Staff Report
Reviewed by: Town Manager, Assistant Town Manager, Town Attorney, and Finance Director
110 E. Main Street Los Gatos, CA 95030 ● 408-354-6832
www.losgatosca.gov
TOWN OF LOS GATOS
TOWN COUNCIL REPORT
MEETING DATE: 12/12/17
ITEM NO: 1
DATE: DECEMBER 8, 2017
TO: MAYOR AND TOWN COUNCIL
FROM: LAUREL PREVETTI, TOWN MANAGER
SUBJECT: PRIORITY SETTING SESSION
RECOMMENDATION:
Identify Strategic Priorities for 2018 – 2020 and direct staff to return on February 20, 2018 with
cost and schedule options for the newly identified priorities as part of Town Council budget
direction for the fiscal year 2018/19 Operating Budget and FY 2018/19 – 2022/2023 Capital
Improvement Program.
BACKGROUND AND PROCESS OVERVIEW:
On January 31, 2017, the Council selected Strategic Priorities (see Attachment 1) and prioritized
new ordinances and policies (Attachment 2). These efforts became the basis of the additional
staff work beyond core services during 2017. The progress to date of these Priorities is
summarized in Attachment 1 and discussed further in this report.
For the development of the FY 2018-2020 Strategic Priorities, the Strategic Priority process will
include two steps: First, the Town Council should identify the items from the prior Priorities (FY
2017-2019) which should remain and identify new Priorities to be added to the list. Since many
of the existing and proposed items are big ideas, the Town Council is encouraged to be as
specific as possible regarding desired outcomes and deliverables to allow staff the ability to
refine budget and time estimates and options to meet the desired outcomes.
On February 20, 2018, the Town Council would complete the second step by selecting the
specific Strategic Priorities based on the refined information. These selections would be
incorporated into the preparation of the 2018/19 Operating and Capital Budgets for Council
consideration in May. These Priorities should also inform the work plans of the Town’s Boards
and Commissions.
BACKGROUND AND PROCESS OVERVIEW:
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BACKGROUND AND PROCESS OVERVIEW (Cont’d):
This report provides information regarding the Town’s Core Goals, existing work efforts,
upcoming work efforts, an estimate of available capacity for new Strategic Priorities, and
information regarding proposed new Priorities.
DISCUSSION:
Core Goals
In January 2017, the Town Council affirmed the Core Goals of community character, good
governance, fiscal stability, civic enrichment, public safety, and quality public infrastructure.
These goals are reflected in the existing Strategic Priorities and in the Town’s Operating and
Capital Budgets.
Town Department Work Plans
Attachment 3 contains the work plans of all Town Departments and Divisions. As a service
organization, each Department devotes approximately 90% of its staff time and other budget
resources providing core services to the community. The remaining 10% or so of Department
resources are allocated to special projects, such as Strategic Priorities. All of these services and
projects are supported by the Town’s Operating Budget.
General Plan Update
By State law the Town is required to update the General Plan. In early February, the Council is
expected to provide direction on the extent of the update (e.g., comprehensive overall or
targeted update on certain issues), the public engagement process for the Update (e.g., role for
the General Plan Committee or creation of an advisory body which includes the GPC), and other
parameters. The General Plan contains the required elements [Housing, Land Use,
Transportation, Open Space and Recreation, Environment and Sustainability (Conservation),
Safety, and Noise] as well as optional elements (Community Design, Vasona Light Rail, and
Human Services).
In the Mayor’s acceptance speech on November 21, he identified the need to update the
Town’s Sustainability Plan and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) analysis. This work should be folded into
the General Plan update since the update requires a GHG analysis, and much of the content and
action items in the Sustainability Plan are identical to the General Plan.
In addition, a member of the public has requested an update to the Safety Element particularly
with respect to potential fire hazards. The update of the Safety Element is required and fire
issues will be addressed as part of the baseline scope of the update.
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SUBJECT: PRIORITY SETTING SESSION
DATE: DECEMBER 8, 2017
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DISCUSSION (Continued):
Available Staff Capacity
2018 is anticipated to have several major work items underway that will reduce the overall
capacity of certain Departments to take on large, new items. These include the initiation of the
General Plan Update and the processing of the North 40 improvement and building plans.
These two items affect the Departments of Community Development and Parks and Public
Works primarily; however, other Departments are expected to have supporting roles. Given
the core services delivered by all Town Departments, staff estimates that there is capacity for
three to five new Strategic Priorities depending upon the associated workload.
Status of Current Strategic Priorities
Attachment 1 contains a list of completed priorities and the current status of the FY 2017 –2019
Strategic Priorities. At the meeting, the Council will have the opportunity to provide direction
on these existing Strategic Priorities.
