City Council - Special Meeting

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Oh my goodness. Already got sitting down. Thank you. Welcome to Boulder City City Council. Madame City Clerk, if you can call posting a roll call.

Thank you. The agenda was posted in accordance with Nevada open meeting law. All members are present with the exception of member Ashers who is absent due to a family emergency.

Thank you. And we will having done that we'll open for public comment. Anybody would like to come to the podium or anybody wants to call in at 7025899629 welcome to do so at this time that's 7025899629 or anyone here in chambers. See no one here in chambers and no one on the phone. We will close the initial public comment and go to our special agenda. Good afternoon, Mayor Hardy, members of city council. Michael Maize, your deputy city manager. Item one is matters pertaining to the performance evaluation of city clerk Tammy McCay. Per Ms. K's employment contract with the city. Her performance shall be evaluated on an annual basis in March. Written notice advising her of the evaluation and proof of service has been administered as required by NRS 241 033 and acknowledged by Ms. Kay. The evaluation will be a fourpart process. It starts with a presentation from Miss McKay. Then the city council will conduct conduct your eval will conduct your annual evaluation. Then uh staff needs a moment to compile the numbers based on the evaluation scores and then that will be presented to the city council and then the council will consider resolution 8113 which includes the potential for a merit

increase to her base pay. With that I can answer any questions. Thank you. Are there any questions? All right.

Thank you. Good afternoon, mayor and councel and members of the public. I'm Tammy Mccay, your city clerk, and I'm here to present my annual performance review. But before I begin, I would like to disclose pursuant to NRS281A that I have a private pecuniary interest in this item as it may determine potential increases in my compensation benefits and/or changes to my employment contract. City clerk staff. Currently, the city clerk's team is comprised of the city clerk, the deputy city clerk, and we have a part-time office assistant. Although our team is small, our collaborative approach allows us to operate efficiently while continuing to provide highlevel customer service. And I'd like to introduce, if I can just for a moment, uh, Bridget Rodriguez, our deputy city clerk, and Stacy Brownfield. Time for change. And boy, have we had some changes over the past year. Each year brings change and new challenges, but with them comes opportunities to grow, refine our approach, strengthen our capabilities, and prepare our department for continued success in the future. This past year, our succession plan has proven to be successful. Stacy Brownfield retired as the deputy city clerk in February of 2025, and Bridget fulfills that role now, and she's done an outstanding job. Bridget brings a high level of professionalism, knowledge, and dedication to her role. Her qualifications, reliability, and attention to detail contribute greatly

to the effectiveness of the office, and she helps ensure that services are provided accurately and efficiently to the public. Tina Pickkins retired in July of 2025. And the records technician position, although it remains unfilled, we have divided and conquered and continue to fill all of the duties, so it goes unnoticed for the time being. Stacy currently serves as a part-time office assistant. Her deep and extensive historical knowledge of the city clerk's office and its processes is an exceptional asset to our organization. Through her contribution, she plays a key role in sustaining st stability, advancing efficiency, and ensuring the long-term success of the department. Some other notable changes. Uh Bridget was away from the office on maternity leave from November 2025 through January 2026. Wasn't easy, but we did survive. And we're in the process now of recruiting for a city clerk assistant. Despite the many changes throughout the year, business processes were unaffected on the public side and we were still able to successfully accomplish our goals that we set last year. We believe that change is not something that we respond to. It is something we lead and our progress depends on how quickly we turn insight into action. Our core services. A majority of our core services are govern governed by Nevada revised statutes begin with public meetings. We had a total of 53 meetings that we were responsible for minute taking and completion. 21 other committee and commission meetings including parks and wreck historic preservation commission and utility advisory committee. While this is what the public sees, the real work happens be behind the scenes. Before the meeting, we gather and review

supporting documents for accuracy and consistency, ensuring it follows the requirements of NRS 241, known as the open meeting law. Last year, we reviewed 523 agenda items, 189 resolutions, and 23 ordinances. Although the law states agendas must be posted not later than 9:00 a.m. on the third working day before the meeting, we strive to get the packets and the agendas published up to one week early. Typically, we try for 7 days. Sometimes it ends up being six days, but we try never to go beyond that. And this is um to allow the council and the public an opportunity to review all of the backup and supporting material that's included during the meeting. Detailed notes are taken and motions and votes are recorded accurately. The behind the scenes after the meeting u minutes are prepared and finalized as the official minutes which become a permanent record of the city. You ask what impacts the timing timing of finalizing minutes. There's several factors. One is the length of the council meeting or whatever meeting you're taking minutes for. the number of agenda items, the number of motions, volume of public comments, and then you have to allow time if you need to go back and rewatch the video to verify any details. Well, finishing one set of meeting minutes, we're already preparing for the next meeting by preparing the agenda. So, it's it's a very fast turnaround. And the law requires that we actually have any minutes approved within 30 days of the meeting. So, there's really no time to wait. It's a continued process. Records management. One of our priorities is improving our records management or organizationwide. Last year, we established a records liaison group consisting of one representative from each department. They then act as the point of contact

for their department's records. Audits of all departments records were completed. This was a very timeconsuming um process. and I have Bridget and Stacy to thank for this. Staff visited with the records liaison and key staff who manages physical and electronic records. They performed a detailed review of their records, identified relevant records, determined if they were maintained in physical or electronic format and assessed them for compliance with retention policies. After the review, we determined where the records were being maintained and began revising retention schedules. These were specific to each office. And we also took and moved all records from onremise servers into cloud storage, which offers significant advantages such as accessibility, cost efficiency, and robust security. It'll aid in compliance, and disaster recovery if it's ever needed. We also change document management providers that manage manages our records repository. They're known. Our records repository is laserfish. And we have a company called CDI who is helping with the process. They have more than 20 years specializing in records management. And uh they they offer a lot of benefits to us that we didn't receive before. Their software assurance plan includes unlimited phone and remote technical support, monthly training webinars. They have um express training guides, newsletters, and support and software tips. It's been really really beneficial. We've actually already taken quite a few of the classes they have to offer. Following our goal to enhance records management, we entered into a partnership with Megan Greger Consulting, who's an experienced local government professional specializing in records management and process improvement. Part of our normal daily duties this past year included fulfilling 365 public

records request which also has to be done in accordance with NRS 293. We reviewed 31,156 physical documents to ensure they were complete and stored in the repository to ensure an accurate history which is vital to the organization. Most of these um folders that we looked at were agreements, resolutions, and ordinances, which are permanent records. We worked with purchasing to assign agreement numbers for easier tracking and retention. And we have Paul Secur to thank for this. It's been very helpful. We created a records request step-by-step training video, which is available in pool pack for staff who are responsible for fulfilling records requests citywide. Municipal Code. Boulder City contracts with Munich Code to codify ordinances that have been approved by the city council. The codifier is responsible for organizing, updating, and maintaining the electronic city code once an ordinance has been adopted. The city's municipal code is available on the city's website and includes the city charter. It's organized in an easy to navigate, searchable format by chapter. Within each chapter, users can print specific sections, view and print related ordinances, and see the effective dates. The city clerk, the city attorney, and community development department, including now deputy city manager Michael Mays, have collaborated and recently selected a firm to help update and rewrite Title 11, which is our zoning code. This is a big project, but we're going to be on our way, and it's going to be well received by the community once it's finished. This update will ensure consistency with Southern Nevada jurisdictions and modernized practices consistent with Nevada law. Municipal elections.

My duties as administrator of elections include preparing the declarations of election, candidate filing, reviewing legal notices for publication, working closely with the Clark County Election Department, Nevada Secretary of State's Office. We're responsible for helping the election department with early voting election day sites and I serve on the certification board all in accordance with NRS 295. The city clerk is also charged with reviewing all ballot question arguments for placement in the sample ballots. And if uh there is a year ever where the ballot question committee members are not if we don't receive anyone who wants to volunteer for this position, the city clerk along with the city attorney must prepare advocating and opposing arguments this year. I'm happy to report we have some volunteers who have submitted applications. Passport services. The city clerk's office serves as the passport acceptant agent and we're required to complete reertification training on an annual basis. Audits are conducted every two years by the US Department of State. The last one um was conducted in May of 2025 and they come in to ensure we're maintaining accurate and complete records. And I'm happy to report we passed successfully with zero discrepancies. This valuable service provides a convenient location for residents to submit their passport application in person. To date, most of the positive customer service survey results the city clerks received were focused on their experience with passport services. The past calendar year, we processed 320 passports, generating $14,350. We limit appointments because the demand is so great, it would require additional personnel. Administrative support to the council. The city clerk provides administrative support to the council which includes

answering inquiries, coordinating events, composing correspondents, informing council members of pertinent information that require their immediate attention, and we work as the liaison between the council and the public. In addition, I maintain and monitor the council's budget. This year, Council Member Ashhurst is fulfilling the role of chairman for the Civilian Military Council. This will add additional duties as I'm already serving as the treasurer for the CMC, but as she's chairman, I will offer her administrative support for each meeting. Our civic participation, I know you're aware of this. This just took place, but in an effort to promote civic engagement, local schools were invited to participate in the I voted sticker design contest. It was open to Boulder City students in grades K through 2, 3 through 5, 6 through 8, and 9 through 12. In January 2026, four outside judges reviewed all of the artwork submissions, and they selected the top three designs, which were then placed on a ballot. We took a ballot box to each of the different age groups and they got to cast their ballot for their favorite sticker design. The winner's artwork became the official I voted stickers which will be handed out at the primary and general election in Boulder City. We've created a web page in case anybody's interested in taking a look. It's on um bcnv.org or I voted sticker contest and next year we plan to continue supporting civic engagement among local schools through voter outreach and educational initiatives. We also have a plan to partner with the government teachers. We had done that years ago and it kind of fell off, but we're hoping to um reinvent that with the with the government teacher and promote them to encourage kids to register to vote since they'll most of

them would be 18 by the next election. So, we'll do that by reaching out and either asking them, it's been done a couple ways in the past, um government teachers in the past have offered their students extra credit if they would come up here and register to vote. And then we also plan to ask if we can just come to the schools to help support and we'll bring the registration forms. And then we're also um hopeful that we could maybe coordinate that the mayor and council speak to the classes and answer any questions they might have. Continuing education, training, and community involvement. We are all members of the International Institute of Municipal Clerks, National Association of Government Archives and Records Administrators, and the Nevada Municipal Clerks Association. Benefits of these memberships include resources, mentorship, professional development, and scholarship opportunities. Proudly, Bridget and Stacy have been selected to serve on the conference committee for the 2026 IIMC annual conference being held in Reno. Uh this is a a really big deal and we're so happy that Nevada gets to host it. It only happens every 10 years and this conference supports municipal clerks worldwide and I would attend um but I'll be attending my son's graduation in New York. So they're going to represent for the our office. We all took advantage of numerous webinars throughout the year focusing on leadership, election preparation, customer service, and public records. In October, Bridget attended the Nevada Secretary of State's week-long election conference, which was held in Las Vegas. Earlier this week, Bridget and I were fortunate enough to attend a deescalation situations course that was offered to us and some of the um Clark County Election Department workers. It was sponsored by City of Henderson. Through this training, we learned the importance of deescalation,

five universal truths, the differences between reaction and response, and most importantly, the value of empathy. The principles reinforce a mindset that extends beyond the moment. We were reminded of a quote by Dave Willis, "Show respect even to people who don't deserve it, not as a reflection of their character, but as a reflection of yours." And I think this is really important as a public servant. Community connections. We participated in career day at Martha P. King highlighting voting and passport services. I serve on the Boulder City Museum and Historical Association board of directors. I serve as a member of Sunrise Rotary, which includes participating in fundraising events for the community, highway cleanup, and other volunteer opportunities. I'm also a member of the Elks Lodge. This was a fun one. This is personality types and core traits. So, uh, myself and Stacy and Bridget all participated in and took the 16 personalities assessment. It was really really interesting because we've worked together for a long time. But we learned um how to identify our different personality styles, strengths, and ways people tend to communicate and approach their work. While we all have different strengths, we learned these differences actually complement each other. Together, we have a team that is people focused, actionoriented, and dependable. If you'd like to know more about that, I I can give you more details. It was fun. Oops. Accomplishments. We improved document and records management system in our laser fish. We

conducted audits of department records and we conducted responsible stewardship. One of the things we did is we received a huge increase on our agenda management software agreement and we negotiated um and secured a 4% discount for the next 5 years. So I'm happy to report that we we're demonstrating responsible stewardship of our public resources. Goals for the next year, we want to continue to strengthen the city's digital records management system. And this one um is is really will be ongoing continually. One of the things um that we just learned after we conducted all of the audits for records retention is the state is in the process of revising all of their retentions and they're going to do it in a different format. So we'll basically have to go back and reconduct audits and change the way we we define and have all of our retentions. But we're very helpful with um the new company that we have contracted with. They they have just an abundance of knowledge and there is a way where they can go through when we enter something into laserfish we can put in data and then it would automatically notify us when that particular document documents retention has ended. So it'll it'll be very helpful. Um, so enhance records management across the organization and we want to continue to encourage civic participation among our youth. We think it's so valuable public service. The city clerk's office is dedicated to to serving Boulder City with professionalism and care by preserving the integrity of the public record, supporting democratic processes,

and ensuring every interaction reflects our commitment to openness, respect, and transparency. I am ready readily available to support the council and I fully acknowledge their responsibility for establishing policy and representing the voice of the people. The city clerk's office is a processoriented department and we ensure that decision-making of the city council is always available to the public and we ensure that it complies with federal, state, and local regulations and properly record all official documents. I'm deeply grateful for the dedication and hard work of all of the city council members, city staff. We have such a great opportunity here. Everybody works so well together. I appreciate everybody's commitment and collaboration and I thank you for allowing me to serve Boulder City and I stand for any questions.

