Good afternoon.
Welcome to Vancouver City
Council. I'm Anne McEnerny Ogle
mayor for the city. And today
is Monday, August 24th, 2026.
City Manager. We're going to
start this 3:00 meeting off
with the Vancouver Fire
Department support staff
proposal. Would you like to
make the introductions?
>> Yeah, I'd like to welcome
Chief Drake from the fire
department to brief the council
on some of the activities that
he's been working on, and I
think the council's largely
aware that he spent the first
half year of his tenure, tenure
so far really working to
develop a strategic plan for
the department, kind of
evaluating where he sees cracks
in our overall levels of
service, what we can do to
improve across multiple
different arenas. But in order
to really effectively be able
to carry out that strategic
plan, he's also taken a look at
the gaps in the department and
the level of staffing that it
would take in these early years
to really make it successful,
hence the need for the
presentation today to come to
the council. Both the update on
the strategic plan, but also an
outline of what he sees as
being able to carry it forward.
>> Thank you chief. Go ahead.
>> Honorary members of the
Council, mayor Anne McEnerny
Ogle. Council Member Perez
Stober and Paulson, thank you
for the opportunity and a
privilege to speak to all of
you today on something that I
am very passionate about, and
that's public service, public
safety and safeguarding our
community. I know all of you
are, which is my prelude into
this city's strategic plan,
because I want to talk about
that first and how we developed
ours to factor into the city's
plan. One of the major
attractions about coming to the
city of Vancouver was the fact
that I recognized there was
progressive leadership here.
The people who had the ability
to forecast where we needed to
move into the future. And in
fact, I was very optimistic
about the strategic plan that
the city had. But then through
further research, I learned
more about all the things the
city is doing. So I want to
talk about that and how our
plan comes into it. We've just
the city has just gotten
approval for a comprehensive
plan, as all of you know, 20
year plan that talks about
shared community vision. That's
a long term 20 year plan.
Additionally, master plans,
robust plans with community
partnerships, more of a medium
5 to 10 year program. And then
this strategic plan that the
city had from 2023 to 2029, 3
to 6 year medium term, a city
council's citywide focus areas
that are extremely important,
which gives organizational
direction for employees. Then
there's your biennial budget,
financial policies and
operational plans. Short term
one year. But these are
departmental service levels and
capital outlays, financial
forecasts and tax revenues. So
I bring these into it because I
want to talk about strategic
plan, organizational fit. And
the City of Vancouver also had
a performance management
program when they were
discussing this performance
management policies and the
things they were going to
pursue. And that involved
Dayley strategic discipline,
performance management pathways
for improving and innovating
and regularly reporting to the
City Council. I'd like to add a
few things to that. The
majority of strategic plans
fail, and the reason that they
do is they're not properly
measured and managed too often.
They are eight and a half by 11
glossies of about 50 to 75
pages, and they're
communicating to elected
officials how well their
department is ready to perform.
And these plans too often
become rhetorical paperweights,
meaning that they're not really
employed to work. And we're not
going to do that in the VFD. I
like to quote John Wooden
because I do this a lot. Bear
with me, he said. Failing to
plan is planning to fail.
Dwight Eisenhower comes on
later, said plans are useless.
Planning is indispensable.
They're both right. The first
thing you have to do is build a
plan, but don't allow that plan
to become just a product.
What's important is that it is
measured and managed. To the
extent that it becomes a
strategic process. And that's
why in our plan, we are calling
it strategic processes for
service excellence. And it
dovetails right into that. But
first, I want to go into the
city's core values livability,
sustainability and resilience,
innovation, equity and
inclusion, trust and
relationships. All important.
Other factors involved in this
were collaboration, inclusivity,
innovation, empowerment, and
compassionate perspectives. In
our 26 to 29 strategic plan, we
intentionally use those dates
because that's when I got here
and we started developing this
plan. And I want to avoid I's
and me's in this presentation
because I'm very fortunate to
have a great team. We have
about 400, 500 people that need
to sign the plan, not me about
how well we did, I think, to
factor our plan into what the
city's endeavors are with all
of those other macro level
plans that you've developed,
and in our safe and prepared
community, it was very easy to
come up with a title, the title
being a safe and prepared
community, because that was
what was brought to attention
in the city's strategic plan
and public safety was charged
with doing that. So that was
one of the easiest portions of
this process. But we went
through many iterations and
environmental scans and
internal and external
stakeholders. We did this Swot
analyzes the the macro level,
political, economic, social,
technological, environmental,
legal, analyzes and the things
we did to try to get the
information that we needed to
come up with substantive vision,
mission values and goals, and
then at greater level of
specificity with our focus
groups and all of our
stakeholders that provided
specifics relative to our
strategies to achieve those
goals, which are identified in
our plan. And then even more
specifically, we always
champion the value of smart
tactics specific, measurable,
achievable, relevant, and
timely. So we established focus
groups to develop these tactics
that have a great level of
specificity. So it's tailored
to the needs of our community,
but it also factors in our
capacity to be able to provide
those needs. So in this safe
and prepared community proposal,
we are also talking about staff
positions that could be
factored into this as well. All
right. And of these staffing
support positions and the
funding that I would like to
address to we have, for lack of
better terms, benevolent
altruists and Anne Keesee Fire
District five. After talking to
them at our commission meetings
and sharing with them our plan
and the endeavors that we have
moving forward, communicating
what we need to get there. And
they have graciously initially
signed a commitment and Elya
interlocal agreement, and
that's transitioned into an
amendment to support the
positions that I'm going to
talk about. Our VFD vision is
to be a regional leader in
public safety and emergency
services, forging unified
partnerships and safeguarding
our community. And that is not
a rhetorical statement. All of
the statements that we have in
there are sincere and evaluated.
Thank you. And so we started
off a program called High
Performance Organizations and
invited our regional partners
from Portland, from Camas, from
Gresham, Salem, the VPD.
District three. District six,
Keesee Gufler. And we've been
doing a program for four months
to cultivate these
relationships so that we can
operate on a larger scale to
provide optimal services. We
know our size, and we know that
we have great people doing a
fantastic job in this
organization. However, we do
have limitations. We have 53
people on duty every day.
That's not enough to handle a
major high rise fire or a
wildland conflagration, or even
sometimes a multi-casualty
incident or active shooter.
Hazardous materials with $25
billion or more that could be
corrected on that. Traveling
down the Columbia River.
There's so many things in the
way of the emergency services
that we can improve upon that
would help us. So more
specifically, that's what we
see in our future again, to be
that regional leader. But in
the immediate, the reason we
show up for work every day is
our statement about our mission,
and that is to preserve life,
protect property, and ensure a
safe, prepared community.
Values extremely important.
Earlier in my career, I was
more dismissive of these values
because I thought, I'm a Type A,
I want to work, just work and
get the job done well. We also
learned that they affect the
culture of the organization,
the informal and the formal
culture, and they are extremely
important. So it can't just be
one word. There needs to be
statements written about what
those words mean, so they
resonate most with our people.
And like I said, our our formal
and informal cultures in the
vcfd are great, but our people
and myself, we have not reached
our full capacity to make the
community a safe and prepared,
as we'd like for major type
incidents. I would like to just
read through our goals real
quick, and then we'll move on
to what the plan represents and
the positions to deliver
exceptional public safety and
emergency services. It's
typically a public safety
partner goal that you're going
to see in fire service
organizations throughout the
country. Goal number two, to
promote a safe, healthy work
environment that effectively
manages personal and
organizational risks. Goal
three commit to a progressive,
respectful culture that
advances belonging, equity and
inclusion. Goal for cultivate
interactive leadership,
collaborative partnerships, and
responsible performance
management. Goal five foster
personal growth, professional
development and organizational
succession. Goal six identify,
implement and integrate
emerging technological
innovations and last goal seven
strengthen disaster
preparedness response and
community relations and
resilience. So in these goals,
I'm not going to go into a
great level of specificity. I
realize I have 45 minutes to go
before you with 15 minutes of
questions. So I want to hit the
highlights of what each of
these represent. But as I move
through this, I want to explain
how this works, the overarching
vision all the way down to the
tactics. If there's not a great
level of specificity in your
tactics, it will be vague and
vagueness kills leadership.
This is the leadership mantra
in my opinion. When you
establish your vision, your
direction for your future, your
mission, your purpose, your
reason for existence, when you
communicate your values, it
really exudes what our
principal beliefs are here in
Vancouver Fire Department and
the goals, what we're going to
do. When I came here, there
were no goals for this fire
department. And then specific
strategies and tactics on how
to achieve them. So on the
right side of your screen,
you'll see that we have
numerical prioritizations there.
Our goal number one is obvious
up at the top to the left.
That's what we're calling a
strategy to achieve that goal.
And then the tactics and the
column that's colored just
above the numerical
prioritization are what we're
actually going to do. So with
those tactics, we are
communicating operationally
what we are going to do, but
we're going to use this roadmap
for success. And when I said
numerically prioritized, I
meant as budgets ebb and flow,
what I felt important was to
ensure that we had this
prioritization so that we can
accomplish what we can within
the budgetary constraints that
we do or the resources. And
that's what you're seeing right
there. And on this page. The
other thing I want to say about
these are, when you look at
those numbers, number one, .1.1
is to conduct a comprehensive
strategic plan that has a
standards of coverage, which
really looks at our resources,
our distribution, concentration,
and and effectiveness and
reliability of our resources as
call loads continue to increase.
And they're increasing about
3.86% per year. The previous
year was 38,422 calls for
service. And this last year,
2025 was 3.86% more of just
about 40,000 calls per year.
And so what we're doing is
we're leaning forward on what
we need for special operations,
deployment of these resources,
and EMS, approximately 80% of
our call load has to deal with
EMS. The numerical
prioritization also identifies
areas like emergency operations,
administrative operations, our
fire marshal's office. These
are all areas where we need to
develop plans. And in these
plans, it includes EMS,
division, training division,
logistics, health and safety,
as well as marine and shipboard
operations, hazardous materials,
technical rescue, wildland fuel
management, community risk
reduction, railway and
earthquake, to name a few.
Because there are more. And I
will say this, and I'm not
condemning this organization,
we have no plans. I will also
say this we have no emergency
operations for that. And the
city I came from, we had very
robust plans because we needed
to think forward on these
issues. We can't wait until the
emergency happens before we
start preparing for it. These
plans will show our level of
preparation, and the
operational manuals will map
out what we should actually do
to be the most effective. These
things need to be done before
the emergencies happen, and we
see what's going on in Seattle
with the active shooter and
active threat in Oregon with
the wildland conflagrations,
whether it's a hazmat on on the
railway or on a shipboard,
there's many incidents that we
need to do more preparation for.
So these plans and operational
manuals are so important to our
success in the future. As we
grow and evolve as a city, and
the regional relationships we
have are extremely important
because of our limited
resources. In the event we do
this. If we had a high rise
fire in downtown Vancouver,
which could happen, we have 16
stories and it's still growing.
53 people aren't going to take
care of that. But the
partnerships that we have will.
That's why we need to develop
these plans. And I'm not going
to go into a tremendous amount
of specificity, because I'll
bore you to death and hit you
with PowerPoint pain. However,
I also want to say
administratively, we don't have
professional standards. We
don't have policies and
procedures, and we don't have
progressive discipline, no
discipline procedures. And I'm
actually dumbfounded by this.
We have sogs people doing great
things within those guidelines,
but they are not overarching
plans and operational manuals
that are going to demonstrate
effectiveness as a regional
public safety leader. Not even
close. Because in my career,
I've worked in a city where we
had these incidents, and I know
what it takes to prepare for it
and to develop these manuals.
And that's why I'm trying to
reinforce repetitively and
resoundingly how important this
funding is going to help us as
we move through this. So before
I go into those positions,
because in the fifth tenet of
your strategic plan, the cities,
I thought it was fantastic that
they got into performance
management. That is something
that I'm a huge believer in.
But before you start managing
and before you start measuring,
you have to develop a plan
through that progressive
leadership. The city has done
it, the VFD has done it right
now, and everybody has an
electronic copy of this. And so
we've outlined our roadmap for
success. We've showing what we
need to navigate to get there.
We don't have the resources to
do it, not on a large scale.
And so the performance
leadership tenets, I just
talked about performance
measurement. I won't go through
all of those things, but the
performance measurement
practices will be employed.
We'll look at our inputs, our
resources, our activities, our
product. What are people doing?
