Mayor and Council Work Session, 10/10/2011

CITY OF GAITHERSBURG
MINUTES OF A CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION
MONDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2011

A work session of the Mayor and City Council was called to order at 7:30 p.m., Mayor Katz presiding.  Council Members present: Ashman, Drzyzgula, Sesma, and Spiegel.  Council Member Absent:  Marraffa.  Staff present: City Manager Jones, Deputy City Manager Tomasello, Community and Public Relations Director Monaco, Community Services Division Acting Director Herndon, Parks, Recreation and Culture Director Potter, Youth and Senior Services Division Chief Smith.

I. TOPIC(S) OF DISCUSSION

1. Annual Briefing from the Gaithersburg Senior Advisory Committee
   
   Committee member Marcia Robins presented the Senior Advisory Committee’s Annual Report, which detailed the mission and vision statements, programs, events and daily activities offered at the Senior Center. The presentation also included membership demographics that encompassed percentages of residents and nonresidents, gender, average age and daily attendance. The Report highlighted updates of three subcommittees: Communications, Activities and Diversity.
   
   The Mayor and Council had questions about the decline in the total number of memberships and daily attendance. Staff responded that although the total number of memberships has declined, the percentage of City Residents has increased and the daily attendance is consistent with prior years.
   
   
2. Annual Briefing from the Educational Enrichment Committee
   
   The Educational Enrichment Committee, through its members, Yvette Monroe and Josh Schuman, presented a PowerPoint outlining its mission, work elements and plans for FY12.  A summary of grant awards and CHARACTER COUNTS! program participation was presented.  Goals for FY12 include increasing the number of school site visits, formalizing the school liaison program, implementing the after-school tutoring/recreation pilot in conjunction with the Youth Services Division, and implementing a workshop and cluster-based support of programming focused on increasing parental involvement in City schools.
   
   The committee also committed to working on increased promotion of the Person of Character Award program and Foundations for Life Contest.
   
   
3. Annual Briefing from the Community Advisory Committee
   
   The CAC reviewed its charge and mission, highlighted its focus on the recruitment of new members, and provided an overview of the tools and resources used to define community needs in Gaithersburg.  Sources of information included separate web-based surveys for the general community and nonprofit providers, information gathered from year-end reports of the nonprofit contracts administered by the City, and data culled from local, state and federal sources.  Primary areas of need were identified as employment, housing, health care, and food.
   
   The CAC reviewed the funding mechanisms used to support nonprofits, discussing the transition from an all grant process in FY10 to an all RFP process in FY11, to the current hybrid process in FY12.  Year-end reports from the first completed year of the RFP process (FY11) were reviewed. 
   
   For FY13, the CAC recommended continuing with a hybrid process.  The CAC will be working with staff to evaluate all funding pools across City departments and divisions, emphasizing a holistic approach to nonprofit funding.  The CAC recommended that RFP contracts continue to be used for most collaborative service areas, and that the contracts allow for a one year renewal.  The CAC also recommended that the current criteria for the New, Innovative and Emerging Needs Fund be broadened to allow for consideration of other unmet needs, to be defined during the budget process.
   
   The Mayor and City Council thanked the committee members for their efforts, recognizing the enormity and difficulty of their task.  The Mayor and City Council supported the CAC’s funding mechanism recommendations for FY13, but cautioned that should contracts contain a one year renewal clause, they be written in such a way as to allow for amended statements of work and adjusted outcome measures based on real data, which may change throughout the contract period.  The Mayor and Council also encouraged the CAC to take steps to promote grant applications for the New, Innovative and Emerging Needs Fund in FY12.

II. ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business to come before this session of the City Council, the meeting was duly adjourned at 9:05 p.m.