Any questions? More than a few, but if you want to yours. It is. Yeah. Thank you. Um, but my questions are kind of numerous. So if anybody else wants to go before I kind of dominate the mic, I just had a statement statement to say if you want me to start there. Yeah, probably. Yeah, take more time. Go ahead.

I I basically just took the time to write something up about everybody and and ask a few questions. Uh the city of Boulder City is dedicated to providing exceptional service that enhances the quality of life for every member of our community. Our mission goes beyond supporting only our residents and workforce. It also extends to all who visit or pass through our city. We're steadfast in our commitment to fostering economy growth while prior prioritizing safety and well-being of everyone. Personally, I find the city clerk's office plays a crucial role in guiding me as a city council member. The office provides valuable information and support, enables me to function effectively and make information decisions that serve our community. I truly appreciate the city's clerk's presentation that begin with a photo of your team. This gesture emphasizes the collaboration spirit of the office. I see the city clerk's office as a dedicated team that genuinely cares about our residents and approaches each interaction with a compassion and treating everyone with respect. And final, I'd like to say I've come to feel like the city clerk's office is my home and the and my family. And I believe that the city clerk and her team constantly do an outstanding job and their commitment makes a meaningful difference in our community. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, mayor. Um, I'm going to scroll back up to the top of your presentation. I have a few questions um throughout. So, um, first I want to, uh, I appreciate that you recognized, uh, Tina who was here because she had been at least for part of this evaluation cycle and many years prior an integral part of the the work and duties and just the whole team um, environment of the city clerk's office. So, thank you. And also Lori for the short time she was here was equally as helpful and um and as knowledgeable and so she's missed right. Um, and I think talking about your staff, uh, those that are present now, uh, goes to demonstrate your ability to find good people, and I don't mean just nice, but qualified people, right, that that can fill into the roles required, that have the technical capacity to function effectively and fill the roles require ired to fit within the team to be integral in that. I appreciate your comments on how you've you've taken I hope you don't have 16 personalities yourself. You mentioned that maybe 16 dimensions

there might be 17 but u that you you know to be self-aware is important and to understand your team and for the team to be able to uh function well together. You need sometimes you take things for granted. You don't realize why do we always have conflict on this issue or that issue, but to understand each other. You can figure out how best to function as a team and and you've done that. So,

uh it really demonstrates your ability as a leader to find those people to train them up. Um gosh, I don't remember how long uh Bridget's been here, but it feels like it's not very long for how um expert she is at her job. And I know that's from the training and the mentoring from the the team, right? And um and her willingness to want to learn it. Well, and there you go. Yeah. Unfortunately, this isn't her eval.

Um so anyway, I had that comment on that. Um scrolling down. Uh, as as council member Booth mentioned, and I will echo, um, I can't imagine what serving in this capacity would be like without a clerk's office like we have. Every single member of the team, um, starting with you has helped us be on solid footing. And not just beginning our service, but from week to week in questions that we have in agenda items we think we want to bring forward but that are clarified or questions that we have about how the process works. All of you are indispensable for us to be able to serve in our capacity. So thank you for that. It's it's it's remarkable how well you help us out. Now I wanted to get to the paper that has the succession plan image on the top. Now, thank you for adding that to your presentation because succession planning is difficult in an organization where staffing is limited. And so we really have to be very purposeful in how we approach that and always planning, not just strategically planning as we have our strategic plan for the community, but each department and how you're going to have that continuity at one day, you know, to the detriment of the city, you're going to retire. But hopefully that will be just an instant because the people that you've trained will will be able to seamlessly move in. and and I really wanted to I was going to ask you questions about that. You already kind of approached that.

I I have a little more to add about. Yeah. Um so of course our succession training is on hold right now until we get the city clerk assistant position filled. And one of the reason and we know the importance of a records technician and that will be very helpful in our success long-term succession plan. But um I I made a decision not to fulfill that role right at this moment because we have so many changes going on with our records. You know, we knew we were switching vendors and we needed to get all of our retentions up to date. So, I didn't think it would be fair to bring somebody in at this time when it's not set. So, we want to get it all set so that they can come in, have an easy transition, and be able to carry records forward. Yeah, that makes sense. So, thank you for clarifying that. And and then the the training will occur on something that's well defined. Yes.

Right. And uh save a lot of headache and and hassle for a new person who's being bounced around. Yeah. Because it's a little challenging for us all the different changes who know it so well. So, I just didn't think it would be fair to bring somebody new in and say, "Oh, here's where we are, but guess what we're changing next week." And Yeah. Well, be careful not to do too well there because I know you don't want to eliminate that position. We know how valuable and important that it really is. It is. And you know, what you do is is so good, but it it it kind of masks the things that aren't being done that are essential as well. Correct. So, we we understand that. Yeah.

Uh and then I went and I and I tear this apart. I I took the goals and accomplishments from last year's eval and I put the goals and accomplishments you put on this year's eval. And I just wanted to kind of dive into that a little bit. I think

goals are so essential and critical as we go forward in an evaluation process and kind of know what's moving forward. Uh and and as I look at the goals, they're they're closely aligned. Um and the accomplishments you know the the improvements in the data and records management system I think when you write it down we don't know the detail and you did give us some detail about that here just now uh and continue it with continue with the audit of department records and the retention schedules which also relates to one of the contractors that we have right and that's um

is that laserfish MUN code. That's the retention. You mentioned they do the retention. Uhhuh. That's a company called CDI for laser fish for Okay.

And then and then we contracted with um Megan McGregor or Megan Greor Consulting. And so I'll just give you an example of a behind the scenes what that what that looks like. She will be um she is an expert at helping us restructure our folders so they make more sense. I you know we started with laserfish when laserfish was brand new and basically we're just every record we have imaginable is in there but because there's so much in there and it's not stored efficiently it's really hard to conduct a search. It's not hard for us but it's hard for anybody else. So that's what we really want to focus on is organizing them so the public has an easier time.

Is that one of your goals going forward? 100%. Yes. And that was one of my questions is are we going to get a a more userfriendly search tool for that? That's what our goal is. Yes. I want to do the search without bothering the clerk's office, but it's so clunky. I when I'm trying to do a search, I call you guys. And honestly, I when they looked at all of our records, they're they're like, "How could you ever ever even anybody say that you're not transparent? You have more records than need to be in here." But that is part of the challenge. Like I said, there's so many that it makes it difficult to search.

And then um you mentioned that we have a contractor who once we get them up to speed, we'll add the retention duration and you'll get a prompter and then you can remove it from the database basically or put it in archive.

Uhu. And and one other thing, they have really great workflows. Um, one of the things, and I probably should have put it in our goal because it really is one of my first priorities, is to change the public records request form. It won't look any different to the public. That part doesn't change. But on our side, it's clunky and we still have to assign different groups to it. We have to store what we've um fulfilled in a whole different um folder. So we know that they have the ability to make everything where it just we email out of laser fish, it gets stored in laser fish. So we don't have it all over. Um as you know the the city council is by charter the supervisor if you will or the or the the boss body of the three appointed positions, right? And as that when you when you put some of your goals, you know exactly what you're talking about, but we don't. And it's and it's hard to give credit where credit is due when the goals are so general. We can't um point out, man, you had that written down specifically and you hit it right on the mark. Or you can say, we we got 25 or 50 or 75% of this thing done, but we still have a ways to go. Uh, and so it's helpful if they're a little more detailed for us to be able to acknowledge um what exactly um you deserve credit for or what we see is still needs to be carried forward not just in the general sense work on the records management system like okay you know I don't know what that means so thank you for explaining that you're welcome and that's just a

and that's duly noted and I can add that as one of my goals to make sure that that's included that's kind of why uh even on the meeting process process. I thought I don't know if anybody even knows what goes into a meeting. They just know, oh, the meeting's on this day. Let me show up and I'll review the packet. But there's a lot to it.

Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And and that's, you know, basically much of your presentation is inclusive of accomplishments, right, during your the year. um because so much of it has to be done acc and and you guys are bound when I say you guys the appointeds uh city attorney yourself and the city manager are guided by state law. It's so much of what you do and and fortunately we've never had someone knocking on our door saying you folks are not following state law

and that's a big deal. Thank you. and and you know, I guess I'll say it generally to all of you, but specifically to each of you that that we don't have that concern, you know, and gratefully you're keeping us out of, you know, hot water as well by by clarifying, you know, the the state law that we need to be bound to as well. Absolutely. That's very much appreciated. Uh and the training, I appreciate the ongoing training that you're um offering to your staff and yourself. I look forward to that ongoing. Um, and you mentioned the uh IIMC, the international, right? What was the international

National Institute of Municipal Municipal Clerks? Yeah. So, to be on the backside supporting that type of a conference, you learn so much more than just showing up on day one and registering. And so, I don't know if you It's a lot of work. I Oh, I could only Yeah, we've had meeting, you know, um Zoom meeting after Zoom meeting. Yeah, a lot goes into it. And I know that u you know,

Stacy, maybe you've even done it or things like that. And you're probably mentoring Bridget through that as the two of you go together and I know Bridget will learn so much, which is part of your succession planning, right? To help her understand the the back of house, so to speak, of how these things happen and how that relates to the bigger picture. And you're absolutely right because uh city of Henderson had that responsibility one year. What like 10 years ago? 2010. 2010. So there you have it. Yeah.

Uh I have one well my last I'll finish with this and you might have to have a a pause because um maybe you haven't thought about this before. So I have two questions and I'm going to give you the first one. What have you learned? And it could be, you know, just broadly could encompass anything from your presentation, from your department, from about you specifically as you went through the the, you know, introspection training. But what have you learned over the past year that you didn't know or that you understood to a greater degree over this past year? Well, I would say what I what I didn't know um is how much more there is to learn, especially when it does come to records management. Like it it just it never ends. You can continue to educate yourself and educate yourself, but you're never just going to be there and oh, I'm done. It's good. You have to continue continue to grow.

Thank you. because my followup was how will this shape your job performance and your department's service going forward for the next year. Yeah, I I mean I I owe it to my team. We work really well together and I think just all of our different ideas and always find trying to find a way to progress the department and with with knowing that we do need a succession plan. I will not be here forever. Yeah.

And Stacy will not be here forever. Bridget, she's another story. Well, thank you. You you you came up with that pretty pretty quickly. Um, and while we think you know it all, um, it's good to acknowledge that there's still more to learn and still more to dive into. Um, and that how that will improve the city clerk's uh, department service to the community. So, mayor, I'm done with my comments and questions. Thank you. And thank you, city clerk.

Thank you. I'm going to be ask maybe not as indepth question. Whose idea was it to come up with the design contest for the stickers for the kids? It was mine, but Stacy and Bridget helped a lot with that. Yeah.

Yeah. It's those little things, right? And I think that describes your guys's office. It's the little things that go on in there that are associated with the big things that make the difference. make the difference to us as a council. Your willingness off hours even if we text or or have a question that you respond to um and and answer and save things and remind us, hey, come by here and sign this. Have you gotten or whatever it matters to us. It helps. Um city councils in the valley have people, you know, they have secretaries, they have people. Yes, they do. And um that falls on you.

You're our people. And and I think that's important for us to recognize is where where they have that you are our our people and we do not just expect a a lot from you and um I've never been disappointed in that area but we come to depend on you all quite a bit too and um are appreciative of it. You have a knowledge and your group has a knowledge but it's specifically you. You grew up here. This is your city. this is um the town that you love and you've stayed here and now you give back to this city in a meaningful way through your employment and that is valuable to us and it um it shines through in everything that you do in the office that you serve in.

Thank you. And oh, thank you because sometimes we forget Boulder City is a small, quirky, beautiful, wonderful um historic town where people know people um and for a very long time and you're knowing those people matters and um passing on how you serve and to your team and them seeing you do that then watching them do that too, it matters. And I know the mayor at the state of the city did all the hats that we wear, right? You just explained all the hats that go on there. And that doesn't include the hat of float preparing for us for the Fourth of July or Christmas, right? It

state of the city decorations. Yeah. State of the city decorations, right? You don't have people. You are the people. We are the people.

Um passports 320. That's almost one a day for or it's more than one a day for what you're opened, right? So, uh, and what a service in this small town. We have services here. People do not understand what it takes to provide that service. You had training. You said you had to pass kind of a deeper dive on if you were doing it right. Um, you go to training for records. You go to training for all sorts of things. Your minutes are detailed. I hear you over there just clicking away as we're talking. That tells me you are recording this very meeting to go into records and hopefully someday be found

once it gets easier to do. So I know from my perspective having been here now five years that um always always you have been professional. Your team has been professional. You always have been supportive. You always have been helpful and I've never walked out of your office not feeling like I've been helped, heard, and a better person for it. So thank you. Thank you. That means a lot. I I do want to just mention one thing about the that I came up with the idea for the I voted sticker, but I didn't I I found that another city had done that like in the Midwest, so it wasn't like my invented idea, but

No, no, no. Listen, I taught school. I didn't invent a lot of ideas either. I my theory always was why invent the reinvent the wheel when someone else invented it and it works just fine. But you took the time to see that someone else did it and thought it would be great in our community. And I for myself am very excited and still want to know how to get all four stickers four times. I was Yeah, don't do that.

