January 8, 2013

This is a reminder to submit a financial disclosure form statement to the Council Chair if the Council Member's position in his/her business entity has changed or if the value of such Council Member's interest in the entity has materially increased since last disclosure (SLC Code 2.44.050)

Council Executive Director Cindy Gust-Jensen reminded the Council of this requirement to update each January if there has been any change in financial situation; Councilmember Simonsen indicated he would need to file a new form as he has had a change in employment this past year.

Prior to each calendar year, the Public Utilities Department identifies months for Council Members to include Council District newsletters as part of their monthly mailing. Council Members save on costs associated with mailing, but pay for printing expenses out of their communication budget. There is a limit of three Council District newsletters for each month.

Ø Council Members, please let Council staff know which month you are interested in:

NOTE: In keeping with Council policy and using the US Congress as a guide, Council Members who are up for re-election should not mail out Council newsletters any later than ten weeks before primary election which is August 13, 2013. Council Members seeking re-election should avoid the month of August.

Council Executive Director Cindy Gust-Jensen explained there is the need to know which Council members would be interested in the various editions.

• Council members Christensen, Love and LaMalfa said they would like the March edition.

• Council members Garrott and Simonsen said they would like the August edition.

• Council members Luke and Penfold said they would like the December edition.

As previously authorized by the Council, staff plans to launch the video contest for high school students sometime in January. Council staff is coordinating with School District staff to help launch a high school video contest. Students are being asked to produce a 2 minute video to show Salt Lake City what Arts & Culture, Neighborhood Quality of Life, Transportation & Mobility, Sustainability, Parks and Open Space, Economic Health, and Education means to them.

Council staff has been working on a video to launch this campaign, and will share with Council Members prior to launching. The high school video selected will be broadcast on SLCTV and published on the Council’s website.

Council Executive Director Cindy Gust-Jensen explained Staff will keep the Council updated on the progress.

The Council allocated $90,000 of the FY2012-13 CIP funds to be used in the spirit of doing projects in a “lighter, quicker, cheaper” manner. The $90,000 allocation is to be split equally among the seven council districts. Details of this program include: 1) developing the process for gathering and approving ideas, 2) building a webpage that contains the program information, and 3) developing a communication strategy to inform the public about the program.

The Council Office team has identified areas of feedback needed from the Council. The questions are listed below and attachments are provided for the Council’s review.

Ø Does the Council wish to suggest changes to the website content, grant agreement draft or communication plan? (See Attached)

The proposed program details have not been discussed with the Administration. Council Staff recommends that all details of the program be reviewed with affected Administrative Departments.

a. CED – This department currently administers the City’s other grant programs.

The proposed Neighborhood Mini Grant Program has not yet been assigned to a City Department. The following are some options about how to proceed with this program:

a. Turn the funding over to the Administration with conditions, including splitting the funds equally among council districts and criteria previously discussed by the Council at the November 20^th meeting.

b. Council Office could accept applications, and request the Administration’s assistance in reviewing project ideas with Council Subcommittee. Subcommittee recommendations would go to full Council for approval.

c. Pass a resolution (similar to Olympic Legacy Project) that states criteria and approval and administration of funds. Applications could be accepted, approved by the Council, and then funds could be disbursed by the Administration.

NOTE: Council Staff has prepared the following materials associated with the proposed program. Some of the materials will be external, as useful resources for applicants, while others are intended to be internal in order to administer the program’s details, including complying with accounting requirements. Before finalizing, Council Staff recommends the Administration (City Attorney’s Office, Finance, Community and Economic Development, IMS, and Other Departments) review program materials.

Attachment	Key User	Description
Website	Public	Program content, timeline and requirements, including online application.
Application	Public	Project ideas considered for funding can be submitted either online or printed and mailed.
Checklist	Public	A resource that provides a list of program requirements for project proposals to be considered and steps that will need to be completed if a project is awarded a grant.
Grant Agreement Draft	City Staff and Grantee	Proposed agreement that includes project, payment terms, and responsible party.
Communication Plan	Council	Communication plans for getting program information out to the public, includes press releases for media and Council Member weeklies.

Council Executive Director Cindy Gust-Jensen explained the Staff formed a working group to come up with various ways to approach this issue. It was known to be important to the Council and it sounded as if the desire was for them to take an especially active role in the process. She referred to options a, b, c for Council consideration.

Councilmember Garrott stated he would like to add the option to have CED administer the grants with a City Council member from the appropriate district involved in the decision-making committee in any manner determined.

Councilmember LaMalfa stated he can see that Staff has spent a great deal of time in putting this together; however, he is concerned with being overly bureaucratic in terms of the contract. He stated the application seems simple until being requested to check boxes to comply with all permits, processes and plans. He stated he feels the contract is intimidating and not legal-ease; does it need to be dispersed to an entity or to a person; and what about insurance requirements (does the City insure them or require them to purchase their own policy).

Ms. Gust-Jensen explained staff has not vetted this process at all with Administration pending feedback of the Council; Administration does have the Small Neighborhood Grant program. She stated when the Council first voted, it sounded like they wanted the option to administer the program in –house. One approach would be to ask the Administration to administer it in the same manner as they do the Neighborhood Grant Program. Another is similar to during the Olympics, how the City kept control of the funds and dispersed them but the Council made the final decision on the projects for each district and Administration carried out the remainder of the items. She suggested checking with Administration to see if they have an existing simpler process.

Councilmember Penfold stated he would like to check with Administration to see if there is a simple mechanism already in place that meets his goal of the funds being really easy to apply for and easy to receive.

Councilmember Christensen stated he feels just having some type of feedback or oversight as to how the funds got used would be acceptable; there is not the goal of the Council to administer the entire process. He stated he would hate to recreate the wheel if there is a way to synergize with the current staff process. It would be nice to give input on how the funds got used at least the first round to get a flavor as to what people have applied for.

Ms. Gust-Jensen stated staff can gather the details as to the current Neighborhood Grant Program and how it could possibly compliment this program.

The National League of Cities Conference is scheduled for March 9 – 13, 2013. The Utah Legislative Sessions ends March 14. Ken Bullock with the ULCT indicated that because of the scheduling conflict, many of the cities from Utah will not be attending the NLC, and as such, the ULCT will not be hosting their traditional dinner event. Further, Carlton has learned that the US House of Representative will not be in session during the time of the Conference.

Ø Would Council Members prefer to attend the Conference as scheduled and set up an another time for congressional visits?

Ø Would Council Members prefer to schedule another time for a congressional visit?

Council Executive Director Cindy Gust-Jensen stated staff has secured reservations for the conference; because the timing is off there is the need to determine who would still like to attend. If not, there is the need to know if there is desire to go another time to deliver the City’s message to the federal legislators. She explained attendance at the conference is two-fold; attending as well as making congressional visits. The City lobbyist in Washington, D.C. (Len Simon) sets those up and they can be done at any time; in conjunction with the Mayor; by the Council at various times in coordination with the Mayor’s Office, etc. It was determined the individual Council members could decide and get back with Staff.

Councilmember Simonsen stated if the Council feels it important to go, he would tentatively like to attend but must first verify his schedule.