Pre-Incorporation City Council Meetings 11/14/2002City of Spokane Valley
City Council Members -Elect Meeting
Thursday, November 14, 2002
6 PM
Redwood Plaza
11707 East Sprague Avenue, First Floor
Agenda
Opening Remarks
1- Approval of the Meeting Minutes from November 12
2- Proposal from the Liberty Lake Council by Mayor Steve Peterson
3- Discussion of Proposal from Prothman Company
4- Discussion of City Council meetings for date, time, and location
5- Discussion of RFP for banking services
6- Discussion of offers for free copier, need for PO Box and sound equipment
7- Swearing -In Ceremony - November 20, 7 p.m., University High School
Gymnasium
8- Executive Session
New Business
Good of the Order
Adjournment
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CITY OF SPOKANE VALLEY
Council Members-Elect — Listed by Postion Number
CASNkan Wkyl g.,W & F.0 ,Ng undidmn 64.do Re . 11114/02
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Diana Wilhite — 1
617 North Helena
922-3808
534-9001
534-3003 F
dwilhite@gosafeguard.com
Spokane, WA 99202
Steve Taylor — 2
1103 South Glenn Lane
924-2697
362-3529
362-3529 C
votetaylor@lycos.com
Spokane, WA 99206
Mike DeVIeming — 3
3418 South Melissa Dr.
921-9759
924-3800
92147_59F
devieming2002@ipeg.com
Spokane, WA 99206
Gary Schimmels — 4
3015 North Joel Rd.
926-7402
926-5004
993-0144 C
schimmgm@aol.com
Otis Orchards, WA 99027
Richard Munson — 5
12404 East 27 Ave.
922-0113
622-0609
990-4292 C
rmmunson@qwest.net
Spokane, WA 99216
Mike Flanigan — 6
1712 South McCabe Rd.
92+5320
475-6810
475-6810 C
flaniganspokane@aol.com
Spokane, WA 99216
Dick Denenny — 7
1615 South Virginia Rd.
928-7787
924-9211
998-3612 C
rhdkmd@aol.com
Spokane, WA 99216
9248745 F
CASNkan Wkyl g.,W & F.0 ,Ng undidmn 64.do Re . 11114/02
Memorandum
To: "Council In Waiting" Spokane Valley
From: Lee Walton
Date: October 11, 2002
Subject: Thanks
Thank you for allowing the Prothman Company an opportunity to present our qualifications to
the "Virtual" Spokane Valley Council. After meeting the Council candidates and exploring the
City I feel particularly fortunate to be considered as candidate for Interim Manager with a City of
such enormous potential. I am confident that my team and I could make an important
contribution to the success of the new City and equally certain that this would be another
interesting "adventure" for me. As you may have noted in my resume, I have undertaken a
number of assignments in Russia and other former Soviet Republics. After experiencing and
working with local government as it is still practiced in the former Soviet Union it is extremely
refreshing and reassuring to return to a system that actually works. It's a reminder to me that
although our governmental institutions can be (and usually are) difficult, exasperating and
frustrating, they are so much better than the alternatives.
Based on questions I received from a couple of the candidates following our presentation last
night, it seems appropriate that I expand on my presentation comments regarding my managerial
philosophy and "style ". With this in mind, I am taking the liberty of providing the following
extract from an orientation memo I have traditionally provided to new council members in the
various cities I have served with over the years. I trust it will help you understand my orientation
to the assignment and hopefully (if selected) "set the stage" for an effective working relationship.
Of course, these suggestions are occasionally violated but at least they provide some guidelines
for building an efficient and effective city management team. Incidentally, unlike some
Managers, when I use the term "management team" I will be referring to the administrative staff
and the City Council working together.
Since this will be your first experience with a City Manager, it would, of course, take a little time
for each of us to become comfortable with one other. However, it is important that you
understand that, if selected, I am not there to "take over" or provide patented solutions to City
problems. I have been involved with four new incorporations and each has offered unique issues
and problems. What I can do is help you sort through issues facing the City and hopefully
provide some useful advice and direction based on my training and some 30 years in the trenches
Prothman
P A , N , ,Y,,:'.