So, um I appreciate the institutional knowledge uh literally where the bodies are buried and uh and don't go there kind of advice. I appreciate the dedication obviously that you have and the insights. Uh I'm married to somebody who says you're not really going to wear that, are you? Um and you don't say it that way. Uh but something to the effect of you really don't want to go there, right? Um, so I I appreciate the not only institutional knowledge but how it relates to today and what's going on not just in our community but everywhere else and how we fit in to the greater community. um and all of the pros and cons that uh you've been there, done that, and are able to steer at least me gently so that uh I don't get into more trouble than I usually do. Um, but I think your ability to uh not just to know uh but to guide and that may not even be in your job description uh but it's what you do and you do it well. Uh you know we think of clerks typing and but your people do more than type. Your people do more than listen and record. your people think and you have cult you have uh fostered a thinking body and the body I will call it the clerk you have fostered participation and appreciation for the people um whoever has come and gone you've incorporated them and

appreciated their talents and abilities so I am grateful for what you've done for me personally and for what you've done for the council and what you've done for the city. You have uh been a face for the city for some time and I appreciate everything that you've done to help us me stay in line. So, thank you for what you've done. Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you. Any other comments? Do you have anything in your defense you'd like to say? No. Now I feel great.

I get to go sit down. All right, you can sit down. Thank you.

Appreciate it. So, we're now on 1B. So, mayor uh we have the compiled valuation score uh for Miss McCay and out of a total a maximum of five uh her average score is 4.76. And so now is the time for the council to consider resolution 813 uh regarding a merit increase adjustment uh for her salary. and and so we bring that um is for our feeling of what the merit salary should be over and above the cost of living or how does that relate? So in her employment contract um every July is between a 2 to 3% cost of living increase based on CPI and just for a comparison last year's was approximately 2.6. So that will occur in July. So what you're focusing on today is just the merit increase. And how do we stand uh in our paying our city clerk who's better than any other city clerk visav other city clerks? What what's our salary diff differential?

I don't have the salary differential comparative. I do have the salary range for the city clerk. Okay. What is that

as in the class and comp? It's between 130,000 and 191,000. And what are we now? We are currently at 167,986.78. And what is a uh 5% increase? With a 5% increase, that would increase her salary to $176,386.12. And any other numbers you've run? Uh, sure. Uh, is there another percentage you'd like? Um, what is a 6% raise?

That would raise her salary to $178,65.99.

And does anyone else want a number?

I have some questions. Go ahead, please. Um so let's talk about or my questions I guess relate to the um those labor contracts that have been recently ratified. Um we there's a cola in those and some had um um an additional piece if they were public safety or not if they were non-public safety. So, can we get the the details of that so that we can have a comparative number when we're talking about our appointments relative to the rest of the staff in the city? Please.

I see our city attorney grabbing.

Yes. So, the there are still three contracts that remain open. Um we have closed fire and fire captains uh as well as clerical. Um for the clerical bargaining unit there was a cost of living increase that was equivalent to CPI for this fiscal year. Um and then a 0.9 retention increase for a total of three and a half% for the clerical bargaining unit. And then in year two of the contract there, the next increase would be tied to again CPI with a um bottom of two and a and a ceiling of three.

So if I'm doing my math correct, if the total was 3.5, then you had retention of 0.9 and a CPI of 2.4. No. So the total was CPI which was about 2.6% 6% and then we added a 0.9 retention adjustment. So the total was 3 3.5 2.6 was a CPI. Thanks. Thanks. Yeah. And public safety was a little different.

Public safety the retention adjustment was uh 1.775 something along those lines for a total of 4.375. And so with that, the cola um that happens in July um is are we basing it on what will be the CPI um established for what for this coming July or what last July was? So what's what's going to occur is you would apply the merit increase um uh for now and this would increase their salaries based on that and then we would apply the past year CPI per the uh employment contracts in addition to

okay where salary is if we were to follow the non-public safety but the clerical who got 2.6 CPI 0.9 retention for a total of 3.5. But if we take the the CPI out of that because that's going to come in July independent of us, right? Because that's automatic. We talked about that last year. So now we're only talking about the retention, right?

Correct. Okay. And I would just say that the union contracts are a little bit different because the union well all a lot of the positions in the city have steps. Um so employees that are hired move to a different step and then there's a top out. You know there's a ceiling on the number of steps you have and then once you're at the highest step you only get the cost of living increase. So when we're at the negotiating table, um the focus is usually on what the cost of living is going to be across the bargaining units. Um

thank you for that. Yeah. And those steps are based and you know if there's 10 steps, you know, you're topped out in that particular range unless you promote up to a new classification or transfer to a different you you know whatever number of steps there are. you're going to top out in that in three, four, five, seven years.

Yeah, for most of the bargaining units, it's uh between four and five steps. Um for there's some with one or two. Um and then we also have non-represented employees um who have uh I believe it's eight steps and um those there's uh there's no negotiation with those. Those have a cost of living increase. We usually it's comate with the what the unions are um every year but those so the cost of living and the steps are just are kind of two different things. Yeah, the steps are

and the what's the percentage from step three to four for example or whatever is it 3% 5% what's the step

it depends on the position um it's anywhere from we just amended the step increases so they were 3 and a half% for the non-represented now they're 5% some of the unions it's 6% some unions step four to five is 15% so it's all over the board kind of the the and then we have exempt employees who are on a range and um the range doesn't contemplate steps or really a logical progression and um for those employees they were just given a 1.5% increase. They received the three and a half% cola. Um and then the city manager just increased their salaries to the one and a half by one and a half% as a sort of sort of a merit um for those range employees.

Um can I ask uh what year are you commencing serving as city clerk? Fourth year, fifth year, sixth year. I don't So yeah. Okay. So So in actually in the resolution 8113, it summarizes uh the beginning of her term as city clerk and the increases and the percentage increases each time. Can you summarize that for me so I don't have to search it?

Sure. So, for example, um on March 6th of last year, uh she received a 6% merit increase. On March 19th of 2024, it was a 3% merit increase. Original salary was $115,000 in 2021. And on March 6th, 2025, council approved a 6% merit increase. Correct. Right. Okay. Thank you for that clarification.

How does that rank with other city clerks in the area? Yeah, I don't have that information. And I do know that the other city clerks um have higher salaries um but I don't have the comparables. So mosquite yeah unfortunately I don't know what their city clerk salary is. other comments.

I I would view this um as not only merit but step. Uh she's new enough where if we were to take her years of service and and overlay it to any uh other position where there are steps. I think it's worth considering the combined merit with step. uh it may um be viewed as artificially um inflating the raise number but if we consider it in that comparison it's not uh and plus you'll get the cola as everybody gets in their contract. So um I I think I think considering a step in there with retention is is appropriate. Um, I know that, um, I know they like to be conservative, our appointeds, because they don't want to be viewed as receiving favorable treatment over the rest of the city after negotiations. And that's a it's a delicate topic, right? We don't want to put them up as a target to be pointed at for receiving, you know, special or or any other unfair or undue treatment. But, uh, if we do compare it to the staff, then it's right in line or the step. It's right in line with what what everybody in the city typically gets and and she's well within that range. She hasn't been here for 20 years and then topped out, right? She's still stepping in that. I I don't have any problem whatsoever. And now it's hard to equate it to a specific step if they're that wide. But I think um you know conservatively at first I was a little uh with your 6% but I'm not after the clarification there that that we received and I don't think that it would unfairly um um put her in a position to be viewed as receiving something that's

uh favoritism because of you know sitting at a staff position rather than um you know another position throughout the city. Uh, and so as you initially suggested after all that deliberation, I'll support that 6% that you initially recommended. That's my two cents. And I too on 6%. I didn't understand all that about the steps for the city floor, but I'm good with 6% merit and then a 12% retention. Is that are we talking about retention in this? 6%. You're talking about total total the stepal plus the merit.

So if you look at the 2.6 and the 0.9 and you start looking at three and a half% and then you look at a step then you're you're looking at two and a half gets you to six. Yeah. And then her CPI in July is everybody gets as an employee, right? So I have a question then because I don't do government so it's a little bit different for me. So the 3.5 that everyone else is getting that you talked about in the general population that doesn't inu include their merit that error that's on top of their merit.

Well, just to be clear, um as our city attorney mentioned, all of the bargaining units, they're kind of all over the place in terms of um how they factored uh step increases. I want to know about clerical. When you mentioned clerical, you mentioned the 2.6 six and the 0.9. Yeah, that that's specifically clerical. So if you have a retention that's not part So if they get a raise, they would have only gotten their retention plus what in clerical department, but then they also get a step increase. So So everybody gets a step increase in the bargaining unit, not if they're topped out. So not everyone if they're topped out

gets a step increase. It's only if if they're still moving up within the in the steps. And so everybody that was moving up got the 3.5 plus whatever that manager decided to give them. It could have been 1, two, three, five or six. I don't know how you guys work here.

So with the bargaining units, there's no uh discretion. It is set. But I think what you're referring to what you're referring to is with the exempt employees. With the exempt employees, they got a 3.5% increase for cost of living and the city manager then added an additional 1.5% on top of that. Okay. So, we would be total giving her above what the others got. Okay. Okay. I understand that now. Sorry everybody. I I don't think we've given this position a step before. Is that accurate?

Yeah, there's no steps. So, that's where we're being somewhat trying to figure it out.

So, maybe some of the clarification comes in that we call this merit because that's how it's written into their contract is it's based on merit. they do not have even though they have a range that has been set for them in the class classification study or whatever it it doesn't um have a they don't have a step a succession because they're directly retained or fired by us and so that gives us the opportunity right now this is in essence if you'd like to compare it to their step and we unlike the others who have it very clearly put out on pen and paper a lot of times what their step will be and they know each year each year they come and give us a presentation and we interact with them all year long and basically on an ongoing basis um evaluate the merit for that year of this step increase and what it looks like. So right now that step increase so far has been discussed and it looks like and it's we can call it a step but it's really merit increase is the word used in their contract looks like 6% is on the table which I am comfortable with too because then she'll have cola on top of it not to be confused that the others that got it as a total with that encompassed the cola this does not right this is 6% flat on and then she gets cost of living separate And I'm comfortable with that, too. Do we need a motion?

I'll accept a motion. Okay. I move to pass resolution 8113 with a percentage of 6% as the merit increase. I'll second that. Discussion. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? It's unanimous. Thank you. And we're going to take a break.

ready.

Come back for recess and we are on our special agenda number two. So item two is matters pertaining to the performance evaluation of city manager Ned Thomas. Per Mr. Thomas's employment contract with the city, his performance shall be reviewed on an annual basis every March. uh written notice advising him of the evaluation and proof of the service. Proof of service has been administered as required by NRS 241033 and acknowledged by Mr. Thomas. So as before, we will have three steps in the process. We will begin with Mr. Thomas's presentation. Then the city council will conduct your evaluation. I will share the compiled score with the city council and then the council will consider resolution 8114 that would include a potential merit increase uh to his base pay. Good afternoon, Mayor Hardy and members of the council. I am uh appreciate this opportunity to meet with you today for my first annual performance review. Before we get started, I do have a statement I need to read. I would like to disclose that pursuant to NRS 281A, I have a private pecuniary interest in this item as it may determine potential increases in my compensation benefits andor changes to my employment contract. So with that, again, city manager Ned Thomas, happy to be with you here this afternoon. The past year has been very busy and has passed very quickly. And I've enjoyed getting to know each one of you both individually and as a council

as well as other leaders in the community, many residents and business leaders in the community as well as the city staff. And I sincerely appreciate the warm welcome that I've received here and um as I've settled into my role as the city manager. You may remember that when I first uh stood at this podium and interviewed with you for the job, I spoke about the city manager's position and made an analogy to a three-legged chair. And the three legs of that chair are the council, the community, and the staff. And I feel that it uh succinctly describes the role of a city manager trying to balance those three different uh interests within um any community in which we serve. So, um, during my first year here in Boulder City, I've been pleasantly surprised by all that's happening within the city or as an organization and the community. No two days have been alike, but every day has been very full. And some days have been uh rather surprising, and I've I've can honestly say that I've enjoyed each day. It's again been a pleasure to work here to get to know each of you and to get to know the community better. I particularly want to start off by thanking Deputy City Manager Michael Mays as well as our very efficient and wonderfully supportive. I was trying to figure out a way to describe Crystal Bias, but she is definitely um wonderful in our office and both of uh these individuals have supported me throughout the past year and helping me settle into the city manager's office and I appreciate that help and support. Um this side summarizes those three focus areas or the three legs of the stool that I just mentioned. Uh first one is effectively working with the council engaging. Number two is working with the community and then number three of course uh working to become familiar with city operations and providing leadership to the overall team. And these have been the three primary focus areas for me over the past few years. Now over the next few slides I'll provide some additional details about