Several of the Strategic Priorities have now been incorporated in the base work plans of the
Departments due to the commitment of Town resources and critical thinking that is involved to
achieve short and long term accomplishments. These items include:
Measure B transportation improvements
Options to address pension and OPEB obligations
Implementation of the adopted Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan
Public private partnership on a potential parking garage
Reconstruction of the ten Almond Grove Streets
Implementation of the Silicon Valley Interoperability
Other items are well underway and have an anticipated timeline for completion:
North 40 Specific Plan amendments (tentatively scheduled for Council consideration on
January 16, 2018)
Planned Development and associated Town Code amendments (tentatively scheduled
for Council consideration on March 20, 2018
Completion of the Accessory Dwelling Unit Ordinance (continued to January 16, 2018)
Based on Council discussions and actions in 2017, staff is recommending reframing two of the
current Strategic Priorities to recognize that they are components of broader priorities. These
include:
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SUBJECT: PRIORITY SETTING SESSION
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DISCUSSION (Continued):
Transportation: This broad item could include cut through traffic, Highway 9 Corridor
Study, Measure B projects (e.g., school busing), traffic signal upgrades,
bicycle/pedestrian improvements, auto trip reduction initiative, etc. These are all
currently underway and an overarching, ongoing Transportation Strategic Priority would
acknowledge the importance to the Town.
Economic Vitality: Staff recommends reframing the Economic Vitality Strategic Plan to
acknowledge the Council’s interest to consider a combination of efforts to support the
Town’s businesses through streamlining processes, updating land use requirements,
physical improvements to downtown streets, and/or other items. For this broad
Priority, staff is requesting that Council identify the specific deliverables of interest for
refinement and discussion on February 20th.
Some items have been started and while the work is underway, the completion of the items will
continue to require staff time and resources. For example, addressing downtown parking
involves not only the potential public private partnership for a new parking garage but also
efforts delegated by the Town Council to the Transportation and Parking Commission to
evaluate time limited and paid parking.
Other items have not made much progress and may require significant additional capacity prior
to Town Council consideration. For these items, the Council should decide if the additional
work effort is justified in relation to completing other items. These include:
Alcohol Policy update
Wildlife fence ordinance
The complete streets item overlaps with the implementation of the Bicycle and Pedestrian
Master Plan. The Council should decide if the development of a complete street policy is
necessary and should stay on the list. If so, staff will return on February 20th with a proposed
schedule and more detail on the work effort.
One of the existing Strategic Priorities is the completion of General Plan Action Items. In light of
the Update, staff recommends deleting this item from the list to create staff capacity to address
other items.
Potential New Strategic Priorities
Over the last year, staff has been collecting ideas for potential Strategic Priorities (Attachment
4) based on community input, Council discussions, and the Mayor’s acceptance speech. The list
also includes staff ideas based on recent legislation, anticipated grant funding, economic
trends, best practices, and other information to advance the Town’s community character,
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DISCUSSION (Continued):
good governance, fiscal stability, civic enrichment, public safety, and quality public
infrastructure goals. Attachment 4 provides a brief description of each idea, potential options
for deliverables, and estimated timelines. Attachment 6 contains the public comment for a
couple of the ideas that have been suggested by community members.
List of Potential Ordinances
In coordination with all Town Departments, the Town Attorney has provided a list of potential
ordinance amendments to the Town Code in Attachment 5. This list is in priority order based
on State laws, service delivery, and emerging conditions, addressing such issues as Wireless
Facilities, increased code compliance measures, and short term rentals .
Priority Setting Process
After review and discussion of the background materials and public testimony, the Council may
take the following steps to set priorities:
1. Decide if the current Strategic Priorities should be completed.
2. Identify any additional items for priority setting not included with this report.
3. Select three to five new Strategic Priorities to be refined for the February 20, 2018 Town
Council meeting.
4. Prioritize the list of potential ordinances and policies.
CONCLUSION:
The Town of Los Gatos provides a high level of service to residents and businesses by providing
key local government services of public works, parks, library, police, and community
development with the necessary support services of information technology, finance, and
human resources. The Town Manager’s Office leads and guides these administrative duties and
closely collaborates with the Town Attorney’s Office to support the work of the Town Council.
From the Council’s priority setting, the work of the Town Departments and Commissions can be
aligned to meet these priorities. The Council’s identification of potential new Priorities in
December and the selected Priorities in February will guide the preparation of the 2018/19
Operating and Capital Budgets for Council consideration in May.
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SUBJECT: PRIORITY SETTING SESSION
DATE: DECEMBER 8, 2017
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COORDINATION:
This report was prepared in coordination with all Town Departments and Offices (Library,
Police, Parks and Public Works, Community Development, Finance, Clerk, Human Resources,
Town Attorney, and Town Manager). Within the Town Manager’s Office, Information
Technology and Economic Vitality were also engaged.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The identification (December) and selection (February) of Strategic Priorities for 2018 -2020 will
guide the preparation of the 2018/19 Operating and Capital Budgets, including the Council’s
direction for the use of one time, surplus funds from year end FY 2016/17 .
CEQA:
The Council’s work associated with the Priority Setting Session is not a project under the
California Environmental Quality Act and no environmental review is required.
Attachments:
1. Core Goals and Status of 2017-2019 Strategic Priorities
2. 2017 Ordinance and Policy Priorities
3. Town Department Work Plans
4. Ideas for Potential Strategic Priorities
5. Proposed Reprioritization of Ordinance and Policy Priorities
6. Public Comment