Are they are they aligning with
our desired outcomes? What
really is happening? And then
we'll measure targets along the
way, incrementally as we
navigate our way through the 26
to 29 VFD plan. And then on a
management cycle, we will
monitor and evaluate our
progress towards achieving
these goals. We will evaluate
our measures of effectiveness,
how well we're actually
performing. In the pursuit of
these goals, we will analyze
trends to determine what is
actually going on so that we
can lean forward and make
adjustments to prepare. And
then we're going to learn. And
iteratively, we're going to go
back through that cycle, and we
are going to supplant obsolete
tactics with more relevant
tactics that are important for
the needs of our community,
because this is an evolving
community. So I don't call it a
strategic plan as much as I
call it a strategic process.
Again, the process needs to be
used, not a product that is
sits and doesn't get used. So
that is my prelude into what
the city has done and what what
I think our team has done to
develop a very robust,
comprehensive plan for our
limited capabilities here in
the VFD. So I'd like to move to
our Chief of Staff position and
our Chief of Staff. I think
this is an extremely important
position, and I forwarded an
updated org chart to make it
more clear of of how the VFD is
outlaid right now. Currently, I
have one deputy chief and I
have a vacant position as a
second deputy Chief. I have two
authorized positions. Two, and
I was willing to give up a
position as a deputy chief for
support services and strategic
planning, because I knew we as
a team could handle it. But the
reason I did that was because
we are working on an Underfill
to allow a battalion chief to
act as chief of staff, which
would provide upward mobility
and succession planning for the
VFD. I would like to see, or I
envision in the future with the
fantastic employees we have,
especially in the Battalion
chiefs rank in our captains
rank of not bringing in the
outsiders so much, although
they provide fresh views and I
laugh and joke with the city
manager, say, look what you did.
You hired a knucklehead from LA.
But the thing I like to add is
we got great people in this
organization and we're missing
the mark. I wouldn't trade any
of them for any of the 500 I
had in LA. That's how good
these people are. But they
don't reach their full capacity
because we haven't done our
leadership piece. They can be
better and we will make them
better if we are awarded the
opportunity to have these
positions, this chief of staff
will learn what it takes to
become a division chief, what
it takes to become a deputy
chief, and he might even be the
next fire chief. And I want to
see these people ascend the
corporate ladder because they
have institutional knowledge
that has extreme value. So the
bullet points they would report
to me, certainly, but they
would also manage key
priorities and initiatives I
outlined in our strategic plan.
And in fact, each of in our job
descriptions that we outlined,
there's a nexus between the
numerical prioritization and
the plan and what we've
identified on the job
descriptions. So you can see by
looking at those how important
those positions are. This isn't
just me arbitrarily,
unilaterally, or capriciously
saying I need them because I'm
saying we need them. And I'm
outlining with direct tactics
of all the things we can
accomplish with these positions.
So I, I asked the council to
please take a look at what
these they can actually offer
us, because this is a brief
synopsis in the PowerPoint and
the job descriptions, it shows
what they are going to be able
to do. And that chief of staff
is instrumental to upward
mobility and succession
planning and the development of
our own people. They'll be
working with our internal
external stakeholders. They
will be working with
administrative improvements to
recommend enhancements to the
VFD. There's so many talents on
an administrative, on a labor
perspective and an operational
level they have here, and no
one at all. But they still
don't understand the incident
command systems the way they
can. They aren't going to be
able to manage those larger
incidents the way they have the
capabilities of doing, because
we haven't provided this for
them. So that is the
instrumental, and this is an
underfill at what I'm going to
say is, and I'll probably get
corrected by our CFO or city
manager at no cost to the city,
because this does not create
overtime for battalion chiefs.
It is an administrative
position and it is an Underfill,
which is less expensive than a
deputy chief. On to the next
seven positions. The emergency
Services Manager will do
professional standards manager
next. Incidentally, there is no
professional standards here. As
I mentioned, no progressive
engagement, no professional
standards, no discipline
policies. They're just not
policies and procedures on
anything that I can find other
than guidelines. So the
professional standards manager
is there to provide progressive
leadership, mentorship,
coaching, counseling,
investigative discipline and
performance management
initiatives to help this
department get better as we
grow. Because the more
employees and the higher the
call load and the more services
we provide, the more challenges
we're going to have, and we
need to lean forward on it.
They will help with the
reviewing VFD manuals and
developing related to
professional standards,
progressive engagement and
performance management. They'll
also collaborate with HR
because I think we need to
cultivate that relationship
with HR and many others to
ensure accountability for
professional conduct and
oversee administrative
investigations related to
internal external complaints or
personnel matters. The next
position emergency Services
manager I think this is
important. Also, the Emergency
Service Manager will coordinate
completion and maintenance of
standards of coverage analysis,
which is NFPA 1710. Once again
on the distribution,
concentration and reliability
of our resources. And basically
that means is the distribution
how many stations we have 11
concentration. What do we have
in each of those stations. Well
some have an engine or we have
a truck, an engine and a squad.
And then reliability is when
there are impacts in districts
due to call load and say engine
eight, the only resource in
that district is out on a call.
We have to send a resource from
a further location, thus
increasing our response times
and reducing public safety and
service levels. So these are
all factors that we look at in
determining where we're going
to deploy our resources. We
also have another position that
can help us in our data
analysis unit to facilitate our
success in developing those.
But the Emergency Services
Command will help us with the
standard of cover for our
Public Information Officer
program. We have eight members
in our Pio program that we
would transfer that to one
member that would be
coordinating more of that on a
on a more regular basis, at
least in a 40 hour week. They
will also facilitate the
completion of these operational
manuals and sharing integrated
planning with regional law
enforcement partners. We have a
great relationship with VPD and
our regional partners here too.
We also need a continuity of
operations plan, a plan that
shows what we're going to be
doing to keep continuing
operations. When we do have
challenging events that we're
at too. So those are the ones
outside of it. The next one is
a support specialist. This
support specialist three
performs responsible record
management and suppression of
personnel training and
certifications. We cannot run
an academy for recruits at the
same time as engage in
promotional processes for
engineers and captains and
battalion chiefs. So our domino
effect is actually not cost
effective. If we could have
more of a capacity with with
help at our training division
to be able to run these
programs concurrently, it would
help with our staffing levels.
And my goal is, is to reduce
some of the overtime that we
are, because we all know that
we're very expensive in the
overtime. There is no doubt
about that. Organize and
manages logistics, provides
general support for core
training, things like academies,
promotional processes,
department wide drills,
regional partnerships,
cooperatives with our law
enforcement partners, partners,
clerical support for
implementation of new programs,
procedures, methods and systems.
And incidentally, we had three,
I want to say two and a half
support specialist positions
removed. One half was at the
fire marshal's office and then
one at the front desk and one
in training. So we don't have
those two and a half support
specialists, and we hope to
receive approvals for these
other positions because we will
be able to revitalize what
we've been doing in the past.
That also is our material
control coordinator as a
position we lost at 2425 just a
couple of years ago, and they
assist with purchasing supplies,
equipment and other services
for the VFD. I have a division
chief who's hanging while he's
doing physical work to try to
get things done. That is not
tantamount to having barcoding
and innovative technology and
using people. But he's doing
things because they're getting
things done. And this material
control coordinator would be
very helpful in large logistics
and supporting what our
operations are doing. They
issue equipment supplies and
tracking and renewal disposal.
Surplus lost damaged items.
Manages inventory through
tracking and auditing, and
assesses and implements new
processes, procedures for
responsible stewardship of
department inventory. And we
can do better on that too with
technology and barcoding. The
next one is a business
intelligence analyst, and the
BIA will support the
implementation of performance
measurement and performance
management processes. They will
help us with performance
benchmarks. If you had a chance
to look at our plan, you'll see
that we're very direct in who's
responsible for those specific
tactics. However, we don't have
dates and timelines because we
don't know what we're going to
be able to do with. Without the
positions that I am requesting
here today. And we also want to
measure that internally because
we might meet some timelines.
And there are those where we
won't. I'm not living in
Pollyanna thinking we're going
to get everything done in this
plan. In fact, I hope to get
some of these things done. And
that's why they're numerically
prioritized. They will also
develop analytic products that
identify performance trends,
that help us through technology.
And looking at where the call
loads are becoming the greatest.
What are the changes in the
city of Vancouver? What dynamic
trends do we need to adjust to
to be more contemporarily
relevant, to provide optimal
service to our community?
They'll partner with and lead
embed performance practices in
daily operations. And in fact,
I established a performance
measurement committee at the
VFD with our current business
intelligence analyst, but also
with Portland is going to be
working on this with a Keesee
for district six. So we're
getting their data people, and
we're leaning forward on our
capabilities and the economies
of scale that we will derive
from effective management and
in the potential regional fire
authority in the future. So
we're trying to build these
partnerships and do these
things together. Keesee
district six Portland said.
They're going to build a plan
with the exact same format,
because it shows unification,
and they like the format enough
to say, hey, that works for us.
And they're in our program
learning how to do it. So we're
enjoying those relationships.
So we're leaning way ahead on
potential for RFA or even
annexation in the future. If
that happens. The other one I'd
like to address is I did talk
about our support specialist.
I've got these a little out of
order on mine. I'm sorry about
that. So the BIA is our data
analyst unit and the support
specialist there is. Oh, this
one is a two for the with the
fire Marshal's office. They
assist with billing and
collection permits and fees.
And they are 90% cost effective
or revenue replenishment.
They're very close to that.
They lost a half a person, not
literally, but half time
equivalent in the fire
marshal's office and supporting
them with one full time would
be very helpful with all the
permits and the things that are
going on in, in our fire
marshal's office, they provide
a wide variety of
administrative support with
data entry, records, management,
report preparation. We have
software that's been antiquated,
and you've approved concourse
software for our fire marshal's
office. And our fire marshal is
telling us that it's going to
be extremely helpful because it
will help them keep up with the
developers and, and keeping the
processes moving on a tempo
that is more amenable to growth.
Administrative assistant. Again,
I have one deputy chief and a
vacant position for the other
one, so I really have just one
for right now. I have a
battalion chief who is acting
as a deputy chief and doing a
fantastic job, but that's why
we want our our chief of staff,
and that's why we need to
provide some administrative
support, because with the
positions that we lost. We're
we're playing whack a mole.
We're doing the best that we
can to get the information out
that is required to keep things
moving, not only in our fire
marshal's office, but
operationally and
administratively. And again,
with all these plans and
reports and operational manuals
that I would like to develop, I
can't even ask our people to do
that at this stage because
they're just that busy
maintaining things the way they
are, the status quo. So the
administrative assistant would
be assisting for the deputy
chiefs in administrative
operations and emergency
operations, as well as working
concurrently with the chief of
staff and other personnel,
again, prioritizing calendars,
appointments. I don't know what
I would do without my executive
assistant. I, I think all of
you can understand that. And
she's juggling so much between
other deputies and captains and
training. And so are all of our
people. So again, reinforcing
the importance of these
positions, internal external
communications, agendas,
presentations, meeting
materials, alternative support
to we also developing
specialized strategic plans at
varying levels in the
organization. We think what you
already have an overarching
roadmap for success for the
department, but it doesn't have
the level of specificity to
provide a specialized plan and
hazardous materials, or the
wildland urban interface, or
intermix or railway operations
or earthquake operations. We
want people to know what the
operational plan is well before
it happens. So we are building
subordinate strategic plans
with a great level of
specificity in areas that we
deserve or the public deserves.
That's our intent. From another
perspective. Funding for the
new positions. Do you you could
see that slide. And the last
commission meeting I had at
district five, they've
committed to not only all
expenses, but anything else
computers, laptops, and all the
other issues that would be
required for each of these
seven positions. And they again,
I said they signed an Ila
interlocal agreement in the
beginning. It's translated to
an amendment and they are ready
to go. If there's some way I
can compellingly and
convincingly reinforce the
importance of these positions
to move the VFD forward. And
the last thing I'm going to add
is successful organizations
redefine leadership as an
organizational rather than an
individual or positional set of
responsibilities that must be
undertaken throughout the
organization. I cannot do this
by myself. Again, I don't like
I's and me's. This plan is as
great as it is, and I can
assure you that it's a great
plan, but it's because of a
team. It's because of. It's
because of all the people who
contributed a tremendous amount
to get us to this plan. I don't
want this to be a futile
exercise or a rhetorical
paperweight. I would like to
see us make this community more
safe and more prepared so that
we're not in Oregon's place, or
we're not in Longview situation,
or the things that are going on
in Seattle. The concept of
leadership at all levels
emerges in which all
individuals are leaders as they
accomplish their leadership
responsibilities, no matter
their technical function or
level in the organization. One
thing I'm doing, and we had a
recent concern with some of our
members, is the leadership. I
think our people have been
doing a fantastic job in not
knowing what the goals are,
what the plans are and where
this department is going. We've
had every captain come up with
policies and procedures on how
things are going to be done.
