to them and their respective departments so looking at this iteration of NCS  uh this is the ninth time uh that the city has   conducted the NCS uh most most recently in 2022  and before that 2020 I won't read off all those   previous years those are quite a few there but  this iteration of the NCS was conducted between   September 15th and October 27th of 2023 um we did  utilize what we referred to as a random sample   approach so to collect the households that we sent  the survey to uh all households within Witchita   were um had the same probability of being selected  uh we gathered all of the addresses according to   the the USPS um that are within Witchita then  using the gis Municipal boundaries we geocode   each of these addresses to make sure that we  were only looking at those within the defined   boundaries and then we have a proprietary process  of randing picking out those addresses randomly   uh to build out a group of 5,000 households since  we had that representative 5,000 household sample   um they received three points of contact uh the  first of which being a pre-notification postcard   giving them a little bit of background to the  survey inviting them to respond online that was   followed a week later by a physical survey packet  with postage paid return envelope to to send   that back to us and then a week after that uh was  followed up by a final postcard just letting them   know that the survey would be coming to a close  and again inviting them to respond online there is   wording on each mailer uh asking folks that they  have responded already to please not respond again   and the survey was available online in Spanish  so with these 5,000 households we received back a   total of 553 completed surveys received from these  efforts providing a response rate of about 11% um   and um a margin of error plus or minus 4% this is  right around what we would expect uh in terms of   margin of error as well as response rate um margin  of error we tend to look for between a four to 6%   margin of error and response rate we see usually  anywhere between eight and 15% the upper echelon's   20 but that's very rare these days along with  the random sample survey we did also have a   nonprobability based open participation survey we  wanted residents to know that even if they weren't   selected randomly in this group that we wanted  to hear from all voices and so it was the same   survey uh that was open up to the public to this  we received 131 responses both of these surveys   were uh reweighted statistically so looking at  the census demographic information that makes up   witcha we reweighted or considered some responses  more than others to make sure that we had a good   representative look into the demographics that  make up the city overall for the purpose of this   uh presentation uh we're looking primarily at  those responses from the random sample survey   there is information on those responses received  from open participation uh at the end of the report and one of the advantages that local  government have in participating in our   community surveys is the opportunity to compare  ratings given by your residents to those from   communities communities Across the Nation this  was born out of uh the observation that there   are some areas of local government that will  tend to be rated higher than others for example   fire Services tend to on a whole be rated higher  than let's say Street related services so instead   of pitting those two unlike areas we can look  at the fire services in Witchita and compare   those to fire services in other communities  Across the Nation and same with those Street   related Services uh we have over 500 comparison  communities um within our benchmarking database   at this current time representing uh the voices  of over 50 million residents in the United States   and then looking at the bre breakdown of those who  took the survey um looking at age we actually saw   a very high percentage of folks from that 25 to  34 range not as characteristic uh which was very   exciting to see and then from there on up we see  a more even distribution with resident income uh   most residents that completed the survey uh had  a family income between 25,000 and 74,000 again   more even distribution from there on up and  then a near equal distribution of uh male and female now looking at an overview of the  survey results we do ask 10 or excuse me   ask uh folks to directly um rate these 10  facets of community livability uh this is   the overall question the overall  quality before getting into those   more granular questions here we can see uh  the general breakdown of uh what we'll see   throughout the rest of the report those  comparisons to the benchmarks which are colorcoded and then along with asking about  the overall quality of those 10 facets of   humanability we also go residents ask residents  to to rate the overall importance that they   place on those so we can see those breakdown  of the importance levels on those 10 facets   of commun livability and together uh we  use that information to create a chart I   think is the aply named quality an importance  Matrix uh this helps determines which areas   uh of relatively speaking higher importance and  lower quality to Residents uh those are located   on the lower right hand quadrant as pictured  and this chart is just one of the many ways   to interpret your data it can be used to help  identify key findings and and help Community   determine which areas may need additional  Focus resources allocated in the coming   years and along with that other areas that are  performing well I pointed out that lower right   right hand quadrant the areas that are again  relatively speaking high in importance and   lower in quality but that top right quadrant are  areas uh those facets that are high in importance   and also high in quality and that includes that  education arts and culture health and wellness utilities and looking back at these comparisons  to the National benchmarks and this is are   comparisons to the entire National Database of the  items that folks provided uh evaluative results   for uh one received higher ratings 57 received  similar ratings and 55 items were rated lower   than the national benchmarks H and to be  considered higher or lower this would be 10   points above or below that national average uh for  something that to be considered much higher and   much lower that would be a 20 point difference  or more along with the the national benchmarks   Wichita also did have a custom um list that we  compared to um these pure Community benchmarks   we compared uh Witchita to cities within our um  database that were between 200,000 and 600,000   in population so in this subset of cities um  we received um rankings that were higher for   three items 94 the vast majority uh were similar  to these Pier subgroup uh and 16 received lower ratings and then looking purely at Witchita this  is compared to our most recent NCS uh results so   that was in 2022 in 2023 we had seven items that  were more positive again the vast majority were   similar at 92 items and 33 were lower compared  to that previous iteration take a quick zip here now moving into the highlights of our findings I  do want to point out um that these are what stood   out to us as survey researchers as interesting  there's so much data to be gleaned um and being   the experts of the community I'm sure there are  many many other key findings that y'all will pull   out as you parse through this data but jumping  into this the first is that survey respondents   indicate safety is a continued priority  in Witchita safety remained a priority for   residents with 94% folks rating it as an essential  or very important Focus area for the city in the   coming two years respondents continued to feel  safe for the neighborhoods during the day 83%   vary or somewhat safe uh from fire flood other  natural disaster 74% uh which was on par with   comparison communities Nationwide as well as the  2022 results yet positive responses related to   the overall feeling of safety in which Tod did  drop by about 6% um to 41% um scoring much lower   than other communities Across the Nation roughly  half of res residents reported feeling safe from   property crime as well as violent crime uh each  remaining stable but lower than the national benchmarks similarly ratings for the  city's safety related Services continue   to rank below uh Benchmark comparisons  but held steady with responses from 2022   um this included uh 88% excellent or  good ratings for fire Services 75 for   ambulance Emergency Medical Services  about 7 and 10 giving high ratings   for fire prevention education and about  half of residents approving of police services and in a question unique to Witchita  residents were asked how important it was for   the community to focus on a variety  of services in the coming two years   nearly all 95% of residents uh identified crime  prevention as essential or very important while   a very strong majority also prioritize Police  Services an ambulance and EMS as well as fire Services now breaking down some of these ratings  uh by demographic I pulled out area specifically   here for this rating and I want to point out that  star shows that um that rating is statistically   significant from at least one other area or  multiple areas um so looking at the f rating   uh how safe they feel from violent crime we see  that folks in District One District Two as well   as District Six excuse me um on uh the whole  tended to feel safer from violent crime than   those in District 34 and five uh asking how safe  you feel in your neighborhood during the day uh   District 1 2 5 and six uh were're statistically  different from District 3 and rating police   services in wiah we actually saw um higher ratings  in District 2 and district 6 compared to to other districts our second key finding uh although  the community's economic Outlook has improved   uh residents support further focus on the  local economy residents offered high ratings   of importance uh this was about 89% essential  or very important uh and relatively speaking   lower rankings of quality around 40% excellent  or good to wi's overall economy suggesting that   this facet of livability continues to be  an important Focus for the city this being   said a number of these were similar to the  National benchmarks this includes shopping   opportunities variety of business and service  establishments employment opportunities Economic   Development and WIA as a place to visit  was lower than the national benchmarks at 34% well some aspects of the city's economy rain  stable since previous survey it ation there were   a few notable declines positive ratings for witch  as a place to work uh which was 60 61% excellent   or good uh decreased down to from 8% from 2022  the overall quality of business and service   establishments at 64% declined by a similar amount  uh the vibrancy of downtown commercial areas also   dropped 14% receiving favorable marks from about  4 and 10 respondents this go around of the NCS   now in contrast which is how residents expressed  more optimistic views regarding their own personal   economic Outlook cost of living uh which received  um positive marks from 58% continued to be rated   higher than comparison communities and we ask  what impact if any residents anticipated the   economy would have on their family income  in the next six months almost one quarter   expected a very or somewhat positive impact which  was a 12% increase from 2022 uh I do also want to   note that this is especially interesting looking  at the national Trends uh we're still working on   calculating um the national Trends from 2023  but looking at 22 and 21 and the years prior   we've been seeing steadily decrease on feelings  towards cost of living um as well as the impact   that the economy will have on family income in  the next coming six months on a national level   so it's very interesting especially to see these  rising and more positive marks in which it talk and looking at the demographic breakdown  again uh according to um uh age as it   relates to the economy we can see kind  of across the board that those in the 55   plus age range tended to have more positive  views on the economy overall this included   Witchita as a place to work um the the quality  of business and service establishments as well   as employment opportunities um that 55 plus  age range statistically um significant with   a sign statistically significant level  had more positive views towards these areas a third key finding residents continue  to Value the city's opportunities for Education   culture and the Arts an evaluation for wia's  cultural and community events continue to be   positive and on par with national averages  about six and 10 respondents were pleased   with the overall opportunities for Education  culture and the Arts in line with previous   results um and National averages similar  proportion favorably rated the opportunities   to attend Cultural Arts and Music activities  uh and opportunities to attend special events   and festivals assessments for community  support for the Arts which was 50% 57%   excellent or good declined a bit from the  previous survey but remained higher than   2020 scores uh and notably positive ratings  related to the availability of affordable   quality child care in preschool did drop by  about 9% falling below Benchmark comparisons   and all other prior survey iterations  presenting an opportunity for additional attention and we move back to uh area as um  demographic breakdown looking at education   arts and culture um when asked to rate overall  opportunities for Education arts and culture we   see that District 3 tended to uh rate these lower  uh than all other districts looking at community   support for the Arts District 3 um was actually  higher um than a number of other districts as   well as District 5 and in rating the availability  of affordable quality child care in preschool uh   we saw district one and District Two tended to  to rate these on a lower margin than all other districts our fourth key finding uh residents  identify room for growth in wias recreational   offerings and health services and the overall  health and wellness opportunities also received   favorable evaluations from about half of  residents on average as did the availability   of affordable quality food and preventative  health services the availability of affordable   quality healthc Care 43% excellent are good  an affordable quality mental health score 29%   garnered relatively lower scores but we're  on par with survey results and communities Nationwide and moving into Parks and Recreation  about six and 10 residents gave High marks to   city parks at which experienced a slight  decline from the previous survey results   and rank below National averages a similar  proportion offered stable and positive   reviews for Fitness opportunities and available  availability of um pass and walking trails in   Witchita uh the latter also scoring lower than  comparison communities only about half were   pleased with the overall quality of Parks  and Recreation opportunities Rec recation   programs are classes centers facilities  as well as recreational opportunities as a whole and along with these standardized questions  and those 10 facets of community livability we do   also have a space for additional special topics  that are specific to the communities that we work   with uh so this is a look into those questions  that witcha ask that were apart from those   standardized questions we also we covered a few  of these in question 13 so moving straight into   question 14 we asked residents to to indicate how  often at all they accessed U following resources   for getting information about the city news  events services and Facilities of these we   see a a strong um movement toward Word of Mouth  social media as well as local television news   from there uh there was a slight drop off to uh  City website as well as a witchat Eagle Newspaper   and then uh we saw less going to to uh the city  of witchat emails local influencers uh as well   as a few other options we have there now along  with um getting information on where we get uh   where folks go to receive uh news uh we also  asked them which two sources of information   they consider to be most important with this  we