MINUTES OF THE JOINT MEETING OF THE JOHNSON COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND LINN COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
FEBRUARY 8, 2005
Chairpersons Stutsman and Langston called the Boards of Supervisors to order in the Howard R. Green Co. Conference Room, 8710 Earhart Lane SW, Cedar Rapids, Iowa at 4:33 p.m. Members present were: Johnson County Board of Supervisors Pat Harney, Mike Lehman, Terrence Neuzil, Sally Stutsman, and Rod Sullivan; and Linn County Board of Supervisors Lu Barron, James Houser and Linda Langston.
Also present: Johnson County Sheriff Lonnie Pulkrabek, North Liberty Mayor Clair Mekota, University Heights Mayor Gloria Jacobson, Linn County Sheriff Donald Zeller, Coralville Mayor Jim Fausett.
Linn County Supervisor Linda Langston said that there has been a cooperative contract with the Gartner Group between Linn County, the City of Cedar Rapids, and the Cedar Rapids School District over the last nine months to assess and investigate future technology system changes. Gartner Group Representative Mark Gilbert said that he has prepared slides to address the collaboration between governments. Gartner is an international research and consulting organization with over 2,000 researchers globally and about 500 consultants. Gilbert explained that from the short term perspective there are four things people think about when trying to collaborate systems: cost containment, cost avoidance, technology consolidation, and revenue maximization. He said that people need to ask how to select and justify services to share, how to select and implement the best model, how to manage the transition between services, and how to allow for and make improvements over time. Shared services always happen under mandatory or voluntary circumstances and are either broad or limited in their scale of scope. Gilbert explained that some of the potential services to share are supply, corporate, domain, and constituent processes. He said they also see enabling capabilities.
Gilbert said that they often see sharing of integrated technologies infrastructure. This could mean the sharing of radio systems and broadband infrastructure. Gilbert said that in the past many governmental agencies have duplicated technological investments. Now, there is a lot of strategic consolidation among different entities that have also used outsourcing in efficient ways. A lot of the data sharing takes place in the public safety arena. The Public Safety sector alone has increased spending on communications by 24%. Gilbert explained that by joining databases the costs go down because there is little duplication of information and time is saved because all of the information is in one area and easy to get to. In the report that was prepared for the Linn County entities they looked at the cost of developing independent networks versus developing a collaborative system. Gilbert said that because each entity brings something to build the foundation of a shared network, costs can be lowered by working together. Gilbert explained that there are many areas around the country that are building joint systems including broadband access, and information technologies. Because of the growth that is going on in the area there are many opportunities to advance that growth and make the most of going forward.
Langston said that there are upcoming issues related to inter-operability. Linn County Sheriff Donald Zeller said that one thing the public is always asking for is cost saving measures and inter-operability. For Zeller, cost saving is more important so his concern was that they work on needs before wants. He said that last year many public safety organizations from several counties met to discuss technology plans. At that meeting Motorola pointed out that if they consolidated, their buying power would increase dramatically. Zeller said that he has not been the biggest advocate of joint communication centers, but if they could incorporate some of these plans and increase the quality of services to the public while reducing costs that would be good for everyone. He pointed out that there are already 28E agreements in place for many issues between the various entities. Langston said that the more robust the communication network, the more benefits there will be for every segment of government whether it be schools or law enforcement. Gilbert said that it sets the foundation for a broad ubiquitous umbrella of information. He said that this umbrella would also allow for better transfer of information.
Langston said that they wanted to include Johnson County in what is going on in Linn County with communications inter-operability because in a perfect world Johnson County would be included in the synergy. She said that there are many similar issues for both Counties and that the possibilities are exciting but many conversations need to take place. Langston said that they just received the results of the study within the last couple of days. The next step would be to put a contract out for the design of a network that would be reflective of the Gartner Group’s recommendations. Linn County Administrative Services Director Mike Goldberg said that all of the entities seem ready to go forward with the entire project. They are looking at combining locations and putting in their own fiber network. They are also outsourcing the management of the fiber network. He said that the network would be infinitely expandable. The cost estimate for the new network is $1.4 million to be shared between the Linn County, the City of Cedar Rapids, and the Cedar Rapids Community School District. Langston said that this is not totally new territory, it is just the collaboration that is new and that they will keep everyone up to date on what is going on. Houser said that they were innovative seven years ago and implemented advanced technologies with McLeod. The equipment has reached its life expectancy and now cost savings will come through collaboration. He said that it was nice to know that they had made the right choice seven years ago. He continued that they need to continue to do the right thing when taking the next steps toward building a network. Houser added that they have been very fortunate to have McLeod in the area as they have been very innovative and on the cutting edge of technology.
Johnson County Sheriff Lonnie Pulkrabek asked if the radius of coverage could really go out to fifteen miles. Goldberg said that conservative estimates say that the coverage would be in a five mile radius, but that it could go out to fifteen under good circumstances. Houser said that the hot spot sites would have five to fifteen mile radii and the coverage across the County could be seamless. Pulkrabek said that he had envisioned small town fire departments having hotspots as well as the schools, but that he had never heard of this kind of range before. Goldberg said that they are even talking of sharing the ICN network to create the hotspots. Pulkrabek said that this is a different way to look at things and it would be outstanding if they could move in that direction. He said that in Johnson County they are behind in technological advances in the Public Safety Department. He said that they are not even able to receive mobile data in the squad cars.