But again, vagueness kills
leadership, and we need to have
organizational policies and
procedures. And I'm surprised I
don't have more problems than I
do in this organization. It's
because of the great people we
have. But there's going to come
a day as we grow and we annex
or we RFA that we're going to
have more and more problems and
more challenges, and that unity
and that direction in the
roadmap for success is more
imperative now than it's ever
been. As we lean forward on all
these. So that is my
presentation. I would like to
thank you very much for
enduring the PowerPoint pain I
just presented, and I would
like to entertain any questions
you may have at this time.
>> Thank you chief. Counselors,
Counselor Paulson.
>> Thank you mayor. Thank you
chief. Appreciate the
PowerPoint presentation. It's
painful and non-painful as it
may have been. First of all,
congratulations to the team on
the plan. It's a it's a great
plan. And I think that's
demonstrated by the fact that
other organizations who have
seen it are seeking to
replicate it, including
internally in the city with the
Vancouver Police Department.
We're using that template. But
not only that, but others in
the region. I think that shows
great leadership, and I think
it demonstrates what's possible.
And as you said in your
presentation, it also lends
itself well to better
collaboration. When we have
plans that are using a similar
template and format and are
easy to translate across
different jurisdictions. So
congratulations. I also want to
say thank you to the
commissioners from Fire
District five, and one of them
is here with us this afternoon
for their generosity. You know,
the voters in the district
authorized funds to keep the
public safe, and those funds
are available to make an
investment in our fire
department for the mutual
benefit of Fire District five
and Vancouver Fire Department.
I think that's a tribute to the
leadership, and I really
appreciate that leadership from
Fire District five. So thank
you. I think you've done a
great job of outlining the
importance and value of the
positions that you're
contemplating and tying them
back to your strategic plan,
which I think is really
important. And I commend you
for that, and I'm definitely
supportive of using them those
ways. I am a little bit
concerned, however, because I
know that we're going to put
these people in place and
they're going to demonstrate
their value and they're going
to be a demand for that value
ongoing beyond Q4 of 2029. And
so my ask in that regard is
that we have regular touch
points to talk about the
successes that we're seeing
from the plan writ large, and
also from these positions
demonstrating the value. But
then also, you know, as things
continue to evolve over the
coming years and potential
funding mechanisms become
available or not available, you
know, what are the ways that we
might be able to explore to
either continue those positions
or be very clear with the folks
who were in those positions and
the folks who rely on those
positions, that, unfortunately,
we're not going to be able to
continue them forward, because
I think we owe everybody that
transparency, because right now
we're very clear in saying
these are limited term
positions there. Through Q4 of
2029, there will be another
budget cycle between now and
then. And and so by then, we
will have definitive knowledge
of whether we will or won't be
able to keep these positions in
place. But I just think it's
really important for everybody
involved that there's a lot of
transparency there. And
speaking of transparency, I
have a request both for you and
the city manager. It was it
occurred to me, City Manager,
that it's been a number of
years now since the voters
passed prop two, and we have
made some investments. We're
continuing to make investments,
and we have more planned
investments. And I think it
would be good for us to
continue to provide periodic
updates to the council and the
public about what the status of
that is, so that they can see
the value of the money that
they have invested in public
safety, and see how that's
tying not just to the
investments that we're making,
but also to the results that
we're seeing. So I would ask
that we put that into our
regular routine of
conversations, that
periodically we have those
kinds of updates so everybody
can see the great success that
we're seeing from the fire
department. Those are my
comments. Thank you mayor.
>> Thank you. Councilor Fox.
>> Yes. Appreciate the
presentation. Definitely
echoing the collaboration that
we're seeing with district five
to move this forward and
looking at maybe I'll I'll
start with more focused
comments first, but just the
staffing pieces here. One of
the questions that kind of when
I was looking at the job titles
and the inventory coordinator
seems a similar job as a
materials coordinator. So just
wondering what the difference
is there for a new position
versus maybe duplicating,
having two positions filling
for the inventory coordinator.
>> Which page are you on?
>> Oh, I was just it's the org
chart under the logistics chief.
There's an inventory
coordinator and administrative
assistant, an engineering
technician. And then this new
material coordinator, material
control coordinator.
>> Okay. And in that org chart.
I'm trying to get in front of
me.
>> Sorry, I didn't mean it to
be a pop quiz question.
>> No.
>> There might even be people
in the crowd that are ready to
answer for you.
>> There it is. Okay. Our
material control coordinator is
directly reporting to the
division chief in logistics.
The inventory coordinator. I
would have to give you more
information. What they're doing
is I've got a division chief
and one inventory control
coordinator that are monitoring
turnouts. They're monitoring
booths, supplies, hose, all
these other things. Their job
descriptions are somewhat
different. And in fact, I think
I have our logistics chief who
could probably provide more
specifics on that as chief is
here. Are we allowed to let him
speak to that while he's here?
>> Oh, please do.
>> Come on up, Chief Willis.
Just push that button to talk.
Now you're talking.
>> And I guess I'll give more
background on asking that
question, but it kind of leads
to builds upon what Councilor
Paulson was saying. You know,
this creating new positions
that we may need to let go in
the future if we don't have
enough funding. When you have a
position that is perhaps you
have two folks serving in the
same position, it might not
feel as big of a gap losing one
person from a particular role.
Of course you always will be,
but it's not like a unique
position in in our department.
>> Yeah. So thank you for
letting me speak. Historically,
we've had the division chief
that's been in charge of
logistics and support services.
Then we have another position
in there that takes care of all
of our procurement, all of our
payables, takes care of all
that. And then I do have the
inventory coordinator that used
to be labeled as a resource
service technician, and it got
renamed in the last last time
they went through the city. But
what that person does is all of
our ordering of supplies, tools,
equipment, all of our EMS
supplies, they're the one that
fills out all of our EMS orders
for all 11 fire stations. That
person drives around in their
delivery truck and delivers
supplies and equipment to all
11 stations. They've been doing
that for the whole time that
I've been in this position. And
then when I got into the
position, there's a lot bigger
body of work that needs to be
done outside of that, and it
could be everything from
inventorying, fire hose,
labeling, fire hose. It's
making helmet patches. It's
doing all sorts of this other
tertiary stuff. And so prior,
when I did take over this
position, we didn't have
anybody to do that. So I was
doing that as a division chief,
which I probably is below the
level of what I should be
managing, but it's work that
needed to be done. So as we
approach prop two, our former
fire chief, Chief Blue, one of
the positions he put into prop
two was for a material control
coordinator. And we did get
that position, and I had that
position filled for a year, and
I was able to push a lot of
those details onto that person,
and it was very successful. We
were going along pretty well,
and then unfortunately, one of
our support specialists moved
on to a different position. My
material control coordinator,
who I loved dearly, did a
fantastic job. She promoted
into the administrative
assistant position and Chief
Blue. At that time we were
having some city budget issues,
decided not to refill that
material control coordinator
position, which then pushed all
of those things that we had
assigned to that position for
that year back onto me. So here
I was then, not being able to
manage the logistics division
as well as it could be, and
being pushed kind of back down
to doing some of these other
tertiary things just to keep
the equipment and everything
flowing. So it was a position
that we had and it was being
very successful. And then due
to some budget constraints a
couple years ago, that person
promoted up and we just never
did refill it.
>> So I'm hearing that there is
an overlap between these two
positions. They're very
distinct. Okay. All right.
>> The other nice excuse me,
but not to add more. But
another nice thing is in our
division we don't have any
overlap. So if anyone in our
division leaves, I'm the one
that has to fill in. So for
instance, our inventory
coordinator has to take a sick
day or whatever. I'm literally
out driving a delivery truck on
Thursdays. The material control
coordinator we used as a backup
to the other positions so that
if, if our the person doing
procurement had had to take a
couple days off, the material
control coordinator could fill
in. If the delivery person is
gone for a week, the material
control coordinator could fill
in. So we had a little bit of
backup for each of the
positions so that I didn't have
to step down to do those.
>> I totally understand that.
My other my other day job,
there's a couple people out and
I feel it very directly. So
thank you. So I had another
question on really maybe not a
question. Yeah, a question you
mentioned, you know, one of the
strengths of of all this work
is really being able to
identify the gaps and
understand where you need to
focus your efforts and really
put together these standards
for things like our emergency
responses. And you and I had
the benefit of, of chatting
last week and know that I have
a lot of interest around the
wildland urban interface
planning, earthquake planning,
all of these different events
that could happen in our city.
So it is a little shocking that
we don't have a plan to date on
how we're going to respond. And
I'll, I'll mention one thing
about wildland urban interfaces
that may be a lot of people
haven't been exposed to. So if
you've been to a conference and
you've seen how fast these
fires can spread in a city,
it's pretty amazing because
what's happening is really that
all of those embers from those
tree tops start blowing in the
wind, and they can go hundreds,
thousands of feet to your
rooftop, into your yard. So
they, they spread really fast
through those embers and, and
not understanding how I've
geeked out way too much on
these videos that from training,
but, you know, having a crew
show up and try to fight, you
know, shrubbery fire in a yard,
not understanding that those
embers are hitting the porch,
they're hitting, you know,
other more vulnerable areas of
the structure. It's really
important that our firefighters
know how to properly respond
and, and get the fire under
control. And it's just all
about training and having those
procedures in place. So I
really am supportive of the
initial work you've done so far
in identifying these by
priority area as well. I'm not
sure others. I know you
highlighted it, but I'm
probably just re-emphasizing
that this report is also in
priority order as well. And
also highlighting a statement
you made about plan before
emergencies actually happen.
Really important so that
everyone knows what to do on
the ground at the time that
it's happening. And, and we can
move forward in a professional
way. But my question now leads
into how did we handle
disciplinary procedures when we
didn't have policies? You
mentioned something about
working with HR moving forward,
which is a great step, but just
wondering how that happened
beforehand or how it's
happening now because we don't
have those.
>> My understanding is that
there was some policies and
procedures that were in play,
and one of my predecessors when
he came in, and again, Chief
Willis, can provide a greater
level of specificity due to his
tenure with the VFD, completely
abolished policies and
procedures and said, we're
going to move forward with
axioms and expectations. And
that is not tantamount to
success, in my opinion. And so
now we don't have them, and
we're at a baseline where we're
establishing committees to just
try to develop these things.
And we're having challenges
getting these things across the
board with not just the
staffing, but we have
collective bargaining
agreements and will use and
negotiations with our partners
in labor. And so we're starting
all over from a ground level on
a different plane. Is there
anything you'd want to add?
>> Okay, well, it's all right.
When we have all high
performing staff that the
disciplinary procedures seem
like they're something you can
handle later, but appreciate
you being proactive.
>> Thank you.
>> Thank you.
>> Councilor Perez.
>> Hi. Thank you for being here.
Just echoing a bit of what some
of the questions you've already
heard. And I just wanted to add
a little bit to that. First of
all, I love the outcome that we
all want based on what you're
proposing here with the
strategic plan or process, with
our limited capability. And
that is a safe and prepared
community. And I appreciate the
the listing of the positions
that you see are very important
and critical for us to reach
that outcome, and I'm fully
supportive of that. A couple of
questions on the Deputy Chief.
Is there an expectation or a
timeline, given that we are
looking at succession planning
for the deputy position 2 to 3
years to move on and then bring
in another person having that
upward mobility within? So that
was one question. Do you want
to address that one?
>> Yes. And thank you for
throwing me that lob. I'm so
glad you did that because I am
thinking ahead three, four,
five years because I know it's
going to take time to to
develop a battalion chief into
a level at a division chief and
a deputy chief. And I'm a huge
advocate of education, and I've
got members that are interested
in it now that weren't in the
past because of other barriers,
whether financial health care
issues, the agreements they've
had. But what I'm seeing is we
have some members that are
buying into this process and
believers, and now they're
interested. So we could avoid
spending $50,000 on recruitment,
on a on a peripheral potential
employee who we know for 40
minutes in an interview, as
opposed to one who has
tremendous institutional
knowledge in 25, 30 years of
experience that has been
developed in this Vancouver
paradigm. And yes. So there is
exactly why I'm doing that. I,
I wanted to ensure that we had
the opportunities to promote
some of the, the officers that
we have, not only from
Battalion chief, but from
captain to battalion chief to
each of the ranks that are in
this org chart. As attrition
takes some of them away. And
I've held off on a couple of
positions because I'm hoping to
get this under fill done for
the Chief of staff.