saw High marks given to social media and   local television news as those being most  important uh with about 30% considering the   City website and and about 20% the newspaper word  of mouth and then falling to 10% or below uh to   City emails influencers um public meetings  government TV as well as meeting with City staff and looking at a summary of these  conclusions I just do want to reiterate   that this is what stood out to us as survey  researchers is interesting there are so many   other key findings to be gleaned from this  data uh many many data points to be looked   at and especially y'all being the experts of  the community uh will be able to find those and   what's most pertinent to y'all uh I do want to  point out that with our continuing partnership   with the city we do have the ability to post  follow-up questions uh to the folks that have   already given us uh their information and would  like to be notified with any followup information   or questions that the city is asking uh we  have tools to help post that but to to share   it out to the community as well as analyze that  as information comes in and from there we do also   have performance dashboards uh that the city  can go look at this data as it comes in uh so   those will be from Individual questions but also  we can look at that compared to other National   Data points that we pull in and I know that's  a lot of me speaking through uh heavy data and   I want to stop here for any questions that we may  have council member ho Heisel thank you mayor um   two real quick um do we have a breakdown of how  people per District receive their news yes uh   Council council member that's a a great question  uh on the we have a few different ways that that   we report on this data we have that physical  paper report then also it's available on PCO   and Tableau that information will be available  on PCO and Tableau just due to the interactive   nature of those demographic cross tabs but we do  have that breakdown of folks how folks responded   by District uh within that report as well as uh  those other demographic breakdowns for the custom   questions as well as the standardized questions  okay um also um are there National decreases in   the area of of safety in the neighborhoods or um  perhaps approval of uh the police department is   that something that's going on across the country  or is that unique to our particular city that is   a great question as well uh certainly some  areas that we have seen decreases in overall   not to go too far into those other areas safety  is definitely one of those especially with events   that happened in 2020 2021 uh on a national level  uh we have seen some decreases in one government   trust overall especially but definitely um  the way that folks interact with police and   police services on the national level we have seen  decreases there as well okay and not to speculate   too much but we do have an increase in unhoused  individuals and a lot of times um having them   camped out in your neighborhood or in your Parks  can lead to a lot of feelings of insecurity in   those areas too so I'm just wondering if the  number of unhoused individuals increasing uh   coales with uh the feelings of safety decreasing  so thank you council member Johnson thanks mayor   um couple questions uh first is this a similar  demographic Ric response to the last survey I   didn't bring my book in here so I can't remember  oh council member um another great question I I   believe it is I do also have that information on  how we weighted that compared to the census um   but without having that information in front of  me I'd like to just double check on that before   I confirm I meant the last survey that you did  here is it the same type of demographic age wise   and income wise the folks that we target it's the  same group um just the the nature of the random   sample we'll get a good representative group uh  as for those who responded to the survey that I   would like to follow up on if that's all right  yeah that's fine um also I scammed through the   book um but online is this also broken down by  ZIP code yes awesome well actually let me let me   step back by ZIP code I'm not entirely sure by  District yes um but I don't believe we tracked   individual zip codes um as subgroups okay I  was just curious some of the answers I know   different parts of district one might rate things  a little differently so I was just curious as to   who responded um on I looked in the survey you  said that it's available in English and Spanish is   it also available or will it be available at some  point in Vietnamese I will let Elizabeth touch on that yeah I can answer the question about language  for the survey the online survey was available in   Spanish and Anna Lopez at Evergreen did extensive  Spanish language Outreach um on the postcards and   the and the survey instrument that were sent  to the random sample there were um invitations   in Spanish and Vietnamese at the bottom of the  survey to call um and one of the staff members of   the budget office is fluent in Vietnamese and she  was the phone number and she individually walked   residents through the survey should they need  to take it in Vietnamese awesome you're welcome   awesome um last question um just kind of looking  at this looks similar to the last couple surveys   as far as where people are getting information  from I know that you sent a letter initially to   folks randomly to let them know that the survey  was coming and then like a reminder um and this   is my fault for not paying attention to to this  part if you did do it but was there any um social   media or media push to allow people to know as  as well like hey be looking out for this survey   that's coming yes I believe so I'll hand it out  for specifics just stay there yeah um yes we did   um and that was going to be part of my segue into  the next group um I worked a lot with the Comm   team um and also um the community services reps on  um Outreach um lots of posts on social media lots   of information you know be looking for this in  your mailbox this is a real survey that sort sort   of thing and when you look at the demographics of  our survey respondents um you know just a hunch   but it looks like the social media push made  a difference since we do have more respondents   in that not the youngest but the second youngest  group so lots of work and like I mentioned Anna   Lopez did a lot of Outreach Spanish language  channels so awesome that answers my questions   thank you council member tutle thank you ju thank  you great job and thank you for the presentation   I really appreciate it I can't wait to dig into  this um I'm a data nerd so I noticed there's some   questions in here that aren't necessarily Services  of the city such as ambulance or Emergency Medical   Services and I don't know if it's for Bob or for  Elizabeth but how will we communicate that with   our Community Partners like at the county or  different things is there a plan for that at all so I think one of the values of the pocal  serate is that it's there's like they had the   map with the green dots the light green dots of  all the different communities that participate in   the survey and that being the case um there's a  list of government services that's asked in all   of the surveys got um so um we ask you know some  of these surveys were more some of these Services   were more involved in than others like Child Care  um we we provide child care licensing services but   we don't provide child care um but it's still  um useful um I think for us to know the of the   community on certain issues um the ambulance  and emergency medical question is one that was   asked in the survey for the first time this year  okay um so we added that one this year because of   the um research and discussion that's been on  goinging about the Medical Response component   of the fire department um so as far as sharing um  with other community stakeholders it'll be online   this afternoon and I'd be happy to provide  that to them and you could as well so thank   you thank you you're welcome thank you council  member Glascock two questions uh so we need go   to page 2122 you don't have to pull it up and  it says comparisons to n National benchmarks   so it says we received ratings um one Higher  rating 55 lower three higher 16 lower what are   the higher ones because in the page you know 19  when look at comparison to National benchmarks   there's none that are listed as higher when we  look at 18 there's none that are listed higher   so what specific ones I know it might not be the  priority ones but what is the Benchmark that's   higher in National benchmarks and also Community  benchmarks yes that's a a great question as well   um I believe in the National benchmarks it  is that cost of living uh for those other   sections if it's all right with you I'd like to  to follow up with that uh I generally have those   in my notes and the printer decided to cut some  of my notes off so unfortunately don't have that   in front of me apologize okay so we have that  information but cost of living is the national   Benchmark one I believe sems and then uh second  question when we're looking um so you said this   has breakdown by districts I would imagine M  I also would um smize that they're probably   not statistically significant if it's broken  down by districts or by ZIP code or what would   be the margin of error if it is broken down by  ZIP code yes another I I just have to as an as   side say that I appreciate all these thoughtful  questions um certainly not the case that this is   always happens and I'd love to be able to talk  about this information and lead us through it so   U on that report on both the the Poco as well as  the Tableau iterations uh there will be on that I   almost said slide but uh in that section of the  report uh it will show you what each individual   item is statistically significant to there's  a separate tab that describes each level of   St statistical significance for that but instead  of having to go back and forth um it'll show you   uh if there's let's say four different areas of  that demographic for single item it'll be a b c   and d and it will say if it's St statistically  significant from B or C or D it'll be listed um   so with those demographics that we showed um you  know if we had one item that had that star and   was statistically significant let's say it was  rated at 28% uh and there were other items very   close obviously it'll not be different from those  uh but that will be more granular and show for   each of those individual items how different  it was from every Dem graphic group thank you um I had one question for  you Joe um I saw that there's a   community survey right now uh regarding  streets is that an addition to a Poco survey that's a great question let me go back a  couple slides here oh I'm going forward okay so   um on so people have the option of filling out  the survey that comes to them in the mail by   on the paper form and sending it back or  they also can use a link to go on online   and fill out the survey there so when people  filled out this survey or last year or some   other quick surveys we did um they become part  of the PCO community so we created this quick   Street survey to learn more because what you'll  notice about um the surveys is the question the   broad question about streets is Street repair  and it seemed appropriate to learn more about   what that meant so um this short survey is  being publicized um the way the Comm team   publicizes things but an email also went out  to the members of the PCO community so it's   a follow-up and um when people um it there's  been a lot of questions today about zip code   and zip code isn't one of the things that is  um one of the different demographics that's   reported in this survey that you got in your  notebook but I think that we will be able to   use zip code to um generate reports from these  um short pull code surveys that help yes okay   great thank you Elizabeth one more question  for you uh when will be the next Community   survey for folks that already they're tuning  in right now obviously these are the results   from 2023 um will we have a 2024 and if so when  should they be on the lookout yes we will we   are doing our surveys annually now and so I think  the timing for it was I think it was in the field   SE in September and October this year and that  seemed to have worked well um once the budget   was adopted and just to start the process all over  again it's been very helpful to have the annual surveys looks like it thank you Joe thank you  perfect appreciate thank you all so much again   for having me and the last thing I want to  say in closing and I like to usually touch   on is especially looking at those benchmarks  I I wish that we could have every community of   the nation uh we're just not there yet um  so when looking at those benchmarks we're   comparing witchat to the highest performing  communities in the country and and by being   part of this and being so interested  in this engagement and Outreach that   puts witchat in that group of communities  as well so I just thank you all so much   for having me in uh and your and I look  forward to our continued partnership thank you all right and now we will um segue into  Performance Management um I think probably   in late 2022 early 2023 um when at moving  out of the budget that was adopted then um   we made the decision to really reinvigorate  our performance measurement program into a   Performance Management program um and reached  out to portate insights to assist us with that   Journey um and they're here today to present  um this is another element of um using having   a data informed strategic budget process um and  so I'm happy to have them join us so come on up all right good morning Madam mayor at City  Council Members um thanks to Elizabeth uh for   introducing us I'm Julie steensen my colleague  Kate vender and I um as it says on the screen   we actually are former staff member for the city  of Kansas City um we have extensive experience   working for and in and with lots of state and  local governments and so uh we we launched a   firm um in order to continue to spread the  knowledge that we have and the experience   uh that we have gained through our service with  local governments um our approach uh as a Corp   or as a company uh is is we really believe that  every organization can utilize data better they   can embed it more more they can uh improve  on any service even those services that were   in the box up on the right corner um in your  your empasis uh and satisfaction and quality   uh rating everyone can always improve with data  and so also I I would say we are great lovers of   Resident surveying um and so we always really got  excited for survey day every year in Kansas City   so um I this is a great day for us to be here  as well um we also believe in co-creation with   organizations that we work for that's the only  way that really efforts to use data are going   to be sustainable over time uh we're definitely  not the type of group of people who drop in and   try to fix everything for an organization that's  not the type of Consultants we are we want to   work with staff come alongside them on efforts  they're already improving and you know add our   voice and our experience to help really build on  what is already happening so uh the uh the goal of   the project we have been working on uh with the  budget office and with city manager Leighton uh   is to really build capacity for datadriven uh  management within wiah we feel that um that's   best done by just a refining and tweaking some  of the existing processes that are happening for   collecting analyzing and Reporting uh one thing  that we found um as we came here wicha has done   an excellent job of really uh trying to draw  out the data um throughout departments a lot   of performance measures have been tracked for  a long time um which gives which a real leg up   especially with some cities who are very new  to the idea of key performance indicators or   measuring their progress and and trying to make  decisions around it so uh what we found when we   came to witto was actually a really good  foundation for the work we wanted to do um   and what uh the city manager and budget office  are hoping to do with the project