each of these three focus areas. There's a lot to cover. I won't read everything but I I will highlight a few of the bullets on each slide. So f firstly, um, in the area of council relations and support, over the past year, we've had many opportunities to get to know one another better. From our monthly one-on-one meetings to our b by monthly breeding uh meetings before each council meeting where we go over the agendas and talk about the different issues, answer questions and respond to requests for more information. In addition to that, my office sends out a bimonthly city manager report to the council providing details on what's going on in each of the departments. And then in addition to that, or kind of related to that, on each quarter, I come before you and provide an update on progress being made toward the city's 5-year strategic plan. So, we have an overall look in the strategic plan and then every two weeks, I'll give you an update on the things we've been working on. I also send out uh usually each week uh some type of an email give you an a heads up on upcoming events or notable um activities or things that have happened during the past week. On this slide I'm going to talk I have I think three slides on community engagement. It's a very I'm finding that here in particular in Boulder State it's a big part of my job which I it and I one that I particularly enjoy. Um this is a list of many of the or uh not certainly not all but many of the community organizations uh that I have and places that I visited over the the past year. I've met with many of the leaders of these groups and the staff in these groups. They're all very impressive. Um and I'll highlight my ongoing collaboration with a couple of them. In particular, uh Jill Lean at the Chamber of Commerce has become a great colleague. We meet monthly, talk about things related to economic development and just things going on in

the city and coordinate all kinds of events and activities. Another key partnership has been uh with Robert Martell, the general manager of Boulder City Disposal. I've enjoyed working with Robert uh over the past several months on amendments to their franchise agreement work which were adopted or approved by by the city just this past Tuesday and that's been going an ongoing collaboration almost since uh the first month that I was here. So I was glad to see that come to fruition. And then again I uh over the past year I've also met with leaders and staff from several of these other organizations. One of the things that for whatever reason didn't make it on this list, um, annual airport day I think was my favorite has been my favorite event so far in Boulder City. A very unique aspect of this community. So, in addition to these formal organizations, another aspect of engagement with the community has been my regular interactions with both individuals but also uh various community groups uh here in Boulder City. I'll I'll highlight my quarterly meetings with the accessibility working group. we meet here at city hall and I want to particularly thank public works director Gary Po Dexter as well as uh fire chief Ken Morgan for their recent interactions with group over the past year and and ongoing u I've also had an opportunity to meet and speak with members of Sunrise Rotary the Boulder City Business Development Group Nevada's for common good and romeo and and others and it's been about a year and some of these groups I need to get around to them again so I'm looking forward to to reconnecting with some of those groups And um I'd also like to highlight from this list um the work that I did early earlier on with Don Lee and others from the Southern Nevada Mounted Horse Foundation. Um there was a we needed help in clarifying their relationship with the city and identifying how we can continue to support them in the important role that they play in supporting our local events uh with the uh equestrians showing up. And that

that's been a very good relationship as well. also been um continuing the area of community engagement. I've established or reestablished uh important working partnerships within the southern Nevada region over the past year. Few of those highlights. First bullet here, the county manager and the city managers meet uh every two u well we either meet online or we we'll meet in person quarterly to exchange ideas and uh discuss topics of mutual interest. I'll just note that Boulder City will be hosting this group in in June and we look forward to having them come out here uh to meet with us. Uh a few weeks ago I attended the annual state of regional economic development a host uh hosted by the event hosted by the Las Vegas global economic alliance and I have recently been invited to serve as a member of their steering committee for developing uh what they call the comprehensive economic development strategy for our region and that's just now we've had one organizational meeting and that's just now getting underway but I I look forward to having those inter actions with my colleagues as well. And then lastly, um over the past few weeks, Deputy City Manager, uh Maize and I have been visiting with the principles of each of our Boulder City uh schools. And there's been a lot going on there. and we've met with them to discuss our joint efforts in promoting open enrollment as well as joint use of the city's school facilities and and any needs that they might have there from the city as well as upcoming meetings with CCSD to discuss their facilities master plan and potential changes to the schools here in Boulder City. And then finally the third leg of that three-legged chair. Uh my uh focus and um interactions with in various on various levels with employees and organization. A couple of highlights here and we had two key new hires both uh fire chief

Morgan in August of 2025 and then the promotion of uh Michael Mays to the deputy new deputy city manager position in back in September. Uh that change precipitated some additional changes in the community development department. We've seen some uh positive changes there in hiring a new full-time building official uh Thomas Stewart from the city of Henderson and then the creation of a planning manager position to oversee the planning functions within community development that was filled by promotion of Nikisha Lion. Uh both of these individuals uh have a particular focus on customer service and we um appreciate their work here in the city and their their continuous um involvement with the customers who come in every day for permits and inspections and the the enhancements that we see there in the area of community of uh customer service. We also had some changes in the utilities department. We had our uh longtime utilities director Joe Stubitz uh left to work for the Colorado River Commission. Some of his staff members have left and that provided us with an opportunity to take a look at that area of the city organization and um maybe possibly merge and realign those functions with the public works department. My understanding is for years the the city operated with those two functions uh together. We're currently in the process of hiring a deputy director of public works and utilities that will be a support to our uh public works director and those um I think those interviews will be happening within the next couple of weeks. We hope to fill that position and then look for other complimentary individuals or individuals with complimentary skills to fill in the other vacancies that are now within that department. But again, acknowledging the great work and the dedication of our staff. To my knowledge, we haven't skipped a beat. I know it's tough when uh there's a vacancy and other people have to step up

and fill in and play an acting role, but we we've had a lot of uh very dedicated individuals who have stepped into those roles and are uh helping us get through this period of transition. and uh we look forward over the next few months to fill those key positions and have uh the city working uh in an as efficiently as possible. Been a couple of things around um well we we we're just talking about labor negotiations. Um five of our seven uh units we're we're still negotiating with those. I look forward over the next few months to have that come to a conclusion. Um some of the things that I've implemented whenever we have a vacancy uh we've established a new process uh meeting with the department director as well as finance and HR to talk about the departmental needs and the vacancies and um how to fill that role the in the best way in line with the city strategic plan and the budget and uh that we will continue to develop that process as we go along. And kind of aligned with that is we're also in the process of implementing new software. I think the council's been using that today on these performance reviews. The NEOG gov software. We're using that citywide. It's relatively new. just yesterday had a a very productive conversation with the executive team on how we might more effectively uh implement that new software and how we will be implementing it over the next year as we do our performance reviews and performance evaluations for our our staff. And then um couple of last things on here. There was again a lot going on within the employees in the organization. Uh in January, the city manager's office organized and hosted a leadership executive leadership workshop uh with a facilitator uh focused on communications and teamwork. Uh all of the directors did a a similar uh personality evaluation that our city clerk shared with us in her presentation and we talked about that and how we're

going to work together and and build trust. All very good things. We will have a follow-up workshop in September. We're already planning that. it will be focused, you know, keep keeping with the theme, I just have focused on uh effective performance measures and accountability u with for our staff. And then lastly, at at the moment, started uh last week, we have a citywide customer satisfaction survey currently underway uh to help identify how we can better provide those services that are most important to our residents and businesses. And I would encourage everyone to participate in that. If you receive a text or a phone call regarding a survey from the city, please do participate, there are posters here at city hall and other facilities, the senior center, the library with a QR code that will take you to that survey to take it. Now, this will be a statistically valid survey. So, they they're looking to gather as much input as possible. We have contracted with a professional firm that will then calibrate that to the uh socioeconomics of the city of the profile of the city of Boulder City. So through sampling they can give us a very good idea um on exactly how our residents feel about particular city services and where where we're doing well and where improvements may need to be made. Uh switching gears just a little bit to talk about outcomes. This slide presents a list of major projects and initiative completed over the past year. I again want to acknowledge the great work of our dedicated city employees and all departments. Boulder City certainly has very talented and dedicated staff and we appreciate the valuable contributions of each staff member. Some of the highlights on this slide of course uh la all last summer we dealt with the Nevada Way reconstruction project. It was little hard on our businesses and restaurants but the results have been phenomenal and they've been very wellreceived. Of course there's u much that can be said about this uh project but it was a great improvement to our

downtown area. The council over the past year um adopted new regulations for bike ebike and scooter safety as well as off leash dogs. Our communications department has been instrumental in putting out information regarding those changes and helping people to understand that. our police department, parks and recck department uh have been uh very busy and trying to implement those changes and we continue to work with a group of residents and we'll be presenting soon to the council some feedback from a group on uh additional options that the council may want to consider for uh related to off leash dog recreation. Um I over the past year probably one of the the biggest things that has uh happened in Boulder City long time in development was the break groundbreaking and the grading that is now going on at the Liberty Ridge subdivision over by the Boulder Creek golf course. Um that the city received its first takedown from the sale of this land or payment of land. It was approximately $9.5 million was received by the city on December 1st. 10% of that will go to public safety and the remainder of course will go toward uh construction and development of the new community swimming pool. So uh we're very excited for that development to happen. And speaking of the pool, that's on a an upcoming slide, but that's another big project that is underway. And then last thing I'll mention, um the Boulder City Business Passport Program was back in November, December. Uh this came about because of a you know there was a group of businesses in the downtown that had had a hard time during the summer during construction and they had asked the city well what can you do to help us? So out of those conversations came this idea of doing a passport program during the holidays to encourage shoppers both locally as well as uh in our region particularly in the areas of Henderson that are near us to come over and and welcome them back to

Boulder City, see our new uh downtown streets and sidewalks. And uh we we made it fun through a passport program where they would get a stamp of by going into each of the businesses. And then we wanted it to be beneficial to all of the business, not only in the downtown, but throughout the city. And so, um, people who were able to get all of a certain number of stamps in their passport, turn those in, and then they were eligible for gift cards to any of our local businesses. So, it was meant to generate foot traffic over and over over again to our local businesses were quite successful. Just one data point. Um, I mentioned our communications team that does such a great job on in so many areas, but the broadcast ads that they created for that program were reached 358,000 views. Um, we we felt that that program was very successful and met its objectives and um we'll look forward look toward doing uh similar projects in the future as as the need arises. Um, looking ahead again, I want to appreciate the great work of staff on all these new projects and initiatives that are underway. Just outside the window here, we got a large construction project going on with the accessibility improvements for uh, city hall. This will make our city hall more accessible to those who may have uh, disabilities. We also have other um, you know, big uh, projects going on at our municipal golf course as well as at Wilbur Square. These projects will update outdated infrastructure. In this case, uh irrigation systems that are uh 50 years about 50 years old. It will make them more water efficient. Some some of the cases it includes turf conversion. So we'll be using less water there too. And it will make it easier for staff to manage and and track the water use at these facilities. So it's u a very large contribution to water conservation in our community. I mentioned breaking ground for the new swimming pool later

this year. Um over at the airport, we are um just about to execute uh bring forward to the council for approval lease agreements that will allow the development of additional new hangers at the Boulder City Airport. We have a very long list of waiting list for hanger space at our airport and this will go a long way toward uh meeting those needs. And then uh finally again the uh ongoing development of Liberty Ridge by Toll Brothers. Um as we talked about that on Tuesday night, we have not only the grading going on but also the installation of new storm drains and other infrastructure that will make that area of the city uh run and function better. And then finally, again, looking ahead, uh, goals or objectives, focus areas, um, continuing to monitor and report back to the council on ongoing development of the strategic plan. uh in a in next month or so uh we will present the fiscal year 2627 operating budget as well as the 5-year capital improvement plan to the council and we will have some preliminary briefings on that just next Monday to to share with you some of the strategies and ideas that we have in mind. I uh touched upon the realignment the public works and utilities departments that's ongoing. I also um am excited to looking forward to um possibly working on this project for the um like we call it the optimization of city facilities. This would be through a performance contract. Uh we we're working on the RFQ to circulate that to see what types of um firms are out there that do this type of work. They would come in and do a full evaluation of our city buildings and facilities and then make recommendations to us on uh energy and in some cases water efficiency improvements that can be made that will save the city money. This is due this is

done through what's called a performance contract. So the savings theoretically the savings from the uh energy efficiency improvements pay for the improvements themselves. And there's actually a contract involved that if that that you know the company that does the work commits to us that if we don't meet those energy efficiency goals that they pay the city uh they're very good at their work so that it rarely happens. Um and then the last it rarely happens that they have to pay back the city but the there's a little hook in there for them in case they do. And then I think the maybe the last thing I would mention on that is just um I talked about the labor negotiations and then uh as part of our budget proposals we'll give to you um one of our strategies to do look at organizational efficiency and performance. And last of all again let me just say thank you. Greatly enjoyed getting to know each of you and the community and the staff. Um there's I always an optimist. There's a tremendous opportunity to move things forward here in Boulder City with our projects, programs, and vision that we have on our plate. The vision through the strategic plan, of course. Again, appreciate the warm welcome that I've received. And I uh very much feel at home here in Boulder City and have joyed greatly enjoyed the past year. So, thank you very much.

Thank you. Well, and I'm going to turn the air conditioner down. Okay. We don't feel hot.

So, I I'm just going to start out. I think one of the things that we uh hoped for and looked for was local experience. And um that's been obvious that your local experience with North Las Vegas Henderson has been a boon for us in Boulder City. And I think we got uh what we wanted and more uh than we even anticipated. Your experience elsewhere uh even dealing with people in California obviously put you in a position to figure out how to deal with difficult people. Did I say that? Um but your your

your uh is again on Can you hear me now?

Are you turning me off on purpose? Test one, two. Try it now. Test three, four. There you go.