>> Okay. Thank you for that.
And also a question of, well,
how did we manage that before
as far as like the professional
standards and any cross program
coordination with public
information, especially with
first responder with fire
department and other areas. So
I'm, I'm a little perplexed of
how we've been able to do that
with you noting it that, you
know, we don't have anything
really solid or concrete to
really guide us on process, but
most importantly, a smart
tactic approach where that is
the accountability to our
taxpayers who supported funding
and continuing our fire
department support. So my
question, you mentioned the
potential for regional fire
authority and that there was a
draft. If a. A ILA sorry,
interlocal agreement. Can you
elaborate a little bit on that.
>> On the RFA or the. ILAILA
interlocal agreement. District
five, again, has been gracious
enough. Their understanding
that they contribute 22.8% of
the funding for the Vancouver
Fire Department because
contractually we provide
services into district five.
And in our last quarter of the
year, we identified that 23% of
our call load is in district
five. So that's a pretty good
contract. And they have been
great partners in agreeing to
that. But they've also agreed
to finance the development of
Fire station 11. So they're
actually contributing more in
some respects and willing to do
that because they have the
funds more accessible, as far
as I understand.
>> Okay. Thank you. And then
from today into the possibility
of RFA thinking about
efficiencies within those areas
that may or could overlap, if
we were to think a little more
innovatively or creatively,
which has to do with public
information, as well as maybe
some other other areas, records,
management, what have you. So
I'm just wondering if there has
been any thought to that as
well.
>> To cultivating and
developing these partnerships.
Oh, yes. Yes, ma'am. Like I
said, I was here a month and I
really wanted to develop some
of our deputy chiefs. So I was
using a program, a curriculum
that I teach at a, at USC. And
it is performance leadership,
performance measurement and
performance management. And I
thought, if I'm going to take
the time to go through a
semester long curriculum and
all this work, why not develop
these relationships? And so it
was actually good that this
happened. And they've been
coming for four months, and
we're filling up a room of
interested parties on this
whole process, because as our
Portland fire chief would say,
it's worth the effort on the
front end because of the the
opportunities we're going to
have on the back end. They
understand that getting people
moving in a certain direction,
an entire staff of 300
employees, if we can get them
all moving in that same
direction, that Unification.
That motivation, the
satisfaction, the performance.
There's an inertia and synergy
there that really grows
exponentially. So not only that,
I've even invited Chief Russell
to participate in our executive
staff meetings before I got
here. The executive staff
meeting was the fire chief and
the two I include HR district
six. I include our people in
our data analysis unit, our GIS,
our. I include everybody that's
a fire station five in this.
Because through the voices of
everyone, that's how we develop
not only a great plan, but keep
the process moving where
everybody's on board with this.
So we're rf ING it before the
RFA.
>> Yes. Thank you. And my last
comment has to do with the
whole emergency response. And
my colleagues have heard me up
here before talk about how well
are we prepared in our public
prepared for severe emergencies.
And happy to hear that you have
highlighted that we really
don't have anything solid, and
it's so important for us to
think about that preparedness,
especially fire prevention and
our wildlife. The wUI area, as
a former back in my young years,
a member of a 21 person initial
attack wildland firefighting
crew down in southern Oregon, I
know how important it is to
have fire prevention awareness
and work collaboratively with
different jurisdictions to do
that. So I'm hoping that we
have some type of campaign
effort to do that across the
board to better prepare our
communities for for a response
like that.
>> We are. That's exactly what
we're doing. In fact, on
October 28th and 29th, we've
got a subject matter expert
throughout the country and
teaching high rise operations
that I've actually taught that
with him for years. And he is
coming in volunteering his time
because of the relationship I
have with him to teach Portland
and all our regional partners
of non fee based high rise
operations program that goes
through building construction,
the inventory in these
buildings, fire protection
systems, how to use the
incident command system,
because again, we've got great
people, but they haven't had
the experience in this. And
honestly, I have and I know
what needs to be done.
>> Yeah. Well thank you. And my
last comment is having to do
with our homeless community.
And when we do that emergency
response, the, you know, our
role with that, it's, it's a
different tactic and approach
in not looking for an answer
right now, but would love to
continue to have this
conversation about that
response with all of our
members of our community.
>> It would be my pleasure.
>> Thank you.
>> Councilor Harless.
>> Hello, and thank you for
your time the other day to sit
down over a coffee and have a
conversation. Initially, you
know, reached out just to talk
generally about the public
safety ecosystem. And I had a
little a little list of things
I wanted to check in on. And as
we were having our conversation,
you, you're like, well,
actually over here on page,
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,
you know, and so, you know,
everything, every question I
had was in the strategic plan
and I didn't know it was coming
to us. So I knew something was
in the works. So it was
actually wonderful timing. And
then so, you know, this is also
incredibly helpful for that
reason, right? In the future
when looking for answers, it's
right there in the strategic
plan. I know that we are
working on it. You know, things
related to recruitment and
standards and workplace culture
and mental health and, you know,
PPE and physical health as well.
And the professionalism and
kind of what council member
Perez was sort of talking about
is like, you know, what that
experience is that residents
are getting and making sure
that to check in, being often
the first on the scene, wanting
to make sure that that is, you
know, part of that strategy is
making sure that everyone
always has a great experience.
No, it's the worst day of their
life, potentially. But you know
what I mean? Not a great
experience per se, but that
they are walking away going,
you know, that was wonderful.
And they're going to call 911
in the future, right. If
something were to happen. And
so just great appreciation for
this and the efficiencies that
have been brought up as well.
And the emergency manager role,
you know, concerns of climate
change and wildfires, of course.
So I, I'm happy to see that
that those plans are coming
into effect and the amount of
collaboration too, with all of
our partners. And I'm really
excited to for these standards
and policies and performance
measures, because I know it's
so important to have a sense of
ownership and camaraderie, as
you know, for teams to work
towards goals and to have that
sense of pride too. And so this
is a wonderful plan. So again,
just accolades and appreciation.
But other questions have
already been answered for me.
So thank you again. And I look
forward to those timelines when
they're established. And also
agree with Councilmember
Paulson about checking in. So
we see how this plan is rolling
out. So thank you.
>> Thank you.
>> Councilor Silver.
>> Thank you. Thank you chief.
Before the pandemic had the
opportunity to participate in
emergency management seminar
that was conducted across the
river, hearing from the
Portland's emergency management
coordinator at the time. And in
that, you know, the he kind of
posited that a city is a living
organism, living organism. And
by city, I mean the corporate
boundaries, not the the
organization that we are
participating in this evening,
but the, the, the totality. But
he posited that. There was a
correlation between calls and
sidewalks and neighborhoods
that had sidewalks were less
likely to have calls and
neighborhoods that didn't have
sidewalks are more likely to
have calls. We're going to cut
out the rich neighborhoods that
don't want sidewalks. But in
that social connectedness is
important. Part of fire
prevention of health and safety.
And so I have interest. I
didn't see it as I went through
your plan, but I have interest
in in understanding where the
calls line up with our
vulnerability index and that
there is larger conversations
happening within the city
organization about those
interrelationships and how are
we? How are we tackling those?
And going a little further on,
on this particular person who's
probably not there anymore
because it's been quite a few
years, but his feeling was that
sidewalks were much more
important than a smoke detector.
And in helping prevent fires,
because again, of that social
connection. So I'm interested
in the data that you're
bringing, informing the rest of
the city organization and how
we are setting our priorities.
So thank you.
>> Thank you.
>> Thank you, sir.
>> Chief, your document, first
of all, is incredibly wonderful.
Thank you for putting it
together. And the same as our
colleagues. I haven't had time
to go through all of it. I do
appreciate people experiencing
homelessness. In that
particular section that you've
added. Also, the opportunity
for the chief's diversity
advisory team, similar to VPD.
It's been a great opportunity.
I would hope somewhere in here
that you also have put in
continuing the building of the
relationships with the policy
makers. In the old days, we had
the fire academy, where
electeds and community members
spent 24 hours with staff. That
left a big impression on a lot
of us, because then we learned
the strengths and weaknesses
and the performance
measurements that you'll be
looking for. So if that
opportunity comes back up,
please consider it. Any other
comments from councilors? All
right. Thank you so very much.
And thank you for bringing a
body of support with you. We
will now move into our city
Financial Policies and
investment policy review. Lisa
Brandel, City Manager you want
to tie this one up for us?
>> Yeah. So this is something
that the city has had a
practice of periodically
wanting to look at our
financial policies. But with
the change in people in the
seat in the chief financial
officers role, we really wanted
to do a broader review of
different policies. So Lisa has
had a chance in that interim
role to take a look at these,
and we'll be joined by Anthony
Glenn to talk about the
proposed changes we would like
to make.
>> Good afternoon, mayor.
Council community. Lisa Brandel,
deputy city manager. I'm here
with Anthony Glenn, our city
treasurer. We are here to
present on the financial
policies and investment
policies review. We are going
through the process of updating
both. And so we want to walk
through a couple of high points
with you. So we're going to go
through the financial policies,
the investment policy. A quick
update on the the budget
process and the status and
update and next steps in the
budget and then opportunity for
discussion and questions. Let
me get to my notes here. I want
to make sure. The city as a
practice updates the financial
policies every biennium as part
of its budget process with the
new City Manager leadership and
some new directors that have
come on board since the last
biennium, the financial
policies have been updated to
reflect current practices and
lay the groundwork for future
planning. Most financial policy
items remain unchanged,
according to the Municipal
Research and Services Center of
Washington. Every jurisdiction
is unique, and financial
policies are not necessarily a
one size fits all approach and
do vary. So over the next few
slides, I'm going to go over at
a high level, some of the
changes in the financial
policies that will be submitted
for your consideration at the
September 14th meeting. So
we've done some updates to the
policies for accessibility made
mainly changing from landscape
to portrait mode, updating
language terms throughout the
document to reflect equity, and
also with the Public Works
Operations Center project and
other public works projects.
Citywide capital projects.
There are there are language
updates updating the need to
address the possibility for
debt service. Along with the
debt service, there is the
establishment of a six year
capital improvement plan for
city facilities, similar to the
six year plan that Public Works
already has in place for their
projects that will be created
by General Services in the next
biennium. This plan will be
important as it informs
leadership of the timeline and
cash flow needs for the project
completion, and when and if to
consider debt. We also have
contracted with the municipal
advisor PFM, who will be
assisting us over the next few
years on debt strategies and
their stronger language,
requiring the Finance
department to complete cost
recovery studies every two
years, where previously the
language was more implied, and
also a review by the city
manager's office prior to any
implementation citywide. The
financial policies were updated
to align with the city's
strategic plan and also with
the City Council themes of
climate equity and community
safety, and after review by our
directors of Public Works and
General Services and their
leadership team, the capital
planning and asset management
sections were separated into
their own sections to
acknowledge the level of work
and the continuing workload
growth in these areas. And then
there's the overall theme
throughout the policies of
establishing a regular cadence
of reports and studies in the
financial policies, with an eye
towards making this a regular
practice to ensure costs are
monitored, recovered, and
reported on a regular basis. So
two highlighted recommendations
within the policy are a change
in designation for one is to
change the designation of $1
million in the liability
reserve from what is now called
the Columbia Arts Center to the
Arts Hub project. So in 2000,
the city sold a building known
as the Columbia Arts Center and.
And in which a reserve was
established for an arts
facility by that City Council.
As it is now, it is known in
our books as the Columbia Arts
Center, and for state audit
purposes. Their recommendation
is to change that designation
of approximately $1 million to
the Arts Hub project, which is
the current active project that
we have. So this is in the
proposed 2728 financial
policies that will be sent to
you on September 14th. The
second recommendation is one of
the key elements that is being
used towards closing the budget
deficit. The current reserve
for compensated absences is
$5.9 million, which represents
50% of the unused PTO balances.
PTO standing for paid time off
of our city employees. The new
formula being recommended is a
five year average of the actual
usage of PTO. Used balances
multiplied times 150%. This
would lower the reserve to $2.6
million from the current 5.9
million that is held in reserve,
and returns $3.29 million in
one time general fund dollars
back to the general fund that
would be used to close the
deficit. So I wanted to
highlight these two
recommendations to council,
because they are the largest
and most prominent
recommendations throughout the
financial policies.
