HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-01-17 - City Commission Special Workshop Meeting MinutesCITY OF TAMARAC
SPECIAL CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17. 2018
Prior to the formal CALL TO ORDER, the Mayor commenced a brief discussion
regarding his observations and concerns affecting certain past customs and practices,
essentially regulating the behavior of district commission members, including their
physical presence and doing business in and within, the district of another
commissioner, or of the Mayor, inconsistent with the perceived protocols prohibiting
such behavior.
CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Harry Dressler called the Special Workshop of the City
Commission to order at 9:31 a.m. on Wednesday, January 17, 2018 in the Mango
Room at the Tamarac Recreation Center, 7501 North University Drive, Tamarac, FL,
33321.
ROLL CALL: Mayor Harry Dressler, Vice Mayor Michelle J. Gomez, Commissioner
Marlon Bolton, Commissioner Julie Fishman and Commissioner Debra Placko were in
attendance.
Also in attendance were City Manager Michael Cernech, Assistant City Manager
Kathleen Gunn, Assistant City Attorney Julie Klahr, City Clerk Patricia Teufel,
Information Technology Director Levent Sucuoglu, Finance Director Mark Mason,
Community Development Director Maxine Calloway, Chief Building Official/Director
Claudio Grande, BSO Chief Neal Glassman, Parks & Recreation Director Greg Warner,
Human Resources Director Lerenzo Calhoun, Public Services Director Jack Strain,
Assistant Fire Chief Mike Annese, Management Analyst 1 Laura Karpavicute and Public
Information & Media Specialist Elise Boston.
City Manager Cernech said typically in December and January we evaluate our
Strategic Plan and we do a full blown Strategic Plan every other year. This year we will
talk about the Plan we have in place and the progress we have made as well as the
visions for the future. Tamarac is a young City that has been incorporated for 55 years
and is still evolving. Tamarac has changed in the last 25 years and if you talk to the
people that live in Tamarac they have seen significant changes. Understanding the
changes in our community is vital in driving the decisions we make in the future. Today
we are doing a good job of meeting our constituents' needs. Today we will talk about
where we think the City is going and talk about long term growth and challenges. City
Manager Cernech said we will have additional meetings to talk about overcoming these
challenges. For us to be successful we need to articulate the information to the
community. Tamarac is 1 of 31 cities in Broward County and we have to compete for
everything and moving forward we need to make sure that our image aligns with who
we are and make sure people's perceptions of Tamarac change. Tamarac's Mission,
Vision and Values all speak to the quality of life in our City and we want to work toward
continuing to define excellence. We need to celebrate our diverse and intergenerational
community. The decisions we make for the community going forward are very important
and we need to do things long term thereby creating a community that has value to
businesses. We have talked a lot about changing demographics and diversity of
businesses over the last 20 years and these present themselves as opportunities for
Page 1 of 4 SPECIAL COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING January17, 2018
Tamarac. City Manager Cernech said Tamarac's vision as a community of choice is an
aspirational goal and it is our job to make it work.
City Manager Cernech gave a presentation on Community Demographics & Strategic
Accomplishments, a copy of which is on file in the City Clerk's Office. City Manager
Cernech said we need to invest in the community in ways we have not done in the past.
We need to let people know Tamarac is a safe city, an evolving city and an affordable
city. We have invested in public safety, community appearance and infrastructure which
all contribute to quality of life for the residents of Tamarac. City Manager Cernech said
demographics drive development and service and economic resiliency. City Manager
Cernech talked about Tamarac being a vibrant city with a vibrant population that works;
being multi -generational and about the schools that serve the children. City Manager
Cernech talked about economic development plans such as the Medical Mile and about
the median income and housing opportunities which are all key considerations for
businesses when they locate to an area. City Manager Cernech said in the future we
will be talking about how to attract a younger population. City Manager Cernech said
Tamarac's housing stock is affordable, however, schools are the #1 thing that drives
home buying and as such we need to come up with a strategy to improve the schools
that serve Tamarac children.
Vice Mayor Gomez left the meeting at 9:59 a.m. and returned at 10:07 a.m
City Manager Cernech talked about demographic growth projected for 2022; projected
income, unemployment rate and housing and about the projected buying power of the
Hispanic and black community increasing. City Manager Cernech talked about what has
been accomplished in Tamarac, what we are looking to accomplish in the future and
future development and re -development as well as retail development. City Manager
Cernech talked briefly about Tamarac Village, Colony West, the new homes being built,
the Medical Mile, the Noveau Quarter and the Four Corners Redevelopment
opportunities. City Manager Cernech spoke about the importance of the assemblage of
property.