we're working on so what did we find um so we really uh summed  up what we did in our first engagement um into   some existing strengths and areas that we feel  they create opportunities to to continue this   work so we obviously found um a lot of engaged  leadership around leveraging data and that goes   from the city manager's office throughout  departmental um uh groups we think that that   then creates an opportunity for a really strong  data culture and where data is just part of how   business is done for the city of wiah we also  looked at uh the current and past efforts and   investing in data and that's everything from data  uh systems and softwares that report good data to   the staff capacity people who are embedded  in departments who know how to leverage that   data and we think that obviously um as we  said uh further improvements can always be   made to the data quality how it's analyzed and  then how it's visualized especially visualize   for your use as you go out into the community  and um talk about what the city is doing uh we   also encountered the Citywide uh reporting  structure for performance measures uh those   are already incorporated into your budget process  uh that is something that departments work really   hard on to collect that data and send it off  to uh the budget office as they discuss what   resources they may need to move the needle on  some of those measures we definitely think that   there are opportunities uh that already  exist for some really good habits um some   data hygiene um and that's that's really in how  you approach datadriven management so Gathering   those measures and then really building the  framework for how to incorporate those and   then of course uh you know this annual resident  survey um process that's already in place now you   have a lot of trend data you have data you can  disaggregate in a lot of different ways um and   so that really brings the voice of your customer  into the work that's being done both policy and   operationally so uh this is a great Foundation um  for continued work uh in incorporating resident   engagement into the operations for the city  so I I will turn it over to Kate to talk a   little bit about the work we will be doing  over the next um 11 or 12 months with uh the Departments thanks all so glad to be here today  to talk about this um so as Julie mentioned you   know coming um coming on board working with the  city of witch we really came with a strong sense   of best practices in the area of data informed  decision- making but not necessarily how best   to integrate those into witch's existing habits  Frameworks Data Systems and so that was our first   work was a discovery process of uh interviewing um  meeting with um and surveying uh wiah management   staff especially to understand you know what's  going well what what what do you see that could   be improved and then also of course blending that  with existing efforts uh in the budget office in   the city manager's office to understand what  are the priorities for the city in this area   and so coming out of that that's how we sort  of have landed on these project elements as   being the the right opportunities for wiat to uh  continue to invest in data and so um what we are   just moving into uh starting to Pilot um having  kind of gone through that full kind of Discovery   and synthesis of of findings is um a department  based data routine per you know our term that we   use and this gets confusing sometimes externally  to government we talk about Performance Management   in the private sector Performance Management a  lot of times has an HR um connotation uh that   means that you know that it's about improving  individual performance it certainly can mean   that as well but in especially local government  we talk about Performance Management as a way to   use data to improve um city services and uh you  know efforts within the government so um we are   um going to be working we're actually later this  afternoon we are going to be launching into pilot   projects with two departments and we're going  to extend that to other departments over the   next year uh really going into um even 2025 um  and the outgrowth of this is not going to just   be uh new data routines and processes in these  pilot departments but also a template for all   departments to be able to utilize and customize  uh for their own purposes and the elements of that   framework are you know identifying key measures  and related goals Julie uh mentioned there is an   amazing uh Foundation of of reporting data um  but you know part of what makes it possible to   get the best use of that data is to really hone  in on what are the most important measures and   how do they tie back to your goals uh I think that  can help to kind of narrow the focus a little bit   um and then creating a an active routine for  review and discussion of data that leads to   ongoing improvements it is not um particularly uh  you know there's nothing super special about the   idea of a meeting to sit down and talk about data  but we have found that that really is a secret   sauce um to elevate Data Insights and integrate  them into decision-making is when you have an   actual routine around sitting down and discussing  data in meetings paired with this is an effort   on city-wide capacity building so thinking about  across the board from our findings how does witcha   continue to invest in uh data driven systems  and so that involves developing staff resources   through training and coaching so we are planning  to offer a training later this year on managing   with data and then also working with uh there  our existing efforts uh within it to think about   how to continue and um systematize some training  around data that that we are in partnership with   it and talking about and then uh along the same  lines um there are always an infinite number of   of ways in which um you would like to improve  your data systems and access and quality and   so uh as an outgrowth of of this effort on on  really identifying the key data and figuring   out how best to use it um we are also going to  help in prioritizing the improvements that maybe   are you know the most important need to go to the  top of the list in terms of those uh Data Systems so we've been talking in kind of a lot  of generalities here and so wanted to   ground this a little bit in some some specific  examples of what this could lead to based on   our experiences and I'm happy to expand more on  this uh based on questions as well but you know   in our experience working with cities um you know  resident survey Focus having that as a foundation   you can really leverage that data to um identify  the need for operational investment and process   Improvement for a service that continually  comes up as a priority so you know we worked   with a city where uh infrastructure was uh just  continuously a priority and it really provided a   foundation both for again those Department level  process improvements to systems but also uh laid   groundwork for uh going out and getting more  Geo Bond authorization because uh the elected   officials felt like they were able to reflect  back that priority to Residents to say you all   are telling this this is important here is how  we would like to proceed on it please help us   support this and that was successful so a good  example of of how you can use resident survey both   operationally and strategically you know system  for tracking operational metrics in Department   sometimes at a more granular level uh we've worked  with um a city on their code enforcement process   where there I know witch code enforcement has has  really embarked on a lot of process improvements   over time and there's really you know for systems  as complex as that there's always opportunities   to go a little bit deeper and if you are uh have  a system of tracking ongoing improvements then   that allows you to uh incrementally um iterate  over time so make an improvement see how that   goes you know figure out what your next move  is and and so that was something that we saw   as being very successful and then data training  Investments um you know certainly helps to bring   quality data to the front line or closer to  the front line for decision which improves   efficiency um but that also goes hand inand with  staff engagement so we actually uh worked on   employee engagement for the city of Kans City uh  and that was uh something that we spent a lot of   time thinking about was the connection between  data informed decision-making and uh Stronger   engagement from staff Employee Engagement so uh  really strong correlation there and we we worked   with um a water department where we saw their  investment really allowed them to provide more   efficient um uh decision-making and services  in the field because of their efforts to get   data in front of those staff so zooming out the  overall project timeline just to kind of Leave   You of a sense of of how this uh has gone over  the last um year and and where we're at now so   uh as I mentioned we started this work in the  spring of of 2023 um and uh put together this   kind of squat analysis that we summarize some  of the findings for you um we actually kind of   uh assisted over the summer with something that  was um kind of a a side project but we we helped   a little bit with uh um wfd and the deployment  model um and the uh reporting that they did over   the summer um and then we went back to kind of  really examine performance measures and do a   deep dive of those later this summer where we're  at now as I said have developed uh Performance   Management framework at the department level and  are just starting with implementation and then   we'll uh go forward with capacity building  and continuing to expand and extend that uh implementation so uh happy to take any questions  as I said I mean I I think it sounds like you all   have a really as Joe said very sophisticated  understanding of data and how best to use it   and so I think that that's really what we're  here to do is to help Witchita take advantage   of the you know extensive data resources and  staff capacity that are already at its disposal   and figure out how to you know continue to  use those to to reach better outcomes for residents all right well moving forward this  is a lot of information that providing to you   but the good news is it's January right it's an  interesting day to start when three January but   um some information moving forward of where this  where where will you find these where will people   be able to find this what are we doing next  what are we going to do with it will it just   sit on a shelf Etc um the community and survey  and dashboard will be posted online today and   those can be found on the city manager's website  um as I mentioned earlier we do have an online   follow-up survey this one right the current  online follow-up survey is about streets and   that's online through January 31st um working with  our comp team we've prepared some visualizations   of data some um information from the survey um  that there was a lot that Joe presented but you   know there's more to unpack like he said there  might be other things that you want to look at   so I'm going to share some visualizations with you  quickly um and then we are starting the resident   engagement process already this week and that'll  result in some Focus areas for study as we move   through the budget process this year so in slide  20 of the slide deck um PCO presented um a quality   importance Matrix for some of the the high level  service areas so this include things like public   s safety um utilities economy mobility and  whatnot so what we did as staff is we mapped   out um all of the services that were asked about  in the survey and put them on a similar type of   a similar Matrix so um things to keep in mind  is this is the quality rating from the 2023   survey so this is what people who responded to the  survey rated it last fall and then the importance   question is asked what do you think the city of  witchat should focus on in the next two years   so conveniently that aligns nicely with the budget  process so um and we have it as a poster also hold on if you like to share this information in  a meeting and there's not great technology   availabil available to you don't fret we now have  a poster board so there you go um so in the upper   right corner the orange one these these are  services that were rated as high higher quality   than our median in the survey and also of higher  importance um one thing that I noticed about these   Services is they're provided rather broadly to the  community um and then they they impact everybody   day in day out whether or not people are thinking  of them except snow removal I mean obviously just   in the winter um and then also if you think back  to the pie chart at the very beginning of the   presentation um the general fund is largely police  fire and Public Works um and then some of these   services are outside of the general fund such  as drinking water and sewer services and those   are funded by our utilities and those have been  I think that it's evident that those have been   a high priority recently in our investments in  both the water treatment plant and the B&R sewer   project so this is an interesting place to start  um next these are services that are to the left of   them so these are services that are rated higher  quality higher than the the median but of lower   importance in the next two years um compared to  the median for all the Services overall um I mean   I don't mean to speculate or anything but some  of these services are ones that there have been   Investments made in recently for example swimming  pools and splash pads I don't know that it would   have been above the median for higher quality  service 10 years ago if we had asked that um   but there have been a lot of investments  in that area so so it is above the median today and I think that golf courses  is a notable one to note too it is   rated as hder quality but as far as  importance for the city to focus on   in the next two years um is 18% r that  is a very important important or very important the next one is this lime green quadrant  it's um the lower left um these are services that   are rated that have um lower quality than  the median and then lower importance than   the median for the next two years um I think  what's notable about this slide compared to   the one that Joe presented which is slide  20 is that um at the higher level Mobility   lands in this quadrant on slide 20 and many  of the services on this green slide five of   them are Mobility related so traffic enforcement  traffic signal timing street cleaning sidewalk   maintenance and bus or Transit are all Mobility  related so um I think that's interesting to note and then this quadrant um the lower  right these are Services that're related   rated as being higher importance in the next  two years by the survey respondents but then   have lower quality than the median um as I've  noted um we have a follow-up survey on streets   right now that's available for residents to  participate in through the end of the month   um we've got some follow-up questions about street  street condition we've broken down the questions   about Street condition by type of street rather  than asking broadly about Street repair to learn   a little bit more so that that excuse me real  quick yes uh when you say type of street are   you talking about um like concrete as opposed  to Asphalt or are you talking residential as   opposed to arterial the it's a it's a estate or  high you know highways freeways highways is the   first one then major streets secondary streets  and neighborhood okay thank you you're welcome   no problem there's so many ways to talk about  streets there I think we're in agreement that   the question Street repair just doesn't Encompass  it does it I have a quick question too so when we   talk how do we Define a difference just for  the survey for police services versus crime   prevention that is an interesting question  isn't it because crime Police Services is in   where's Police Services is just above the median  for Quality right but then crime prevention is   below the median but his rate is a higher priority  um you know we're having this resident engagement   session on Thursday