>> Great. Thank you. Lisa,
let's stop for a break right
here. Councilors, you have two
items in front of you right now.
The Columbia Arts Center
designation change and the new
formula for compensated
absences. Do you have questions
or concerns? Councilor Perez.
>> What is the significance
between Columbia Arts Center to
Arts Hub? Project is just a
wish to change the name, or is
there something tied to the
name?
>> It's it's recorded in our
accounting books and our
financial statements as
Columbia Arts Center. And I
think to be clean in for state
audit purposes, our
recommendation is to have
council action to actually
change it to the Arts Hub
project. So then we could use
that $1 million towards the,
the project that we have in
place right now.
>> Because of the name.
>> Yes.
>> Okay. Thank you.
>> So I do not see any other
council concerns or questions
about these two actions. You
have our approval continue,
please.
>> Thank you. So very quickly,
I want to highlight the
reserves that we've shared in
April and July. And also I want
to share with the community.
These are the reserves that we
have in place. And so the
compensated absences is on the
far right of 5.9 million. And
it would change the balance.
And so this these balances have
been shown in our previous two
workshops in April and in July.
So now I'm going to turn it
over to Anthony Glen, our city
treasurer, who's going to
present on our city investment
policy update.
>> Good afternoon, mayor and
council, Anthony Glen, City
treasurer. Today I'm presenting
an update to the city's
investment policy. The current
policy was adopted in 2012, and
while the city's investment
approach has served us well,
investment practices,
regulatory requirements and
industry standards have
continued to evolve. The
purpose of this update is to
modernize the policy while
maintaining the city's long
standing conservative
investment philosophy. The
city's priorities will remain
unchanged. Safety of principle,
maintaining liquidity and
achieving a reasonable rate of
return within those constraints.
So why update the policy? The
updated policy reflects several
important improvements. First,
it brings the city's investment
policy up to date with current
Washington state law and
incorporates recognized best
practices from organizations
such as the Government Finance
Officers Association. Bless you,
Government Investment Officers
Association in Washington,
Public Treasurers Association.
These organizations emphasize
strong governance, clear roles
and responsibilities,
transparency, diversification,
appropriate risk management,
and regular reporting.
Importantly, this update does
not represent a change to the
city's investment philosophy.
The city will continue to take
a conservative approach focused
on protecting public funds. A
key component of the update is
strengthening oversight and
accountability. The revised
policy more clearly defines the
role of City Council, the city
manager, the investment officer
and finance staff. It also
strengthens internal controls
by adding clear delegation of
authority, investment training
requirements and improved
reporting requirements. Another
improvement is the addition of
procedures for downgraded
securities. While investment
ratings are monitored closely,
markets can change. The updated
policy establishes a process to
review any downgraded
investment and determine the
appropriate action while
protecting the city's interests.
These changes align with public
sector best practices and
provide stronger governance
around the investment program.
The updated policy also
modernizes the city's
investment framework. It
expands the list of authorized
investments that are permitted
under Washington state law,
providing additional
flexibility while maintaining
conservative limits on credit
quality, diversification and
maturity. The policy also
clearly identifies prohibited
investments to eliminate
uncertainty and ensure
investments remain consistent
with the city's objectives. The
updated diversification and
maturity guidelines provide
better tools to manage risk,
including credit risk, interest
rate risk and liquidity needs
of the city. The goal is not to
increase risk, but to provide
the city with a more effective
framework for managing
investments responsibly.
Overall, the updated investment
policy protects public funds
through a disciplined
investment framework, improves
transparency and accountability,
aligns with current laws and
professional standards, and
preserves the city's investment
priorities of safety, liquidity,
and return. The most important
point is that the city's
investment philosophy remains
the same. Safety of principle
continues to be the highest
priority. Liquidity ensures the
city can meet its obligations,
and return remains an objective.
Only after those first two
priorities are satisfied. This
update provides a modern policy
structure that supports
responsible stewardship of
public funds and strengthens
confidence in the city's
investment program. So just one
quick slide on debt capacity.
This slide was originally
presented as part of the April
budget forecast, and provides
an overview of the city's
available debt capacity and its
ability to support future
capital investments based on an
assessed value of approximately
40,000,000,000 in 2026, the
city has roughly 1 billion of
legal general obligation debt
capacity. By comparison, the
city currently has
approximately $23 million of
outstanding general obligation
debt, so there's substantial
capacity available for future
capital needs. That said,
having capacity does not mean
we intend to use all of it.
With several significant
capital projects at various
stages of development. As Lisa
mentioned, we recently engaged
a municipal advisor to help
evaluate which projects may be
appropriate for debt financing,
the appropriate timing and
structure of any issuance, and
how debt fits into our overall
capital and financial plan. We
also recognize that the city's
debt management policy is due
for an update. We will work
with the municipal advisor to
modernize that policy and
provide clear guidance around
debt capacity issuance and long
term affordability. We
anticipate bringing an updated
policy to council for review in
the coming months. Finally, I
want to emphasize that we are
still early in this process.
There will be several
opportunities to return to
council with additional
analysis and recommendations as
the overall funding strategy is
developed.
>> Okay, with that, we'll go
quickly over the latest on the
biennium budget and where
things currently stand. The
departments have submitted
their budgets, and they're
currently being evaluated by
the city manager's office and
the finance department. And we
are currently in labor
negotiations with some labor
groups, and those are ongoing.
And some good news to share.
Our Chief Financial Officer,
Katie Shively, started on July
27th. I'm glad she's here. And
she's working alongside us,
getting immersed in all things
budget and getting to know our
city organization. I'd like to
point her out here in the
audience for the community. So,
Katie, do you want to.
>> Thank you. Katie.
>> Sorry about that. And our
forecast remains unchanged from
July 13th. So very quickly, we
are still forecasting a 5.5
million surplus for 2027 and a
400,000 surplus for 2028. With
our long term eye towards the
next four years of $105 million
deficit. And so we are planning
on a status quo budget, with
most likely some adjustments to
reflect prioritization. It's
too soon at this point to know
what that is going to look like
for 2728, but we are working
earnestly on that. And so our
next steps in the adoption
activities is that Anthony and
I will present to you two
separate staff reports for the
financial policies and the
investment policy amendments
and updates for your
consideration and approval. We
have a workshop on September
21st for a preview of the city
manager's recommended budget,
and then the budget will be
published on October 1st, which
is a state law requirement. And
we have two council workshops,
one for the operating budget
scheduled for October 12th and
the capital budget on October
26th, and the council consent
item for the budget is
scheduled for November 2nd, and
the public hearing and adoption
tentatively scheduled for
November 16th. So with every
presentation, our timeline
seems to shorten more and more.
It feels like it was just the
beginning of summer, and now
we're almost in fall. So with
this next slide, I'm going to
turn it over to Laura Shepherd,
who's going to share a little
bit about the community
engagement schedule relating to
the biennium budget.
>> Thank you. Lisa. I'm Laura
Shepherd, director of
communications for the city.
And I'd like to share a little
bit with you about what you and
the community can expect
regarding community engagement
and communication for the
remainder of the budget cycle.
So just a little bit of a look
backwards. We brought we
brought online a budget web
page in April where people can
go and find different
information about the budget,
about the city's finances, how
our budget works, and the
schedule. We dedicated our
summer newsletter to the budget,
mostly to the budget. Our
center spread talked about the
budget and talked about talked
about sales tax, talked about
property tax, talked about the
different funds. What we really
wanted to do was try to provide
a base of information for the
public. So we were starting all
at the same place with our
understanding of the budget. We
presented the community survey
out to you last month, and then
you'll see both myself and Jen
Hocker from DHM later tonight
to talk about our focus groups.
We recently opened our Be Heard
budget exercise, where we asked
the public to play city manager
and city Council and decide
where the funding gets
allocated across a group of
city services. That's been open
now for about two weeks. In
that time, we've had about 130
people participate in it. Last
time we had about 544 people
participate in it. So I would
say we're I was hoping for more,
but we're on track and I'm
confident we'll will get higher
numbers and participation in
this as we go through. We had
great success with our first
real about it to the community
on social media, we had close
to 2000 views of the real. And
largely the comments were
positive, which is. Which was
really lovely to see. And then
we also opened, we had the
employee idea box open for a
month where we asked employees
their thoughts. Did they have
ideas around items that could
be cut or changed or find
efficiencies or different ways
of doing things? I'd like to
stop there for a second and
just tell you a little bit more
about that. So we had about 36
ideas submitted from employees.
Most of them were ideas that
employees felt could be applied
citywide. Some of them were a
little niche, meaning they
pertained to one department
like we received for for VPD,
we received one for I t, I
received one. So but most of
the ideas that employees had
were around citywide ideas I
did. When I looked at the data,
I did create themes around it.
The themes were. The employees
talked a lot about city owned
facilities. They talked about
remote work and alternate
schedules. They had ideas
around procurement and spending.
There was some thoughts around
training, travel and benefits.
Other employees also talked
about staff allocations to
different programs and the
city's use of consultants. And
then there was just a few that
I would just call miscellaneous
that didn't I didn't feel fell
into any specific category. It
was just a general idea. I
provided a summary to both the
city manager and the Budget
Committee, as well as a summary,
and of course, all the data and
all the data to all the
directors, so they could take a
look at it and see if there
were things that we could apply
to the budget. I would say,
though, my takeaway from the
employee that exercise is there
were some good creative ideas.
I think the some of the good
news in that is a lot of them
are already being done. We know
that staff is looking at our
city facilities. The idea
around that, should we lease
different floors of our
buildings to get better use,
that's already being done. So,
so so I think the employees
were thinking along the right
track, just I think maybe a
little bit more awareness about
what the city has been doing
might be helpful for employees
to understand a little bit more
about, about their workplace.
What's coming up next in
September are city meetings in
the community with the city
manager. We have a series of
three. A couple of them are
still in flux on the dates, so
I'm loathe to give them in a
public forum because I don't
want people to get a meeting
date idea in their heads, and
then we change it. But I can
tell you, we are we are
planning. What I can tell you
has been confirmed already. We
are visiting the Vancouver
Neighbor Neighborhood Alliance
on September 9th. We have a
meeting where we're going to be
visiting with different
nonprofit and social service
organizations. We have a in
person community meeting
planned for mid September at at,
I believe it's at Firstenburg.
And then we have another
meeting where we're focused on
the business community. And
then at the end of all of our
communication and community
engagement activity, we will
provide a summary as we have in
the past. So you can see what
what folks have said, and you
can use that as you as you
deliberate on the budget. I'm
happy to answer any questions
if you have them.
>> Councilors? No. Councilor
Perez.
>> Council Perez. Thank you,
Laura, how exciting. This is
really just a call to my
colleagues here that we take
this, be heard what you have
and share it with our own
personal networks to really
expand the input that you're
getting from the community.
>> Thank you. Any other
comments? Thank you Laura.
>> Thank you mayor. Thank you.
Council.
>> And with that, that
concludes our workshop. We're
all available for any questions
or comments. Council may have
councilors.
>> Do you have any questions of
Anthony and Lisa? Councilor
Stapper.
>> Thank you, mayor. Thank you
for the presentation. Anthony,
as you are looking at the
bonding policy, I'm interested
in knowing how we can, if it
still exists as a market, but
how we can make sure we're
packaging for green bonds to
appeal to a broader or a
different set of investors. So
how are our projects meeting
climate goals and making sure
that that that's being
broadcast out? So I would love
to see that baked into the into
those policies that are being
developed.
>> Thank you. We'll take note
of that.
>> Any other comments?
Councilor Perez.
>> Thank you. Laura, on the
emergency or sorry, I'm spacing
on your name. Anthony on the
emergency reserve. It's 19.6.
And in that 17% of the of the
114.4 balance is that that's
just basic math that I was
doing. Is that 17% the goal for
our emergency reserve? And I
ask because of the surplus that
was shown on the graph for 27
and 28, totaling 5.9, is the
plan to put that surplus in
reserve?
>> I'm sorry, can you reword
that question? Can you repeat
the question?
>> Okay. The there are two
parts to this question. Do we
have a percent goal for
emergency reserve? So that's
the first question.
>> I can jump in on that right
now. The for our current debt
policy, there's language in
there that will retain 10% of
our limited capacity towards an
emergency.
>> Okay. So 10% is our, our
goal to have.
>> Correct as.
