David Zemens | Rochester City Council

I am pleased to report that I was elected to a four year term on the Rochester City Council as a result of finishing third in the November 3, 2009 election.

I was fortunate enough to be supported by a wonderful mix of people from various areas of our city. Getting to know many of you, and forming some new friendships, was an added benefit to the campaign process.

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The new city council decided to take a different approach to the annual budget review process this year. In the past, the process was quite simply a rubber stamp for whatever the city administration asked for. To call it a review process was something of a misnomer.

With income tight and property values falling, many councilpersons, including myself, believed that a tax cut was necessary. After carefull deliberation, four days of budget meetings and hours of discussion, I am happy to report that we completed the budget process on Monday, March 21st.

City Income Will Fall in 2008

Income expectations are expected to fall this year, largely due to falling property values within the city. As a result of these falling values, the city expects to take in approximately .3 mills less in property taxes this year compared to 2007.

Eliminate the “Assistant City Manager” Position

We reviewed and completed the various department level budgets, and I am pleased to report there were no reductions made to city services. There was one change in staffing levels, however.

The council opted to eliminate the “Assistant City Manager” position, which was left vacant after the retirement of Carl Renius in February of this year. Replacing that position will be a new “Assistant to the City Manager” position.

This change in status will likely result in the employment of a younger Assistant who has expectations of future employment in the capacity of an Assistant City Manager or a City Manger.

The expectation is that this change in position will save the city approximately $30,000.00 per year without any reduction in city services.

Core City Services

I am pleased to report that there will be absolutely no reduction in core city services in 2008-2009. In fact, several significant changes were added to various department level budgets that are likely to increase the effectiveness of city services. But at the very least, no cuts were made.

Discretionary Spending

The biggest difference that took place in this years budget review was how the council addressed dispensing the discretionary income. This is the portion of the income that remains after budgeting for all core city services. This year that amount approximately $832,000.00.

The council took a very deliberate and cautious approach to studying all items that were discretionary in nature. When the final budget was complete, I am delighted to report that we had a remaining balance of .9 mills after all spending was complete. The council decided to return this .9 mills to the taxpayers in the form of a tax cut for 2009. This equates to approximately $690,000.00 that will be returned to your pockets.

The Final Result

There were no cuts to core city services. Several enhancement were made to department level budgets. Spending was critically reviewed and the fat was cut out of the budget. Money was returned to the taxpayers. It’s a win-win situation. And best of all, not a single dime was taken from any of the city fund balances. Not one penny.

Some people said that it couldn’t be done. Guess what? They were wrong and I am delighted to say so!

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On Saturday, February 23rd the council met in an open meeting to continue the city manager search process. There were a total of sixty five applications made. Our hiring consultatant, Mark Nottley, reviewed those 65 applicants and reduced the number to 27 for us to review.

I was very pleased with how the council approached the review of these applicants. Mayor Stuart Bikson suggested a simple strategy that allowed the full council to move rather quickly, but efficiently, through the applicant resumes. After several hours of review, we were able to reduce the working number of applicants being considered to five.

Next Come the Interviews

The five remaining candidates will be scheduled for two hour interviews during the weekend of March 7th. These interviews will be orchestrated by Mr. Nottley, who will have 45 minutes of time to ask the candidates a number of pre-prepared questions.

After he is finished, each council person will have a short time (five minutes, perhaps) during which individual council members will be able to ask their own question(s).

Coming to a Consensus

After considering all the applicants, the council as a whole will begin deliberations about the candidates just interviewed with the goal of coming to a consensus about which candidate is the best person to manage our city. Assuming a consensus is reached, we will have identified the candidate who we would like to see lead our city into the future.

The Final Pieces of the Puzzle

Assuming a consensus was reached regarding a new city manager, it is the intent of the council to meet in closed session after the March 10, 2008 council meeting where we will discuss a compensation/contract package for the new manager.

Once this is complete, Mayor Bikson will be charged with making contact with our chosen applicant and “closing the deal”, so to speak.

My Thoughts on the Process

I was very pleased with the resume review process that we followed and with the resulting list of candidates. We were blessed with a very strong pool of candiates to review, and I am confident that we will be able to select a new city manager who fits the needs and expectations of the council and of the community.

The entire council has worked extremely hard on this issue. Each member has contributed directly to making the process a success, and I was pleased to see the manner in which we all worked together to reach this point in the hiring process.

From my perspective, the future looks bright. And it’s getting brighter every day.

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