The Santa Rosa City Council met on February 28, 2023, in a hybrid format (in-person and via Zoom) starting with a closed session at 1:30 PM, a study session at 3:00 PM, and the regular session at 4:00 PM. The meeting included a proclamation for Black History Month, a wellness study session, approval of consent items, public hearings on the South Davis Neighborhood Park Master Plan Amendment and the HOME-ARP Allocation Plan, and extended discussion on the Hearn Community Hub professional services agreement.
I'd like to ask the interpreter currently in the Spanish channel to commence translation of the meeting. For those just joining the meeting, live translation in Spanish is available and members of the public or staff wishing to listen in Spanish can join the Spanish channel by clicking on the interpretation icon in Zoom toolbar. It looks like a globe. Once you join the Spanish channel, we recommend you shut off the main audio so you only hear the Spanish translation. Interpreter, will you please restate this in Spanish? Councilmember Stapp. Here. Two point one conference with Real Property Negotiator. Madam City Clerk, may you please conduct public comment on this item? We are now taking public comment on item two point one. If you are in the chambers and wish to make a comment and have not provided your name to the administrator at the top of the chamber, please make your way to the podium. Welcome back everyone. We will now reconvene our meeting. Sorry for the delay. Seeing a quorum, Madam City Clerk, can you please call the role? Councilmember Stapp. Yep. Councilmember Rogers. Yep. Councilmember Okropke. Here. Councilmember Fleming. Councilmember Alvarez. Present. Vice Mayor McDonald. Mayor Rogers. Present. Let the record reflect all council members are present with the exception of Vice Mayor McDonald. We will now proceed to item three point one. Madam City Manager. Thank you, Mayor and members of council. Item 3.1 is a wellness study session. Director of Human Resources, Amy Reeve, will lead the discussion. Thank you. And director, could you introduce your team when you get an opportunity? Thank you. My colleagues, Dominique Blanqui, the risk manager, and Indira Alfaro, our principal analyst over benefits and leaves, are joining me this afternoon to answer any questions which may come up after the presentation. This study session will provide a high-level overview of the City of Santa Rosa's wellness program and benefits. On our agenda today, we will be covering what is workplace wellness, the City of Santa Rosa wellness initiatives, and additional wellness initiatives and resources that we're cont continuing to evaluate. And we will also provide an opportunity for questions. So what is a workplace wellness program? A wellness program is a broad term used to describe activities, programs, or policies that the city offers to its workforce as a supplement to traditional benefits like medical, dental, and vision insurance. All wellness benefits are intended to encourage employees to stay healthy or improve their overall health and well-being rather than to treat a specific illness or medical condition. Some common examples of wellness programs include programs that help support and promote physical activity, mental and behavioral health resources, elder care, child care, financial well-being, and general connectedness. So taking a deeper dive into the Concern Employee Assistance Program, the City of Santa Rosa invested in improving our employee assistance program in 2020 and went and changed from MHN to Concern, which is more of a boutique provider of employee resources. Savings from the selection of a new long-term and short-term disability carrier provided reallocated assets to supplement and enhance the wellness program across the city. So the CONCERN EAP is different because, as I mentioned, it's a boutique-style EAP plan. It offers a personalized approach to overall employee health and wellness and has a focus on making the program both accessible and meaningful for all employees. CONCERN also integrated the city's existing first responders network and included preferred providers into the program. This change was meaningful because it included authorizing care through a specialized panel of providers who are culturally competent and experienced in working with our police and fire employees.