night and I've thought about  it but I also wanted to get feedback from this   session before I you know put that all together  and I think that's an interesting topic I think   there're obviously um crime prevention and police  are very closely related but I think there's   some elements of crime prevention that go beyond  ratings of the police department themselves so the   simplest answer is crime prevention is consider  to be proactive and police servic reactive but test yeah that would be what how  how are residents defining it   when they're answering these questions yeah yeah m Bob Bob your mic's off thanks which one the big  the big one yes um so I want to talk just real   briefly about how we anticipate to use this in  the budget process uh not just for 25 but as we   talk about 26 and 27 and position ourselves  strategically our recommendation would be to   focus primarily on the right hand side of this  chart do what's we is necessary to maintain the   high quality of the high importance items and then  look at how we can reallocate resources to address   those that are considered to be of high importance  but lower quality um the we'll use our performance   measures then to help develop strategies on  how we can move forward how we can move the   needle especially in those in the um right uh  bottom quadrant and that will so it'll be data   driven in terms of the recommendations we bring  back and how we monitor then in 24 25 and go on   going on forward doesn't mean that we'll disinvest  necessarily um on the leftand side of this chart   but when we get to a point of limited resources  our recommendation is to move in the direction   that our residents have said is most important to  them of course it's a dynamic system and so this   time next year we would have more data we would  know if we're changing P perceptions we'll also   see if people are shifting what they consider  to be their priorities or what they rank as uh   important uh or will affirm this model and will  continue then strategically to spend in that   direction um that's the kind of the underpinning  for the process that we're recommending going   through this year and putting the two pieces  that you we've just discussed together have a   quick question uh what was thinking putting golf  courses on there but not tennis and pickle ball   and other activities yeah that's a good question  um golf courses has been a question that we've   asked about for many years so like this is a  tracking survey in some way so we ask the same   questions year and year out um and swimming  pools is and splash pads has been another one   that we've asked year and year out we've not had  tennis or pickle ball as a question in the past   um it's a relatively small part of our budget  overall from an operating standpoint but that's   certainly something we could add in the future  if there was interest well Golf Course stands on   its own correct there's no effect to the budget  it's an Enterprise um yeah it's an Enterprise   fund but there are other Enterprise fund services  in in this survey in the past on at least one or   two occasions the city has used its resources to  supplement the golf course um purchase of carts   a few years ago is a good example where the city  paid for the uh uh replacement of carts and then   the system was responsible for the maintenance  upkeep and replacement of those cards because   the system had not generated enough Revenue to be  able to replace cards how many years ago was that   it's quite a while ago was it not that well you  know time flies I guess lease agreement now with   the cards pardon me Jess no it was before Jesse  it's going to the lease has I think since that   right no it was the inventory before that time  yeah okay there was also onetime subsidy from   the general fund related to the closure of clap  in the timing for that was that was 19 or 20 yeah   around that time before Co Elizabeth can I quick  I have a question in a comment if that's okay but   um I'm just curious and how garbage collection  got on there yeah no there are some questions   like because the Poco survey is a benchmarking  survey and we all ask these questions for the   sake of benchmarking so there are some things in  here that we don't provide the service or we're   not as involved providing the service as some  other things and then conversely there's some   things that services that we do like the airport  you know that's but but not many cities a a lot   of times that's an authority so it's not a City  question so it's not been on the survey so yeah   it's a tricky one I mean I guess the only thing  the garbage is right on the median it is the   median score um you know if if that were to change  maybe that would provoke a policy discussion but   right now it's just sitting right there on the  median it is the median and then I just wanted   to make an observation I think something that we  should celebrate that overall customer service   by city employees was as high as it was I think  that's great and really speaks to the dedication   and hard work of our team here at the city so  kudos to City staff for that one real quick   piggybacking on council member tuttle's question  about garbage collection um I just looked at the   survey and it was really just a question about  that is there any way to maybe dig into that   in public engagement and I only ask because  we've had um conversations from members of our   sustainability board that have concerns about  um the multiple uses of different companies   going down residential roads and I'm wondering if  there's any like actual public feedback outside   of that board about that specific thing having  four different companies in your neighborhood   going up and down the roads potentially tearing  those up over time yeah I think that Jim and I   have talked about getting into the habit of having  regular PCO follow-up surveys these short surveys   like we're doing on Street Maintenance so I  think that's something to add to the list of   what are we going to get in the habit of asking  people and what you know what will be what will   be next but it would be the perfect we have about  let me think we have about 2400 people signed up   on Poco right now so if we send out an email and  say hey come fill out this easy survey there's   already 2400 people which awesome I know our po  400,000 but still as we all you know sometimes   it's hard to get feedback yeah so Johnson  wants to dig in the garbage is what I heard from as we get going yeah as we get going on  this are some of these going to be connected   for example um uh Street lighting I think that  ties into uh crime prevention so is there going   to be some coordination there or are we going  to combine some of this um again that's the   purpose of the measures right how and we we'll  get back to you what we see as strategies for   moving the needle on crime prevention thank  you anything else and many things to the   com team for putting this together this was my  spreadsheet did not look like this initially so so what is next immediately is that um dab members  um graduates of the Civic engagement Academy other   me other members of boards and commissions  have been invited to a resident engagement   budget Round Table this Thursday evening at the  advanced learning Li Library I'm really excited   about this I think it's a we've it is remarkable  how many people have um are graduates of the Civic   engagement Academy and frankly many of them are  really excited about this opportunity to put what   they learn to work so it's going to be fun and  then we have a second meeting on March 7th so   that will be about a week after our next workshop  on February 27th um so those dates there'll be   another and that that workshop on February 27th  will'll provide you with a broad overview of the   general fund Financial condition as well as an  update on our arpa program so something to look   forward to um another workshop on March 26th  um tentatively we'll have one in miday um we   receive our assess valuation um notice from the  county on June 15th so that's really um the time   that the budget gets wrapped up and the budget  will be presented on July 16th and these are the   dates that we have scheduled for public hearings  and Adoption of the budget um and they're all   in conformance with State Statute Elizabeth real  quick August 6th is election day for the primary   so could we make that like August 8th Thursday  evening instead of Tuesday evening yeah I guess   that's what we've always done in the past has  it been in a Thursday I that's my mistake we   actually had talked about that in our office and  that's that is the target date is that Thursday   uh we'll bring that schedule to you we're going  to actually bring a schedule for um the council   for the rest of the year and we'll have that  day changed okay thank you yeah easy change yeah anyhow um so yeah that's just it's it's just  a budget meeting it's just an evening meeting so   that's easy to move it's easy to turn a six  into an eight no problem so we can do that so   that is all I have for you today um like I said  the materials are posted online you've got hard   copies in a notebook um there's also going to be  a citizen survey dashboard online um there's a   lot of information there in that dashboard that  makes really great um slide decks and really   great presentations so I really thank you for your  attention today um it's excited to get started on   the budget process with you said no one ever said  no one ever well it's better to get started now   than later right it is better and I think too  you know it's funny because you we're talking   about doing the budget strategically and I think  everybody says their budget strategically but I   think we know those of us who um were faced with  a lot of tough decisions during Co that sometimes   you have to make tactical decisions and it's much  better to make these strategic decisions and get   in the habit now than being faced with two bad  options and choosing the least worst so thanks for   your time Elizabeth um thank you very much to you  to Katie to Julie and to Joe um I did have one um   additional comment and question I wanted to know  obviously we make a big investment on these types   of community surveys and obviously Consultants  as well can can you give us um an approximate   number dollars of how much of an investment this  is and why it's so critical that the community   makes that effort also with 5,000 households that  we targeted only about 500 or so responded with an   11% return of these surveys I feel like we'd like  to encourage more of our community to participate   so can you tell us the investment we make as a  city in terms of dollars yeah on the survey on   the cost of the survey I would have to get back  in touch with you about that I don't have that off   the top of my head um the survey the sample size  is designed to get the margin of error of around   5% and our margin of error was four so I know  that it seems disappointing compared you know when   we're so invested and interested in the feedback  and that's all we got back but that is what in   many ways it's designed to do and so even with all  the engagement we did that um that's a response it   was higher than it had been in the past but  um that's pretty typical but I will provide   that information to the city manager regarding the  cost of the survey thank you anything else thank you mayor if you're ready for the next item um  in discussions with mayor woo and with several   of you um we thought would be good to um visit  our Economic Development policy talk about um   the approach uh the underlying philosophy that  we have followed in with economic development   uh assistance and then give the council  an opportunity over the next few months   in Workshop to review the policy and guidelines  that have been previously adopted by the council   and then either ratify or agree on where we are  or or give give us Direction on uh new approaches   or different approaches so with that I'd like  Troy Anderson to go ahead and give us a broad   overview in terms of uh the philosophies that we  have followed to date on economic development uh   and economic development assistance thank you Bob  uh again Troy Anderson assistant City Manager for   economic development development services and  walking into today not kn KN how the previous   two presentations were going to go right um I'm  actually really excited about how the previous   presentations went I really want to build upon  that um none of this was uh orchestrated so but   I want to do emphasize as part of some of this  right um I always begin with the ending mind right   I'm a big cvy fan right and so I always try to  start the conversation with what are we trying to   accomplish so as I Was preparing for today um the  the broad overarching goal right economic growth   and prosperity that's what we all want in fact  I'm going to glean from PCO and the survey right   um you saw previously in one of the slides nine  in 10 residents rate the overall economic health   of Witchita as a top priority right and 85% of  the respondents reported Economic Development as   an essential or very important area of focus so  you saw in the previous down in the lower right   hand corner the lower quality higher importance  you see they Economic Development right so high   importance but we need to raise the bar right  we need to get Economic Development above the   bar right into higher quality and maintain that  high importance okay so how do we do this right   um I think we I think we start with making sure  that we're all on the same page right that we   embrace the idea that witto is open for business  right if we can all agree that witto is open for   business us how we get there is an opportunity to  align goals and objectives more specifically so   what do we mean when we're saying economic growth  and prosperity right there's a lot of different   ways to kind of talk about this but I'm going to  narrow it down to sort of three themes number one   is macroeconomic stability right um that builds  off of the survey results that we just heard about   um that build on the data that we heard from  the folks from Port on right um macroeconomic   stability gives the general public a sense of  confidence to um continue to call witw home and   invest in witw right in order to do that though  I think what I'm G demonstrate here is we're   going to probably have to remove some barriers  right um and in doing such we want to be careful   that we want to continue to focus on aligning  our strategic Investments with Community goals   and objectives okay so more specifically right um  diving down a little bit uh deeper macroeconomic   stability economic health right here's what we  mean when we say that right means we want to   broaden and diversify the tax base any financial  advisor is going to tell you right diversify your   portfolio diversify your portfolio diversify your  portfolio right um we are taking the community is   taken some huge strides over the last several  years to diversify and we are really excited   about some of the project that are coming on  board in the near future which will lend itself   to diversifying our community portfolio right  we want to continue to build on that we want to   encourage capital investment right uh we want to  create employment opportunities and again promote   the economic growth and Welfare of the entire  region right this is the the last one is the   rising tide lifts All Ships kind of approach right  but in order to do that again I think we're going   going to have to remove some of the barriers so  I'm going to go back and I'm going to glean from   some of the work that has already been done right  specifically back in 2018 2019 there was a a local   incentive policy analysis there was some 30 odd  stakeholders that participated in this there were   um outside uh representatives from site selectors  we'll get into that here in just a minute as well   as just some industry professionals right that  came in and over the course of several months did   a a competitive a comparative analysis and then  also provided uh some recommendations we're going   to kind of walk through some of that some of the  things that I've highlighted right will show up in   some recurring themes that I'll summarize