>> Currently written. So with
the surplus. Now second
question surplus of 2027 and
2028, which totals 5.9 million
according to the numbers on
your graph, is the plan to put
the surplus into reserve?
>> No. The the surplus is going.
The current plan for the
surplus is to see how we can
use the surplus against the
requests from the departments
that have submitted some items
for consideration. So there's.
For example, there is a request
to increase the allocation for
public defense to increase the
amount that's been allocated.
So that is currently being
discussed. There's also another
increase in the amount the city
pays to the county for animal
services. So there are some
increases that the city is
obligated to pay based on
obligations for various
services that may have to be
used against that reserve.
>> Okay. And my main point is
with 105 deficit, 105 million
deficit and surplus before that,
a step to come back to City
Council to approve how that
surplus would be budgeted. Is
that a step?
>> In? On September 21st, the.
The plan is to share the city.
The preview of the city
manager's recommended budget,
and there would be a
recommendation on how to use
that surplus to Council. And so
Lannen, I don't know if you
want to chime in on anything
else, but that would be the
general plan to present to you
on what the recommendation
would be to use that surplus
for.
>> Okay. Thank you. That
answers my question.
>> You're welcome.
>> All right. Thank you so very
much. Thank you. Let's go ahead
and transition into our Climate
Action Framework update. It's
good to see you, staff. Thank
you for coming in a little bit
early.
>> First time in the new new
space. Okay. Thank you. All
right. Good afternoon, mayor
and members of Council. My name
is Rebecca Small. I am the
Climate action lead for the
City of Vancouver. I'm joined
today by my colleague Lexi
Farina, our two year fellow
with the climate team, through
the through the Bloomberg
Harvard program. And we are
very excited to be back today
for our third workshop of 2026
to keep council informed on the
progress of the first update to
the Climate Action Framework.
Today, we'll be talking about
the development of the CAF work
plans, which was a new element
that we are adding to the
Climate Action Framework this
year. We're also very excited
to share some of the early
results from our community
engagement, and talk about our
next steps and our pathway
towards adoption vote in
December. I also wanted to
quickly note, I know last week
we had a request for an update
on the city's solar efforts.
I'm happy to provide that after
our workshop session, if time
allows, or we can submit that
in a memo for a future date.
All right, so this is just a
quick check in on our timeline.
We are in Q3 of this year. And
as you can see, we are very
much in the thick of it. My
colleague and I are wrapping up
the more general outreach phase
of our community engagement and
transitioning to more focused
conversations with specific
stakeholder groups. We're also
continuing to work with the
city staff across departments
to refine the CAF actions and
develop the workplan. Okay, so
about that work plan in
response to department director
requests for more clarity on
what to prioritize and provide
guidance for budget requests,
we're developing work plans
this year. The work plans
identify priority actions by
department for the next five
years. And a quick note on on
this on this time frame in
council's original direction to
staff were scheduled to update
the CAF every four years, staff
are proposing to move to a six
year cycle for updates for a
few reasons. First, it would
better align with some other
city planning cycles, including
the strategic plan, the Capital
Facilities Plan update. Second,
it recognizes the time
commitment required for a full
plan update and community
engagement, particularly with a
very small team of just two
full time positions. And third,
a six year cycle gives plans
and programs enough time to
develop and play out before we
undertake another comprehensive
update. For this next cycle, we
would propose contemplate
completing the next update five
years from now, which would
allow us to finish the planning
work in advance of the biennial
budget process and have our
priority climate projects
clearly laid out in a work plan.
Well before we begin developing
that budget, we'll bring this
to council for consideration
with the draft CAF review in
early November. But we would
welcome any early thoughts you
might have on that during our
discussion today. All right.
Returning to the work plan, the
priority projects that we are
including in this work plan are
intended to align with
council's direction from
earlier this year. One of the
biggest priorities that council
expressed was that we get our
own house in order and work
work aggressively to meet our
municipal greenhouse gas
reduction targets. As you can
see in the pie chart of our
2023 municipal greenhouse gas
emissions, our biggest emission
categories from the city's
operations are water and
wastewater treatment plant,
accounting for nearly half of
our emissions footprint, our
buildings and facilities, all
of the energy required to
operate those comes in next at
about 23%, and then fleet is
accounts for 11% of our
municipal emissions. So
accordingly, we'll be
prioritizing a wastewater
solids renewable renewal
program that minimizes
emissions, building energy
efficiency and clean energy
products, projects for city
facilities, and the development
of a roadmap towards full fleet
decarbonization. Other work
plan items like tree canopy
expansion goal and sidewalk
infill goals are in response to
that feedback we've gotten
through community engagement,
and we'll address the second
goal from Council of Projects
that will make a tangible
difference in our residents day
to day lives. I think it's also
worth noting that all of the
projects that we have listed
here are underway by city
departments. So this is
outlining some specific goals
and targets for us to achieve
under these different
categories with our with
cooperation from all of our
departments. This is also not a
comprehensive list. Just a
couple of examples to
illustrate how we're responding
to Council's earlier direction.
At this time, we expect the
work plan to include the
elements that you see here in
2027. After we know the outcome
of the budget process, we'll
finalize the development of
performance measures to
accompany the work plan
elements. What gets funded this
year through the biennium
budget process will have a big
impact on what we're able to
accomplish over the next five
years. All right, on to the fun
part. Community engagement. Our
small team has been very busy
this summer, thanks to the
extra capacity provided by our
climate Alexi and our excellent
summer intern, Ezekiel Wells,
both courtesy of the Bloomberg
Harvard City Leadership Program.
The climate team has connected
with nearly 600 community
members at 22 outreach events
across the city. This includes
the Council Community Forum in
June. Many, many of our council
members here attended. Thank
you so much for being a part of
those conversations. We've also
had tabling sessions at
community centers, libraries,
and citywide events like the
Waterfront concert series,
movies in the park, and
community festivals like
Juneteenth and the Pollinator
Festival. The when planned
event that the climate team
didn't make it to was the
National Night Out on August
4th that had to be rescheduled
on account of wildfire smoke
and extreme heat. We also
hosted four events for Pacific
Northwest Climate Week and
conducted an online survey,
which will go into a little
more detail next. This. We also
have a few other activities
like presenting to neighborhood
associations on request, but
this has kept us pretty busy
this summer. Okay, that's. And
just a quick note on Pacific
Northwest Climate Week, we
wanted to call out this part of
the engagement program to
highlight some of our great
partners. Pacific Northwest
Climate Week is a regional
celebration of climate action
that extends from Vancouver, BC
to Eugene, Oregon. Oregon,
Oregon that brings people
together for fun, interactive
events, education, civic
participation, and community
building. Vancouver was
participating in Climate Week
for its first time this year,
and thanks to some great
partners including Waste
Connections, Clark County, our
own solid waste and urban
forestry programs, and even the
Fort Vancouver Pipe Band. The
city hosted four events for our
community members. We all get
by with a little help from our
friends, but we truly could not
have done this without these
great partners. In particular,
urban Forestry's excellent
heritage Tree Ride was booked
to capacity and got a wonderful
write up in the Columbian. So
if you haven't gotten a chance
to join that. That ride or they
also have a walking tour,
please try to add it to your
schedules. It's really a treat.
All right. And I will pass it
over to Lexi to talk about the
survey.
>> Thanks so much, Rebecca.
Good afternoon, Mayor and
councilors. Another key part of
our climate engagement this
summer has been the online
survey that was really designed
to understand residents
concerns and priorities related
to climate action all across
the city. And I want to give a
big shout out to our intern.
Rebecca mentioned Zeke Wells,
who really played a pivotal
role in the design, outreach,
and analysis of the survey.
Fortunately, he's already back
in Boston getting geared up to
start back up at school, so he
can't be with us today. But I'm
going to share a little bit
about how we got out in the
community and what some of the
findings were that we heard. So
outreach was conducted through
lots of different community
event tabling at the concert
series and movies in the park
across the city, as well as
placing fliers around the city
at every day locations that
residents frequent, just in
case that we want to be able to
ensure that we reach people
that are not coming to the
events. We were really excited
to hear that we had a responses
from about 165 residents across
the three weeks of outreach
that we were able to do, and
also wanted to note that the
results are weighted to reflect
the representativeness of
Vancouver's population. So
getting into some of those key
results, the first part of the
survey really asked people
about what climate impacts they
are seeing and feeling in their
everyday lives. And not
surprisingly, almost all
respondents said that they
personally feel climate impacts,
specifically extreme heat and
wildfire smoke. This survey was
conducted during July of this
year, so it's not surprising
that these things came up as
top of the list. We also want
to note that climate impacts
are felt unevenly. We had our
households with lower incomes
reported, higher utility bills
and more health impacts as
related to climate, despite
having similar exposure to
wildfire smoke and extreme heat.
The next topic that our survey
got into was focused on
questions around transportation
and buildings. Given these
sectors represent the largest
pieces of our pie of community
wide greenhouse gas emissions,
so related to transportation
specifically, we asked some
questions about cycling. And
the first was what barriers
prevent you from cycling more?
And the primary barrier that we
heard was around safety. And
then similarly, when we asked
what would encourage you to
cycle more people responded
overwhelmingly that protected
bike lanes were substantially
more likely than other options,
like painted or buffered bike
lanes, to encourage them to
bike more frequently. We also
asked about support for a bike
share program, and found that
67% of respondents were in
favor, and specifically those
younger residents and renters
reported that they would use a
program like this the most
frequently. Next, we also asked
about community support for
climate action. The first
question was around which
climate action programs would
the community feel important to
contribute public funding
towards? As you can see on the
left side of the screen, we had
resounding support for trees
and green spaces as the highest
funding priority with public
dollars. We also want to note
that we had high support over
60% for other areas like clean
and renewable energy, walkable
and bikeable spaces, and home
energy upgrades, all areas that
would really move the needle on
our greenhouse gas emissions.
The next piece of information
that we really wanted to
highlight in this survey
findings was that we asked
respondents if they would be
willing to contribute anything
additional monthly to
contribute to climate action,
and we found that 81% of
respondents would contribute
something. And as you can see
on the screen, this ranged from
0 to $15. $15 was the maximum
asked on the survey. So nobody
could say anything above that,
but we wanted to note that the
median amount is around $5 per
month, and these levels differ
when you break it down by
income levels. We found this to
be really interesting because
we know that throughout this
range, we've seen other cities
have programs where
participants are able to opt in
to contribute something monthly
for a climate action on an
energy or utility bill, for
example, to support clean
energy. And these are programs
that can really support
investment in climate
priorities while still meeting
people where they are
financially and willing to
contribute to this, these sort
of activities. We also wanted
to note that anecdotally, we
heard people would be most
willing to contribute to
climate priorities when their
investment went towards the
priorities that they value. So
as we see on the left side,
like trees and green spaces,
people also want a transparency
around where their investment
would go if they would be
willing to contribute something.
And then finally getting to the
questions around healthy and
climate smart homes, as we
mentioned in the last council
workshop, this is a key focus
area of our engagement track
this summer because we
recognize again that buildings,
especially residential
buildings, are a key piece of
that greenhouse gas emissions
pie. And we heard from the
Comprehensive plan engagement
process that people are
increasingly worried about
staying safe and comfortable in
Brazilian in their homes with
the changing climate. So this
survey asked people about their
concern level around different
climate related concerns at
home. And we found similar
results to the Comprehensive
Plan team that concerns are
really centered around
resilience. And specifically,
we had 88% of respondents
highlight concerns around power
outages in their home. I also
want to point out that when we
asked people what they were
very or extremely concerned
about, we found that there is a
real intense concern around
indoor air quality,
specifically. And then to dig
deeper into the why behind some
of these selections, and just
to get a better sense of how
people would like the city to
interact and support them to
create safer, more affordable,
healthy and resilient homes.
I've been hosting small group
discussions with low and middle
income homeowners, as well as
renters throughout the city, to
really hear their perspectives
around what are their home
priorities, what home
improvements would really make
a difference to them, and what
types of programs would be most
useful. We actually have a
dedicated climate workshop
about this in October, so I
won't get into all of the
findings. But just to give you
a sense of what we're hearing
specifically with homeowner
discussions, you know, everyone
kind of comes at this
conversation from different
angles. Some people are
environmentally motivated, some
people are just trying to make
sure that they can afford their
energy bills each month. But
we've heard a resounding set of
priorities across conversations,
really thinking about
comfortable home temperatures,
indoor air quality, and ability
to maintain and afford their
homes monthly cost. With that
being said, in addition to
financial support, people
really value personalized
information around how to
navigate the home improvement
process. So some things that
were mentioned are thinking
about home energy assessments.