October. 1,1,.2002,.
Ms. Diana Wilhite
City Council Candidate
City of Spokane Valley
11106 E. 36th Ave
Spokane, WA 99206
Dear Ms. Wilhite:
Thank you for the opportunity to introduce the Prothman Company and our pre - incorporation
team to the City of Spokane Valley. Both Lee and I were impressed with the quality of research
and information offered by the transition committees and how well the City Council candidates
are working together. Clearly the City is much further ahead of other new city incorporations
.because of these efforts.
I realize that selecting a management team is a critical decision. We would be happy to bring the
proposed team to Spokane Valley so you would have an opportunity to meet each member in-
person. I would encourage the City to take this opportunity prior to making any final decision to
ensure you are 100% comfortable with all team members and their qualifications.
I have also included the attached memorandum from Lee which further outlines his management
philosophy and approach to city management in more detail. I hope this will assist you in your
decision making process of selecting your first interim city manager.
We are excited about this opportunity and very much hope our team will be selected to assist the
City Council in creating your new city. Please don't hesitate to call if we can answer any
additional questions.
Sincerely,
Greg rothman
President
10853 8th NW, Seattle, Washington 98177 1 TEL 206.368.0050 1 FAX 206.368.00601 www.prothman.com
of local government. More important is that I bring with me a talented group of experienced
professionals to help the Council address the very formidable problems facing the new City.
COMMUNICATIONS
Perhaps the most important and difficult part of my job as City Manager is maintaining good
communications with the Council. Two or three formal meetings each month are simply not
sufficient to keep Council members up to date and informed regarding affairs of a rapidly
developing city. To supplement these formal meetings, personal contact and "idea exchanges"
with individual members of the council is very helpful for me. For this reason, please feel
welcome to spend as much time as you can spare with me at the City Office. If you can't get in
but need a briefing on some particular issue, please call me and I will arrange for a specific time
and place for you to meet with me and/or an appropriate member of the staff. I am always
looking for an excuse to get away from the desk for a cup of coffee or a site visit to see a special
problem.
In years past, I have used a "private" newsletter to keep the Council informed regarding
"confidential" information on City issues. However, recent "sunshine" laws and newspapers
tend to object to this method so I now just use the newsletter to provide information on routine
administrative matters. Most of the items are not of immediate concern to the Council, but I will
include them to provide you with background information and a sense of the day -to -day
workflow. My feeling is that if you are kept informed regarding operational problems, you will
be in a better position to address policy issues that may arise from these problems. It is always
helpful to get your feedback on issues I raise in the Newsletter because it gives me a better sense
of "where the Council is coming from ".
Council/Staff Relations
Perhaps the single most important factor in the success of any city (particularly a new one) is
achieving a good working relationship among and between the Council and staff. Without a well
developed sense of trust and confidence it is difficult to build an effective management team that
can accomplish goals and withstand the inevitable second guessing of a skeptical public. For this
reason 1 will review my understanding of this subject just to be sure we are traveling on the
same track. This is also an opportunity to offer suggestions on how we can make our
management team more effective in accomplishing what you want done.
Neither I nor your staff are perfect or uniformly excellent, but are generally competent in what
we do, dedicated to the city and supportive of the Council. To build and nourish this important
relationship, there are a few basic rules that are generally recognized as being very helpful.
A. Policy Direction
We, as staff, must work for the Council as a body, not as individuals. Nothing can destroy
teamwork more effectively or be more demoralizing to staff than to get specific direction on
policy matters from individual council members, particularly if this direction conflicts with
existing policy direction from the Council or City Manager. Even when the employee may be
sympathetic to the cause, he /she is placed in a very difficult, and even disloyal, position with the
other council members and fellow employees. This certainly doesn't mean that Council
Members should not discuss issues with staff. Indeed, unlike some City Managers, I encourage
individual members of the council to spend as much time as possible with department heads or
other employees to gather background and exchange ideas. However, I sincerely urge (and
insist) that you be careful not to "position" the staff by asking for commitments or giving specific
direction. Obviously, I'm not talking about minor matters such as asking the Public Works
Director to take care of a pothole complaint or asking the Chief of Police to check out a problem.
