1993-07-26 CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING MINUTESMe
MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
PEARLAND, TEXAS, HELD ON JULY 26, 1993, AT 5:30 P. M. IN THE
COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, 3519 LIBERTY DRIVE, PEARLAND, TEXAS
The meeting was called to order with the following present:
Mayor C. V. Coppinger
Mayor Pro Tem/Councilmember Joy Colson
Councilmember
D. A. Miller
Councilmember Benny Frank
Councilmember Randy Weber �-
Councilmember David Smith
City Manager Paul Grohman
City Attorney Lester Rorick
City Secretary Pat Jones (entered
Chambers at 5:40 P.M.)
CHANGE IN THE ORDER OF BUSINESS
Mayor Coppinger did not begin with the No. II, New Business, on the
agenda but instead referred to No. III, Other Business.
OTHER BUSINESS
EXECUTIVE SESSION UNDER TEXAS REVISED CIVIL STATUTES, ARTICLE 6252-
17, SECTION 2
SUBSECTION (g) PERSONNEL - Completion of evaluation of City
Manager.
Mayor Coppinger announced an open session had been requested and
called upon City Manager Grohman and his attorney for their input.
It was determined they were not present in the Chambers at this
time.
Number of signatures on attendance roster: 130
Councilmember Frank stated he had a question for the City Attorney
but would wait until those absent from the Chamber had returned.
Upon his return and at question by the Mayor, Mr. Grohman affirmed
he had requested an open hearing.
Directing his query to City Attorney Rorick, Councilmember Frank
stated it was his assumption that the evaluation had been finished
at the last meeting. What is lacking now, Mr. Frank continued, is
the tabulation results which Mayor Coppinger and Councilmember
Weber agreed to compile, is this not correct?
Mr. Rorick responded Item 1 under No. II, New Business,
Consideration and Possible Action - Regarding the form of and input
into the final evaluation of the City Manager, was placed on the
open agenda for this purpose.
Councilmember Frank asked if the tallied numbers constituted part
of the evaluation process.
City Attorney Rorick responded he believed the numbers to be part
of the evaluation and went on to discuss the agenda which, as he
was directed to draft, would allow Council in Open Session to
determine the form the evaluation would take. The form being, for
example, who would have input, what matters would be considered,
and how they would be weighed.
Councilmember Frank asked if the scores could be read now and
requested that, as five individuals would vote, the tabulation
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reflect only those five individuals.
Mayor Coppinger took exception to this request, stating he was a
member of the Council.
City Attorney Rorick instructed Mayor Coppinger that the agenda was
being conducted out of order and suggested this item would be more
appropriately handled under No. II, New Business, Item 1.
Mayor Coppinger read from the posted agenda:
NEW BUSINESS
REGARDING THE FORM OF AND INPUT INTO THE FINAL EVALUATION OF THE
CITY MANAGER
Discussion ensued regarding the form the motion should take.
It was moved by Councilmember Frank, seconded by Councilmember
Colson, that the only people who will vote on this matter take part
in this evaluation.
Clarification was given that the five totals will be averaged.
Mayor Coppinger again expressed his exception to this motion,
stating he was a part of the Council.
Councilmember Colson stated Mayor Coppinger had been allowed input,
with this being discussed previously. We are just trying to
determine a total figure, Mrs. Colson said.
Mayor Coppinger responded he interpreted that to mean his score
would be eliminated from the tabulation.
Councilmember Frank stated he had tabulated and withdrew his
motion.
Mayor Coppinger announced he would read the tabulations.
Councilmember Colson asked the City Attorney if the reading of
these tabulations was appropriate if they were derived from
executive sessions and discussion ensued between form and substance
of the evaluation.
Councilmember Colson asked that the tabulation be simply entered
into the record as an appropriate evaluation.
Mayor Coppinger asked if this was a motion.
It was moved by Councilmember Colson, seconded by Councilmember
Miller, that Council approve the tabulation scores only and have
them entered into the personnel records.
Mayor Coppinger explained how the tabulation process had been
derived. Beginning with a possible perfect score of 172 points,
each Councilmember's score was tabulated, Mayor Coppinger
continued, using the highest possible score as the denominator,
thereby deriving the percentages.