Okay. Thank you. So your responsiveness, your fit into the culture of Boulder City was almost instantaneous. Your responsiveness to citizens has been great. You have been able to keep the council in the loop on so many different things. Uh one of your talents is you kept Michael Mays. Uh and that has worked out well as I see it. and your difference to the council on ultimate decisions has been open-minded. uh Liberty Ridge, the approachability that you have personally uh you are open to ideas, your use of uh the public information office, your accessibility, um masterfully uh dealt with Boulder City disposal, uh your respect for the open meeting law, and you found a home in Boulder City. Thank you. Appreciate it. I'll open it up to whoever wants to say anything.

I thought I think Steve's going. Oh, wait. You go ahead. No, go ahead. I went last time. Okay. Well, I got a I got a few things, so All right. Sorry. Uh Ned, how many hours a week do you spend on work related things? uh many. Please don't multiply 7 x 24. I hope that's not the number you're going to give us.

Well, um and I don't know that you could really come up with it. Your wife might be able to. I want to both say thank you and caution you because you are ever present and that's awesome. But you got a long run here. We don't expect you to burn out in a couple years. So look for the long game. All right? And uh if your wife is telling you to pull back any any time, I think our counsel would be to listen to her and do so. Um for for your health and your well-being truly um because there's no shortage. I mean, just anybody looking at this could realize there is absolutely no shortage of things that you could be fully involved in and pick any two or three and that could be a full-time job.

It's better now that I can walk to work. Yeah. Rather than fly back and forth,

enjoying having you uh local um is is great for the community as well. I And I asked that question just to I think just to to say that we recognize all that you do and the time that you spend um engaged in Boulder City and the benefit and lifting of the community and the citizens. Um you are very personable and personal in your approach. I think anybody that comes to you realizes that they're recognized and appreciated as an individual, as a as a citizen of Boulder City and that what they have to say is important. Um, one of my questions is going to be how h how do you how do you filter because having served in in municipal government, I I realize there's no shortage of good ideas, right? people come to you and and you could create a list as long as as Wilbur Square about good ideas, but you can't do them all. And h how do you you know give us a little glimpse into how you filter through the variety and you're you're three-legged stool, right? So you've got council, community, and staff. Any one of those could could totally dominate your your week's worth of work. So, how do you filter this from all the different polls?

Yeah, I think I wrote in response to your the question you asked Tammy and I don't know if later you'll ask what have you learned in the past year and that's actually one of the things or the theme was along those lines is and it's still a work in progress is and it's it goes beyond prioritization because many things are priority. That's kind of related to that. Uh it but it I like your word filter and I I'm I'm learning. I I've leaned a little bit on Michael and a little bit on Crystal that with when it comes to either individual requests or um we have some uh issues that have been at the city for a long time and I may not be aware of them and so I will hear about it and jump on it immediately and I'll say oh well and so I appreciate the uh institutional knowledge that comes with the people that I work with in my department and that helps me to have uh the other word I've used is discernment and um that that's definitely a a um learned uh ability or skill and still learning that. So I I again re rely on the people that are around me to help me identify the things that need to be focused on. Uh Crystal has a full-time job keeping me on time and on task and I really appreciate her. Again, she's very efficient. And um I I do feel though I will say I feel that I've gotten a little better at that as I've gotten to know the community and and the individuals in the community a little better and as I've sat through u you know a number probably 24 30 different meetings with the the council to see what uh your your priorities are uh to to follow you know to put myself in alignment with that and then again following along with the strategic plan. And a lot of times something will come up and I'll say, "Oh, that sounds great because that's in alignment with our strategic plan." It's one of the reasons why I really like this idea of a performance contract for our city

buildings. I think it checks so many of the boxes in that plan. So I I think I I have a number of different tools either um uh in my in the toolkit and that may be the people around me but can also be the things the policies and the procedures that are already set in place and I use those as my guide.

Thank you. Um, do you feel, um, as you kind of alluded to that you're maximizing the efforts of the department heads and the city staff that are at your disposal? And I don't mean to to refer to them that they're just simply tools, but do you feel that you're maximizing the use of the of the personal personnel capital at your disposal?

No. And part of that is on me because I I hear some it sounds really interesting. I just want to jump in and do it. And uh and but I recognize delegation has always been something that's that's difficult because I I just find a lot of I'm just naturally curious and find a lot of interest in things. Um but but I also recognize too that it deprivives those individuals of the opportunity to learn and grow as well. So yeah, if I had one area there several, but that would be one area that definitely needs um I need to focus on and work on.

Thank you. Um which you you comes around and and we'll talk more about it, but um you have the looking ahead next steps which are broad u and some are you know organizational issues. I'm glad you mentioned those. um you didn't put any goals for you that I saw. U if I'm missing them, please point them out to me. But I would love to see and you know and this is this is clunky because so much of this is kind of personal like how am I going to handle my personal growth, my professional growth, my professional training and uh you know this is in an open meeting where every other employee except these three have their own in a basically confidential manner with their supervisor and uh so you know I don't it's you're just put on the spot. That's just a fact of how you know the charter manages that we do this. But um I think some of these specifically you know how can you establish a goal or would you establish a goal to maximize personnel to help get all of the things done that you realize can be a priority. and as you prioritize them. U I I think that's critical for us to be able to see where you're progressing in this role. Right. And now with that said, I can't but help agree wholeheartedly with the with what Mayor Hardy has already said. I mean, you're you're hitting it out of the park, but you know, there's things I think that you could refine and maximize your staff, develop your staff, and excuse me, I there's a a phrase that is always good for for new executives, and that's focus on the basics, right? Well, how do you focus on the basics? the the

the list is so long u but you could eventually find yourself stretched so thin that you know either you're not giving attention to it or you're spending way too much time than you healthfully should

um or others aren't getting developed the way they might be able to. Um so that's just one thing. Um, getting back to your team. Uh, so you know, Michael's a part of that team, but I'm going to focus on the person who, uh, is not so much out in front and her face isn't seen by most folks, but Crystal, as equal as the city clerk's office, is indispensable to us. Crystal is also, and not only does she help you stay um on track and help manage the things that you have to do, but she really is helpful to city council above and beyond. Um, I could list specific details, but in general, a phone call, a request, a clarification, a need to change an appointment, a need to block out Mondays and Thursday mornings. She's always receptive and helpful for that. And and again, that goes to the team effort. Now, she has been that way since she's been here and but you've allowed her to continue to do that and she is thriving, I believe, and helping the city in indispensable ways and and let her continue to do that for us because she's an indispensable part of the team when we come to the city manager's office. Um, I appreciate that you're working with um our Chamber of Commerce um CEO um Jill Lean. Um if you if I don't know how many uh folks or our council members have had to um the opportunity interact with other chamber CEOs, but Jill is well known. She has tremendous credibility and she is an invaluable asset to the community at large and to you know to that's almost an extension of the city

and that you have recognized that and have engaged that opportunity and collaboration um is commendable. So thanks for doing that and to work with our partner Mr. Martello um who's part of Boulder Disposal managing our asset, the landfill, uh and the and the regional partnerships that you had on on there as part of the the community leg of the stool. Um and your ability to interact there keeps Boulder City front of mind and brings credibility to us the way that you interact with them. And you know, some folks might ask, well, why why go there? It doesn't really have an impact, but you're building relationships there. You have the opportunity to connect things that others might not even realize have an impact on Boulder City and how we can be a collaborative member of the team even though we're small in numbers. And I appreciate that you um place an emphasis on that. Um, I really appreciate, I think the mayor commented on this, your willingness to look with a fresh set of eyes and not just come in into what could be considered a rut. We Well, Boulder City, they've always done it this way. I can't I can't change it. You know, we can't upset the apple cart. and you've respected the history and the culture, but you've also been willing to look at the possibility for growth through change. And you mentioned a couple of those. Uh we've done some staffing adjustments and I think we're going to see um great uh great yield from that, a great harvest from that. and you've been willing to to take a look at it and not afraid to assess it,

to critically evaluate what the needs are, what the roles are, and to work with council in in finding ways that are creative to to maybe find a better process that works. So, appreciate that. Um, I do have a question. So, you did mention labor negotiations. How will that be different going forward? Oh, I'm glad you asked. I left my note over there. I can do it off top of my You can go get your notes if you want.

So came in in April when they had already started and we it took me I'll be really honest it took me a few months to get up to speed. We have a lot of bargaining units and a lot of moving parts and a lot of numbers to to master. I again appreciate the team that we had. uh I think and and there were other uh issues in this particular year when all the details but around a significant PERS increase that made these types of negotiations difficult for all of the jurisdictions. I mentioned that we have this uh bimonthly meeting with the city managers and it's been a consistent topic throughout and I I always come away from those meetings feeling a little more a little better about where we are in Boulder City because uh a lot of the other communities are experience and you're aware of that experiencing the the same things. Um it's been probably three or four months ago that we sat down and I say we it was me, finance director, uh HR manager, deputy city manager, the city attorney and we created a matrix and we said okay going looking forward to next year is a right around the corner we'll be starting these negotiations again and created a matrix for duties and responsibilities and communication and who's going to be responsible for for what and kind of hash that out among ourselves. And it I would say it immediately made a difference because um during that same time we we we had put the police uh supervisor sergeant not supervisors unit on on hold while we were working through the PPA arbitration. And when it came time to then go around and and meet with that group again, I actually went in to the group before they started and said, I hope that you will notice a positive difference in the way in the approach that we've taken because before we went into that meeting, we said, okay, well, where are we? Well, here's what we did. And we implemented that that matrix we had and we went in with a more of a

proactive approach and with a response to what they had. Um, and it wasn't that we weren't doing that before, but I I think it wasn't as clear to the other side. And we just, you know, I I'll always say our employees, and it sounds trit because we say it so much, but our employees are our most valuable asset. And so when we go into these negotiations, uh, we treat them as our valuable asset. Now, that said, I will say that respect and trust is a two-way street. And, you know, I won't sugarcoat it. It's been very difficult this year and the things have been said on both sides and I think um we we we try to remain above that and try to remain professional and that this year that was the best that was about the best that we could do and maybe it fell short a little bit and we've had this these difficult negotiations. I'm ever the optimist. I do hope that we will um see these last five u bargaining units get get agreements with them. Um, you know, we we went through factf finding with the firefighters and that turned out well. You know, it it was right after the factfinder came back with the so um decision and things moved around pretty quickly. I'm hopeful something similar can happen with the police uh officers association and then um we continue to work with the supervisors with bluecollar as well and we we've reached um tenative agreements with them but then they haven't been ratified. So, I I always feel like we're getting close, but I' we've um we we continue to to work on that. But but sorry, that was kind of a long-winded answer, but things I guess in short, things will be different because I I'm further along in in my understanding of how all of the different bargaining units and the team, we have a great team on this side and we just, you know, we we want to put our best foot forward as we go into these meetings moving forward and we'll do so.

Thank you. which feels like maybe you found a need, made a goal, and maybe have even checked it off as as created if that was the goal. Or maybe there's more beyond that. But again, another opportunity for us to talk next year. Look, you've you've decided that you needed to create a different environment, if you will, and how can we follow up with you on that and give credit where credit's due when you, you know, meet that. And I I think these are important things to put down as goals for us to follow up. If we don't follow up on goals, there's no point in even putting them down. But there's tremendous value, right? And then you know, I'm going to be accountable to this at next March to the council and we can talk about the progress or the the continued need, whatever it might be, you know. So those negotiations have probably many things have weighed on me the past year, but that's certainly been one of the primary things that's weighed on me. And how can we do that better? And I I'll just add too that in in other cities where I've worked, I've always had very good relations with the leadership of the the there were fewer unions in larger cities, but with th those union leadership. And I that if I had one goal in that area, it would be to redouble my efforts to make sure that I'm reaching out to them and establishing more of a, you know, a personal relationship. mayor and you both said, you know, personable and person. I try to be and I think it it leads it's a lot easier if you know the person uh that you're sitting across the table from and and you know a little bit about their background and maybe even a little bit about their families and and and then you don't see them as kind of an object to either of either scorn or distrust which I too often is the what we see in those types of meetings.

Yeah. Thank you. Um I appreciate that uh you had the executive leadership seminar. Were action items enumerated as a result of that for um the staff members individually or or overall or were specific things established as goals for your executive team to come out of that?

Yeah. at at the end of the meeting, the uh facilitator pushed us to have a a goal that we work on around, you know, better communication and building trust. Um, I'll admit I haven't followed up on that as well as I should. The best that we that we have done so far is to well, we did recirc what what we enjoyed and what we learned. Um, in September, we will have the follow-up workshop and I I hope that we can then pick up from that. But yeah, that would be another area where there is a good goal to be had for me personally in in a leadership role.

And and thank you. You you use the word I was going to use leadership and leader. You are you um the leader of the staff of of the of the city employees and of of the executive staff of of the department heads. And um it can be difficult because you're pulled in different ways by the legs of the stool. But at the end of the day, you can't um give the due attention to your you are the one. There aren't other leaders, right, as that are going to stand in your position. There are other people that can lead by example to in their department or to their peers, but you're the one and wi without you continuing that effort and emphasizing it, you're you're showing the value of it to your department heads. And maybe they're like, well, you know, it was nice, but like other executive leader, you know, retreats or advances, n it was just a long day. I didn't get my work done and nothing came of it.

