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Minutes 05-03-00JOINT CITY COMMISSION/CHAMBER OF COMMERCE WORKSHOP HELD IN THE LIBRARY PROGRAM ROOM, 208 S. SEACREST BOULEVARD, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, 2000 @ 6:30 P.M. PRESENT STAFF Gerald Broening, Mayor Ronald Weiland, Vice Mayor William Sherman, Mayor Pro Tem Bruce Black, Commissioner Charlie Fisher, Commissioner Kurt Bressner, City Manager Dale Sugerman, Assistant City Manager Wilfred Hawkins, Director of Adm. Services Sue Kruse, City Clerk Wayne Segal, Public Affairs Director Virginia Farace, Library Director Hanna Matras, Economic Research Analyst CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Diana Johnson, President Rick Lewis, Chairman of the Board Mike Bottcher, Vice Chair Community Affairs Jeanne Heavilin, Co-Chair of Economic Development I. Greetings & Introductions - City and Chamber of Commerce Mayor Broening called the meeting to order at 6:35 p.m. and asked everyone to introduce himself or herself. Mayor Broening noted that at the last meeting, the City's image was discussed, and a Public Image Task Force was formed, comprised of Chamber members, staff, elected officials, and private citizens. The Task Force has been meeting for the past six to eight mOnths and noted that everyone has a stake in the City of Boynton Beach. II. Presentation by the Public Image Task Force Mayor Broening requested that Ms. Farace, who was the Chairperson of the Task Force Committee, take over the meeting at this point. Ms. Farace stated she would be showing a Power Point presentation on the findings of the Task Force. A full report will be distributed at the conclusion of the presentation. The task of examining the public image concerns was defined by an ad hoc independent panel made up of the following persons who would make recommendations for courses of action: MEETING MINUTES JOINT CITY COMMISSION/CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA MAY 3, 2000 Angela Budano, Freefall Design Arleen Dennison, Museum Director Dagmar Brahs, COBWRA Dan Winters, Citizen David Caracappa, Success Unlimited Internet Hanna Matras, City Planner Jerry Broening, Mayor Kathy Shabotynskyj, former Chamber President Margelly Beltran, City Planner Rick Harlowe, Writer Susanne Berman, City Manager's staff Ted Cott, Ted Cott Group Virginia Farace, Library Director Virginia Shea, Recreation Marketing Manager A great deal of brainstorming and prioritization took place during these meetings. Goal 1 of the Vision 20/20 Plan was to "create a positive city image which portrays a diversified, family oriented, coastal community that is inclusive, progressive, balanced, stable, and self-sustaining". It appears that the City's image is lagging significantly. Six Observations were uncovered as follows: · Citizens and employees are generally under-informed or misinformed about city operations, issues and activities. · News media accounts of city issues and activities often contain factually wrong information. · Negative perceptions are often based on "old" situations or incidents. · Complicated issues, such as zoning, conditional-use permitting and finance are difficult to explain adequately. · The City lacks a coordinated internal and external public affairs program. · Every stakeholder in the City has responsibility for promulgating accurate and timely information about the City. Recommendations: The following are the 13 prioritizations that the Task Force felt needed to be presented and dealt with at this time. Public Affairs Responsibility Attitude/Information Coordination with Stakeholders "Brand Boynton Beach" 2 MEETING MINUTES JOINT CITY COMMISSION/CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA MAY 3, 2000 History District Master Planning Marketing Economic Development Financial Information Leadership Interviews Facilities Audit Customer Service Audit Communications Audit Vision 20/20 Mr. Ted Cott, a community member of the Task Force was introduced to present the Public Affairs Responsibility: The findings were that the City must provide timely and accurate information to its constituents, but the City is lacking in a planned public affairs program. The Task Force feels that the appointment of the City's new Media and Public Communications Director should fill this need. Public Attitude and Information levels need to be measured. The Task Force is also recommending a professional public information survey. It has been determined that many activities and organizations have a direct impact upon the City's image, but there is a lack of citywide involvement. "Brand Boynton Beach" is a necessary marketing tool in marketing and the character of Boynton Beach is a combination of many aspects. Therefore, there is a need to define the character that the citizens wish for the City. The rich history and heritage of Boynton Beach must be recognized and celebrated and is not fully appreciated. The City must be more aggressive in celebrating its heritage by designating historical sites and landmarks. Visions 20/20 designated six areas for redevelopment. The key to community understanding and endorsement is to have public involvement during the process. Therefore, full public participation is needed. 1. With regard to Marketing Economic Development this should be a primary objective of the City. However, there is a lack of marketing materials and new materials need to be developed. There is a widespread lack of basic understanding of where the City gets its money and how it spends its money. Clear and understandable financial information needs to be disseminated. 