The forms will be given to the City Secretary as a matter of record
and Mayor Coppinger verified that the motion on the floor is to
accept this tabulation into the record.
Rusty Hardin, Mr. Grohman's attorney, inquired if the figures would
be made public in light of his client's request for a public
hearing.
Discussion ensued whether this was privileged under Executive
Session and City Attorney Rorick commented the potentiality is
there; however, the employee has waived that right.
City Manager Grohman asked that they be made public.
Councilmember Smith called for a restating of the motion and asked
the record to reflect that he had given Mr. Grohman the highest
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score of those participating.
Mayor Coppinger called the question.
Motion passed 5 to 0.
Mayor Coppinger indicated he would read the scores and City
Attorney Rorick advised the agenda be followed.
OTHER BUSINESS
EXECUTIVE SESSION UNDER TEXAS REVISED CIVIL STATUTES, ARTICLE 6252-
17, SECTION 2
- SUBSECTION (g) PERSONNEL - 1) Completion of evaluation of City
Manager.
With City Manager Grohman indicating he was agreeable to public
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reading of the scores, Mayor Coppinger read the following scores:
Councilmember Colson - 93 points; however, all of the blanks were
not filled in, Mayor Coppinger stated, so a different formula was
used with a percentage rate of 62.85% derived.
Councilmember Frank - 76.15%.
Councilmember Miller - 49.4%
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Councilmember Smith - 98.25%.
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Councilmember Weber - 86.05%.
Mayor Coppinger - 91.85%.
The average of these scores is 77.45%, Mayor Coppinger announced.
Mayor Coppinger asked Mr. Grohman if he had any input at this time
and Mr. Grohman indicated he did not.
SUBSECTION (g) PERSONNEL - 2) Discussion of the question
whether the City Manager should be reprimanded for his conduct
at the last regular meeting of the Council respecting a
citizen addressing the Council.
It was moved by Councilmember Frank that a letter be drafted
reprimanding the City Manager for his conduct at the last regular
Council meeting with a citizen and be placed in his personnel file.
City Attorney Rorick advised the motion was out of order at this
time. This is the discussion phase and a decision needs to be made
whether this is going to be an Executive Session item or a waiver
needs to be obtained if this item is to be conducted in Open
Session.
Councilmember Frank agreed the advice of the City Attorney should
be followed.
Mayor Coppinger inquired if it would be in order to have citizens
who wished to speak do so at this time?
Mr. Rorick advised to secure direction from Mr. Grohman whether he
wanted this portion of the agenda in public or private form as it
is posted as Executive Session.
Mr. Grohman indicated, upon advice from his attorney, he would be
willing to meet with council privately if they wished. Continuing
his remarks, City Manager Grohman apologized to Council and to the .
public for his conduct at the last regular meeting, stating he
wished to make amends with the Council with the intent of going
forward and serving the public. Closing his comments, Mr. Grohman
stated an Executive Session is all right.
Councilmember Frank stated his motion stands as stated.
Councilmember Colson seconded the motion.
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City Attorney Rorick questioned whether Council would be retiring
to Executive Session. Mr. Grohman indicated it is Council's
choice.
Councilmember Frank stated he had already made his motion and saw
no need to go into Executive Session to say the same thing.
Mr. Rorick advised to follow the agenda, noting the Council to
currently be at No. III, 1., Subsection (g) 2 which calls for
discussion rather than action.
Discussion ensued as to agenda procedure and whether Council wished
to retire to Executive Session.
It was moved by Councilmember Frank, seconded by Councilmember
Smith, that Council not go into Executive Session to address the
matter of reprimand of the City Manager for his conduct during the
last regular meeting.
Councilmember Miller stated that he didn't see any need for a
letter of reprimand as Mr. Grohman had apologized publicly.
Upon call for the question regarding the motion not to go to
Executive Session, Council voted 5 to 0 to approve the motion.
Councilmember Smith commented that Mr. Grohman had showed great
restraint at the meeting in question and commended him for his
action at this meeting.
City Manager Grohman requested that he be allowed to read a
statement into the records at this time.
Councilmember Frank stated he had no problem with this but asked
that the agenda items be finished first.