Stutsman said that the Governor appointed a task force to look into ways to make local governments more efficient. The Supervisors asked ISAC Supervisors Lobbyist Mike Wentzein and Linn County Lobbyist Larry Murphy to give an update on what they are finding out. Langston said that both Wentzein and Murphy are attending weekly meetings as the committee is set to report by March 21, 2005. Wentzein said that the approach has been divided three ways: dealing with government and how to better deliver services; property taxes; and education. Wentzein said that there have been many people involved in gathering information and working with the task force. He said that all of the 28E agreements will be available on www.iowa.gov. Wentzein said that there have been many issues talked about including townships and regionalization. There is a top ten list of what the committee works with including criminal justice, law enforcement, fire detection, regionalization of basic public services, using COGS, using existing legislative districts, modernizing 28E agreements, flexibility in financing, and tracking State and Federal funding to local governments. Wentzein said that there is a tax proposal that ISAC and the League of Cities presented to the legislative body that is still being worked on but there shouldn’t be any big changes. He said that the tying on the ag formula with the residential housing could be eliminated. He added that there is always an ongoing argument about the funding of credits. ISAC would like to see the credits go away and create exemptions instead. There have been continuous discussions and it will be very difficult to make everyone happy. Wentzein said that education may be the easiest area because everyone wants the schools to be equal. He said that the committee is very serious and there is a lot of effort being put in to make sure that the right recommendations are made.
Murphy said that the Governor is sincere in trying to find ways to better serve governments. He said that Johnson and Linn Counties need to be informed about the implications of the possible $0.80 tobacco tax and what effects it could have on the area if passed. Murphy said that there is a general movement toward regionalization and that a lot of the changes being talked about make sense. The Governor’s intent is not to cut local government, but to make it more efficient. Murphy said that their local discussions should identify and qualify what is already done well. Another thing to do is look at implications of the property tax bill as it is being discussed currently. He added that there will be many options of what to do and it is important to think about those options to make an informed decision. Murphy said that staffing public safety can be a problem. There is also the issue of the perception of overlap in services. He said that collective bargaining could be put into a regional system. He suggested that governments identify things that the States mandates that have prevented efficiency.
Wentzein said that the Public Strategies Group had no involvement from the lobby. He said that the guidelines for any changes should be that whatever happens, they should be positive, not punitive and don’t think that one thing will fit for everyone. Stutsman asked if the group will draft legislation. Wentzein said that they will give general recommendations on March 21, 2005 and then that group will pick pieces they think are viable. He said that quantifying anything that is done currently is the best way to communicate with legislators. The legislators don’t know everything that is going on and it is up to local governments to explain what will work and what they need. Murphy said that legislators are general thinkers and they forget that each case is individual and needs different things. He said that the best thing to do would be to help write the language as it is better to lead in the process then complain at the end. Neuzil said that legislators always want everyone to work together but they themselves lack any spirit of cooperation between the Legislature and the Governor. Langston said that one of the most creative ideas that came up during another project was dealing with barriers. She said that as an example when trying to coordinate municipal services and a hospital there is no model to follow and no money to explore opportunities. Wentzein said that when presenting ideas to legislators they need to be kept simple and to the point as the best ideas are straightforward.
Neuzil said that there has always been talk of getting rid of parts of government in some areas of the State. He asked if there has been talk of consolidation in the legislature. Murphy said that legislators react to numbers. Iowa is in the top ten states with the highest number of government employees because of the township trustees. If the trustees are removed from the equation Iowa drops to the twenties or thirties. Langston said that when they were discussing township trustees with their legislators they pointed out that trustees are only paid $1,500 and if they had to hire someone to do the job it could cost almost $60,000 a year. Murphy said that the problem is that property tax bankrolls everything. He said that they want to revamp the system but everyone is nervous as to how to do it. Wentzein said that another problem is that everything that is done has to be revenue neutral. Barron asked if they are looking at the Brookings Study that was distributed. Wentzein said that they don’t really have time to do that. Murphy said that they have looked at many other sources since the Brookings documents. He said that the best thing to do is identify three to five things that would help the County get the job done. Murphy reported that the issue about funding property tax credits is still sticky and that the credit was only funded last year because it was an election year. He said that the local officials need to let their legislators know what effects the unfunded credits have on local areas, that they are punitive not positive. Neuzil said that it would be nice to know if the credits were going to come through or not and that it is disrespectful to hold local governments in limbo. Murphy said that they forget March 15 and it signifies a lack of understanding with local governments.
FUTURE DIRECTION OF PUBLIC LEADERSHIP SUMMIT GROUP
Langston said that there are planning and zoning opportunities that have come up in various settings. She said that there are also opportunities to look at Johnson County SEATS and Linn County LIFTS to see how the transportation issues affect a broader area. She pointed out that there will always be a need to look at economic development areas and that the challenge is to get feedback from local mayors about progress. R. Sullivan said that he was thinking they could talk to some of the vendors that do business in both Counties and ask them what they like or dislike about the Counties. The Supervisors agreed to have ECICOG Executive Director Doug Elliot draw up a proposal for the Public Leadership Summit.
SCHEDULING NEXT MEETING DATE AND LOCATION
The Supervisors scheduled their next meeting for April 5, 2005 with Linn County hosting, and a possible March 24, 2005 meeting with small cities.
Adjourned at 6:05 p.m.
Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor
By Casie Kadlec, Recording Secretary
Sent to the Board of Supervisors on March 9, 2005 at 1:00 p.m.