3 MEETING MINUTES JOINT CITY COMMISSION/CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA MAY 3, 2000 Leadership attitudes are critical to success and personal interviews with community leaders to establish a consistent and ongoing point of view are being recommended. Perceptions are influenced by appearance. A staff audit of all City facilities to provide an insight into where remedial action is needed is being recommended. = Perceptions are also influenced by the quality of City customer service. Task Force is recommending an audit of City Customer service in order to find a common level of customer satisfaction. With regard to communications, City information should be consistent in its look and that a communications audit of all the communication tools and products that the city produces is being recommended. Implementation of Visions 20/20 has been slow and this needs to be accelerated. The Task Force recommends that a community workshop be held to provide definition, priorities and re-emphasis of goals. Conclusion Ms. Farace concluded by stating the City is on the brink of realizing its long-held dream of revitalization and redevelopment. · To achieve the quality of life objective, the City must do everything possible to enhance its programs and activities to accomplish these objectives. · Full public participation in the detailed planning now underway will fine-tune the vision. · Innovative thinking and flexibility will facilitate the process. · Decisive action will make it happen. Implementation The Public Image Task Force believes that the implementation of the measures, tasks and processes outlined in this report and summarized in Appendix C of the report and the findings and recommendations presented in Appendix D will lead to a new appreciation of the City. Ms. Farace concluded the presentation by thanking the City for considering the Task Force Report and its recommendations. The Report was distributed. Mayor Broening said that the key to implementation from the Task Force standpoint is set out in Appendix C. Further, Mayor Broening would like to see a renewed collaboration between the Chamber of Commerce and the City. 4 MEETING MINUTES JOINT CITY COMMISSION/CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA MAY 3, 2000 A person in the audience asked if the logo on the presentation was the City's new logo and Ms. Farace stated that this was the Secret of the Sailfish logo and it is not a new City logo. City Manager Bressner pointed out that there has been discussion among staff regarding Iogos including the Vision 20/20 logo. However, the City does not own the Vision 20/20 logo, but is in the process of securing ownership for unrestricted use of the logo. There is a difference between a City's seal and a logo. The City does own the Secret of the Sailfish logo and this is available for use. Ms. Johnson thanked the Task Force for putting the report together and felt the report was very comprehensive. Ms. Farace said that they are looking for a consensus that the City is in agreement with the recommendations and that the appropriate entities would move forward with carrying out the recommendations. Mayor Broening feels that the City and the Chamber should accept the report on its face value and the responsibility of accepting the coordination of the report falls on several department heads, including the City Manager and the new Public Affairs Manager. Mayor Broening does not feel that the report has to be accepted 100% nor does he think that is possible. Commissioner Fisher inquired if the priority projects would be addressed first and be assigned to new committees to be addressed? Mayor Broening replied that there are now professionals on staff to handle these projects. Ms. Johnson requested that she be added to the Task Force and was informed that by virtue of being President of the Chamber she already was a member. Discussion ensued regarding the future role of the Task Force Committee and Mayor Broening noted that it was an ad hoc committee that could function in an advisory capacity, but the responsibility has to revert to the stakeholders. Commissioner Fisher would like someone to be accountable to ensure that the recommendations continue to be acted upon and felt that the Steering Committee should have this role. Mayor Broening did not feel that this should be the role of the Steering Committee. Mr. Segal replied that he is the accountable staff person and that he has been working toward some of the goals that are mentioned in the report. Mr. Segal pointed out that a great deal of input would be garnered from the new CIP meetings that are being scheduled. Also, Mr. Segal stated he has already spoken with Ms. Johnson about working together on a great many projects. Ms. Heavilin inquired if the committee spoke to persons outside of the Committee for feedback and Ms. Farace said that there were many participants who took 5 MEETING MINUTES JOINT CITY COMMISSION/CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA MAY 3, 2000 part in various areas, but there were seven members who actually wrote the report. Mr. Segal felt that taking the Commission meetings on the read would be very beneficial. Mr. Hazlett commented on the City Commission meeting that was held last night at the Village Royale. He noted how Mr. Sugerman effectively