Budget and Audit Committee Meeting - September 6, 2016
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Budget and Audit Committee Meeting - September 6, 2016
The Budget and Audit Committee of Sacramento, chaired by Mayor Kevin Johnson, met on September 6, 2016, at 2:00 p.m. in City Hall Council Chamber. The committee discussed workforce diversity, police department recruitment and retention, and received financial reports from the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA). The meeting adjourned at 3:23 p.m.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes (July 19, 2016): Passed unanimously (4-0).
Public Comments & Testimony
- None.
Discussion Items
- Item 2: Diverse and Inclusive City Workforce – HR Director Melissa Chaney presented the staff report, highlighting the need to mirror the city's population and addressing audit findings on employment gaps, lack of management diversity, and pay equity. Proposed actions included hiring a Diversity Manager ($180,000 from General Fund balance), developing a Diversity Inclusion Plan, and using the Budget and Audit Committee to monitor progress. Councilmember Jennings moved to amend the recommendation to house the Diversity Manager in the City Manager's office for greater authority. Councilmember Warren requested tracking of advertising spending for outreach to diverse communities. Mayor Johnson suggested involving current employees as recruiters. Councilmember Schenirer emphasized long-term partnerships with schools. The motion passed (4-0) to forward to City Council with the amendment.
- Item 3: Update on Police Department Gender and Ethnic Diversity Efforts – Chief Sam Somers reported that 1 in 3 applicants appear for the written test, with a 57% overall pass rate, but lower for diverse groups (approximately 40%). It takes 50 applicants to hire one officer. The pipeline program has 53 participants (71% diverse), with 3 in the current academy. Challenges include competition from higher-paying agencies, retention issues, and a stringent background process. Councilmembers discussed incentivizing officers to live in the city, conducting employee surveys on workplace environment, and diversifying command staff. Mayor Johnson motioned to establish an annual report during the budget process and reports after each academy (July and December). The motion passed (4-0).
- Item 4: SHRA Audit Follow-up Recommendation #13 – Midyear Budget Report – Finance Director Tina McKenney presented the 2016 mid-year budget update. The original budget was $179.6 million, with 87% from federal sources. Operating expenses were projected to be 12% under budget, and revenues 1.2% above budget. The report was received and filed (unanimous).
- Item 5: Review of SHRA Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) – Tina McKenney presented the 2015 CAFR, noting an unmodified (clean) audit opinion and the 23rd consecutive Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting. The agency's net position was $553.8 million, a 3% increase from 2014. The report was received and filed (unanimous).
Key Outcomes
- Item 2: Motion passed (4-0) to forward to City Council, including adding a Diversity Manager in the City Manager's office, developing a Diversity Inclusion Plan, and quarterly monitoring by the Budget and Audit Committee.
- Item 3: Motion passed (4-0) to establish annual reporting on police diversity efforts as part of the budget process, plus reports after each academy (July and December) to the Budget and Audit Committee.
- Items 4 & 5: Both reports received and filed (unanimous).
Meeting Transcript
What's the topic? Matthew, are you ready? Yes, indeed. All right, City Clerk, please get us started for a budget nodded committee. So we'll call the roll. We'll start with Member Jennings. Warren. Shaneer and Mayor Johnson. Here. We do have a quorum. All right, consent calendar. Okay, we have one item on the consent calendar. It's just for the approval of the minutes. All in favor signify by aye. Aye. Any no's abstentions? All right, motion passes. Okay, so on to the discussion calendar. Item number two is the SHRA audit follow-up recommendation number 13 for the mid-year budget report. Joel here. Okay. Maybe we should come back to that one, huh? That's not what I have on mine either. Do I have the wrong one? I have number I have the workforce diversity first. Okay, so workforce diversity first. All right, there we have it. We got you, Chief. Okay. Okay, good afternoon. I'm Melissa Cheney. I'm the human resources director with the City of Sacramento. And I wanted to present the staff report today for the diverse and diverse and inclusive workforce. And then I have a small PowerPoint presentation to kind of go over some of the key things that came out of the report. That talk about how we heard what you said at the council meeting on August 4th and what we're looking to do to move forward to improve the diversity and inclusiveness of our workforce. So the city of Sacramento should be inclusive and reflective of the city's diversity. A good organization, public agency organizational practice should mirror the employees should mirror what the population is. So this includes staffing, recruitment, contracting and procurement, boards and commissions, and any other function that the city of Sacramento has, it should mirror the um the community. We report to the community. We should mirror the diversity of the community. The four key audit findings that came out on August 4th were that there were employment gaps for minorities and women, a lack of diversity in the management roles, lack of diversity in public safety, and pay equity issues. Um short summary of what you guys talked about were um that staff should reflect the city's population. We completely agree with that. More diversity and promotional opportunities. There's ways we I think we can accomplish that on a very short order by making some um quick changes. And if we can look as an organization to work towards eliminating those or having management understand what those unconscious biases are, it can go a long way in changing the way people think about hiring. Public safety is a diversity is a top priority for both police and fire. Um procedural and cultural changes, and by that I think um we need to change the process that we use for recruitment, for promotions, for training, and then also the culture. I think with the city of Sacramento needs some changes also. And then community involvement.
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