NEW BUSINESS (CONTINUED)
REGARDING THE QUESTION WHETHER THE CITY MANAGER SHOULD BE
REPRIMANDED FOR HIS CONDUCT AT THE LAST REGULAR MEETING OF COUNCIL
RESPECTING A CITIZEN ADDRESSING THE COUNCIL
It was moved by Councilmember Frank, seconded by Councilmember
Smith, that, in light of this evening's happenings, no letter of
reprimand be put in Mr. Grohman's personnel file.
Motion passed 5 to 0.
It was moved by Councilmember Frank, seconded by Councilmember
Smith, that Mr. Grohman be allowed to address the Council.
Motion passed 5 to 0.
City Manager Grohman read the following statement into the records:
"As all of you know, you have never ever heard me read a prepared
statement. I prepare each meeting so that I can get up here and
speak extemporaneously and know my subject matter well enough to do
so; however, because of the gravity of the situation I wanted to
make sure that there were no misquotes or miscommunication on my
part and I would simply like to read the following statement into
the record. I will probably do so again at the 7:30 meeting
tonight.
First of all, I am deeply saddened that we are here; however,
thankful of the tremendous outpouring of public support of prayers,
calls and attendance tonight. I really wanted to bring some facts
to the public's attention which will demonstrate our progress, our
continued problems and real solutions to those problems. It's been
said that people do not care what you know until they know that you
care. First of all, I want each of you to know I do care about
this community. I care about my job and I care about our future
together. I want us to work through this difficult time and get
back on track of serving the public, the entire public.
If you expect me to lash out at some of the Councilmembers or their
political friends, you are going to be disappointed. In fact, I
would like to take this opportunity, again, to apologize to the
citizens of Pearland for my actions at the last Council meeting.
As briefly as possible, I want to give you the past year of
significant progress this administration has made. I came to
Pearland in June of 1992 and faced many exciting challenges. That
could also be many, many problems.
My management - and I had a lot of other things to say there and I
skipped it out - I want to first of all just tell you that my first
effort was to talk to Staff members and to talk to as many people
in the public as well as the Council and let them know my
management philosophy because I think that has been questioned.
First of all, my management philosophy is as follows and I quoted
this scripture and verse to the employees.
1. To protect and advocate for the employees. This is meant to
buffer them from political pressure and allow them to function
on a professional plane. Additionally, we need to insure
adequate pay to attract and retain those persons we really
want in our work force as well as provide proper training,
equipment and a positive, inspirational work atmosphere.
2. Give our existing employees, when I came in, an opportunity to
continue in their jobs until which time they prove they either
cannot or will not do their jobs in a professional manner.
When vacancies occur, to fill all those vacancies with the
best possible applicant.
3. Form a strong bond among the various departments.
4. Allow the employees the courtesy and respect to make decisions
at the lowest level possible.
5. Create a customer service mentality. My first major move to
resolve the customers' complaints, the citizens' complaints,
was to put a real live and caring person on the end of the
phone line when you called City Hall in place of a computer.
That positive response was overwhelming. We now expect our
employees to return their phone calls, which they didn't
before. We expect to find solutions not roadblocks for people
needing help from the City. Our employees have taken this
task to heart and have a new enthusiasm.
6. Cut waste. Take phone bids, do better research prior to
buying, avoid marriage relationships with vendors, take
advantage of state and local cooperative purchasing contracts,
which we didn't before, and treat the City's money as
carefully as we did our own.
7. Enjoy each work day. Work is fun God has given us the
opportunity to use our talents to make our home a better place
to live. Strive to take advantage of that blessing.
Now, you might say philosophy is real great and fine, but what has
been accomplished? Our, and the emphasis is on our, team has made
great strides in every department in the past year. Here is a
recap of our historic past year.
In June, 1992, we completed the Orange Street project in under a
month. Now, it had gone on a couple of months before I got here
but when we got here we got it done in under a month.
July and August brought the settlement of the on-call and
compensatory time issues. We spent $147,000 to resolve this. I
hired Mr. Burdine, with his master's degree in hand and fifteen
years of city management experience, and good old John Hargrove,
wherever he is, with thirty years of engineering experience and a
world of wisdom, and together with Mr. McWhirter and Mr. Bowery, we
set about the development of a needs driven paving program. That's
where all that work came from.
