Monterey County Grand Jury • 2018-2019 • Agency Response
Response to: Monterey County Auditor-Controller’s Response to the Disclosing Public Employee Data in Monterey County report

Of Mont all conference consentation Mayor:*

Published: August 27, 2019 5 pages
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Findings and Recommendations 13 findings

F4
The December 4, 2012 Edition of the NIP Manual does not reflect the current processes and practices of the NIP. Response: The City of Monterey partially disagrees with this finding. While there are opportunities to update the Manual, the vast majority of the document reflects current processes and practices. Furthermore, the City Council adopted changes to the NIP's voting processes and procedures at its meeting on July 16, 2019.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
By January 2020 the Monterey City Council should clearly define Citywide and differentiate it from Community-wide as it relates to NIP projects and funding. Response: This recommendation will not be implemented because it is not warranted. There is no differentiation between Citywide and Community-wide, and the City will begin to use the term "Community-wide" to reduce confusion or any perception that NIP funds are not being used appropriately.
F5
From 2012 to the present, the NIP Committee has continued to discuss changes to the 2012 NIP Manual without subsequent city council approval, thereby not having up to date practices documented. CITY HALL . MONTEREY . CALIFORNIA . 93940 . 831.646.3760 . FAX 831.646.3793 Website . www.monterey.org Response: The City of Monterey partially disagrees with this finding. Few changes have been made to the NIP Manual, and the City Council has been reviewing changes to the NIP voting process, most recently on July 16, 2019.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
Immediately the Monterey City Council should develop criteria to differentiate General Fund projects that qualify for NIP funds from those projects that do not. Response: This recommendation will not be implemented because it is not warranted. As stated in earlier responses, use of the term "General Fund projects" is a misnomer. Some community-wide projects are appropriate to be fully or partially-funded by the NIP, and no additional criteria is necessary.
F6
The NIP Coordinator and the City Manager failed to advance the revision of the NIP Manual over a period of six years. Response: The City of Monterey disagrees with this finding. The City believes that there has not been an urgent need for the NIP Coordinator and City Manager to advance revisions to the NIP Manual since its adoption in December 2012. The City has been working toward changes to the current NIP voting process to comply with the California Political Reform Act and the Ralph M. Brown Act.
Related Recommendations (1)
R6
Immediately after finalizing R5, the Monterey City Council should ensure that City Staff, including elected officials, do not submit projects to the NIP when those projects are within the purview of the General Fund. Response: This recommendation will not be implemented because it is not warranted. As stated in earlier responses, use of the term "General Fund projects" is a misnomer. It is appropriate for City officials to request that an NIP representative submit a project for the NIP.
F7
NIP has a well worked out method of prioritizing neighborhood projects. Response: The City of Monterey agrees with this finding.
Related Recommendations (1)
R7
By January 2020, the Monterey City Council should adopt and implement broader and more modern methods of informing the residents of Monterey when and where public meetings of the NIP are to be held. Response: This recommendation will not be implemented because it is not warranted. The City already utilizes modern methods of informing Monterey residents when and where public meetings of the NIP are held. Meetings are publicly noticed, advertised, and promoted to the public through print, in-person, and digital (website, social media) methods. As stated earlier, Neighborhood Associations have newsletters and e-mail communications which notify residents of NIP meetings as well. The City of Monterey appreciates the work of the Civil Grand Jury in preparing this report on this important topic. We recognize members of the Civil Grand Jury for its many hours of work to make our community better. We hope that this information addresses the Grand Jury's findings and recommendations. Please contact us if you have further questions. Respectfully, Clyde Roberson Mayor Hans Uslar City Manager
F8
The City of Monterey gives appropriate procedural support to the NIP projects. Response: The City of Monterey agrees with this finding.
No recommendations for this finding
F9