Residents were interested in
getting that personalized
information about where in
their home would make a
difference, and what types of
improvements that would look
like. One resident mentioned
how it doesn't have to be a big
improvement, like a heating
system change, but rather
something as simple as changing
the degree on their water
heater made a big difference in
their energy bills. We also
heard from renters specifically,
since they have more limited
authority to make some of those
structural changes that they
would be really interested in
just education around how to
become more energy efficient in
their day to day home
operations, as well as thinking
about simple home improvements
that they can do themselves,
like things like
weatherstripping that really do
make a big impact. We'll also
be talking with small property
owners, hopefully in the future.
We're working on setting up a
conversation, and then tomorrow
we actually have a conversation
with participants in the city's
existing home appliance rebate
program, funded through the
Department of Commerce, to hear
from them about their
experiences in that program,
how it worked for them, what
their appliances have been able
to see in their home, different
impacts, and any advice that
they would have for us as we
continue to expand that program
and find ways to complement
that. So with that, I'll pass
it back to Rebecca.
>> All right. For the last
segment on our community
engagement, we first wanted to
acknowledge support that we
received this past year through
a climate planning grant,
courtesy of the Department of
Commerce, which is funded
through the Climate Commitment
Act. And from that funding,
we're able to bring on some
much needed capacity to assist
our small team in building on
those outreach and doing some
deeper conversations in the
community. So one way that
we've approached that is to
turn the community's climate
resilience conversations into
action. Thanks to our
colleagues with the
Comprehensive Plan, we have a
really strong foundation on
some of those conversations
with neighborhoods that are
most impacted by impacts like
urban heat, islands, localized
flooding, and some of some of
the other community climate
hazards. So we wanted to build
on the ideas and priorities
that residents had already
expressed through those
conversations, rather than
asking them to have the same
conversations over again for
the sake of our update. So in
Fruit Valley, one of the
neighborhoods is most
vulnerable to some of those
impacts. We've been focusing on
advancing neighborhood climate
resilience priorities in
tangible ways. That includes
partnering with nature, play
designs, local landscape and
ecology firm to coordinate
green scaping activities like
volunteer tree plantings, tree
canopy, infills de paving
events and educational events,
while bringing together teams
across the city such as our
equitable development teams,
forestry, stormwater and parks
to coordinate those efforts.
The goal is really engagement
through action, taking what we
heard from the community and
working together to make it
visible on the ground. The
Commerce grant has also enabled
us to hire Washington
Conservation Action, a
nonprofit, to help us with a
few more in depth conversations.
They have convened the Climate
Policy Advisory Group to
provide some early guidance on
policy questions around
partnerships and
>> Funding and to review early
drafts of the calf with its
updated actions and strategies.
You can see a list of the
participants in attachment B of
the memo. This group is very
engaged, very eager to explore
the issues and eager to engage
with council on issues of
concern. So you may see
testimony from this group over
the next several months. WCA is
also conducting a series of one
on one interviews with
community leaders, elders and
youth. Coming up tomorrow, they
are teaming up with the
Southwest Equity Coalition for
Southwest Equity Coalition
youth for a for an event at La
Casita Art Gallery and Cultural
Center that will include
breakout discussions on climate
issues that are most relevant
to youth age 16 to 19. Youth
leads and staff will be
facilitating conversations at
each of the table. We'll have
some interview questions for
the students, and they will be
working together to to complete
an original mural designed by a
local artist. Cool. All right.
And finally, that brings us to
our next steps. We will be
working on the community
engagement we've just described,
as well as continuing to
coordinate with city
departments on the development
of the CAF actions and the work
plan. You'll be seeing Lexie
again on October 12th for a
workshop on the Healthy and
Climate Smart Homes effort, and
then our full team will be
returning to on November 9th
with a draft update of the CAF,
and we are still on track for
an adoption vote on December
7th. All right. Thank you so
much for your time today. We're
curious to hear if Council has
thoughts on shifting to a six
year work plan or any comments
on the survey results on
climate funding, and we would
welcome any follow up questions
that you may have. I'm also
happy to provide that solar
update after the Q and A, time
permitting. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Rebecca, would
you go back one slide. Let's
leave it right there for just a
bit. Okay. Councilors, do you
have some comments or questions?
Councilor Stelmakh?
>> Thank you mayor. Good to see
you all. It's hard to believe
that four years have passed. So
in the beginning, I was a. I
didn't want to wait four years.
I wanted updates to be much
more quickly than four years,
and I come down as a hard
against expanding out to six
years. Two big reasons. One is
we set a 2040 goal, and you're
talking about the difference
between three updates or four
updates in between now and then.
And I believe we're going to be
struggling to meet that goal
and waiting longer. I believe
we will need to be making more
frequent adjustments. Second,
council terms are four years.
And by going to six years, what
you're saying is it's potential
that a council member would not
have the opportunity to
participate in influencing the
calf during their term. And I
believe every single council
member that serves on this dais
should have that opportunity.
So I'm a strong no. There one
thing you know, you you talked
a lot. I felt like you talked a
lot about homeownership in this.
And I have concerns about
multifamily. One of the
greatest regrets I have of my
time on council is the approval
of a low income multifamily
project that doesn't have air
conditioning and sits on very
busy streets. So high
particulate matter outside of
smoke coming during the winter.
And, and it's, it's a concern
that flows over into what we
have approved. And the in the
green building, because it
means because the green
building, what we approved is.
Well, if the particulate matter
in the air is bad, you have to
go to a central location in the
complex versus me as a
homeowner, I can go anywhere in
my home because I have modern
windows and I've put insulation
in my house. So I've, I think
that I want to make sure that
we are not just focused on
homeowners, but we are also
considering that 50% of our
residents are renters. Thank
you. Okay.
>> Councilor Fox.
>> All right. One of the pieces
that I was well, I'll be really
excited to see is really those
kind of ways of tracking that
you had at the beginning of
this presentation. I was trying
to go back and I think I wrote
down slide. Where was it? Oh,
maybe it wasn't in the
presentation. But anyways,
putting together these
particular projects, the work
plans and then actually showing
the tracking and progress for
those, I think that's going to
be really important feedback
for the community, I'm assuming,
but maybe I'll say it out loud
that that will be part of
feedback that they would see
every year, or that kind of
feedback wouldn't wait 4 to 6
years for them to see the
progress on these particular
initiatives. So maybe we should
highlight that next time you
guys are before us. But also,
one of the pieces that I'm kind
of wondering about is the
requirement by the state to
show progress on, on the
emissions side every five years.
And some of these maybe
priority work plan items aren't
all emissions focused. You know,
as you guys had mentioned, that
some of them are more
reflective of, of community
kind of community concerns
around tree canopy and, and,
and things like that versus
being emissions reduction
activities. And so I'm
wondering if maybe talk to me a
little bit about how do we as a
community, as a city, we can
definitely move forward with
our tree canopy expansion, but
whether or not we're tracking
that as a, as a priority action
in the calf is where I'm a
little bit kind of not sure
that's where it fits.
>> I'm happy to offer some
thoughts on that. Absolutely
correct. Adding tree canopy has
a minimal impact on our carbon
footprint. We do see some CO2
reductions, but it's really a
drop in the bucket compared to
the emissions that we generate
from powering our vehicles and
our buildings and homes. So
when we're thinking about the
green spaces and the canopy,
it's really not as much in a
context, really not as much
with the goal of greenhouse gas
reductions, it's really more of
a goal focused on climate
resilience. Adding tree canopy
is one of our it's one of our
most effective strategies to
help mitigate urban heat island
effects and change the
experience that our residents
will have as summers continue
to be hotter, hotter, and drier,
and try to make that lived
experience for our residents,
you know, comfortable. As
conditions continue on their
current trends. So it's it's
really more of a community
resilience focus. In addition,
you know, it's the public who,
who would not want another park.
Yeah. So you.
>> Have to, like I said, it's,
it's not that I, it's not that
I don't support more trees in
parks. Of course I do. But I'm
just wondering about the kind
of the tracking under our calf
program, knowing that we have
this reduction, this pretty
aggressive reduction, emissions
reduction goals, and knowing
too, that again, the tree
doesn't show a lot of climate
resilience benefits in that 4
to 6 year window either. You
know, we're investing for that
bigger future, that ten, 20
year future with that tree. So
just, just to clarify for
anyone, maybe that doesn't help
clarify for others, but that's
where I'm going with it is
wondering if some of these that
don't seem to be reducing that
emissions as being top
priorities of the calf.
>> Staff's priority is still to
achieve the goals that City
Council have set out. It's very
worth our time to understand
what the community prioritizes
and try to find the nexus
between those. Our urban
forestry program already has
its 28% canopy goal set, and
they will continue to work
towards that. If we're able to
bring additional partners to
the table or accelerate some of
those efforts, so much the
better. It doesn't mean that we
it does not mean that we do not
work towards other goals that
have a more measurable impact
on our greenhouse gas emissions.
I think the healthy and climate
smart homes effort is probably
the clearest example of that.
One of our biggest and hardest
to budge sectors of emissions
is our built environment. And
we know that if we are going to
move the needle on that, we
need to have some dedicated
programing and funding that
goes specifically towards that.
So it's not to say that we want
to focus on tree canopy at the
expense of other actions that
do have a bigger impact on our
emissions and will help us get
towards that goal. It's good to
acknowledge that there are some
areas where the the community's
preferences and climate
direction and council's
direction do have some overlap,
though.
>> Councilor Harless.
>> I just had a question about
clarity on, you know, it's an
indoor air quality. Like why is
it indoor air quality, not air
quality broadly? And, you know,
what were, you know, digging
through what was provided. I
couldn't quite find an answer
to that. Like, what was the
concern, you know, is like when
you think of wildfire smoke,
that's air quality generally.
So I'm just wondering about
that clarifier, like what that
dialog was about.
>> Yeah, I think that's a good
point. And people approach this
conversation differently. And
so when we ask these questions,
they're often just at face
value and we don't provide any
additional descriptions. So
it's open to interpretation.
We've definitely heard the
concern about wildfire smoke.
We've also heard the concern
about, you know, I live on a
major highway in an area where
the air quality is poor, so I
don't want to open my window
and therefore I have to crank
my AC and my energy bill goes
up. We've also heard that
concern just in other parts of
the home that are maybe less
related to energy efficiency,
but just thinking about proper
ventilation in the bathroom or
thinking about some of the
unintended consequences if you
weatherize and insulate a home,
but then don't think about the
proper ventilation that can
then have unintended
consequences on the air quality.
So people have come at it from
different points when I've had
those conversations. And I
think as we think about program
designs in the future, it will
be good to clarify as different
actions will impact air quality
in different ways. But it's
definitely come up in in
different contexts so far.
>> Thank you. And then I just
wanted to echo what Council
Member Stover said about more.
I also was an advocate for more
frequent updates, more frequent
celebrations of when we reach
milestones. It's really
important that the community
hears and sees, and that sort
of feels that we talked about
before. And part of that is
just those continuous updates
of things that we can celebrate
on what we've accomplished so
far, because otherwise it's
just a plan that just sort of
keeps going and nobody really
knows what's really happening.
Or, you know, if it's not easy
for folks to say to each other,
that means we need to do more
check ins and more of those
milestones. And so I would also,
I'm supportive of what
Councilmember Stover mentioned
of more frequency.
>> Councilor Chris.
>> Hi, Rebecca. Also want to
echo Councilmember Stover's
comment related to multifamily
housing and emphasizing what we
could do there. We just heard
before, earlier today in the
workshop from our fire
department about a safe and
prepared community. And, you
know, climate is something that
should be weaved in all of our
our plans as a priority. And
I'm wondering if you've given
any thought about with the
extended heat domes that we're
having or more severe weather
and our fire department
strategic plan there when it
comes to climate and how as a
city, we work collectively to
really deliver our mission. I'm
just wondering if you had given
that any thought and if you
haven't, if you can do so,
especially within the area of
preparing our residents and our
public for those, you know, for
the reality of climate change
and the impacts that we're all
feeling. That was the one
comment I wanted to share. And
I think as far as community
resilience goes, and we had
talked about and I believe
Council Member Fox mentioned it
also, the resiliency hubs
within our city. And so just I
don't know if there's been any
movement or any thought or if
if that's maybe it was
mentioned in the comprehensive
plan and we missed it. But just
wanting to see this weaved
throughout all of our major
documents that guide the city
also acknowledged in in the
Caffe framework.