We completed our new personnel policies which placed a premium on
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work ethic, attendance and commitment to excellence. We protected
our long-term future with new franchise agreements with
Southwestern Bell and Storer Cable which not only returned a fair
share back to the City and its citizens but also set the rules for
franchises of the future. We were able to get $94,000 from Storer
on the prior franchises, without spending one cent in legal fees -
many cities spent more in legal fees to get those than they got
back in the first place - and were granted $5,000 for our parks.
We resolved the heavy garbage dilemma by contracting, thus saving
the citizens this year $130,000 in direct cost and potential
millions in the future.
Because of our cost-cutting and enhanced revenue sources, we
approved a budget with a tax rate under $0.80 for the first time in
years. We began engineering on the 518 project, which reasonably
should have been started over a year earlier. Mayor Coppinger
proposed and we drafted and passed a no -smoking ordinance.
On the Police front, we initiated the CART or Combined Action
Response Team with League City, Alvin and Friendswood. This team
gives us the tactical ability enjoyed by large city police
departments to respond to emergency situations.
On to September, we began to pave those thirteen dusty, dirty roads
already in use which had never been paved. I couldn't believe the
response was so positive. Those persons were living on these
formerly dusty roads were elated at the product. We also began our
parking and road improvements to McLean Park. We worked
cooperatively with Clean Pearland on a public information program
which did a great job.
The Hughes Road project was born. The Staff presented the idea to
develop a major thoroughfare connecting the new Beltway to FM 518
with the eventual tying into SH 35. In cooperation with the
Chamber of Commerce that same month, we submitted and were granted
$10,000 for economic development.
Fall of 1992 and we were rolling and moving forward. We received
a $6,000 grant to train our employees in CPR so they might save a
life in the future. Maybe your life or that of a loved one. But
we have 160 people now who are trained in CPR in this community
working every day that weren't one year ago. We became more active
in the TriTech Regional Council. I saw John Bowman and Carrie
DeWeems here tonight. TriTech really is the future of Pearland.
We need to work with these people as closely as possible. Pearland
is in the center of the TriTech area.
The Staff identified the needs of a park and open space plan and
the opportunity of hiring a premier park planning firm. The Staff
was able to negotiate a contract for $20,000, less than half the
normal fee, less than half what Friendswood paid for the same
contract next door. We began plans for a turning lane on Barry
Rose and other roads and continued our outstanding cooperative with
Brazoria County in paving.
We installed capacitors to reduce peak time electricity
consumption. Hindsight now shows us this alone saves us $30,000 a
year in electric bills. Glen Erwin really deserves a pat on the
back. Mike Hogg, David Smith, and I met with the railroad and
TxDOT officials on the unsafe intersection of Knapp and Mykawa.
The normal 18 to 24 month time to correct the problem is being
reduced to less than eight months. Those rail arms are up today.
We made requested improvements to the Knapp Building and resolved
a right-of-way dispute which first went to court back in the early
19601s. Mr. Burdine hired Ed Hersh, a park professional with over
a dozen years of supervisory park experience, and a master's degree
in Recreation Administration. Mr. Hersh spearheaded what has been
routinely described as the best Christmas Tree and 4th of July
events in our history. Improvements are everywhere. Our improved
maintenance starts with new paint, benches, and slides at our pool.
The Staff and Park Board recommended we lower our fees at the pool
to increase usership and again the response has been overwhelmingly
positive.
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One more park issue that I don't want to leave out for sure is that
we were funded $233,000+ for McLean Park improvements. Because of
the Staff's expertise, we were awarded a grant the City had
unsuccessfully sought in the past.
The new year, 1993, came in with a report that crime is down. Now,
we can all hypothesize why but the obvious answer is better
delivery of service. Pearland Police Department has become more
proactive, with Crime Prevention and D.A.R.E. taking a bite out of
crime.