The funding of some projects outside of the pre-described 16 neighborhoods is not abiding by the intent of the City Charter. Response: The City of Monterey disagrees with this finding. Measure B, the ballot measure which created the NIP, was titled "Neighborhood and Community Projects Program." Section 6.6 of the City Charter states that the purpose of the program "is to improve the residential neighborhoods of the City and to provide for capital projects of community-wide benefit." The intent of the City Charter has always been to support projects in neighborhoods and projects that have community-wide benefit. Use of the term "citywide" has been used interchangeably with "community-wide"; the City intends to use "community-wide" more consistently to eliminate any confusion.
No recommendations for this finding
F10
There is confusion about Citywide projects that can be found in both NIP and General Fund budgets. The citizens of Monterey don't have but need transparency when it comes to the NIP funding of Citywide projects. Response: The City of Monterey partially disagrees with this finding. The City believes there are opportunities to provide further clarification about community- wide (also known as citywide) projects that are supported by both NIP and other sources. However, the City disagrees that there is a lack of transparency. Members of the NIP canvass neighborhoods where projects are proposed. All NIP and City Council meetings, where NIP projects and budgets are discussed, are publicly noticed, advertised, promoted, and televised on the City's outreach methods, which include print, in-person, and digital media.
No recommendations for this finding
F11
The practice of City Officials submitting Citywide projects from their respective departments and presenting them to the NIP for approval gives the appearance that Citywide projects belong in the NIP budget but may actually belong in the General Fund budget. Response: The City of Monterey disagrees with this finding. City staff will submit a community-wide (citywide) projects to an NIP Committee member for consideration. As stated previously, it is appropriate for community-wide projects to be funded by the NIP if they have a community-wide benefit and are supported by the NIP Committee. Community-wide benefit projects have included enhancements to the Monterey Public Library, Monterey Sports Center, Dennis the Menace Playground as well as the construction of an Emergency Operations Center.
No recommendations for this finding
F12
Funds used from the NIP budget for Citywide projects are to enhance the General Fund of the City of Monterey to complete General Fund Projects. Response: The City of Monterey disagrees with this finding. As stated in the City's response to Finding #9, the NIP is designed to support projects in neighborhoods and projects that have community-wide benefit. It is more than appropriate for community-wide (citywide) projects to be funded by both the NIP budget and other sources, such as General Fund. There is no definition of "General Fund Projects" because projects receive funding from a variety of sources, including grants, Measure S, General Fund, NIP, and others. NIP funding of community-wide benefit demonstrates neighborhood leaders' support of projects that support the greater community.
No recommendations for this finding
F13
Citywide has been erroneously identified as a neighborhood and is included in project assignments but has no base allocated budget. Response: The City of Monterey disagrees with this finding. The NIP Committee, City Council, and staff understand that "Citywide" is not a neighborhood but is used as an identifier for capital projects of community-wide benefit. It should continue to be categorized as such (and renamed to "community-wide") and continue to not have a base-allocated budget.
No recommendations for this finding
F14
Over a ten-year period, the NIP budget shows that Citywide received substantially more funding than any of the true 16 neighborhoods. Response: The City of Monterey agrees with this finding. As stated in prior responses, the NIP has always meant to support projects with community-wide benefit, and it is appropriate for the NIP budget to support these efforts.
No recommendations for this finding
F15
NIP public meetings are not communicated effectively to the residents of Monterey or the general public. Response: The City of Monterey disagrees with this finding. Neighborhood Associations have newsletters and e-mail communications which notify residents of NIP meetings as well. All NIP and City Council meetings, where NIP and budgets are discussed, are publicly noticed, advertised, promoted, and televised on the City's outreach methods, which include print, in-person, and digital media. The NIP meeting draw a large turnout of residents with hundreds of applications received each year.
No recommendations for this finding
F16
The City of Monterey is not following the NIP Manual's guidelines by failing to post public meeting announcements in local newspapers. Response: The City of Monterey agrees with this finding.
No recommendations for this finding

* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.