B. Recommendations
My standard agreement with the Council regarding recommendations is very simple. Until the
Council makes a decision, I should be free to give you my advice, argue my case and even lobby
the Council. However, once the Council has made its decision, I will actively support it, not just
passively acquiesce to it. Obviously, I don't expect the Council to accept or like all of my
recommendations, but I would hope you would respect my obligations to give you an honest
opinion rather than anticipate what it is you want to hear. From my experience, the worst disease
that can afflict a city (or any organization) is having staff design advice to anticipate what the
Council wants to hear rather than what they honestly believe as professionals to be correct.
When this happens the staff has failed and the inevitable consequences are often serious errors in
public policy. Again, this certainly doesn't imply that the Council is obligated to follow staff
recommendations. This is far from the case, but I think you should expect honest opinions and
avoid undue public criticism of staff when you disagree with those opinions. At the very least,
our recommendations will provide Council with information to test your own ideas.
On the other side of the coin; I will insist that staff accept Council judgments and support your
decisions. I won't tolerate attempts to undercut a Council policy that has been formally
approved.
Incidentally, I will understand your confusion or irritation on those occasional times when I
allow conflicting staff opinions to be presented to the Council. As a rule, we will try to submit a
single clear staff recommendation. However, in those few cases where there is no clear single
answer, I think the Council is best served by hearing competing staff opinions. We will try to
keep this situation to a minimum and reserve it for the most important issues.
C. Criticism
First, in a general sense, I would hope that you can accept the idea that government is not a
science and the kind of work we do is particularly subject to public criticism, especially when
examined after the fact. Perfectly plausible and logical decisions by the staff or Council at one
point have a way of turning around with the passage of time and changes of philosophy. There is
simply no way to completely avoid these kinds of criticisms because they are built into the
system. I have no doubt, for example, that some of the good faith decisions that you and I will
be making (if selected) during the next few months will someday be considered ill- advised by
future Councils. All we can do is exercise our best judgment based on facts presently available
to us.
You will have good quality people working for the city. However, in the complex and ever -
changing environment of local government, I can assure you that mistakes are inevitable even
with the most competent staff. Indeed, the more innovative or aggressive we become in dealing
with complex problems there is a corresponding increase in the probability of error. Nobody
likes to make mistakes, but I have found that too much public criticism or pressure on employees
to avoid errors to frequently cause them to minimize the risk of criticism by avoiding making
decisions and responsibility.
In my experience it is usually more effective to rely on professional pride rather than public
criticism as a means to improve performance of staff because pride in your work is usually a
stronger incentive than embarrassment. Therefore, when public criticism is appropriate, as it
sometimes is, I would ask that it be directed at me as the City Manager. I will, of course,
subsequently, in private, take the department head to task for their errors or mistakes of
subordinates.
This protocol also serves to reinforce accountability within the organization and avoids a "cover -
my- tracks" syndrome. In other words, I prefer department heads who are aggressive and willing
to take the risk of making mistakes as opposed to those who avoid errors by playing it safe by
doing as little as possible. Thus, your actions and attitude as a Council are probably the most
important factors in determining the efficiency and effectiveness of our department heads.
D. Workload
We certainly give you our best effort in following through on all Council directions. However, I
would hope that you'd keep in mind the potential impact of Council directions on staff workload.
Sometimes, without appreciating the consequences, an active and progressive Council will
casually pile up assignments with requests that far exceed staff resources. I am certainly not
suggesting that the Council should not utilize staff to the greatest extent possible, but only that I
hope you will be sensitive to the problem of "overload" when giving assignments. By the same
token, we as staff will try to do more in informing the Council when this happens so you can
become involved in the setting of priorities by postponing or even skipping less important
projects.