Mayor Dressler left the meeting at 10:39 a.m. and returned at 10:42 a.m.
City Manager Cernech talked about the importance of quality of education and schools
and the impact it has on everything we are trying to accomplish and is the cornerstone
of a great community. City Manager Cernech talked about the schools that serve
Tamarac children as well as schools in Weston, Cooper City, Parkland, Coral Springs
and Coconut Creek. City Manager Cernech said Tamarac deserves better than average
schools and we will have to go to the School Board to get this done. We need to have a
strategy to get this accomplished; however, this is a discussion for another day.
City Manager Cernech said we need to work on improving our brand and our image as
this is no longer a retirement community and the Mayor and Commission need to go out
cheerleading Tamarac to overcome these perceptions. We need to focus on improving
our strategy to create a brand that says Tamarac is a vibrant and inclusive community. —
City Manager Cernech said we also need to continue to invest in our infrastructure to
keep it in good shape as well as continue to improve how things look in the community.
Page 2 of 4 SPECIAL COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING January17, 2018
City Manager Cernech said there are several meetings that are either scheduled or will
be scheduled. We have a Financial Update scheduled for February, there will be a
meeting in late January or early February for the Economic Development Element of the
Comprehensive Plan; Community surveys will be going out in March with results in
June/July; brand reinvigoration, and Public Relations and Marketing update in March;
Commission District meetings in April and May, Budget Workshop in June and a
Strategic Plan update in December 2018/January 2019.
City Manager Cernech said it is important to improve communication, brand image and
schools and we need to re -develop this community for the way people live here now.
City Manager Cernech said Assistant City Manager Gunn and Management Analyst
Karpaviciute are going to Nashville to look at what they did to improve that area. City
Manager Cernech thanked the Commission for listening to the presentation as it is very
important they know and understand this information which drives what we are working
on.
Mayor Dressler recessed the meeting at 11:00 a.m. and reconvened the meeting at
11:15 a.m. with all present as before.
Mayor Dressler opened the floor for Commission discussion. Commissioner Placko said
it was an excellent presentation and very informative and it is nice that everyone is on
the same page to make Tamarac better. Commissioner Placko said sometimes it is the
little things that people see that makes a difference like cleaning the sidewalks. People
don't see infrastructure projects. Commissioner Placko said we need to upgrade to get
to the next level. Commissioner Placko said it sounds like reaching out to the Alliance
and MPO is broadening our spectrum of what we do. City Manager Cernech said when
we hired Code Enforcement Manager Scott Krajewski we asked him to transform our
Code Compliance division and he has transformed it into a high-performance group.
The challenge will be to continue to move that forward and be aggressive with code
violations due to people not adhering to the code. City Manager Cernech said the
Commission will be hearing more about Code Compliance before the district meetings.
Commissioner Placko said the Commission needs to toot their horn a little better
relative to the Art Program and Information Technology Director Sucuoglu said they are
working on a new Public Art section on the web site.
Vice Mayor Gomez suggested including some information in the welcome packet
regarding the Art Program. Vice Mayor Gomez noted that there is a lot of stuff that she
has come to understand about getting projects done. Vice Mayor Gomez said whatever
staff needs relative to schools she is glad to be of assistance as it is time we made our
schools better. Vice Mayor Gomez noted that we need one more Code Enforcement
Officer. Vice Mayor Gomez said after Irma people were very appreciative that we really
had no storm water issues and it appears that people are starting to see how
infrastructure affects them. Vice Mayor Gomez said quality of life is very important and
thanked staff for their hard work.
Commissioner Fishman said this is great information for the Commission to take
forward to the community. Tamarac is changing and to have the information is helpful
and ties nicely into the other areas that were discussed. Commissioner Fishman said
now we can take this information out and educate people.
Page 3 of 4 SPECIAL COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING January 17, 2018
Commissioner Bolton left the meeting at 11:29 a.m.
Mayor Dressler thanked staff for the presentation and the hard work they do and noted
that staff's patience is admirable. Mayor Dressler said all the issues that City Manager
Cernech talked about today are critical and not easy to deal with, especially the school
issue. Mayor Dressler talked about how important schools are when people are buying
a home.
Mayor Dressler said he hopes the Commission understands that as Mayor it is his job to
make sure everybody behaves and is respectful and he will continue this practice on an
as needed basis going forward.
There being no further business to come before the City Commission for consideration,
Mayor Dressler adjourned the meeting at 11:32 a.m.
Y TA,.'
J.
atricia Teufel, CM : rc
City Clerk `
f STp.BI.ISHF!�
grNL �C�'
Page 4 of 4 SPECIAL COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING January17, 2018