addressed the concerns of how the City handles its money. Mr. Sugerman also spoke on the stormwater issue and explained how the entire City would benefit from the increase in the rates. Mr. Hazlett thought this was a good way to handle these types of issues by having a great many people in attendance at the meetings, as opposed to reading a distorted version that appears in the newspaper the next day. Ms. Heavilin noted that the Chamber had been discussing doing a survey and thought that it could be combined with the City survey. Mayor Broening thought this was an excellent idea and that the survey should contain very comprehensive questions. City Manager Bressner noted that in putting out a citywide survey, it takes money and for a City the size of Boynton Beach, it could conservatively cost $30,000 to $35,000 and a survey by the Chamber of Commerce of the business community could cost upwards of $9,000. City Manager Bressner said there is going to have to be a commitment by the stakeholder organizations for financial support to coordinate the survey. Ms. Farace thanked the members of the Task Force for their hard work in putting the report together. Commissioner Fisher stated that he would like to become a member of the Task Force. A recess of 10 minutes was called at 7:25 p.m. and the meeting reconvened at 7:35 p.m. III. Top Issues 2000- Discussion Ms. Johnson stated that at the request of City Manager Bressner the Chamber has prepared a list of 12 priority items and participants were informed that the list was attached to the agenda. Ms. Johnson pointed out that the first item was "Maintain a good over-all working relationship with the City of Boynton Beach". Ms. Johnson noted she is new with the Chamber and her most important role is to work hand-in-hand with City staff and elected officials. She requested that people take a few minutes to look over 6 MEETING MINUTES JOINT CITY COMMISSION/CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA MAY 3, 2000 the 12 priority items and if there are any items that they would like to discuss, feel free to do so. Mr. Bottcher spoke about a Blue Ribbon Task Force, which held a very successful event with a group of Chinese businesspersons who visited the City. The Chamber would like to organize a permanent Blue Ribbon Task Force to be comprised of businesspeople and City staff to meet with businesspersons when they visit the City. The Task Force could meet two to three times per year and could be comprised of the Mayor and the City Manager and the President and Chairperson of the Board would represent the Chamber. Mr. Wische asked about the outcome of the meeting with the Chinese delegation and Mayor Broening responded that it is still at the corporate level with Motorola, awaiting a decision. Mayor Broening felt the meeting had a great impact and the delegation was impressed with the City. Commissioner Black asked how the City would go about attracting new business to the City and why do businesses pick out certain cities over another to relocate to? Ms. Johnson informed Commissioner Black that the Business Development Board is the economic agency for Palm Beach County and provides economic development services for the County. Enterprise Florida contacts the Business Development Board when someone inquires about relocating to this County. The Business Development Board maintains a database of available business properties in the County. Ms. Johnson pointed out that the Business Development Board has to present every community equally to future prospects, but they must be furnished with the proper information. Commissioner Black said the City needs to take a more active role to attract new businesses. Ms. Johnson felt it would be very beneficial if the City had a package already prepared for presentation purposes. It was noted that Quantum Park had prepared a very informative, detailed package, together with video, on their properties and it would be advantageous if other property owners followed suit. IV. Role of Chamber of Commerce Mr. Lewis felt it was important to identify quick victories, organize a Blue Ribbon Task Force and get packets together. Mr. Hazlett felt that a lot of people were looking at this area and it isn't all just Boca Raton. Mr. Sugerman added that the City is very active with the Business Development Board and pointed out that both the Executive Director and the Vice Director use Boynton Beach as the example as the best place to go through permitting. 7 MEETING MINUTES JOINT CITY COMMISSION/CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA MAY 3, 2000 Within the last three years, the City has gone to the top of the list as promoting quick and thorough permitting. Boynton Beach has a pre-application review process, which was started approximately three years ago. Mr. Sugerman explained what was involved in a pre-application review. The City has created an environment where agents of all types can come to the City and meet with appropriate staff and staff answers all their questions. Mr. Sugerman pointed out that because this cannot always apply to the "mom & pop" businesses, due to their non-conforming uses, the City appears to be uncooperative, which is then reported in the press. Mr. Sugerman stated that there is no water in any City in south Florida that can compare to the quality and price of the water in Boynton Beach and this appeals to many businesses that are water sensitive. Also, a City services package