towards  the end of the presentation so here's what they   said that the Sedwick witcha policy back in 2018  2019 exceeds the requirement IR ments of Kansas   state law the S which toop policy requires more  level of local and state review than those found   in other states and competing Metro areas and that  the benefit cost ratio in in Sedwick witw policy   tends to be higher than competing Metro areas if  I just looked at those three points right there I   would tell you right now if we don't do anything  different we are at a competitive disadvantage   to our peer cities our peer regions nationally if  we don't do something different we're immediately   at a competitive disadvantage now one of the  things I I will point to the bottom point the   benefit cost ratio previously was 1.3 to1 we've  since improved that to 1:1 but I just want to put   that in the back of your mind that we have taken  some small steps to respond to uh what the 2019 uh   policy analysis said but I I still think we have  uh some work we can do as part of that um policy   analysis we had uh again that on-site stakeholder  engagement and there were uh six key themes that   came out of it number one was communication and  education on incentives to local audiences I   think it's imperative we continue to communicate  and educate I'm not going to focus on that one so   much today the three I really want to focus on  are programming and process business retention   and expansion business attraction I think every  everybody agrees on the regionalism approach I'm   not going to again kind of spend a lot of time on  that and as well as the new and creative incentive   tools we really are limited in in the tools  that we have at our disposal um I think there   are some opportunities for some new ones but I  again I don't want to um belabor that issue here   today I want to still keep this at about 100,000  fet right okay so under the section programming   and processes here was a quote from several local  Business Leaders as well as from the real estate   developer Community a challenge noted was  the process and mechanics of the incentive   programs businesses can be frustrated by the  bureaucratic nature of government and have a   hard time navigating through resources the process  of applying for incentives is cumbersome and can   be a barrier for real estate and development  projects and that the local incentive programs   go above and beyond what the state requires  again this is the feedback we heard from Business   Leaders in the the area real estate developer  community in the area this is what they're   telling us about our current programming  processes as it relates to our incentive programs business retention and expansion right so  this is really kind of that focus on the existing   business base 80% of business growth tends to  come from existing businesses incentives need to   meet the needs of existing businesses including  those small to midsize companies which has this   incredible entrepreneurial history right we  want to embrace that we want to grow that and   there are a number of programs and initiatives  we're continuing to try to build on to to help   Foster that right but oftentimes folks think about  Economic Development oh you're just chasing those   big projects right and that's not the case right  we we want to make sure that everybody knows and   understands this is for every tier of business  this is for every tier of economic development   project right um we want to cage encourage growth  across excuse me all sectors across all tiers and   so next bullet point we need to make sure that  we're rolling out the red carpet for small to   mediumsized businesses as well not just the  big ones that the public and business may see   incentives as creating an uneven playing field for  existing businesses in response to that we need   to do a better job of educating those existing  businesses about the existing incentives so they   see that there is a level play in fact I've been  thinking about this a lot over the last several   days right and this is a real good opportunity  for those small to midsize businesses to tap into   resources that they may not otherwise know about  to make themselves more competitive with higher   tier businesses higher tier projects right and  so this is these are tools in the toolbox that   sort of anybody and everybody could and should  be able to utilize okay and then obviously the   one that most folks are probably familiar is the  business attraction right quote incentives is a   factor in site location decision however it's not  the only Factor right stakeholders recognize the   need for other factors be competitive as well such  as Talent quality of place Etc I'll point back to   Poco and the survey results right so under the  economy in Witchita only 34% rated Witchita as a   place to visit right so they immediately we know  and understand gleaning from feedback from the   community from the data there are opportunities  to improve the quality of place the quality of   life will then will also continue to Spur Economic  Development again changing the general image Which   side will be important for tracking businesses  and people uh this next one I'm going to throw   out a little bit of caution right as I read I'm  going to actually articulate and explain this so   back in 2018 2019 communities like Nashville and  a Austin have invested heavily in quality of life   and now do not have to give incentives because  people and companies want to be located there how   can we get witched out this point now I know over  the last several years Austin has slid in that   regard right um I won't dive into the reasons why  are the details right um but I can tell you the   surrounding areas of Austin are highly competitive  of using incentives and trying to attack next   businesses and talent um but just make sure that  I put the word of caution out there Austin may not   necessarily be the best representative of that  but back in 2018 and 2019 that was part of the analysis so we also included as part of the  analysis site selector interviews right so   those are you that not familiar with uh the  industry site selectors site selectors are   consult an um in a location strategy or is  a location strategy expert who partners with   businesses to understand their business needs and  assist the ability of various locations to meet   those needs to enable future growth we work with  site selectors across the nation right site site   selectors are representing businesses and are  helping those businesses try to find the best   location to grow their business expand their  business and so we work with site selectors   there's site selector Awards there's site selector  magazine I mean it's this is a huge industry in   and around Consultants helping businesses expand  relocate so on and so forth right so we actually   during that 2019 process included six site  selectors um interviewed them in order to   understand the critical success factors and the  best practices in incentive policy design and implementation so what did they say site selectors  agreed that the messaging on incentives to the   public needs to be centered around the  economic impact that will be generated by   the company located to the region in the form  of multipliers return on investment housing   income and education right um I really want to  zero on on this next one and make sure I read   it carefully slowly care needs to be taken to  explain that money isn't just being given away   to companies in the form of corporate welfare  but rather that investments in the community   are being made right we're not just giving tax  dollars away that's not how this works and and   I know most of you know that right but that's a  continual message that we can make sure that is   out there with every project hey look we're not  just giving away taxpayer dollars right this is   not just corporate welfare these are investments  in our community to improve the quality of life   quality of place housing income education so  on and so forth okay so there was also a number   of uh findings and recommendations uh aligning  with regional growth plan and Target Industries   adapting program structure evaluating benefit cost  return on investment focusing on post performance   and Community investment incentives I'm going to  talk a little bit about post performance here in   a minute educating those stakeholders applying  incentives to existing and small businesses not   just the large ones and using incentives to  attract and retain Talent okay so the third   part of what we wanted to talk about right is  aligning our strategic uh Investments with our   community goals and objectives right so then you  have to kind of come back all the way to the top   high level um this is our comprehensive plan right  the community investment plan 2015 to 2035 there   were some plan guiding policy principles that  were laid out in that comprehensive plan this   is one of probably the most overarching doc  doents that we as a community um lean on to   continue to guide our strategic and tactical  decisions right in there those plan guiding   policy principles include support an Innovative  vibrant and diverse economy need to diversify   our economy we need to invest in the quality of  our community life take better care of what we   already have a lot of communities call this the  fix at first approach we need to make strategic   value added investment decisions and we need to  provide for balanced growth but with added focus   on our established neighborhoods I'm going to take  that one step further in that comprehensive plan   there's actually an urban infill strategy that  Urban infill strategy LED for led to witch toop   places for people uh it was a comprehensive plan  Amendment uh I have a whole presentation some of   you heard it uh if not it's available out there on  our Urban infill strategy right I'm going to pull   one slide from that presentation just to make sure  that we're all saying the same thing right um as   part of that presentation there's a neighborhood  investment framework and you'll see here on the   right maybe a little bit hard to read so I'll read  it for you but the idea is sort of this shift from   a free market investment framework to an adjacency  momentum to a community development so if you look   on number one the free market right in those  areas of the community where free market is   driving development right private Market dictates  development Normal public infrastructure supports   development Market responds to investment in place  and it's a stable growing area we have a few of   those around our community right where we sort of  shifted the focus earlier last year when we were   making the urban infill kind of presentation  right was this adjacency momentum angle where   we're coming alongside free market we're seeing  where the free market is already investing and   we're creating a snowball effect that will um  continue to grow the adjacent areas to where   we're already seeing free market momentum right  you'll see under adjacency momentum it's adjacent   areas with ongoing investment however public  participation or incentivization is required   to catalyze private development and then  we're also going to come along and public   infrastructure helps spur development this is a  10 to 15E approach right with a long-term approach   of Community Development and that's really where  we want to see the change right this that you'll   see that's a 20year plus commitment that's sort  of that third ring first ring is sort of that   free market you'll recall us talking about a shift  from districts to nodes and corridors that's where   we're seeing a lot of the private uh free market  investment being made we want to come alongside   that in that adjacency momentum area right that's  how we continue to push that Snowball Effect and   eventually what that will see is that third ring  we'll see Community Development but again that's   where public participation or incentivization  required to catalyze private development public in   infrastructure helps spur development but that's  that long-term approach okay I also alluded to   a little bit a while ago right uh coming out of  that policy analysis was aligning with other uh   Regional plan the regional growth plan so back  in 2018 uh the regional growth plan was built   around five strategic pillars Talent pipeline  existing business efforts high impact marketing   and attraction targeted Innovation catalytic  infrastructure and I think we're all kind of   continuing to kind of say the same thing here  although I found this quote a little interesting   right that though the regional growth plan is in  and of itself holistic and focus it must also be   seen in the broader context of project Witchita  it's potentially transformational strategic   initiative spending the full breadth of the  Region's competitive challenges and opportunities   and project witta that's what project witta say  right we need to invest in ourselves right so it's   not again it's not corporate Ware it's investment  we're investing in ourselves we believe in our   region and invest in assets that attract retain  and build Talent talent and opportunities we're   connecting Community people connected to each  other and connected opportunities and education   business in the region going to have a future  generational mindset we as a city we're not just   focused on the three to five year strategy we're  not focused on the 10year strategy we're focused   on the 30 to 50e strategy right and so when we  talk about some of these programs and offerings   they have a shelf life right but the longterm 30  to 50e impact can be often overlooked we need to   boldly seize opportunities taking risks acting now  leading boldly um the focus areas and action plans   ID included economic Prosperity quality of place  okay so I got two slides left um this one is just   sort of some key takeaways I want to just try to  come back up to 100,000 f just kind of summarize   all this in general number one we want to continue  to build upon the work before us right we're we're   not suggesting a a significant pivot in the work  that has been done before us right we want to just   continue to build upon the work um that has been  done we want to try to shift risk away from the   taxpayer right I think we've heard loud and clear  we going to shift risk away from the taxpayers so   how do we do that right the next one is we want  to focus on performance-based programs if we're   if we're Shifting the risk from the taxpayer  taxpayer dollars general fund subsy so on and   so forth if we're Shifting the risk entirely over  to the developer right making it performance space   that the developers got to go out they've got  to do the project they got to do what they said   and then if on the back end of actually doing  what they said they were going to do there are   a toolbox of incentives hey great right but if  we're going to shift that risk that development   Community is also going to say okay then we  need to remove some barriers right we've got   to make this easier faster and we need to sort of  shed some of the shackles that we have and again   I'm not suggesting anything that hasn't already  been suggested by Community stakeholders and the   real estate development Community right we heard  back in that policy analysis we need to do these   things we need to remove the barriers to broaden  and diversify the tax base encourage capital   investment create employment opportunities promote  the econ economic growth and Welfare of the region   so our next steps as um Mr Leighton alluded to  right is we want to come back over the next couple   weeks and months um and uh take a long hard look  at our Economic Development guidelines want to   focus on macroeconomic stability amendments that  remove barriers amendments that align Strategic   investment with Community goals and objectives  we've alluded to all of those here today for   example some of our current work right we talked  about the facade Improvement program rolling up   into C we have some uh really good ideas of  how that's going to play out in a policy and   a guideline right and so that'll be part of uh the  conversation you've already been uh presented with   one and there will be more coming right and so  this