Two final items of information that you should become aware of are;
* I acknowledge having a sense of humor that occasionally offends and is sometimes
interpreted as my not taking the job seriously. Please be assured that this is not the case but
simply reflects my way of dealing with the stress and frustrations that go with the job.
* I usually do my own typing which although poor is much better than my handwriting.
Also, when in a hurry, my grammar tends to get sloppy (to the everlasting shame of my English
teacher mother) so please bear with me.
Proothman
Quote
Phones Plus, Inc. No. 24253
1048 N Third Street, Coeur d'Alene, ID 83814
10020 E Knox, Suite 350, Spokane, WA 99206 Date: 10/2/2002
Phone: (208) 664-5500 Fax: (208) 765-7158
E -Mail: rolstad @phonesplusinc.com
Prepared for
UOM
Prepared by Roy Olstad - Job:
Total
City of Spokane Valley
EA
Account No. 207099
130.00
Contact: Robin Palachuk
EA
9.860
9.86
Qty Item ID
Descriptio
O
10.72
I L50002269
Package, SX200 EL & MEh4/STS /Software
EA 7,267.000
$7,267.00
32 L647S -BL
Superset 4025 Backlit Dark Grey
EA 345.170
$11,045.44
2 L105S
DNIC Card (12 digital station ports)
EA 1,496.400
$2,992.80
1 L9180510004NA
Sx -200 EUML Dual link TI/El module
EA 1,654.000
$1,654.00
1 L921M
Software: SX200 72 Pon Option
EA 930.000
$930.00
I L9109530096
Software: SX200 96 Port Option
EA 720.000
$720.00
1 Z999
Mitel wall bracket
EA 192.000
$192.00
1 L002
Misc hardware
EA 1,358.960
$1,358.96
Each includes:
91x. Item ID
1 Miss
1 1,1183
1 1983
1 M635
I M636
1 M902
1 M923
52.00 LABOR INSTALL
Description
UOM
Sell
Total
Modem for Remote Pmgmmming
EA
130.000
130.00
Cable Assembly DB25M/DB9M 6'
EA
9.860
9.86
Adapter. Null Modem M/F 9 Pin
EA
10.720
10.72
Radio FM Tuner(Valcom)
EA
119.880
119.88
Power Supply FM Tuner 12 V 400
EA
18.520
18.52
MAmp
Surge Protection
EA
31.480
31.48
UPS / Minuteman Pm 1400
EA
1,038.500
1,038.50
1,358.96
Labor for Installations
HR 93.750
$4,875.00
Item Total:
$ 31,035.20
Your Price:
$ 24,828.16
Tax at 8.100 %:
$ 2011.08
Total: $ 26,839.24
You saved: $ 6,207.04
For a savings of 20%
Prices are firm until 10/16/2002
Quoted by: Roy Olstad Date: 10/2/2002
Printed: 1012/2002 8:24 AM Page I of 2
- r
Quote
Phones Plus, Inc.
1048 N Third Street, Coeur d'Alene, ID 83814
10020 E Knox, Suite 350, Spokane, WA 99206
Phone: (208) 664-5500 Fax: (208) 765-7158
E -Mail: rolstad @phonesplusinc.com
Prepared for
City of Spokane Valley
Contact: Robin Palachuk
No.
Date:
Prepared by Roy Olstad - Job:
Account No. 207099
LINE ITEM NOTE:
Line items DO NOT REFLECT DISCOUNT PRICES. Discount on MSR is shown on the bottom line only.
CONFIGURATION NOTES:
This is a traditional TDM PBX, but 95% of the equipment and software migrate to IP. Guaranteed.
For the sake of planning, it is configured here for Phase 2 (42 users).
