Huntington Beach City Council Strategic Planning Workshop - June 8, 2023
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Huntington Beach City Council Strategic Planning Workshop - June 8, 2023
The Huntington Beach City Council convened a special strategic planning workshop on Thursday, June 8, 2023, from 9:00 AM to approximately 3:00 PM at the Huntington Beach Central Library. The workshop, facilitated by Baker Tilly, focused on reviewing the city's current state, discussing key challenges, and setting priorities for the 2023-2027 Strategic Plan. All council members were present: Mayor Tony Strickland, Mayor Pro Tem Gracey Van Der Mark, Councilmembers Rhonda Bolton, Pat Burns, Dan Kalmick, Casey McKeon, and Natalie Moser. City Manager Al Zelinka, Charter Officers, and senior staff also participated.
Public Comments
No public comments were made during the workshop. The agenda allowed for public comment, but none were offered.
Financial Overview
- The proposed budget for FY 2022-23 presented on Tuesday (June 6) showed total sources of funds of $289 million and total expenditures of $285 million, with a planned surplus of $3.6 million to address labor negotiations and other costs.
- Major general fund revenues include property tax, sales tax, and hotel tax. Public safety and public works are the largest expenditure categories.
- The updated financial outlook projects deficits beginning in FY 2024-25 at $7.4 million, rising to $13.7 million by FY 2026-27. This is partly due to CalPERS negative returns of -7.5% in the prior fiscal year.
- The city's recurring revenues were updated to include parking revenues approved in May and a proposed POA (Possessory Interest Tax) approved on first reading on Tuesday.
Discussion on Key Goals
Council members provided extensive input on six major goal areas, sharing their perspectives on each:
- Public Safety: Mayor Strickland emphasized it as the fundamental role of government. Councilmembers discussed the importance of psychological safety, tourism reputation, and infrastructure design (e.g., lighting, sidewalks) in supporting safety.
- Housing and Homelessness: The council split on the relationship between housing and homelessness. Some members (e.g., Burns, Kalmick) argued that substance abuse and mental health are primary drivers, while others (e.g., Moser, Van Der Mark) emphasized housing affordability and the need for a system of care. Multiple members noted the high cost of housing, with a median home price requiring an income of $280,000-$290,000. Councilmember Kalmick highlighted overcrowding and the lack of affordable housing, while Councilmember Moser advocated for a comprehensive approach including prevention and services. The council also discussed supporting homeowners to maintain their homes and increasing landlord acceptance of Section 8 vouchers.
- Fiscal Sustainability: Councilmembers stressed the need for a balanced budget, economic growth, and efficient use of taxpayer funds. Topics included the street paving cycle (12-year vs. 9-year), public-private partnerships, and diversifying revenue sources. Councilmember Bolton emphasized data-driven decision-making and cost-benefit analysis.
- Infrastructure: The council discussed aging infrastructure, the need for maintenance and replacement, and potential enhancements such as beach restrooms, the pier, and active transportation options. Councilmember Kalmick mentioned the need for a facilities assessment and exploring public-private partnerships for parks and sports venues. Councilmember Burns suggested a parks conservancy and sponsorship opportunities.
- Public Engagement: Councilmembers recognized the challenge of reaching residents in the absence of a dedicated daily newspaper. Mayor Strickland highlighted his town hall series and mayor's roundtable. Councilmember Bolton discussed the need for a 311 system and better tracking of service requests. The group noted that 75% of residents get information via word of mouth, and nextdoor.com is often inaccurate.
- High Performing Organization: The council emphasized filling key vacancies, streamlining permitting (one-stop shop), improving internal systems and training, and fostering a positive organizational culture. Councilmember Kalmick noted the need for process improvement and technology adoption.
Prioritization Results
After a dot voting exercise, the council identified the following top priorities for the first two years of the strategic plan:
- Fiscal Sustainability: Economic development strategy, consider options for new revenues, spending policy, and contract management system.
- Public Engagement: Implementation of a 311 system, website enhancement, community outreach, enhancing HBTV, and a digital dashboard for residents.
- Housing and Homelessness: Preserving local land use control (top priority), exploring supported housing opportunities, homeless collaboration, and expanding the navigation center.