In January, we, with David Smith as Emergency Management
Coordinator, compiled our updated Emergency Management Plan, which
is required for Federal aid in time of disaster. You saw what
happens when you don't have those by those people in Florida. We
need to acknowledge the contributions of David Smith, who is a
tireless volunteer to our Emergency Management and Emergency
Medical Service. Surely, there will be stars in his crown in
heaven for the unselfish way he serves this community without
compensation day after day. Our EMS owes its very existence to
David and the other volunteers who give up their sleep and their
personal time and endanger their very lives to serve others. I
would like to stop here and give him a round of applause.
In January, we answered the number one employee complaint, health
insurance. We dramatically increased our coverage to our employees
and made it more affordable for dependents. We had many of our
employees with children and spouses uninsured, but now they can be
insured because we lowered the cost not only to them but because of
a unique use of a 125 modified plan, we also lowered the cost to
you, the public.
We consolidated our Tax Department with Pearland Independent School
District. Thank you, Dick Wagoner and other School Board members.
This was an effort which had been tried and failed before. Our
taxpayers save money and get better, more convenient service in the
process. That money is still $70,000 a year on our end alone plus
$20,000 on theirs.
We were accepted for another grant to replace two bridges on Dixie
Farm Road. We continued our grant for the Crime Prevention
Officer.
Spring brought a new awning at our Service Center yard, a project
in the budget for five years, that although badly needed, never got
off the ground. We also began our west side sewer project on the
books since 1981. We developed a utility extension policy for
outside the City limits. We proposed to fix our long-standing
computer problems by hiring an independent consultant rather than
again throwing good money after bad and being influenced by sales
people. We are in the process of getting tremendous bang for your,
the public, buck and anticipate spending less on computers than in
days gone by.
We continue to make progress in making Cole's Flea Market an asset
rather than a liability to our City. We have monitored their
vendors and made fire, health and security inspections which were
non-existent in years past. We signed the signalization contract
at our last meeting to better handle the traffic congestion in the
Cole's area.
In March, the Staff proposed to refinance our outstanding bond
debt. We will save in excess of $250,000 this year alone because
of this decision. Just in passing, that's about seven cents in
your tax rate.
We also updated our Building Codes and Fees to protect our public
from subsidizing our new development. We asked for more paving
money and the Council gave us part of it. We again pleaded for our
need of impact fees and now have the legally required study
underway.
The community bus trip also took place in March. Community leaders
saw first hand what could be accomplished by working together and
planning for growth rather than simply reacting to it. This one
event may help shape our future more than any other.
In May, we were able to work out a win-win situation at the new K -
Mart sight. The developer from Wisconsin told us we should write
a book on how to make a good development happen.
In June, we held our historic joint meeting of the Council and
School Board, a direct result of the bus trip. We were also
recommended for $300,000 for the Hughes Road extension. We rated
#3 out of 300+ projects in eight counties which puts us in place to
receive nearly $7 million in future federal highway dollars.
Tonight, we planned to unveil our proposed 1994 budget complete
with a significant tax rate reduction. You don't hear that very
often from government. I feel like we are on the leading edge of
a great future for Pearland, if we can simply maintain continuity
at the City Manager and Staff level.
I deserve to keep my job. I feel my record speaks for itself. In
my brief tenure as your City Manager, I have been responsive to the
Council as a body and to the public. I have received glowing
remarks and thank yous for the work we have accomplished. My
family and I are a part of this community, active in our church,
and involved in numerous worthwhile endeavors.
I both live and work with enthusiasm if you've never guessed that.
I am a devoted Christian who holds my conviction above my personal
welfare. That's probably why I'm here today. I am a good daddy,
a faithful husband, a patriotic American, a compassionate and loyal
friend, and as Jesus taught, a good servant and that's something I
really emphasize - I am a public servants I am a servant who can
and will help make Pearland a better place to live. Thank you."
Again, Mayor Coppinger asked that citizens be allowed to come
forward and speak and City Attorney Rorick advised him he had
adjourned the meeting as all posted agenda items had been covered.
City Manager Grohman advised citizens they could speak at the 7:30
regular meeting.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 6:18 P. M.
Min,4t-�es approved as submitted and/or corrected thisZ day of
zy-- , A. D . , 1993.
C. V. Coppi , Mayo
ATTEST:
Pat Jones, s'C1ty Secretary
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