Free sandwich and Yeah. Right. Yeah. A nice little lunch and some chips. But you know, that's the last thing you want and that's the last um impression you want to give to your department heads too, right? Yeah. It was a nice retreat, but nothing really came of it. So, you know, maybe maybe giving that a little deeper look has value. Um, now going to my notes on your presentation. uh the way that you communicate with the council is very much appreciated. I I could say I except for the one that we that there was a goal actually from and um I don't know if you saw this. I did. Yeah. Was uh you know figure out a way to make sure that there's not critical things that fall through the cracks in communicating with with council. But, you know, that was kind of a narrow focus, right? But other than that, although it was critical, it was narrow. Um, I don't I don't think I could say that I have ever been surprised by something that I should have known that because you do such a good job of of keeping us informed of the variety of things. We have the opportunity for the one-on-one meetings which are absolutely um just crucial for us to be able to catch up with you and have that facetime and talk about the priorities, you know, the the the strategic plan, the efforts that are going on there and to receive the the weekly updates, the bimonthly updates, those Fridays that you're in here working. um those Friday updates uh that so um you really do a great job of supporting and informing the council. Um I appreciate that.

Yeah, it's it's um it's almost because of your accessibility. You have five bosses yet the entire community as I said you give time and personal attention and if you're not careful one or two or 10 or a thousand people could also try and become your boss. Uh you got to be careful you know about that you know and if it's something that you believe aligns with our strategic plan there, you know, pass it off to your folks. So, I'm going to ask you the question then and and I know coming in new uh the list is going to be long, so I'm not going to ask you to elaborate on all of it, but pick one or two or one if you feel appropriate. What have you learned over the past year that you didn't know or that your understanding was deepened and then the followup is going to be what what are you going to do differently because of that?

Yeah, one of them we already talked about. I've learned a lot about union negotiations and and how they work here in Boulder City. And I've learned a lot about fire department operations to based on just uh hiring a new fire chief as well as some of the issues that we'll be working on through the budget process this year and and in future years. And uh I thought I knew Boulder City fairly well. And I it's again it's been a pleasure to get to know this. I I am constantly amazed about how much is going on here. And a lot of that revolves around I was touched upon in in the city clerk's presentation uh revolves like like any small town I grew up in a small like any small town revolves around relationships with people and I I I recognize that I have a blind spot in that I don't know what those formal and informal connections are between people and in a way that's liberating but it can also I have to also be very cautious because I uh growing up I learned a long time if I did anything wrong that my mother or my grandma were going to know about it before I made it home. And it's kind of like that here. If anything happens in a somebody doesn't like it. And you know, we can't please everybody. But I I I I do try I go out of my way to be personable and uh and approachable to to people so that um they know that there's a person in city hall that is very dedicated and and is interested in what they're interested in. I might not be able to resolve their I I always tell I wish I had a magic wand to fix your problem. I I don't but whatever I can do I will try to do or better yet is my goal I will uh enlist staff to try to to help them to address the the problem issue. So just the last couple things here that's on this paper. Um excuse me. Uh, so we already talked about the reporting, the the the few things that

don't slip through the cracks and notifying city council the critical events, right? Like the fire down at the at the um at the main substation or the fire out at the battery storage, battery energy storage or other critical events in the city that

that we don't want to find about in the in the morning, but when it's going on. Um, we already talked about that, but then staffing. We talked about um the uh the fact that and and you and I had this conversation that you when you came in, there wasn't a tool that was created for you to objectively evaluate and and and conduct this exercise with your department heads. And and so we had talked about working on creating that and then being able to objectively sit down, evaluate the performance of your department heads, give credit when credit is due, and find opportunities for growth and development as necessary as well. Have you had the chance to work on that with all the other things that you're doing? Well, NEOGV is meant to be that tool and we're we've just scratched the surface on how we're going to implement that. And I mentioned that just yesterday in our executive team meeting, we talked about, hey, and one of the things that came up was, hey, we we need more training in this, but it it goes along so that the NEO gov system goes along with something else we need to work on. And that and that came up in your conversation around compensation is uh some of our employees I think there's a pool of about 80 employees that might be overstating it that are nonrepresented and exempt employees and they they don't have steps and some of them have fallen behind on where they should they've worked here for a long time they're dedicated and they've fallen behind on where they should be. So getting that uh the performance um evaluation process that's consistent in place and and it came up yesterday that all the department heads need to use it in a consistent way and we have a common understanding about how we're going to implement it. Then that

goes toward fixing this other problem about how do we do merit increases in the city because right now there uh there isn't a there isn't a a policy or procedure for doing that. What I've heard is that in the past it was kind of done in an inconsistent way and we we certainly don't want to do that. That's why over the past year pretty early made the decision well we're going to hold back a little bit and see how the budget year goes really to see how the union negotiations go and then but you know here we are in March we're getting ready to go into the fourth quarter and of the the budget year and we of the fiscal year and we know that we have the the money that was budgeted for these employees to receive an additional amount. The reason that was important to me is because there's a handful of those employees that their uh their PERS payment that they're that they're required to pay. The city pays half and they pay half. The cola that they received didn't fully cover that. So, they actually took a cut in their take-home pay. I think you're aware of that. And um in order to make them that this additional 1.5% will will go part well it will make them whole. And to give them a little bit is it enough? I that's that's for another day. But short of having a I guess what I was the point I was getting getting to is that short of having a system to do merit increases where the director or the supervisor who's who knows the work of that person and can evaluate it best. We haven't given them a tool to provide them with the that to use their own judgment to provide that type of a merit increase to our employees. So it's been identified. It's definitely something that needs to be worked on in the next year. We've started that again by implementing this system and it's not a panacea to fix all the issues but it's it's at least a start and then we'll build upon that to address some of these other issues. So that's a work in progress.

Work in progress.

And and when I when we did the evals for you guys, now you're generally at an executive level. So the evals can be the same, but they were identical. And I hope that as you work in NEOGV, you realize there's executive level, there's middle manager, there's supervisor, there's line workers. And I would hope that NEO gov has a different eval for every one of those because they will be some categories can be similar but they are not the same as defined by how they're accomplishing that. Some are very heav heavy on technical expertise while others are very heavy on um leadership, right, or a balance. And and it's almost needs to be different from public works to uh parks and wreck as well because there's a little bit of a different um activity that goes on there. And another reason why this is so crucial is because we're small, we talked about this with the city clerk, because we have limited staffing, these exercises help us have succession planning within the departments. And it will lead to identify and develop those people that have the interest and the capacity to move into additional leader roles and maybe a department head role. But without going through those exercises, it's going to be a poke in the dark and cross our fingers, hope we made a good choice. And and so I think this is a crucial goal um that we need to see evolve and become a reality and not just a canned thing, you know, oh, we got the 10 ones. Let's just lay it on every employee in the city because

it'll be found wanting, honestly. Um and then we had talked about developing a training plan specific for um expertise in areas that are new um for either you or the deputy city manager. Um because in your division of responsibilities, there might be things that either of you haven't had the responsibility for. you um we have an airport that you hadn't had the responsibility over an airport in the past or you know our HR department's a little different than you know you might have expected coming from another organization so higher level of responsibility at the executive level for oversight right just a couple of examples uh we really need to see um where training is occurring to become expert or at least as expert as necessary to oversee if not be involved.

And I think

if I may, one of the things in that area that I didn't mention here is um the deputy city manager did attend with our HR manager uh was a two or three day training over in Las Vegas with all of the HR uh people throughout the valley on learning the the basics of and and beyond of uh human resources. And because that was not previously his uh area of uh expertise, I think that was very valuable uh for him personally, but uh in his new role as a deputy city manager, but also for the city to have someone go to that training and then now now they're they know all of the you know, it's we talked about building those networks around in that particular area of administration.

Yeah, that's a really good example. I mean, people get doctorate degrees in human resource management. And so, I think there's a lot more opportunity for training to become um as expert as possible in that for whichever one of the two of you are going to be over that particular division. Um, fiscal management was the other one that we talked about at your six-month eval. how um from my perspective, I really want to see the city manager be the boss of finance, right? And I mean that figuratively um to and it's a long journey and and you have come a long way, brand new in Boulder City, right? I don't know how your finances, you know, worked in your prior.

Very unique here. Yeah. But as I understand it, we're pretty different.

And so we need a city manager who is fluent in all of this and and then takes the leadership role in that. And then your finance director becomes, you know, your your right-hand person for that. And then that director has their team to help accomplish what you direct from council's guidance on how we manage finance. And um I'm not entirely certain how how far you think you've come in that or what additional goals you might set for yourself or you think like well you know we're we're on the right track and we'll just keep it up. But yeah, I think there's um and and maybe this is this this obviously is for followup. If you want to follow up with us, hey, after the conversation and hearing from council members, here's some additional, you know, specific points maybe um we can we can have written out or you can hold me accountable to because, you know, we want to we want to help you develop into the best city manager that Boulder City can possibly have. And you know, I think you have all the tools and capabilities and you're you're a long way towards that already, but there's obviously opportunities there. So, um, I think I've worn out my my time. Thank you. And again, kudos for being phenomenal.

Thank you. We're appreciative of having you here and we're playing the long game, right? Thanks

with with Ned. So, thanks. I'd like some equal time. So, I'll start. Um, I just wanted to go into the analogy you gave of the threelegged chair. You are the three-legged chair in the building. And because of that, if any of you guys have ever sat in a chair that one leg's shorter than the other and the whole time you just are are kind of, you know, it's unsettling a little bit. So I uh echo what was said before that the balance of that is very delicate and some days you may spend more time on one area but as you notice that make sure that the attention is spent in the other areas. Um I I prefer to focus because I know that we have a lot of time together in which we discuss new strategies and ideas for growth um for you. But I I want to say some things that I've noticed that you've come in and you've hit the ground running and you've done very well. Um the time that you give us for the one-on-one meetings. I like how prepared you are. I like how you bring stuff to us before and how much of the um stuff that is on the agenda is um brought to us beforehand and is council um informed and driven. Um, a a lot of times I also really like the weekly emails and I know that's a lot to go into and people are like weekly emails, but a lot happens in the city um in in one week and and I I like being informed. I feel like one way or the other I'm going to get informed. You're either going to inform me so that I can put the proper information out there when the time comes or I'm going to get informed from the other side with maybe proper or improper information. So, I'm appreciative of that and that there aren't surprises when we show up um to

look at our agenda. Uh the community, you have hit the ground running and this is one of those communities. I that picture of you cooking hot dogs out there. I mean, that sums it up right there. You are city manager in charge of so many different things. You're cooking hot dogs and welcome to Boulder City. That's how this community runs. um you're you might be the top dog, but you're going to be also cooking the hot dogs. So, that's how that looks. Um you are out in the valley representing us with um the community at large. And that's important to remember for all of us, too, that you don't just um take care of what's happening in this building or the buildings in this city or what happens up here with us or um what's going on in our community. you leave this community at times and you represent us and I'm appreciative of the way that you've represented it um represented us up to this point. Um and I hope that you recognize that we hear good things about you and that um I actually do have one person who keeps reminding me it's one of the better things we did was to hire you. So that's a good thing, right? You have a great staff. You came in to a great staff. I echo what you said. Crystal is um so valuable to us. Michael has been valuable wearing numerous hats and you have added to that um and and utilize them. And I'm sure you do. They're probably like, "No, don't utilize us utilize us anymore." But the reality is you have much talent around you. And as the um person who's over that talent, one of the things that you have to do is to understand what their gifts and talents are and then utilize that. And I encourage you to do that so that you

don't burn yourself out. Uh one of the most important things to do is hire talent. And um in that hiring process, take the time to um really consider what it is that is needed in those areas so that what you're bringing to the table is an asset not just for the community and for you but the system as a whole. So and uh I have a maybe different thought on negotiations. I just want to ask this. Uh out in the community, do they use outside counsel or do they all negotiate inside in house?

Oh, it kind of depends. City attorney may know better than I do whether I can.

Yeah, the larger jurisdictions typically have a negotiating team. The city manager is usually not on that team. Um usually there's designated professionals within the city that that's the scope of their responsibility. For smaller cities, it's not atypical to use outside counsel for negotiations. NY County often uses outside counsel. We've used outside counsel um in the past uh before I got here. And so it it is uh it is possible to that is it is not atypical but it's also in-house staff does it in the larger cities. um for arbitrations when things reach impass um most of the jurisdictions utilize outside counsel for that

and I would just in my previous city it was a sim similar but different circumstance here we we were in a transition with both the HR director and the finance director um hired great people eventually but we were already in negotiations and so we used both an outside counsel for HR and and a legal counsel but they they played did a lesser role there than they did here. This wasn't something that I observed.

Okay. This is my second negotiation phase that I've gone through. I don't I um since I've been in, they seem to go very very long and consume a lot of our staff's time. Um often times what that means is that the jobs that you are hired to do on top of that um get a little bit less attention. So maybe when you go through that process again of understanding how to make it different next time, if possible, you might want to consider inside or outside and determine what is best for this process and best for um the positions that we hired you to do and and if it's taking your time away. And uh lastly, citywide survey. Fantastic. Looking for, but as with all things, even doing um a look at our buildings. Our buildings have been looked at 1,000 times. And I just would like them to not just be looked at. I'd actually like an action plan. And I think that's what I was going to say is with the citywide service, I'm an action person. I don't know if government by nature is just uh investigative by nature and less actionoriented, but I would like to break that cycle and I would like to say let's be actionoriented. If we're going to investigate something, let's learn something from the investigation and move forward because all that information will do us no good unless we do something with it. So, I am so appreciative of your first year here. My first year on council was completely overwhelming. I liked it likened it unto a fire hose being just hooked up to my mouth and just on full blast because there's so much to know and do. And you had so much more responsibility than I ever had to understand everything that I had to understand. So, um, with the time that you've had so far, I've been very

impressed and I feel like you're an asset for this community. So, thank you. Thank you. I I always take it as a compliment when I several times over the past year, I felt like I really didn't know what was going on, but people thought I understood what was going on. I took that as a compliment. I was like, "Oh, okay. Well, and it wasn't necessarily fake it till you make it because it it was uh you know, it it just I had to get up to speed much more quickly than I had anticipated, but I took it as a it was a good challenge and and an ongoing challenge. certainly don't know everything.