is put together that pertains to the particular needs of the pre-applicant. Commissioner Black also felt it was important to maintain a leadership alumni. Mr. Lewis replied that this is something the Chamber is doing this year and is in the process of putting it together. This will be headed by the Chair-elect. Participants next discussed how to recruit members of the Chamber to participate on City boards. Ms. Johnson reported that Adene Dennison is coordinating a special government day and all participants will be given a City Advisory Board application, together with a list of Board vacancies. Mr. Hazlett asked what the procedure was for filling vacancies on the Board and Mayor Broening explained how positions on Boards are filled, but noted currently some Boards are having trouble recruiting new members. Ms. Johnson suggested that this could be included in the Chamber's monthly newsletter. Mr. Sugerman also noted that the Board application would be posted on the City's web site. Ms. Heavilin suggested preparing some type of disaster preparedness program as another "quick victory". Mr. Lewis pointed out that they have been working on this, which would be a free, educational-type program. Mr. Lewis announced there is a program scheduled for June 14th at Benvenutos and Mr. Sugerman has been assisting with this. Also, Ms. Johnson referred participants to the second page of the Issues List, which identifies educational resources and asked Mr. Segal to elaborate on this. Mr. Segal said he has been discussing with the Chamber the idea of partnering with the School District in the Governor's Mentoring Program. Mr. Segal has spoken with people on the School Board who think this would be a wonderful program. 8 MEETING MINUTES JOINT CITY COMMISSION/CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA MAY 3, 2000 City Manager Bressner asked what the program was about and Mr. Segal replied that City employees would be given time off to go into the Public Schools for mentoring children. Ms. Johnson said that the children in the schools need more mentoring. The School Board has offered to do the training for the volunteers. Ms. Matras reported that her Department is putting a package together on the economics of the City and this should be ready within six to eight weeks. Mr. Sugerman reported that the City currently has 1.5 million square feet going through the development process in one way or another. Mr. Sugerman said that he reports this information monthly at the Chamber's Economic Development Committee meeting. Commissioner Black would like to give City employees an opportunity to go to the schools one or two hours a week for mentoring purposes and thinks the City and the Chamber should take an active role in this. Commissioner Black also thanked Mr. Wilfred Hawkins for doing a wonderful job with the Mock Commission meeting for Youth in Government Day. Mr. Hawkins noted that the involvement with the City's Education Advisory Board and the Chamber's Business/Education Partnership Committee is critical considering all the changes that are taking place in the School District and the changing of the school boundary lines. Mayor Broening pointed out that businesses make decisions based upon the educational quality offered within a city. Ms. Farace announced that tomorrow night, Thursday, May 4th at 6:00 p.m. all the City schools would be presenting their school improvement plans in the Library Program Room. State law mandates that the schools present their school improvement plans to the public for public input. Ms. Johnson asked if the City has the capability of televising their meetings. Mr. Sugerman replied that the City has authority to do this, but does not have the equipment in place. If the equipment were put in place, the cable company would televise the City's meetings. Mr. Hawkins noted that the cable company would provide a majority of the equipment, but personnel to do this would have to be identified. Mr. Lewis summed up that it appeared that everyone present tonight wanted to help and also a lot of information was dispersed. Mr. Lewis feels that the City has the right leadership in place and that the voids have been filled. The Chamber wants to be part of this. He noted that it is important that information be exchanged and published in each other's newsletters. The biggest issue is communication and the need to get the word out about the positive things taking place in the City. City Manager Bressner said it is important to continue holding these meetings regularly. He asked when the next meeting would take place and also inquired MEETING MINUTES JOINT CITY COMMISSION/CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA MAY 3, 2000 when the Steering Committee would be prepared to make its first report on the results achieved so far? City Manager Bressner requested that the agenda include an item that the Task Force provide an interim report on the benchmarks and where we are at this point. After discussion, it was determined that the next Joint City CommiSsion/Chamber of Commerce Workshop Meeting be held on Monday, July 10th at 6:30 p.m. in the Library Program Room. It was also decided to set the September meeting to take place on Monday, September 11th at 6:30 p.m. v. Adjournment There being no further business, the meeting properly adjourned at 8:45 p.m. ATTEST: Cit~'Clerk - Recording Secretary (two tapes) CITY O~BOY ,~, ~ ~ACH Ma~ / ?ice Mayor Mayor Pro Tom C~111~ss~oner 10