- Infrastructure: CIP projects (especially the pier), exploring additional sports/concert venues, and completing major capital projects.
- High Performing Organization: One-stop shop (unanimous 7 votes), financial/performance assessments, and municipal code review.
- Public Safety: Fire department community risk reduction, police department remodel, and comprehensive risk reduction strategy.
Next Steps and Commitments
- City staff will prepare a draft strategic plan based on the council's direction, with an implementation action plan including metrics and timelines.
- The draft plan will be reviewed at a study session in September 2023, with adoption expected in October 2023.
- Staff committed to implementing the goals and priorities, subject to budget and capacity, and to continue providing professional, non-political advice.
- Councilmembers were encouraged to use the city manager for triage of new requests and to avoid diverting resources from the strategic plan without deliberation.
Key Outcomes
- The council established a clear set of priorities for the 2023-2027 Strategic Plan, with the top items being economic development, a 311 system, local control, and a one-stop shop for permits.
- The workshop provided a forum for council consensus and alignment, with the next steps leading to a formal plan adoption in the fall.
- The meeting adjourned at approximately 3:00 PM, with the next regular council meeting scheduled for Tuesday, June 20, 2023.
Meeting Transcript
You can always talk later too. So what we're going to do um is we'll start with Mayor Strickland. And he gets to pick what he thinks is the most interesting, unusual, funny, weird, whatever commonality with of all of the ones that you have, and then we'll go down the line and give everyone that opportunity. No, you just pick out the number one, the one that you like best. Very good. So ten months, uh my son Leon will be 10 months tomorrow, and then uh Dan is forty on the thirteenth. Great. Okay, Rhonda. So I also have something unusual on comments with Dan. We've both been to the same obscure place in Europe. We've both been to Japan. I'll go with Al. Both of us have been the knees in trip like in travel backpacking through uh Europe. A few years ago, though. Um Mayor Strickland and I are uh both have c uh connections to truth for consequences, New Mexico. So uh my best friend's daddy, my best friend's from there, and his dad was a hospital administrator and Mayor Strickland has a good was it a good college uh my my buddy to play college basketball with was from TRC. How did you get to that commonality? I I heard him mention it once before, but I didn't know anything about it. Okay. And so we started talking about interesting. Um I'll take uh Councilmember Burns. Uh we both uh served in public safety together. I was a volunteer firefighter and uh uh lumbies police officer. Great, great. Natalie? I'll take Casey we can. Uh we're both Marina Vikings. Okay. Interesting. And Gracie. Matt Burns. We're both always on a diet. Anything. All right, well, very good. Well, that you guys did great. You passed that exercise. There's no prizes, but uh you guys did a great job. Yep, can I can I say one more? Yes, I don't want to in talking with uh councilmember Bolton. Uh we've both been to the York Pennsylvania. Next slide. As we um continue to um advance the the service the public services of the city, um there's a lot of other um efforts that you can see on the screen that are that are carried out each and every day. Everything from eighty thousand copies of the sands delivered quarterly to households to um almost seven thousand poor applications being um provided by the city clerk's office and everything in between, but constantly are working to serve the public in Huntington Beach. We continue to make strides in homelessness, and that's been a priority of the city council, and we are um committed to continuing on on that vein to address it effectively and most efficiently to uh uh uh serve those uh individuals who have ties to Huntington Beach. And as we learn the uh Tuesday night from the quality of life survey, um there is an ongoing uh array of ways that people uh get their information and uh communicate about uh the city of Huntington Beach going on and community engagement being uh and and communication being a uh a high priority of this city council is um an area of focus that we have now and will continue to have in the days and years ahead. Um the quality of life survey, just recap on a few points as as you well know from Tuesday night. Uh eight and ten roughly uh Huntington Beach residents are satisfied with the work of the city. Um homelessness cost of living, cost of housing are uh first order of concerns on the minds of of the Huntington Beach community, property crimes, speeding, unsafe driving are also very important to the community. Um two thirds are are happy with city services. Um there is satisfaction with the public safety, with uh library with special events, water reliability in the city, um, and as you know, uh beach the surf city USA and the beach being central to uh the quality of life here.
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