will be a joint effort these will be parallel   paths um um and at the end of the day also we know  and we've heard throughout 2023 housing housing   housing we need all of it we need every version of  it right we need every type every price point we   need it all right and so in fact one of the ones  we may be introducing to you as part of this is   um waving permit fees for low-income housing tax  credit projects we have engaged the state um and   we have missed out on a number despite our best  efforts around industrial revenue bonds and sales   tax exemptions and property tax exemptions with  litech projects for whatever reason the skate the   state scores litech applications really really  high if communities are waving permit fees that   has not been a policy of the city in the past  and so we want to present some of those where   we think that we're actually going to improve  our chances of being more competitive not only   regionally but across the states and even Across  the Nation so with that being said I'll stand for questions well I had a few um first thank you for  the presentation um I was looking at the slide   when we talk about barriers um and rolling out the  red carpet which I support but also um think we   should kind of ask the question why some of those  processes are there what was the thinking when   they were put into place and what does community  say about it and one example you know talking   to some um home builders uh an offhand comment  was made once that you say you need housing but   you want to tell us what it's supposed to look  like right and while I understand that I would   also say that a neighborhood may want to keep a  certain aesthetic and it may not be specific to   color or type of stone but some of those things  are necessary and while some in the development   community may not be supporting of some type of  bureaucracy like that would make sense um I've   also heard that sometimes all of this is hard to  navigate and I know our staff do a really good   job of connecting folks but do we have or have we  considered maybe having Navigators that just like   the COC if somebody comes and they don't know  who to go talk to we've got somebody that can   just walk them through that that whole process  so that that might be something to to add and   then incentivizing um I think we should look  at maybe incentivizing even smaller capital   investment over the years I think it was 2019 uh  that Council looked at looking more at smaller   medium-sized businesses but even um looking  at I always bring up 17th and Spruce there's   a building there if somebody was putting in  $200,000 there's probably nothing that they   really qualify for because it's smaller but that's  a small business that would create a few jobs if   somebody wanted to purchase that property invest  in it and and create something there so maybe even   looking at what could we do to help out someone  making that type of investment and I think that's   where some of the Gap is that that I've heard  that will help all types of businesses except   those invest in those lower amounts of money  so that might just be something to add to the   conversation and then I'll always say we should  reestablish the NRA I know that's been a little   bit of a conversation but I really do think that  would help with housing as well Tre thank you for   your presentation great job I'm excited to have  this this topic brought to us um thanks for our   friends at the great Rich partnership for being  here today appreciate that very much um slide   84 we must be tracking again today uh I I made a  note when you said do a better job of educating   existing businesses on existing incentives and I  put you know how and I think that's part of the   problem is sometimes people just aren't aware  of what we have so they assume that they're   only being given to some and really would we're  much more inclusive in that with our Economic   Development oper opportunities so one thing  to think about potentially as we're looking   at potentially modifying our our plan is also  developing in conjunction with that some sort   of communication plan so how we let people know  we're open for business so that they can maybe   you know think of that from the beginning of  their projects and and you know also nav be   navigated through the process so I think it would  be an interesting concept to look at this but then   also develop the communication plan for how we get  the word out at the same time so just a thought right well thank you um a couple of four or five  things here um I agree with my colleagues talking   about um just um communication with people there's  a number of groups out there like maybe the create   campaign who they do workshops and they help  people who are doing startup businesses um if   maybe we could have some sort of presentation  that would reach out to some of these groups to   let them know what's out there um I also agree  we need to um work with the public and let them   know that we aren't giving direct payments  to businesses that it's more tax incentives   that that we are looking at um I also agree uh  let's make the process less cumbersome um we do   need to have some some guard rails up I think  but um I'm interested in the discussion on the   return of investment one to one that's there's a  little bit of room there that it could go south   so I mean it's just something I think we need  to explore a little more [Music] um as far as   the long-term plans that we we have I I do think  we need to be flexible because sometimes we get   people in here and there's been a long-term plan  that we don't necessarily agree with um so there   does need to be some flexibility in there  but um I do think that just having kind of   a Northstar that we guide against is um or  that kind of drives us as something that's   important also um and I do appreciate this with  the c the main concern with a lot of these with   me is just taxpayer risk the city taking on  debt we've had a couple of incidents um here   recently where that didn't necessarily work  out with us so I do appreciate us moving in   that direction with the facade Improvement  project so um I just continue to look for   ways that we can help with um business incentives  without necessarily putting the the taxpayer at risk I'm also very encouraged uh with the  shift away from the taxpayer risk um with   limited to no risk of the taxpayer so I think  that's very encouraging moov forward um the   one uh suggestion I would have I was talking  to a friend who works um at a bank this week   and he had no knowledge of a lot of the city  incentive programs and so even training for   loan officers training for um different banks  on the community so when someone starts the   process of trying to look for capital  investment they would have a tool right   there already built into the community um so  similar to uh councilman Johnson's Navigator   but somebody already built in um that's  there to help them encourage development too thank you Dalton stealing my stuff um I I  agree that uh Bankers are a good key to that   SBA it's another good one for small businesses uh  to message them also how how do we get around the   perception of giving tax abatements to businesses  people see that as corporate welfare you're not   giving money directly but they're not paying  taxes like I'm paying taxes so so how how do   we message that um just even even competitors  you're giving one competitor a tax abatement   but the other one across the street or across town  you're not giving a tax abatement to them so they   compete in the same space um and then last thing  is I am a believer for legal insisting on Corp on   uh personal guarantees to developers so you can  hide behind I've been there I've done that you   can hide behind llc's if you got enough money  um but if you don't have enough money like me   they're going to make you sign sign a personal  guarantee and your Viewpoint change completely   if you have to sign a personal guarantee so I  would like I would like to see that in every deal I had one more thing I was going to jump  in I really like council member glasscock's   suggestion um because I was going to say there  was a gentleman I talked to who wanted to build   some duplexes and I think he's in the area that  those permit fees would be waved and he didn't   know about it but he's going to a bank so I mean  that that just makes sense um I was going to add   we could consider or maybe get some information  back to Council on um I like the suggestion on   waving the permit fees for litech projects if  there's a way to maybe consider waving permit   fees for buildings or properties that have been B  vacant for a significant amount of time so looking   at that Redevelopment piece in a community  um whether that's 10 years or more whatever   the year might look like is there a way to say  hey this property is is one of those eligible   properties if someone were to purchase it or  whoever owns it if you look at Redevelopment   will wave certain permit fees I don't know if  that's something that would be attractive but   trying to think about how to get some of those  older buildings reused in a way that could be beneficial just one more comment Troy I was just  glad to see project witch I mentioned again we   haven't talked about that in a while and just  on a good note one of the projects um in Project   which you tell one of the goals was to get more  non uh one direct direct flights and with our   direct flight to DC so that's one check that we  can make so thank you for bringing that back up   again I'll have to go and dust off my copy and  look at it again good try a couple additional   uh comments and questions um I appreciate  um the shifting of the focus back to those   who want to make an investment in our community  um but I want to make sure that it's very plain   and clear simple language for our community to  understand the types of clawbacks that we as a   city already have and will have I think clearly  stating that so folks understand if we are going   to take a risk that risk has additional bullet  points where we can claw that contract back my   additional comment on communication is there  are obviously other cities that do these types   of incentives and I think that explanatory videos  um are helpful or even just yesterday when I was   talking about the witch to.gov website there's  going to be a glossery soon that will explain   things like irbs to people um having the common  language that we have at City Hall so that the   rest of the community under understands that  vocabulary too would also be helpful um so trying   to see if there are other cities that already do  it so we don't have to recreate um the wheel and   then finally I just appreciate um the efforts  on economic development we saw on that survey   that it's obviously something our community wants  to see um and place an emphasis over the next two   years but more um so I appreciate what your team  is doing thank you and if there are no I I want   to at least respond to some of those questions  comments just really high level right and then   either entertain other questions or move on yep um  so you talked about personal guarantees you talked   about Shifting the risk away from the taxpayer  and corporate welfare so remember if we're going   to shift the risk away from the taxpayer and  everything is performance-based right there is   no risk to the taxpayer there's no tax dollars  being sub imagine if you a developer has to go   out and build the project that's a significant  capital investment right this is incorporate   welfare in the sense of they're making a huge  capital investment in our community and they're   going to have to pay property taxes on that and  perpetuity right not just for 10 years but in   years 15 and in 20 and that's why I say the  long-term model you'll see the cost benefit   ratio if we look at just the cost benefit ratio  which we had historically over a 10year model if   we're going to obate taxes for 10 years what's the  cost benefit over 10 years well you're immediately   going to be coming from the red right you got to  do job but if if I look at the cost benefit analo   where the value of the property has increased  significantly because of the capital investment   if I look at a 20-year model or a 30-year model  the taxes that are going to be paid over years   11 through 20 or 11 through 30 are significantly  going to outweigh any abat of taxes in years Z not   corporate welfare it's also not only is it a huge  capital investment these folks are creating jobs   right not only in the construction acquisition  of Commodities but employment right and so you're   right it's an educational perspective right  the other thing about personal guarantees if   we're not using taxpayer dollars to incentivize  these projects what is there to guarantee there's   nothing to really guarantee against right because  it's their risk it's their dollars it's their   investment right so we'll have these really good  robust conversations as we kind of walk through   each one of these programs and we look through  the amendments to the guidelines but those are   come to some of the things I want you to start  thinking about is if we truly are going to shift   the risk when we start hearing these things how  does that really play out in the actual project   and in the actual liability but with that being  said thank you so much for giving me opportunity   I really look forward to working with youall  in the next couple of weeks and months thanks   I appreciate that and we do have data regarding  uh projects that are analyzed for us by Witchita   state that goes even deeper talks about sales  that are generated talks about housing so there   are significant benefits from many of these  projects we just don't talk about it other than   uh Roi but we don't talk about what goes into  Roi so great point and I think we could do a   better job in terms of getting that in all of our  staff reports so thank you so much I appreciate   it hopefully we're on the right track and we'll  have I know a robust discussion next time as we   start getting guidelines and start looking at the  Practical aspects of implementing going forward   I know you've been here a while I apologize but  we did want to get in a discussion I've I've had   multiple request to make sure that we uh can go  through a little bit of our every other year coma   uh Kora and code of ethics U uhh training so to  speak so with if you're okay mayor going forward   we'll just uh I'll turn it over to Jennifer thank  you thank you mob thank you uh mayor and council   members for this opportunity this is um a really  important opport a really important topic for   government coma and Kora are interal to what you  do every day they're vital laws in Kansas they're   laws that guarantee transparency and open and  openness openness and government so it's a really   um exciting opportunity to get to speak about this  um Kansas open meetings ACT first is uh dates back   to actually 1868 um Kansas had a had a statute on  the books for County Commissioners that said every   Board of County Commissioners shall sit with open  doors and all persons conducting an orderly manner   May attend their meetings so it goes back ways  now modern coma as we know it today was adopted   in Kansas in about 1982 um the Kansas State  Legislature said that it is the public policy of   Kansas that meetings be open to the public because  a representative government is dependent on an   informed electorate we hear that over and over in  the cases and uh in in attorney general's opinions   as they evaluate this this law has developed and  been interpreted by Kansas the Kansas courts and   the Kansas Attorney General through a series of  opinions and cases law and so we have um a body   of law that we kind of go with on that um the  Kansas Supreme Court looking at coma said it's   enacted for the public benefit and therefore it's  construed broadly in favor of the public to give   effect to its specific purpose so it's going  to look at the the case the facts through the   lens of of the the public benefit when it looks  at a case that comes before it and uh just want   to point out that this this act applies to all  legislative and administrative bodies agencies the   state in the political and taxing