And I want to say finally because this is one of my favorite things on a phone call recently at which I would say maybe the 24-hour day is exceeded for sure. It's like a school teacher who think you think you never bring anything home. Forget it. Everything comes home with you, right? And and you're on call. But I remember on a phone call you saying, "It's so interesting when I got hired in a small city like this. I did not see this. I did not think this was going to be something that we were going to be talking about. So, we have some things, right? And um I've been impressed with your ability to handle them. Thanks. So, thank you. Thank you.

Well, a lot of what I have to say is just repeating stuff. I think we're all on the same page here, but I wanted to say something that Miss Jurgensson said was hire talent. I felt lucky that I got to be on the interview hiring the city manager because prior to you, we had a city manager that had only been it was his first job and then we went a year almost without a city manager and you inherited a hot mess. That's all the more I can say. There was a lot of fires going on and they needed to be put out. And we have a great staff. I'm not saying anything against staff. It was just there was a lot for a city manager to do. And you you've done a great job. Um, I'm going to take something from the mayor. He talked about wearing many hats. In a small community like ours, adaptability, versatility, and is are essential qualities for the city manager. The mayor has observed that the need to wear many hats is especially relevant given the variety of tasks required of the city manager. When selecting a city manager's experience played a crucial role as a city diverse needed demand some anyway we need to demand someone who efficiently manages numerous responsibilities often without extensive support because in a lot of the other cities they have several people helping the city manager. We're a small community so that means that our city manager has to know a lot more than a city manager in a large company. And then I also feel that the community is structured into three groups. The city hall, the fire department and the police department. And and each of these branches has an important role serving and protecting our community. Very important. And that's your job is building that team. And I think you're doing a great job at building a team. I would just like to see I don't see the fire department and the police department being part of our

team and I'd like to see a little bit more team building with the fire department and police department and maybe that's on me that I don't understand them enough but I would like to know a little bit more and I don't feel like they feel they're part of our team. Um, salary adjustments for city employees to ensure fairness and expertise. Negotiations of police and fire union contracts should be conducted by outside professionals. I don't believe the city manager should be negotiating contracts. You need to understand who the police department are. They need to come in and be able to speak to you honestly and openly. And I think when you're negotiating that, that's a little bit hard to play both sides. Um, and then I'll just and that here saying the ability to listen to different personalities and form independent opinions is truly commendable. I appreciate how you work with people making sure to hear what they what everyone has to say while you have managed to resolve many past issues. I look forward to see you bring the entire team together. And that is, I think, your biggest thing that you've done so far is that you listen. And everybody that comes before you or meets you on the street knows that you listen. You may not remember their name, but you did listen and remember their story. Thank you. I think you've done a great job.

Thank you. Thank you. Which brings us to what do we want to do as we look at uh move to approve it.

Mr. Michael Michael Mazize. So this now is your opportunity uh to evaluate a merit increase and the um average score for Mr. Thomas, based on your evaluations out of up to a five is 4.5. And so before you is resolution 8114. What's the uh feeling of council? I think we should keep him.

Yes, I do. I agree 100%. Are we negotiating? Mayor, I'll hearken back to the conversations and the and the reasonings. We found a conclusion for the city clerk. I think those same things apply for the city manager. I would start off with a suggestion of the 6% merit increase for and I like that myself. Is there another person who likes that besides me and you and Councilman Walton? There is. Can we make a motion in that direction? Go for it. Okay. I move that um we pass resolution 8114 with a 6% merit increase.

I'll second that. Any discussion?

All those in favor say I. I. Thank you. That's been done. Mr. Mace. We are now on to item three, matters pertaining to the performance evaluation of city attorney Britney Walker. Perh Walker's employment contract with the city. Her performance shall be reviewed on an annual basis in March of of every year. Written notice advising her of the evaluation and proof of ser proof of service has been administered as required by NRS241 033 and acknowledged by Ms. Walker. So just like the other two agenda items, we will start with a presentation from Miss Walker. Then the council will conduct your annual evaluation. I will share the compiled score and then you will consider resolution 8115. Thank you. Are we okay? Good afternoon, mayor and council members. Britney Walker, your city attorney. Before I get started, I do want to disclose that I have a pecuniary interest in this item as it does concern my compensation and benefits. So, I'll begin by just going over an overview of my organizational structure. My office consists of myself, a parallegal, and a city prosecutor. My parallegal is Bernardet Elmeida. She does a great job in my office assisting

both the criminal and civil division with various items. For criminal, she drafts our criminal complaints, reviews evidence to prepare for trial, assists prosecution in resolving criminal cases, and assists the public with things like discovery requests or general requests for information. On the civil side, she assists me with research, preparing official correspondents, and again assisting with public requests for the civil side. We have a new update in our office. We recently hired a new prosecutor. As you know, I brought this item back in January. Justin Wilson of the law firm Cox Coxen Wilson has joined us. Uh he earned his law degree from Syracuse University College of Law on academic scholarship. Uh during law school, he was an arguing member of the nationally ranked trial team where he competed against the best advocates from other law schools around the nation. Justin brings these skills to our prosecution. We've had a number of trials as he's been prosecutor and I'm happy to say we've received convictions in all of them. So, he brings a wonderful wealth of experience and we are h very happy to have him on board. Section 15 of the Boulder City Charter outlines the duties of the city attorney. As city attorney, I am charged with acting as legal adviser to the city council and other city officers, drafting or reviewing all contracts or other legal documents and prosecuting all violations of city ordinances which is carried out through our city prosecutor. As city attorney, I do provide a spend a large amount of time providing legal advice to the city council, the city officers and the department heads. I assist our departments with various legal requests. Different legal questions come up um in the course of duty. An example would be uh recently public records research. You know, that area of law is rapidly evolving and as

we get public records requests, I'll have to do legal research to ensure that we're following the law. Um, there's purchasing questions. So, when we have different contracts we enter into, there's competitive bid requirements in some circumstances, but exceptions in others. And so, sometimes I'll advise our department on whether an exception applies. Uh, and then property law questions often arise as well. Contractor view, I would say, is the bulk of my responsibility here for the city. I reviewed 171 contracts just this year. That includes our run-of-the-mill contracts, which we have templates for, such as services, professional services, and our construction contracts. But there are a lot of contracts that are outside the box that do require a lot of time to review and read through very carefully. Um, and some require drafting. One of the examples I can point to recently is um there's a member of the public who wished to go what we call off-rid and uh there that is allowed um if you wanted to completely not be on our electrical grid that is something that is you can do um but we wanted to make sure that in permitting those improvements that there wouldn't be any liability and the person knew they can't just connect to the grit. So, I drafted a a a waiver and release to for that homeowner to sign to explain that they know the risks of going off-rid and that and what they can and can't do once they once they do go off-rid. So, that's something I had to draft from Whole Cloth and an example of a non-typical contract I I work on. I wanted to highlight a few of our recent land contracts. Uh, one is really exciting. We reviewed and revis I reviewed and revised requests for proposals for additional solar and battery energy storage lease agreements in the Elorado Valley. So, we issued that RFP and we have received those

proposals back. Those are currently under evaluation. Um, once the evaluation committee has its recommendation, we'll bring that recommendation of award to council and once the council approves of the proposal, we'll then commence lease negotiations with those developers. And so I'm very involved in the lease negotiation process in drafting those leases and and negotiating with those developers. And one thing I have done to uh help with these lease agreements in the wake of the battery energy storage fire that we had a few months ago is bolster our fire protection terms so that there is indemnification for the city for both our costs and mutual aid costs um as well as fire suppression requirements to ensure that they have the most up-to-date fire suppression available for battery energy storage. they have adequate water and uh remote monitoring capabilities or on on-site monitoring capabilities in the event of a of a fire. And so those terms were drafted in in collaboration with the fire department and our fire inspector and we we are incorporating those in all our new contracts. As uh our city manager talked about earlier, we are very close in finalizing a negotiated lease form for the development of hangers at the Boulder City Municipal Airport. Uh we just had a call this morning to look over the potential tenants latest revisions. And uh we are very close. I I think that they'll agree and as soon as they do, we'll bring that forward to council and get that project going. Um, another thing I've been working on as we've had some interest in the tenants at the city-owned hangers is longerterm leases. And so we've been working with a representative of those of those tenants in re revising a new lease for a longer term and we have sent that draft out to all of the tenants and we're currently awaiting feedback. Um once we get that feedback, we will then finalize those

leases and we can bring them forward to council um so that those those tenants have a longer term and they're not monthtomonth anymore. Other contracts that were really important that I recently reviewed and revised are Seymar contracts. Um Seymar is construction manager at risk and we it's a really great uh bidding tool. It's an construction project uh contract that benefits the city in a multitude of ways. Uh it has a guaranteed maximum price so that the city largely knows what the guar what the maximum price will be upfront and there's not a lot of change orders going back and forth. Um in addition, it attracts a a really good pool of contractors that are really experienced and knowledgeable in whatever they're building. And so, um, we we, uh, we don't use Seymour very often because it's really for high dollar contracts. And so, we didn't have a draft contract for that. So, um, in collaboration with public works, we we developed one. And, uh, we're able to get it done on time to to complete those RFPs so that we have our swimming pool project and airport control tower projects. U moving forward, we negotiated and finalized a franchise agreement with Southwest Gas that's going to be coming to you shortly. Um and then negotiated and finalized a power purchase agreement for the panel project which is going to be really beneficial to the city diversifying our energy resource portfolio and providing another lowcost power resource for our residents so that um in the event that our uh Hoover contracts or um other contracts aren't able to deliver as much power, we still have additional lowcost power to give our residents and keep rates low. And then uh we also, as you approved Tuesday, the Boulder disposal contract. Um and that concludes the contracts. I also oversee our litigation and claims. Um for the majority of them,

Poolpack provides defense, your typical personal injury or property damage claims. I'm proud to report we only had one personal injury claim um as of developing this presentation, which is still pending, and then one property damage claim, which is which was closed. um equitable claims or breach of non-employment claims do require usually the retention of outside counsel because our insurance doesn't cover those. Um but luckily we don't have any such cases on that right now. As in overseeing outside council, we have like other jurisdictions, uh, we retain a few different firms to provide legal advice on various various subjects. Um, similar to the city of North Las Vegas, which uses about seven outside firms, even though they do have teams of 20 30 attorneys and city of Henderson uses about 10 firms on a regular basis. Um we we also utilize outside council and this is a just an overview of the fees per year that we have spent. Um as you've seen since 2021 they've leveled out quite a bit. Um and they've uh gotten more typical. Um this includes you know our labor unemployment council, our council for real estate and contracts uh and our council for uh the prosecution is also included in these numbers. I also oversee ordinance drafting and review. Uh reviewed or drafted 16 ordinances since last March. Um, my major ordinance updates completed include the anti-camping law and what we've dubbed the helmet law, which was really a comprehensive regulatory structure on e- scooters and ebikes that was in line with similar with the with the other southern Nevada jurisdictions and even more strict and that we require helmets on regular bicycles for minors in addition to ebikes. So, I was really proud to work on that and help council address that uh major public safety

issue that was facing our community. Um and then we uh for a long time there was a lot of discussion on the leash law and we uh worked with the community to develop a a a leash law that addressed a lot of the community concerns and um is also in line with other Southern Nevada jurisdictions. So was happy to work on that. Uh also really excited about our p private public utility regulations. This is a really nerdy one so bear with me. Um, but you know, we have the proliferation as technology evolves. You see antennas and uh what we call small cell attachments to poles. And before these regulations, we really had no control over where they were installed. Um, and we weren't really compensated other than permitting fees for those pole attachments. And so we modeled other jurisdictions in southern Nevada to have comprehensive regulations on those public utilities that are uh private and but operating in the public rightway. And now they are required to have franchise agreements. We have very very robust terms on where they can place their equipment, what they have to do to restore when they remove their equipment. And they also compensate the city for $100 per location to compensate for their occupation of the public rideway. I'm currently working on uh the breeding ordinance. As I you know, I got direction from council uh just last month to uh provide uh for additional provisions on that ordinance. I completed the business impact statement notice and we are waiting comments back. They'll be due back to us on April 10th. And once that's completed, I'll bring the business impact statement to council and then the ordinance will come to council. I'm also working on updates to our liquor license code. I had this on here last year, so I didn't get to it this uh past year, but I'm making it a priority this year, and I I think that I'll get it done.

