Productivity Committee Minutes 04/07/2005 . s
COLLIER COUNTY GOVERNMENT
PRODUCTIVITY COMMITTEE
Minutes—April 7, 2005; 1 pm
Members Present: Syd Blum, Stan Farnham, Dex Groose, Steve Harrison, Matt Hudson, Joe Swaja
and Janet Vasey.
Liaison: Commissioner Halas was present.
Staff Present: Scott Salley, Chief of Corrections, Greg Smith, Chief of Administration,Kevin
Rambosk, Chief of Operations, Carol Golightly, Finance Director, Collier County Sheriff's Office; Jeff
Walker, Director of Risk Management, Leo Ochs, Deputy County Manager,Debbie Wight,Assistant to
the County Manager; and Barbetta Hutchinson, Office of Management and Budget, County Manager's
Office.
I. Introduction:
A. Opening Remarks—Matt Hudson called the meeting to order at 1 pm.
B. Approval of Minutes—There being no changes to the March 30, 2005 meeting minutes, Janet Vasey
made a motion to approve; Syd Blum seconded, and the committee unanimously approved.
II. Old Business:
Matt addressed the group regarding the magnitude of the Sheriff's budget review project and
acknowledged that the entire committee was now involved in this project. Joe Swaja said he felt the
expertise of all members of the committee was needed because of the importance of the initiative and
the addition of level of service indicators. Steve Harrison suggested that an extensive review be
conducted by the entire committee. Henceforth, it was decided the Sheriff's FY06 Budget Review
would be conducted by the full Productivity Committee and not a subcommittee. Commissioner Halas
said that the entire project would probably take at least a year and that the committee should focus on
specific issues that can be more easily addressed for the FY06 budget. He also reviewed the benefits
comparison between the programs of the Sheriff and the County Manager prepared by Leo Ochs.
Janet Vasey said that up until 2003 the Sheriff had statistics in his budget package regarding calls per
service by district, response times and many other performance indicators. Janet also said that the
information is probably still available. Syd Blum added that he feels,because of his involvement in the
Benefits Subcommittee,the committee feels that the benefits program of the Sheriffs office is right in
line with surrounding counties. The cost factor per person isn't more than a point or two off in actual
dollars. Syd suggested that the committee not spend a lot of time on this issue at this time. Steve
Harrison asked Syd if the Sheriffs benefit plan were lessened to a more favorable division of costs,
would the average wage have to go up to compensate the Sheriff's employees? Syd agreed that it
would. Syd added that the biggest financial issue of prospective employees is the housing cost in Collier
County. Commissioner Halas agreed that the housing issue is very prominent. Syd said that in Long
Island, if a builder wanted to build multiple homes, he had to build a percentage of those at affordable
levels and there would be stringent rules regarding who could purchase these homes.
Commissioner Halas addressed grants that have been sought by the Sheriff's Office. After the grant
funding runs out, is it the burden of the county to keep them going? He asked Chief Rambosk about the
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grants and the Chief said that the commission should accept the position that the grant creates when they
actually accept the grant itself.
Steve Harrison passed out a spreadsheet that showed how the Sheriffs budget has changed from 1998 to
2004. He said, "From a taxpayer's standpoint, we are looking at how much law enforcement we are
willing to buy. How much spending is enough in relation to the service we are getting? This
spreadsheet shows the trends in population in comparison to the trends in spending. We can clearly see
the areas that are driving these costs." -*Commissioner Halas asked Leo Ochs to provide the
committee with similar figures for the County Manager's Agency so we can get an overall picture.
Joe Swaja asked if there are duties that certified officers are doing that could be contracted out so that
the certified officers can do what they do best? The question of Sheriffs officers patrolling the schools
was discussed. If the schools want certified officers, then the schools should pick up part of the tab. -+
The Sheriff's representatives will provide statistics regarding incidents that occur on school
property to the committee.
Janet passed out a list of issues that she feels need to be looked at regarding the Sheriffs budget. The
list was reviewed and discussed by the group. Eight of the 11 topics were approved for research, as
the Productivity Committee reviews the Sheriff's FY06 Budget. It was decided that the members
would divide up and each member would address a few issues and look for economies and efficiencies.
Some of these issues can be easily addressed, while others will take some time. Steve added that the
committee might also do some research on a voice-over data system. He feels this issue should be
added to the IT committee that is already in existence. Janet recommended that two people work on
each team. In order to get this project completed, the following schedule of meetings was set up (after
the meeting) for groups to meet before the next Productivity Meeting on April 20:
Orangetree positions: Stan Farnham, Matt Hudson, Chief Rambosk Mon., 4/11 at 11 am to noon
Health plan & retirement increases: Helen Philbin, Syd Blum, Chief Smith Wed., 4/13 at 8:30 am to 9:30 am
Jail expansion positions: Matt Hudson, Dex Groose, Chief Salley Mon., 4/18 at 3 pm to 4 pm
and Joe Swaja
Sheriffs cars: Dex Groose, Helen Philbin, Chief Rambosk Tues., 4/19 at 9 am to 10 am
(Originally scheduled for 4/11)
Youth related positions: Matt Hudson, Joe Swaja, Chief Rambosk Tues., 4/19 at 3 pm to 4 pm
-*These meetings will be held and reported on at the next meeting. Also, at the next meeting, Joe
Swaja will enlist the new members to join in this challenge by working with the current members
on these issues.
At 2:30 pm Matt Hudson adjourned the meeting.
Next Meeting: The next meeting of the Productivity Committee is scheduled for Wednesday, April 20,
2005, 2 p.m. in the County Manager's Office front conference room, 2nd floor of the W. Harmon Turner
building(Administration Building).
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