>> Thank you, Councilmember.
I'll start with the first
question with regards to what
we can do to try to help our
community members be more
prepared for the climate
impacts that are already upon
us and that we expect might be
worsening in the future. We did
get to have a wonderful
conversation with our new fire
chief earlier this year, who
comes to us from an environment
that has been deeply impacted
by wildfires, and he brings
that experience to the table,
which is a wonderful body of
experience to have. As we just
hear this afternoon about
residents north of just north
of battleground, being
evacuated from their homes for
a wildfire. I think there's
some lessons that we can learn
from their team about
defensible space with homes
that are located on the urban
wildland interface. I think
some of the lessons or some of
the messages that our team has
already been working with is
for everyone that lives in a
home that was not built with
air conditioning to deal with
severe heat, severe heat events,
or that did not have a high
quality air filter, you know,
installed as part of its Hvac
system. How do we help? How do
we help all of those residents
weather those kinds of changes?
And I think the healthy and
climate smart homes idea is an
effort to bring some of those
protections forward. You know,
we see a lot of examples of how
other cities are approaching
this. We have rentals of
portable AC units, for example,
or portable air filters that
that households can check out
like a library item during
extreme weather events. We also
have an opportunity to try to
work with some of our utility
partners like Clark Public
Utilities and Energy Trust of
Oregon, to try to bring some of
those home upgrades, like
replacing an outdated furnace
with a heat pump that can
provide that heating in the
winter, but also air
conditioning in the summer
while being more energy
efficient and helping helping
our energy efficiency goals. So
we do have some we do have
ideas for how to pursue those
efforts. I will say that they
are going to take a lot of time
and one on one interactions,
because it does depend on
making those connections with
individual households to, you
know, to let them know that
this opportunity to check out
an air filter exists, or to
talk with someone through the
not insignificant process of
updating your home Hvac system
or insulating your house, you
know, depending on what's
appropriate for them. So it's,
it's something we're trying to
get underway. Now. We have
heard that feedback from a lot
of your constituents that that
is that more than the
mitigation side is, is what's
on their mind because they're
trying to protect their
families. So it's, it is a part
of the puzzle that we're trying
to put some attention towards
with this update.
>> Thank you. And the other
thought that just came to mind
as you're talking, and I was
thinking about people who are
renting is in weaving
throughout our, our efforts
across the city is the rental
registration. And if there was
a way there to, to be able to,
to assess an inventory where
there is a shortage or lacking
in something in the future that
we can strategically think
about helping our landlords
with this effort. So anyway,
just wanted to put that seed
out there to think a little bit
about not only our renters, but
our landlords as well.
>> Other comments. Yes,
councilor Paulson.
>> Thank you, mayor, thanks for
the update. I'd like to dive a
little bit more deeply into
this question of how frequently
we should update the plan. And
so I'm thinking about we have a
plan and we talk about updating
the plan. But then there's also
a cadence of updates to council,
which are separate and distinct
from each other. And I think
they're sometimes conflated
with each other. So I wonder if
you could sort of detach those
two things from each other and
talk about the cadence of
updates to council and what
that looks like, and how that
might look under an update
paradigm, where we only do it
every six years, and then we
can take the actual planning
process as a separate, but just
just talk about council
interaction, council updates,
and council opportunity to
amend the plan within that six
year time period. If that were
the change that was made.
>> Absolutely. There's
definitely precedence with
other plans of doing doing
minor updates to the plan in
between the larger kind of full
formal update of the plan. I
think the comp plan has
opportunities to make those
kinds of adjustments, and we
adjust code from time to time.
When we discover that something
isn't working the way we need
it to, and we need to make
those adjustments, our team is
committed to giving an update
to council at least once a year
on kind of our progress towards
the calf as a whole, but also
on the individual projects that
are moving forward. We also
have our scheduled greenhouse
gas inventory, which is every
four years, and we're not
proposing to change the cadence
of that whatsoever. I think it
is very important to have that
regular check in of, you know,
just how are we doing? Like
measure it, track the specific
metrics that we are looking at
towards our progress and see
where we are measuring up. And
those are great opportunities
to talk about what's working
and what needs to move faster.
I think the interest in spacing
out the the full plan update, I
think, is a little bit of a
reflection of the capacity of
our team. We do have a smaller
team. We've been one full time
FTE this year, and thank
goodness we've had the support
of our fellow and our our
intern who have just been
lifesavers, but it really has
taken the full bandwidth of the
team for this year. So in that
time, we're not working towards
advancing the climate action
programs with our full focus.
And so it's it isn't it is in
the in our interest to spend
time working to advance the
plans and programs that are in
the calf, I think with a larger
team, or if we're if we have
consistent funding to bring in
outside consultant support,
which we were lucky to get with
grant funding this year, then,
you know, that engagement
component of our plan updates
is a little bit more feasible.
We are committed to updates as
frequently as council would
like them, but a minimum of
once a year for the full calf
progress, and then also on
individual plans and programs.
So we would hope you would
never feel in the dark or
behind behind the curve on
where we are. And that
greenhouse gas inventory update
does provide that four year
check in on our progress
towards our goals in each of
the various sectors, both for
our municipal emissions and the
community wide emissions.
>> Thank you for that
clarification. And so one of
the things in my mind that I'm
hearing you say is when we're
updating the plan like we are
now, we're not actually doing
the work of the plan. And so
really what that translates to
is if we're planning every four
years versus every six years,
then we're planning 50% more
often, which means we're
executing the plan 50% less
often. So to my way of thinking,
the fastest way to achieve our
objectives is to plan less
often and spend more time
executing the plan,
understanding that we have
opportunities all along the way
to adjust the plan based on the
reports that you're giving us
and the progress towards. And I
respect the perspectives that
have been shared, and in
particular, the notion that a
council member might not have
an opportunity to weigh in on a
particular plan. But I think
there's precedent for that. We
have a strategic plan that's
six years long. We have a
comprehensive plan that's 20
years long. But all along the
way, council members in various
different points of their terms,
whenever it may fall within
those time periods, have
opportunities to opine and
influence and possibly even
change in significant ways,
those plans. And so it's not as
if we're just going to stick it
on the shelf. And a person
could go for four years without
having any opportunity to
influence the plan. So for for
me, I'm actually supportive of
moving to a six year cycle,
mainly because, because we have
constrained resources that we
can apply towards planning
versus doing, I'd rather spend
that time doing, not planning.
So thank you.
>> Thank you, Rebecca and Lexi.
I wonder if you could show
slide nine. That was the
percentage rating public
funding for each the number
four over there, the home
energies. We have a great
opportunity, especially with
our renters, that we are asking
landlords to register their
rentals. In the old days, Clark
Public Utilities used to give
great financial grants, low
interest loans and everything
else for new windows or storm
windows. We saw the grades on
the air conditioners. All of
those opportunities with heat
pumps and everything else. When
you do have the time and Lexi
is sitting there with only
17,000 things to do, would you
see if we can tie the two
together? Can we take any
information from Clark Public
Utilities on those
opportunities for low interest
loans and grants and et-cetera,
and send them to those
landlords who have registered
their rentals and develop an
incentivized program. Thank you
for registering. When you had
your inspection, we noticed you
had electric heat or electric
whatever. Maybe we can tie the
two of them together and help
those landlords apply for
grants. With Clark Public
Utilities, with the state, with
all of those. And that was that
one email that I sent earlier,
because they're looking for
those opportunities and they
just don't know how to help
with that. But if we get any
Climate Commitment Act funds
and we can help leverage them,
then let's see if we can work
with our rentals to help with
that, that clean energy. People
want to have the air filters.
We saw that in the meridian. We
saw that in the Pacific. They
worked with Vancouver Housing
Authority. We were able to
close the windows, take the air
conditioners out of the windows
and make it happen. Let's see
if we can tie those together
and incentivize something with
those landlords who have
registered with us. And we know
they have electric heat.
Anything else? Councilors.
Councilor Harless.
>> I think the the disconnect
that I want to try to
communicate and. Council Member
Stobert, let me know if you
agree, is the sense of urgency
in a crisis. Like, we're not in
a strategic planning crisis.
We're not in a comp plan crisis.
We are in a climate crisis. And
so having a plan that is more
frequently updated is because
we need to take more action,
and we need to do it quicker.
And I don't know what it takes
to get that staffing and
resources, as we, you know, are
going to be talking about this
budget pretty soon. Climate is
one of our main lenses, and so
we need to actually give it the
resources and the funding that
it needs, you know, whether
that's a resolution to
acknowledge that we're in a
crisis. That's the kind of
action I want to see compared
to other plans that come before
us. And that's the different
lens that I'm seeing this and
why I want to see more more
frequent updates, more
interaction, because also
science and everything changes
so rapidly. And from our young
people, it's one of the top
issues that's on their mind.
And we don't hear their voices
enough either. And so again,
that's why we need to do more
and more action where possible.
So I just wanted to try to
clarify what I was trying to
communicate earlier. Thank you.
>> I agree.
>> Okay. Councilor Perez.
>> Mayor, thank you for
inquiring a little bit more on
the home energy upgrades with
Clark Public Utilities and
doing that. And I'd like to
offer the other area, potential
area of the affordable Housing
fund on the preservation of
homes. And so that I don't know
if that's another area that
might be worth just looking
into also. Thank you.
>> Okay, Leslie, it's good to
have you. Rebecca, thank you
for allowing us to use the
Bloomberg asset. We will see
you shortly with all sorts of
other things. And we look
forward to seeing some of those
requests in our budget.
>> Mayor.
>> Yes.
>> I think we have time for a
solar update that was requested.
Oh, okay.
>> Sure. Go ahead. Thank you.
Thank you. Councilor.
>> Okay.
>> All right. So thank you so
much for the additional time.
We are moving forward with
several solar efforts,
primarily through our general
services and public works teams.
On the general services side, a
solar and battery storage
assessment and feasibility
study was conducted in 2022 to
2023 through a Department of
Commerce grant funded by the
Climate Commitment Act, we were
able to assess five facilities
for solar potential through
that, through that grant. So
building on that work, General
Service has general Services
has submitted a decision
package for this biennium to
fund one of those projects that
would be the city's first solar
installation. If that's if that
moves forward, however, we also
have the Ops campus, which is
moving forward in construction
right now, that will have solar
arrays installed with the
potential to add arrays to the
main building and vehicle
canopy structures. In the
future, the Arts hub renovation
will bring the roof to solar
ready status, and we believe
that this facility would be a
good candidate for a solar
grant, and we will be looking
for opportunities to secure
outside funding to actually
install solar panels for that
facility. And then the new roof
for the fire station. Eight
expansion has also been
designed to be solar ready to
an extent. So we're making sure
that as soon as funding is
available, we are ready to
spring on those opportunities.
And we will. We are continuing
to work with our grants team to
scan the horizon for any and
all opportunities to bring in
some capital funds for the
solar installations. And then
on the public works side,
Public Works is taking a phased
approach to solar development.
Staff have met with GFT, which
is one of the city's on call
electrical engineering firms,
just this past month to discuss
a high level, low cost GIS
survey of public works,
buildings, facilities and
surrounding grounds, such as
the wastewater treatment is to
identify promising solar sites.
Higher potential sites would
then undergo more in-depth
engineering and electrical
assessments, and once the city
has a clearer picture of the
opportunities, staff would
explore potential solar
programs and uses for the
resulting credits. We have
options for what to do with
solar that the city generates.
For example, we can use them to
offset the city's consumption,
maintain some more stability
for utility ratepayers. We
could also host a community
solar project or another option.
So once we have a clearer
picture of what opportunities
are clearly available, then we
can start exploring what are
some of those specific pathways
that the city might like to
direct that solar production
towards? And I think Steve Wall
might be in the room with us in
case there's further questions
on those on those developments.
Okay.
>> Are there questions
concerning those developments?
Councilor Hanson?
>> Thank you. Mayor, how many
planned kilowatts do we have?
>> We don't have any planned
kilowatts right now. I think
with the continued development
of the Ops campus, we can get a
concrete number. So I think
that array is there's a minimum
size array that's required by
the state. So we'll definitely
hit that minimum for our other
facilities. It's really moving
into the next phase of study
for those to do a full
electrical study on the
potential production.
>> Thank you.
>> All right. Okay. Thank you
so very much. Thank you for the
update. Councilors. We'll go
ahead and excuse ourselves.
We'll be back here at 630 for
our regular council meeting.
Thank you so much.