Red Words

While meeting with reporters Wednesday afternoon, Mayor Jon Harrison mentioned that contract renegotiations with City Manager N. Enrique Martinez could result in a new agreement by the April 15 City Council meeting.

Martinez's current contract is dated March 20 of last year. The five-year deal gives him a base annual salary of $218,000 per year.

Martinez was hired to whip the city's budget into shape. There was some controversy during the immediate aftermath of his hiring, as he had been placed on administrative leave from the city manager's post in Lynwood. A report leaked from that city revealed that Martinez neglected to inform his Lynwood council members that he married a subordinate while in office there.

That report exonerated Martinez of a more serious allegation of improperly using Lynwood's money to remodel offices. At the time, Redlands council members said they were aware of the allegations and defended Martinez's record and character.

Since then, council members have generally had positive things to say about Martinez's work in Redlands. Although the city manager's proposals to raise sales taxes and undertake a complicated plan that would have used water payments to create an endowment for city projects were rejected, Martinez has promised that Redlands will avoid red ink and Harrison on Wednesday voiced his approval for the city manager's fiscal efforts.

"He's been able to get the departments to step up and work with the funds we have," Harrison said.

Measure F, a new levy on distribution centers, is another of Martinez's proposals. Voters ratified that tax in November.

Contract negotiations have been held in closed session over the course of recent weeks.

A new contract could be voted upon in public session during Tuesday's council meeting,.

"If it's not agreeable, we'll go back to the table," Harrison said.

Posted by Andrew Edwards at 6:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mayor Jon Harrison met with inland reporters Wednesday afternoon at City Hall to preview his upcoming state of the city remarks.

Harrison plans to deliver his remarks April 17 at the University of Redlands. Representatives from city departments are also slated to be on hand to chat with Redlanders about their work.

Over the past year, City Hall's finances have generated several news stories dealing with officials efforts to keep the city's budget in the black. Before fiscal 2007, Redlands went five straight budget cycles without adopting a balanced budget.

The city now has a law that mandates a balanced budget. Harrison said Wednesday that Redlanders shouldn't expect any major revelations regarding city finances to be made during his speech next week.

The mayor did say that adopting a balanced budget for fiscal 2009 would pretty much trump any other considerations. That could mean that City Hall goes into a holding pattern for the next few years and refrains from launching major initiatives or even shrinks city operations or payroll.

"Every indication is that the economy is going to stay pretty flat," Harrison said. "We're not looking for opportunities to expand nrograms," he said.

"I don't know at this time if there are any cuts," he added. "If that's what it's going to take to bring it to a balanced budget, that's what the manager is going to bring forward to us."

Harrison did not say that the city is abandoning all major projects. He said City Hall is working on plans to develop a more systematic approach to tackling significant capital investments, such as road repair or a new police station.

This kind of planning has been lacking in past years, Harrison said.

"We've never gotten them into a queue, if you will, of how we're going to get them done," he said.

Harrison said his speech next week will also highlight environmental policies, which, by all indications, are close to the mayor's heart.

He said recreational projects like trails and the more businesslike concepts of rail transit and mixed-use development (i.e. Residences and businesses in the same blocks. The theory is that people will live closer to their workplaces and not have to burn fuel while commuting).

Harrison said the federal government has not taken up this guantlet and it's up to cities to use their powers to reduce oil consumption and pursue other policies intended to protect the environment.

"The opportunity we should embrace is how we can become a leader in the energy economy," he said.

A third point Harrison mentioned is his intent for Redlands' government to be more visible to the public. He said he wants to institute a schedule of community meetings (at least four per year) to talk policy with Redlanders.

"The community said last year that we were just not listening and explaining what was going on," he said.

The State of the City event is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. April 17 in the Casa Loma Room at the University of Redlands, 1200 East Colton Ave. Refreshments, but not a full dinner, will be provided.

There's no fee to watch but reservations are requested. Harrison said he's hoping to draw a full crowd of Redlanders to the event.

Information: (909) 798-7511.

Posted by Andrew Edwards at 6:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There weren't a lot of fireworks at Tuesday's City Council sessions, hence the focus on the Redlands Bicycle Classic in the print edition of The Sun. The biggest news of the evening was the council's approval of a development agreement with Chicago-based General Growth Properties concerning the Redlands Promenade, a planned shopping center that would be built south of the 10 Freeway, west of Eureka Street.

The four-year deal locks in the city's existing development rules and fee schedule. The agreeement also commits City Hall to install traffic signals around the project and make other "regional improvements" such as sewer and drainage improvements. The agreement describes these regional improvements as work that "was contemplated to be constructed by the City without regard to the proposed Project."

The council voted 4-0 to seal the deal, Councilman Jerry Bean recused himself, explaining that he had a conflict of interest relating to a source of income.

Martin Vahtra of General Growth Properties said the company could pull building permits within a month's time.

"Our goal is to get into the ground as quickly as we possibly can," he told council members.

Other City Council actions on Tuesday included:

-The council voted 5-0 to approve a lease agreement with Omnipoint Communications, AKA T-Mobile, that's needed for the company's plans to build a cell tower at Hillside Memorial Park, which is the city-run cemetery.

The deal calls for T-Mobile to shell out $1,999 per month for the first year of contract. T-Mobile's monthly payments would jump to $2,100 for the next four years. After the first five years of the term, the city can hike rents by 18 percent for the next five-year term.

T-Mobile does not yet have the ability to construct the tower. The Planning Commission has yet to grant that permit.

No one at the meeting spoke in opposition to the proposed tower. A different T-Mobile tower that's been proposed to be built near homes along Country Club Drive has aroused serious opposition among a group of neighbors who have protested that proposal based on their worries about the radio frequency-emitting tower posing a possible health risk and an unwelcome sight from their homes.

-The council accepted an $18,750 donation from the Redlands Noon Kiwanis Club for landscaping along Eureka Street's median between Pearl Street and Redlands Boulevard. Several motorists entering Redlands from the 10 Freeway use Eureka Street and it's no exaggeration to say that area could use a little sprucing up, given its proximity to some vacant land and a few buildings that have seen better days.

Mayor Jon Harrison recused himself from the formal vote to accept the money because his employer, ESRI founder Jack Dangermond, was one of the donors.

-The closed session agenda included contract negotiations between Harrison and City Manager N. Enrique Martinez. There was no report of any decision made at the council meeting.

Martinez was hired as City Manager in March of last year. He then inked a five-year contract with a base salary of $218,000. While new to Redlands, Martinez had a rocky relationship with inland media outlets (including The Sun) that stemmed from coverage of the fact that he was hired while on administrative leave from duties with the city of Lynwood.

Martinez's defenders in Redlands said at the time that he was being retaliated against for refusing to comply with unethical behavior in Lynwood, a city that's not exactly known as a home to transparent and effective governance. The Los Angeles Wave newspaper has recently reported that three former Lynwood council members - including a pair who were in office when Martinez worked in Lynwood - have been ordered to stand trial on charges of misusing public funds.

During the past year, Martinez's achievements include the city's first balanced budget after five straight years of spending-heavy budgets and a reorganization of city offices, including the much-trumpted "One Stop Permit Center" that was intended to make it easier for people to do business with the city.

Although some of Martinez's ideas have fallen flat (remember the Mill Creek water rate plan?) council members have consistently told this blogger that they've been pleased with his work in Redlands over the past year.

Posted by Andrew Edwards at 6:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)