subdivisions  it not only applies to you as city council it   applies to all the subordinate bodies that you  appoint all your District advisory boards all   your all your advisory boards um anything that's a  subordinate body that's appointed to weigh options   and advise you as a council it applies throughout  the state to every Township every school board   every Cemetery District Etc so 4,000 units of  government in Kansas are subject to the Kansas   open meeting act um even nonprofits can be subject  to it if they are funded by the the federal by by   the government if they um perform a governmental  function if they um have control um under they're   controlled by a governmental unit Jennifer um  when you talk about nonprofits is that do they   have to just be partially funded so so if they  receive any uh City dollars or ARA dollars they   they have to be that's correct I think there's  three factors yeah they have to be but funding   is one and it doesn't have to be full funding okay  thank you and um the Kansas Attorney General has   pointed out from time to time that that that  coma places the burden of compliance on the   individual members of the body and not on staff or  employees attorney general says that um repeatedly   in different findings um so that's something  to to think about and this a good reason to   have have this training so the state law actually  tells us what a meeting is it defines it there's   three elements um I won't read them for you you  can see them but they're each equally important   they all have to be present the definition is from  the statute so Gathering um we'll talk about this   in the next slide we'll we'll take each one  one by one but we'll go back and talk about   that Gathering or assembly in person um it can be  many different things majority of the membership   of the body means the number of seats regardless  of vacancies so in this body we have seven seats   regardless of whether there's a vacancy the number  is always going to be four that's always going to   be your number for different bodies it's of course  is different but it's always one more than half   one more than half is the easy way to think of  what the majority is for the purpose of this law   and we'll talk about the others in a minute but  Gathering assembly this can take various forms and   there's nothing to prohibit a body from meeting  legally um in a virtual platform such as Zoom   or having a conference call um when when things uh  situations require it they just have to follow the   established meeting procedures under the Kansas  open meeting act um as as long as those procedures   are followed you can have those but the Kansas  Attorney General wants to point out that these   these are all ways in which a meeting can occur  whether intentionally or not intentionally and   one thing about coma and Kora too is that there's  no intention required to violate the statute you   do not need to intend to violate the statute for  a violation to occur so these are ways in which   meetings can occur now not everyone is going to  be a violation if there's not four involved but   you have to have that majority of four so a  meeting could be virtual it could be by phone   it could be an email string Etc there has to be  discussion though discussion is what triggers coma   discussion must be of the business of the city or  the Affairs of the city um the public must be able   to just understand what people are discussing what  what you as a body are discussing and that's the   again the goal is can the public does the public  have an understanding or access to you as having   meetings anything that thwarts that is probably  a violation of coma binding action or voting is   not required um it cles all stages of decision  making must be about again the actual business   that could come before the body um but it's okay  if you have social Gatherings it is okay to to   run into each other somewhere and have four of  you in the same situation at a social meeting a   Civic event um traveling for City business as  long as no discussion of City business occurs   during that time there was an attorney general a  consent agreement that was um found against one   County that I think is a is a startling example of  how technology has brought into the opportunity to   violate violate this this law because we had two  out of three members of a small County Commission   there had three member County Commission only  two of them were involved they were inadvertently   chatting on a local Facebook page a concerned  citizens page for that city or county and they   started chatting about something and it became  about the their appointments they' made to a   hospital board and they had this chitchat going on  on social media on Facebook and someone complained   later and said that was a meeting and we weren't  invited and there was no way to participate and   the Kansas Attorney General finding said that  was council members or their their Commissioners   engaged in a virtually simultaneous interaction  they had communication about business of the body   and they found that that was a meeting and there  was a consent agreement so they were found to have   violated coma and I'm just guessing that none  of them had thought they were having a meeting   at that time and no one intended to violate  the statute but that was an example of how   today's technology can allow us to interact maybe  inadvertently and the discussion of business is   what triggered it so it's a discussion of Business  by majority and it wasn't open another way to uh   violate the statute is through a series of Serial  Communications it's not a one-time Gathering it's   not physical proximity but it's over time um  a collection of uh a collectively involving   a majority of you four members in any combination  who have a common topic and this one is important   for this element to be present this time you  have to share um an intent by any one of you   or all even one of you or all of you in this  conversation to reach an agreement on a matter   that would otherwise require a vote by Council so  if there is something that we would need need to   vote on for example the budget or a settlement  agreement or something that would require vote   those those are that that can't be the subject  of Serial Communications serial Communications   can take place in a variety of mediums or or a  combination of mediums it can start with two it   can add you can start with council member A and  B and then C and D get involved and then or you   know start with A and B and then C and then  bring D in the conversation in a series of   communications that are interactive that are  intended to find uh come to an agreement on   something that would need a vote so there are two  ways to um be aware of coma and how that could be violated executive sessions we go into those  all the time the state law provides governing   bodies for the ability to meet in private for  the discussion of certain sensitive topics and   there are 15 subjects in the state law the  legislature said that they could you can as   a governing body go behind closed doors for this  purpose a lot of them don't apply to cities but   we have several this is not a full list by any  means but this is just example we have attorney   client Communications um Personnel matters  of non-elected officials uh acquisition of   real property the the key is on these exceptions  when we go into an executive session for example   a Personnel action it must involve an actual  individual not just a group it can't be just   a policy discussion of of salary structure or  or something broad it must actually involve an   individual for attorney client Communications  it must be actually the attorney for the city   it must be advice given that it's privileged under  the rules of law not just discussion but it must   be otherwise what's privileged communication  acquisition of real property that's what it has   to be about that's just an example or some some  of the examples of the statute um again must be   occur within the convened open meeting we we  can't go into executive session on the spur   the moment sometime without warning or notice we  have to call official meeting and there's a real   process then to go into the executive session and  we only recess we don't adjourn you know that and   no votes can be taken in executive session in  the executive session the the body is allowed   to reach a consensus but a consensus must be  then if it's reached if it's something that   would require a vote otherwise it it must then  be voted on um in a reasonable time if a body   reaches is consensus it may constitute binding  action if they never vote on it in a public vote   if they fail to formal follow up with a formal  open vote it could be a coma violation if that   consensus is reached and an action is taken upon  it but no vote was ever taken that could be a coma violation and these these processes in the statute  are designed to meet the public policy goal of   letting the public know what is being discussed  behind closed doors in General way so there are   certain procedures that must be followed coma  requires the body to follow pfic specific   procedures in order to comply with the state law  and the discussion is limited those topics that   are that are noticed uh County in southeast Kansas  got um uh was part of a consent agreement under   the Attorney General's um office with several  violations because they didn't follow each   step of the motion they didn't clearly State the  subject they didn't clearly State a justification   or they were just a a little bit maybe relaxed  with saying when the the meeting would resume and   the time in the place location all these things  have to be there according to the statute and   that's the reason we can go in executive session  to give the public every right to know as much   as possible of when meetings will be open when  they'll be closed when the meeting will start back   up again after executive session and to the most  extent possible what's been discussed in executive session the statute is very clear on who can  attend only members of the body staff agents   who consist or Aid in the discussion M observers  cannot attend executive session third parties can   only be there if they're an agent of the city  and really um participating in the discussion   in a meaningful way um minutes are not taken in  executive session and we said a lot of things a   lot of rules but coma what coma does require but  what coma does not require is interesting does   not require the city or the governing body to have  any specific meeting procedures it doesn't require   you to go in a certain order of when the meeting  is held or what what what your agenda is or when   your executive session might be it does actually  does not require a governing body to publish   notice in a newspaper if someone has requested  notice they get notice directly to them it's not   even compliant to just say we're publishing it on  the website that's good enough now the notice has   to go to the requestor and their request is good  for one year and then we have to give that request   directly to them it's fine in a good practice to  also notice our meetings with public media and   social media and public in every every way that we  do but it's actually not required um if somebody   does request notice they we may give it oral or  written and it may be just given in a reasonable   time there's no there's no minimum time by which  we have to give notice of a meeting but we should   give it in a reasonable time of when we know the  meeting will exist if there are agendas made and   there's not a requirement to make an agenda  for your meeting but if agendas are created   then that is required to provide someone who's  requested notice the agenda should give people a   reasonable um expectation of what what is coming  up before the meeting and be accurate as to the   time that it's provided during a meeting you  as a governing body St St can still amend the   agenda unless it's for a special meeting when the  notice is specific for a specific topic but during   a regular meeting you can add things to the agenda  and change even if an agenda has been distributed   already prior to that time but if it exists it  shall be made available to those who request it penalties this uh Kansas Attorney General's  office and the district and County attorneys   have concurrent jurisdiction anybody can file  a complaint to them they can file an action to   enforce they can take actions to uh injunctive  actions file a mandamus action there's different   ways to enforce violations it is a civil penalty  um and again it's it's it's a a law that doesn't   require an intent to violate it does require no  knowingly violating you have to understand that   you're you're violating the the law and you're  knowingly doing it um doesn't mean you have an   intent to violate so training requirements could  be required if if you're found to be in violation   um one option is if a if a complaint is filed  quickly within 21 days after a meeting that   somebody thinks violated coma the action taken  by the body at that meeting could be voided if   that is a violation that's found and and um acted  upon within 21 days that has um happened in some   places in the state of Kansas um most generally  the Attorney General's office will issue a consent   decree or consent judgment with findings of  violation and terms of of penalties and requiring   education fees cease and deist order a reminder  to go do some training and don't do this again   the the governing body though does bear the burden  of Defending its actions and showing um that that   they had the proof to sustain this the burden  is on the governing body if a complaint's been   made but the penalties are against the individuals  penalties are against the individuals who violate   before we go to Kora that's a lot of information  any questions about coma I have one question uh   it goes in connection with councilman hoisel um so  when we the city um gave out arpa dollars or the   city has money do we let the indiv the recipient  know that they're then held to these standards you   know I think our contracts always say apply comply  with all state and federal laws I don't know that   we specifically say I would say probably most  nonprofits if they receive funds would probably   not know that and so if we do dispersements  in the future even if we can just make note   of like a one sheater like hey you're held to  these standards now given that you receive some   City funds because I imagine probably most AR  yeah and again yeah applies if we have control   over them if it's a governmental function they're  filling out fulfilling and if they are receiving   money so not maybe not every time but yes that's a  great point and I'll make a note to to staff that   we should always remind our nonprofit partners  that that's an obligation any other questions on   coma before Jennifer uh just one thing it coma  and executive session uh just for new members   of the body could you kind of talk a little bit  more about executive session expectations is that   something to be talked about publicly expectation  of executive session is stated in our ordinance   there's actually an ordinance that says any  communication that's confidential in executive   session cannot be revealed or disclosed to a  third party except upon a vote and a resolution   by a majority of the body so reminder that  you're acting as the corporate body here that   you have a duty of loyalty a fiduciary duty to  The Entity by maintaining the confidentiality   of an executive session um again we we um treat  those very carefully we follow rules we haven't   we can't have other discussions in executive  session about other business of the city um   if we are an executive session we have time before  we can return we can't return early to the meeting   before the time is over because the public is not  expecting us to return if our business is if we   ex recess for 20 minutes but our our discussion  is done in 15 we can't go back five minutes early   and start the meeting to be efficient that would  thwart the concept of letting public the public   know when we're going to convene and have a public  meeting um that's anything else I'm didn't cover   no that was perfect thank