I. The cabinet is initially configured with:
a. Trunking: ISDN PRI card card, providing 2 -way DID trunks so all depts, individuals, inbound modems, etc can have
7 -digit numbers.
b. Analog stations: 12
c. Digital stations: 48
d. Surge protector and 1/2 hour battery backup (UPS)
41 4025 display speakerphones
1 4150 large- screen receptionist phone with DSS /BLF console
4 port voice mail system (with call recording)
Admin GUI
6. 5 seats of ACD software (The City of Spokane is writing the specs for call center software in their RFP for a new ystem
around Mitel's 6110 Call Center Manager, a powerful, web -based product.
7. Music on hold
INSTALLATION
I. Initial system programming
2. Customized training for users and admin level for key staff
3. 5 year cabinet warranty. I year phone, VM, and labor warranty.
PRICING NOTES.
This is average retail pricing for planning and budgetary purposes. You would do well to consider GSA (government contract)
purchasing, which gets you the system at less than dealer cost plus labor.
Accepted by:
Date:
24253
10/2/2002
Printed: 10/2/2002 8:24 AM hp 2 of 2
Page I of 1
Rick Wilhite
From: Francine Shaw [fshaw @rammassociates.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 13, 2002 1:09 PM
To: Diana Wilhite
Subject: Steering Committee Meeting
Hi Diana,
I am not sure if you and the rest of the City Council members have been informed of the upcoming Steering
Committee meeting on November 25th. If you do not already know, the steering committee is a group of elected
officials (County commissioners, two city of Spokane council members, mayors of the other small towns in the
County, etc) as well as other representatives that helps guide growth management/long range planning decisions
on a regional level within Spokane County. It would be great if someone from Spokane Valley could be there to
start to make our presence known and participate in the discussions. The meeting will be held at 9:00 a.m. at the
STA 2nd Floor board room located at 1230 West Boone Avenue if anyone is interested in attending.
Just a thought,
Francine
11/13/02
City of Spokane Valley
Core Team - Estimated Staffing Costs
cep, 1 Fay, () 7_FA 97 -Feh 3 -Mar 10 -Mar 17 -Mar 24 -Mar
2 - Dec 9 - Dec 10-uec It -uec .w-vcc u -,.... .� -,..,, .... -..... -. • -._., __ 3
7,925 12,665 13,165 14,872 9,972 18,665 19,165 18,665 19,165 15,592 16,092 18 665 19,165 18 665 19,165 18,665 L9,165 $ 279,433
P Prothman
C O M P A N Y
- --
Ruth Muller _-
City Clerk
2,240
2,240
1,792
1,792
2,240
2,240
2,240
2,240
1,792
1,792
2,240
2,240
2,240
"
2,240
2,240
2,240
Lee Walton
City Manager
3,825
3,825
3,825
2,720
2,720
3,825
3,825
3,825
3,825
3.400
3,400
3,825
3,825
3,825
3,825
3,825
3,825
Stan McNutt
Deputy City Mgr.
3.600
3,600
1600
2,560
1560
3,600
3,600
3.600
3,600
3,200
3,200
3,600
3,600
3,600
3,600
3.600
3,600
Bob Noack
Finance Director
3.000
3,000
2,400
2,400
3,000
3,000
3,000
3,000
2.400
2,400
3,000
3,000
3.000
3,000
3,000
3,000
Jim Harris
Planning Director
2,400
3.000
3,000
3,000
3,000
2.400
2,400
3.000
3,000
3,000
3,000
3,000
3,000
Dick Warren
Public Works Dir
3,000
3,000
3,000
3,000
3,000
2,400
2,400
3,000
3,000
3,000
3,000
3,000
3,000
Greg Prothman
Project Manager
500
500
500
500
500
500
500
500
500
7,925 12,665 13,165 14,872 9,972 18,665 19,165 18,665 19,165 15,592 16,092 18 665 19,165 18 665 19,165 18,665 L9,165 $ 279,433
P Prothman
C O M P A N Y