you okay yeah um  so that's that's that but we do have specific   rules on those executive sessions that have to  be followed for good reason and it's again to   keep the public informed as much as possible okay  all right we'll go into Co Kansas open records   act another important equally important law for  government it provides it's just integral to to   open government provide accessibility transparency  and openness to government um we as a public   agency are subject to Kansas open records act um  municipalities generate and receive vast amounts   of information we have lots of of records that are  subject to it the city handles over 4,000 requests   of some kind per year almost every year so there  is just a lot of of opportunity to comply with   the Kansas open records act the the Kansas leg  legislature again stated on this law too it is   declared to be public policy of the state that  public records are open for inspection and the   courts say this will be liberally construed and  that means liberally con liberal construction   means that if policies and practices discourage  public access the burden of proof and persuasion   is on the public agency to justify its practices  and that's pretty clear from the legislature and   the courts how how we treat open government open  um government laws in the state interestingly the   statute doesn't Define what an open record is  it talks in length about public records there   is the huge subset of huge set of public records  within that sub that is a subset of open records   everything that's a public record is not an open  record so we'll get to that a little bit but what   Corey does not require does not require us to  retain records for a certain period of time it   doesn't require us to retain records at all on its  own other statutes or business reasons may require   us to retain records for a certain period um it  doesn't require that we store them in a certain   way or that retain them in in any special way or  even create a record where we don't already create   a record core doesn't require that okay so this  is a lot of Statute here but who is subject to   it public agency um if an entity is an agent  of a public well I'll just say public agency   City Witch is a public agency and anybody within  the public agency who is operating in can in in   government uh you know our business or the work  of the government um becomes your records become   public if it's if it's records that are involving  the governing business of the city it's going to   be public instead of reading all that I will  point out though the bottom one not for profit   entities is receiving $350 or more a year must  make of public funds must make those records not   their all all their records but those records  are receipt and expenditures subject to public   inspection review so public record is defined as  any information regardless of form characteristics   or location which is made maintained or kept or  is in the possession of any public agency or any   officer who's in the employees official duties  uh related to functions activities or programs   or operations of any public agency the key phrases  here are recorded information regardless of form   characteristics or location which is made M made  maintain or kept by we look at those all the time   and we go through that analysis every time we  get a records request often requesters confuse   this statute with the ability to ask questions  or seek information and that is not what Kora   requires Kora just requires the the disclosure  of Records we do have people who just want to   ask questions and and and get information and  that is separate than cor but cor places only   an obligation to provide records records that  are existing we don't have a duty to generate   records or um somebody can't make a request for  records that are they're going to be gener rated   in the future and I want all your agendas of every  meeting for the next year they don't exist yet we   can't we don't have a duty to respond to a record  like that Corey does not require staff like I said   to create records um or answer questions but there  are many types of records that are subject to Kora   everything from papers to to CDs hard drives any  digital information and this is key regardless   of where stored regardless of whether the the  email moves through a city server or it's on   your personal device if it is about the Govern the  functions and The Business of the city then that's   what triggers the core analysis becomes a matter  of the city and it becomes a city City record any   questions about that okay I think we talked about  that if the records relate to the officer or the   employees official duties I think that's the key  regardless of whether where where it resides or exists this kind of states it in a different way  I think we'll just go on for Purp of time we'll   keep moving there are exceptions to the Kansas  open record act the presumption of the statute   is that all these records are open except for 55  statutory exceptions that are enumerated in Kora   in addition there are many statutes and federal  laws that prohibit the release of certain records   those are also exceptions from Kora Kora gives us  dis gives our governing body discretion on whether   to close those categories in in the 50 exceptions  it doesn't mandate that they're closed but there   are some records that are mandatory closed under  under their state laws Cora does close one record   though specifically um it says that except to  the extent disclosure is otherwise required or   by law or is appropriate during the course of  an administrating procedure or an appeal from   an agency action a public agency or officer  shall not disclose financial information of   a taxpayer that may be required or requested by  a County Appraiser or the director of property   valuation to assist in the determination of  the value of the taxpayer's property for adorm   taxation purposes or any financial information  of a personal nature required or requested by a   public agency or officer including a name job  description or title revealing the salary or   other compensation of officers employees  or applicants for employment with a firm   Corporation or agency except a public agency  nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit   the publication of statistics so classified as to  prevent identification of particular reports and   items so this places an affirmative Duty on the  city or the governing body not to disclose that   information which is interesting because cor  is mostly here's what's open but it does say   this is what's closed and you can't disclose it  we are also prohibited from disclosing lists of   names and addresses unless the city obtains a  certification that says I'm not going to use   this for sale of goods or purposes or soliciting  so that is a an affirmative Duty the city also has   if asked for something that has a list of all  names and addresses of of whatever category of   people we have to send them a certification they  have to sign it and return it before we disclose   it the 55 categories exceptions this is just  a small sampling um but there there's a lot of   them out there to look at and we can we can go  through those at any time if you have further   questions but for the purposes of time we'll  just keep moving I do want to show an little   demonstration of how the city's Kora uh resources  work and how the how the website okay thank you   Tyler Tyler's going to pull this up for us how the  city's website fail facilitates Kora information   and cor requests the state law requires the  city to provide several things it requires   the appointment of a Freedom of Information  officer in this case it's the city clerk it   requires the appointment of certain records  custodians we have multiple within different   departments it also requires the city to create  a brochure and to provide education to citizens   to make it easier for them to make a request  um it requires us to adopt the procedures by   ordinance it requires us to adopt a fee schedule  for reasonable fees that can be charged for the   copying or the inspection of records and so that  is all there um I think it's really helpful to see   that it's all available just very user friendly  we can make a request on the website with a few   clicks that is not a requirement to use this  form the state law requires a written written   we we can make a written it has to be in writing  but it doesn't have to be a certain form however   this is a very um I think user friendly way to  go through a web portal and make these requests   and so um that's there we have a a library of  requests that are that are published um it's all   available for the public to see um Taylor could  you just go to the go to the uh fee schedule real quick by ordinance the city set its  fee scheduled it's okay I think it's   25 cents a copy for paper there's  certain hourly requirements for it   searches for staff time to find records  to together records we do have a duty   to provide records within three business  days or provide a response of some kind   either at denial or a request saying we'll  need more time or here are your records the   city also has a duty to provide records to  people who make a request just to inspect any questions about the website all right  thank you Tyler okay thank you um so we we   try to honor that and it keeps staff really busy  just to keep those three-day deadlines um in in   going we um have an IT staff that helps us with  the records requests all the time and so that   keeps facilitates a great a great many requests um  enforcement again concurrent jurisdiction by the   Kansas Attorney General Andor Kansas county and  District Attorneys um any agency that knowingly   violates it is subject to a civil penalty  similar to Coma district courts can enforce   these consent judgments by the attorney generals  can make findings and Order training assess fees   Etc any questions about Kora thank you okay I  have handouts for the last last part of this so this is our ethics training for new electeds  um it's a refresher for some of you who have   had ethics trainings we are very fortunate in  that the city has an Ethics officer um who is   Kathy seon of the public policy um Management  Center from WSU who has provided this training   for us but we're to talk a little bit about  the city's code right now we have City policy   number 39 that was adopted in 2021 and amended  in 2023 through the ethics Advisory board and   the ethics officer the city's in the process  of looking at how this can be codified as an   ordinance but at this time it is it is a policy  and um I'm just going to talk to you a little   bit about what that policy contains you're you've  got you've got the policy to flip through so I'm   just going to go real quickly through the first  page purpose we've got a statement of purpose I   think that's self-explanatory the definitions were  well discussed and thought out and um I think are   key here I will ask you to go to the second page  and look at that conflict of interest and that's   a key one um and then gift is a key definition I  think those are two to be um aware of as you as   you look at this the code of ethics applies not  only to you and um as mayor and council members   but also to all Advisory board members of the  city of wichan and they all receive training when   they become Advisory board members the ethics  Advisory board has jurisdiction to investigate   and um enforce complaints it has seven members you  each appoint one member some of you have done that   um and we have an independent contractor again  Kathy seon with witch State University who is   the ethics officer for the city and the great news  is that this ethics officer serves as a resource   for your inquiries and and information requests  and education and you were able to contact her   directly for that purpose that is one of  the functions of the ethics officer under   the policy so that is a great resource for you  and for any members of advisory boards who have   questions we have special outside legal council  that just advises the ethics Advisory Board and   that's John Newman of height panning hangman and  so as you read policy number 39 the key sections   I think are the dos and do do and do Nots of  statement of policy items a through P I think   you can read these all yourself I I will just ask  you to give it give it some time to read each one   of those um these Ides on the ethics policy or  courtesy of Kathy seon's training by the way so   credit to Kathy for sharing these again I think  she explained it very well and I think they're   pretty self-explanatory I will go um get to the  gift policy because I do want to talk about that   the gift policy is specific in that it does place  a Prohibition on receiving requesting or accepting   gifts or favors of over $150 of value from a  specific donor over a calendar year here but one   of the elements of this this position this this  specific provision is that this type of gift has   to be intended to influence or have the appearance  or effect of influencing the performance of your   official duties so I think hypothetically if  your neighbor has extra tickets to a sporting   event and you know you you you can probably  accept those they're not in in if they don't   have business before the city or your high school  friend has tickets to a concert and you want to   go I think you know you're free to accept that it  has to have this Factor intended to influence or   has the appearance or effect of influencing the  performance of your official duties does apply   to your relatives receiving such gifts again that  same factor has to apply it has to be intended to   influence or have the appearance or effective  influencing the performance of your official   duties excuse me Jennifer uh what does relatives  could you define that as a I'm sorry what does   what uh relatives can you define is defined in the  policy spouse domestic partner child mother father   mother-in-law father-in-law sibling sister-in-law  brother-in-law grandparent grandchild and any   other family member living in the same household  all right thank you yeah so that's there okay so   there's that and then U you may receive an honor  award for your performance of your duties by an   appropriate Professional Organization or fraternal  organization of $150 or less if you do receive a   gift just let the city treasur know within seven  days of any unauthorized non monetary property   let Mark Manning know if you're keeping the gift  report it to the clerk on your form if you're not   keeping it return the gifts not authorized or  you can give it to the city treasurer or turn   it over to the city and they'll take care of it  now I would suggest if you have any questions on   those you contact Kathy seon um at the um at as  the ethics officer who does serve as a resource   on this we've done that before um when to go back  Jif do you have contact information for Kathy and   John yes right here there's Kathy se you have  a cell number [Laughter] I'll and John Newman   I can get for you okay um just it reminder to  file your anal annual report with the city clerk   use City equipment only for official duties I  think you can the rest is self-explanatory um   we point out on gifts some some common sense is  built in here you may consume complimentary food   while attending at a meeting or event if you're  requested to attend as a city council member you   may attend events where the food and fee is  provided with without cost if it's nonprofits   educational institutions or Services political or  policy-based organizations community development   organizations or faith-based organizations  so that's spelled out pretty specifically in   the policy yeah credit to Kathy again for the  PowerPoint um her contact information is there   and I'll get that for you um John Newman is also  a resource we can provide that any questions how   how much is that key to the city worth that  we handed out to council members thousands   of [Laughter] dollars thank you Jennifer  thank you for your time I know it's been   a long meeting so thank you very much thank you  jennif mayor that's all we have thank you do I   we get to say goodbye thank you very much for the  presentations and we now adjourn officially again to