Just a brief overview of accomplishments. I touched on a lot of this already in my presentation, but um providing my year- round legal advice, drafting some ordinances to address some major issues in the community. I drafted our ballot questions for the upcoming municipal election. um collaborated with the fire department on those bolstered terms for our leases and just continuing to represent Boulder City in discussions and negotiations with regional partners, leis and potential leis. Um one thing I'm really proud of is I uh one of our solar developers ex uh exercised their option to lease that they had held for a few years. And um when I reviewed the lease final lease, I realized there was an error in the rent calculation. And so I caught the error and was able to secure an additional 25,000 for the city. So um those are things I'm really happy to report on. And as city attorney, there is always room for growth. I don't care how long you've been practicing law or doing any profession. I think there is always room to do better and room for growth. And so I try to attend uh regional training opportunities as much as I can as well as learn from my desk. But one of the most valuable opportunities I have each year is to attend the annual public lawyers conference. And we receive CLS on the latest in municipal and local government laws. And that helps me stay upto-date as well as provides me valuable networking opportunities to make to have relationships with attorneys in the public sector across the state. We also have local meetings uh quarterly meetings with local government. So, we have the Clark County uh and the city's attorneys as well as Metro and um even Clark County water wreck. Uh we all get together and talk about the latest issues affecting local government in Southern Nevada and make sure that we're uh staying uh consistent and we're talking about issues facing Southern Nevada.

My goals for the next year, continue to update our municipal code. Um, it's a work in progress and I think we've made a lot of meaningful updates this past year, but there's more work to be done. Continuing to modernize and improve our form contracts. Um, increase my community involvement and I'm happy to report I did volunteer at some of our events at Art in the Park and at Worstfest. Um, I also I also uh participated in the Martha P. King Career Day which was super fun and valuable. But I'm continuing to look for opportunities to serve this community more and um we'll look for for more in the future, especially as my son uh is getting to school age. I'll have hopefully more time. Um and then just continuing to collaborate with regional partners. And with that, I'm happy to answer any questions. I'm just going to go first. Um Britney, I've sat in this chair for a little while and I I at the very beginning I remember the first evaluation that we did and and some of our first opportunities to meet and discuss and um if I'm correct, you were new to municipal law, right? This was kind of a new area for you. Yeah, I had worked for regional transportation commission but municipal is very different. So there was a learning curve for sure. Right. And and you are the law or the law, right? The the council for for the city where well, yeah, he's the law, but you're you're the council for the city here. And a lot of other municipalities have multiple people to bounce things off of

and um so so that puts you there. And sometimes being able I know when I first came in I said could you just give it to me like in you know law for dummies because I didn't really understand it as well. I've seen so much growth in you and it's been really impressive for me to watch a person um take seriously any comments or suggestions and then to go with them and really try to grow. That's one of the hardest things I think as an individual is um we we are who we are, right? And sometimes when we hear new things, we're like, "What? I thought I was doing a good job there or whatever." Um so I I've really just watched you. I I I think you're doing an exceptional job in that area. Um you're available. You give concise, to the point, clear advice as you know it. If you don't know it, you're not afraid to go outside and look for somebody who's maybe had experience in that area, which I appreciate. Um, it's better to find someone who does know than to pretend we do know, right? Especially in your area. And so I appreciate that because that tells me that we've got the right person here that they're going to be able to do that for us and we can feel confident in that. Um I I did see that and I was going to ask you that 171 contracts. That's a lot of work. I mean that there's no one on the side doing it for you, right? That's you doing those contracts and um you've caught things for us. You're not just going through the process. You're actually detail oriented when you go through them and you you've saved 25,000

or earned 25,000 or however you want to look at it and and I really appreciate the piece on the fire. You um there's that mantra out there, live and learn. Good. We did, right? And and you saw a need and you addressed that need and you've put it into the contracts now and and and eliminated hopefully a future problem in that area that would cost the city in that way. So, uh also appreciative of that. I see that you're going to continue to update the municipal code. At one time I really thought we were going to have the municipal code looked over by someone else. Is that someone else you?

At this juncture, yes, because we went out to RFP, but um well, one, it's very costly uh for outside to to um do such a comprehensive update. Um so right now we're focused on title 11. It's not out of the question to do more with with an outside consultant, but right now we're just focused on title 11. And then in the meantime staff can you know right now for example the fire code hasn't come to you yet because we saw an opportunity there to modernize it and so we were working on that language too. Um so as we find those opportunities as we're going to open up the code for another reason. Oh let's get in here and and modernize it. And so that's what we're So we're going to look for those opportunities and do it just a little bit at a time and then hopefully uh maybe in a in a couple years we can look at hiring a consultant to do a more comprehensive update.

Okay. So as you look at it, how do you prioritize what needs to be looked at?

Well, really issues facing the community like the anti-amping and the comprehensive regulations for for e- scooters and ebikes. That was a pressing issue that we needed to address up front. um the liquor code is less pressing because there's not an immediate uh issue being caused. Um but there's definitely updates we need to get to um that that are important. And so that's why that one's next on my list. Um and so that's how I I look at it. What's really the most pressing need? What's causing issues because of vaguenesses in the code or ambiguities in the code that needs to be cleaned up? Um and then I I prioritize those and then we'll work on the others later. Okay. So, that hat is on your head. You know, I don't know what it would look like. Maybe next year you could have whatever that hat looks like on the table and we could say that you put that hat has has fallen on your head, too. Um, we don't get to see you much because you're back there doing probably a lot of this and so that um and that's where you should be and that's what you should be doing. And because of that, I don't think people get a chance to really to understand how important you are to what happens on the processes and how much you interact as a team. And um I see it sometimes, but not everyone gets a chance to see that. I'm appreciative. I want you to continue to um represent us in a the way that you are. I I love that you, for lack of a better word, you're analytical a little bit when you look at things and kind of look at the detail oriented, too. And I like that. I feel like that's something we need in this area. So, thank you for what you're doing. I really appreciate you and your team that are not sitting back here because they're probably just busy doing stuff. So, tell them thank you, please.

Thank you. I will. and it's a pleasure and a blessing to serve this community. Thank you.

So, um, as is expected, things that involve legal matters are confidential. So, all that Bernardet's working on are confidential. and her workspace walls are so high to protect the confidentiality. We don't even get to see her. She's like, "Is there somebody back there? I see the top of a a head. I think that there's an employee." Um, and I'm sure she's carrying a fair amount of the burden um of all the legal um review and recommendations that ultimately you're signing off on. and so appreciate appreciate her her unseen efforts as part of your team. Um it truly is one of the least visible because the nature of what you do. I'm I'm noticing on the handout that your goals from 25 and 26 are exactly the same. And and I I guess by nature they need to be cuz as as um I appreciate the question that caused your explanation continuing to update the Bowler City Municipal Code. That's you know I don't know that you could be more specific on that because it's prioritizing items that come to the surface because of items that council's considering that have to be then deep dive review amended etc. updated, brought current with state law.

And you know, there are those and there may be others, and it's a matter of time and energy to get to them.

And as long as we're not in gross violation, I think the state's okay with us making our journey through that. Um, and uh, and the items you put here, I think if you continue to increase your community involvement every year, you're going to run out of time at some point. So, however you want to handle that, um, and the the collaboration with regional partners, I really appreciate your understanding of the regional contracts. And as we serve on regional boards, I can come and talk to you and get insights and gain deeper understanding and we can kind of trade ideas on how to approach regional items because of your depth of understanding and knowledge and and in so many cases because of your background. You know how we got there before even coming to work with the city. And so that background is really valuable. And when we look at the the um proposed bills that end up from the legislature and we have, you know, Mr. Hardy who's our um lobbyist who looks at those. I know you two are really uh connected on summarizing, evaluating the the impact and how we might want to um address any of those as a as a city. And so that that insight those insights are very valuable to us. Um and so I'm appreciative of that. Again, it's it's similar to a comment I made before. If some people aren't knocking on our door telling us we're doing things wrong, that's one of the indicators we're doing things well, particularly in the legal realm, right? Uh so we do appreciate that you're keeping us on track and and helping us to know where to stay in the proper

guidelines. Um I don't know that I had any other comments. I appreciate when you the u outside council costs you've found a way to manage those productively. not that we've reduced um the service necessarily, but that you've helped reduce costs and focus what we need. And that's been really helpful to the coffers. You know, as we look at the chart here and and so that you're being responsible on that side of it and that probably means more work for you, but in the long run, it's it's better for the city. and and so much of that stays in house that you have that working knowledge with and and so that's helpful. Um yeah, to continue with the goal. So I'm going to ask you the same question. What have you learned over the past year that you either didn't know or that you're you gained a deeper understanding? And then how will you or your department will say um change or or improve or or modify things going forward because of what you've learned?

Absolutely. And I've had time to think about this question since I've heard you ask the city clerk city manager and I I have thought um you one of the the one of the many things that makes Boulder City unique is having our own electric utility. And um as I've served in this position, I've learned more and more about energy regulation, energy markets, but I would still say there's a lot of room for growth in that area for me. Um with uh with our utilities director leaving um and there being vacancy in that department, um I took a larger role in the uh panel contract, which is a power purchase agreement um that we approved Tuesday. um and learned a lot about uh about power purchasing about energy markets and and learned more about why that's a benefit to us. I knew from the beginning also but I'm learning more and as we get approached from developers and um you know as you know we have been approached by a data center and I've been learning a lot about uh a lot about how that would impact our utility. um whether it connects to our distribution system or not um because it is such a different use. you, it's a consumptive youth versus generation, which all of our leases have been generation. And so, um, in reaching out to the relationships I've had and we've leaned on, um, experts, you know, we we have a consultant that used to be executive director for the CRC and former attorney for the Colorado River Commission and, um, learning from them. Um, but also doing my own research online, looking at different uh 101s on energy markets and energy regulation. And I'm looking at different CLS I could take on those subjects because I think uh it's only going to benefit the city, especially as uh we potentially face uh waning hydro

resources due to the status of the Colorado River. We may be more reliant on market purchases or on renewables and those types of contracts. So understanding what that means and understanding how to navigate that so that we can keep our rates low for our citizens is going to be really important coming up. And so that's something that I'm really focused on learning more about. Awesome. Thank you. Thanks, Mayor.

Well, through the past years, you've knew and I'm new, so that's always been tough on us here. Um, I brought it up with the city manager about negotiations. somehow you got thrown in the mix. I did call around to find out who does the negotiations with the police department and either they've got a team like if in the city of Las Vegas they've got a team that does that and most of the time it's done with HR and I guess we all hate the HR person so we're going to just throw that person in the middle of negotiations for some reason. So, I always think that that's something to look into and to really in such a small town like this that we really need you to be on the side of the police department and not be an adversary with them. And so, I think that's really important and a lot of what's been said has already been said. And um let me see, I just had a couple other questions here. I wanted to I have had a lot of we've talked about this a lot of conversation and I would like to see you get back and figure out a way to become friends with the police department and maybe have some meetings with them. I know you can't do it now until the negotiations are over with. This is a bad timing. But a lot of what I get from the outside was that you donated money to Black Lives Matter. Did you do that?

Uh I didn't donate to Black Lives Matter. I donated $50 to uh what was called the Vegas Freedom Fund and that helped uh bail out individuals who were arrested during the protest. A personal friend of mine was arrested and they weren't even protesting. They weren't even a part of the Black Lives Matter protest. They were just at downtown at that time and I I did believe that that particular individual was wrongfully arrested. And so I felt sympathy and they asked for donations to the to the freedom fund and so I just donated $50. Um so that's what I donated toward.

Thank you. And one of the other things that I hear out here on the street then I'm trying to give you the chance to clear them up because I don't want I don't want to hear them anymore. I'm done. How do you think the Let's see. They're saying that the attorney that represented them um was rep that represented was for Black Lives from Black Lives Matter was against the um police officer that was killed and you're saying something else. In other words, the guy that you gave the $50 to really was representing the people that had killed the police officer in Las Vegas.

No. Uh my friend who got arrested was working for RTC at the time and now he's ex executive director of the ACLU. Um I don't believe he's involved in any lawsuit with uh a person who was um killed by Metro. I do know attorneys who represented an individual that was killed by Metro. Uh but they I didn't donate to them or I just know them. Um, is everybody entitled to representation? Absolutely.

Okay. Um, I I think basically you're growing and I see that you're growing. I also think you do an amazing job with the legislation. You just absolutely shine when you're working with them. I don't know if you know that or not. So, and you get all the data together. I mean, there's pages and pages to get together and I appreciate all of that. And um my biggest thing is I just want to see you and the police department get back on the same page because as a property manager, I know a lot of times the judge puts a ruling out there and the police nor I know what the ruling I'm saying it's one thing, the other side's saying it's something else. The police read it. They can't decide what is what did the judge really say. it goes to you to determine what was said so they know do we evict this person or do we let them stay and that's that's a big job. So I do really understand some of the hard work that you have to do and I really appreciate that and I just would really like to see us a well functioning team and again I want to thank you and you're new I'm new and putting up with a new person isn't easy is it?

No problem at all. I appreciate your comments council. Okay, thank you. That's it.

Thank you all. I I am continually appreciative of the fact that you've had so much institutional training knowledge on the state level and have so many good friends and good acquaintances up and down the state of Nevada because of the service that you were doing in that other world. And so that has been a real boon for Boulder City so that we know somebody who knows somebody. And speaking of knowing somebody who knows somebody, I've always appreciated how you say, "Well, I talked with the city attorney of Las Vegas. I talked with the city of North Las Vegas. I talked to the city." And then you say, "This is what they are doing." And that is helpful for us to know what institutional knowledge is happening and that you're taking advantage of that. I think that's probably one of your strong points that you're very free and open recognizing that you take advantage of other people and I appreciate what you do in that. I kind of uh chuckled the other day when somebody suggested to me that uh they had uh a uh ordinance on helmet on helmets and if I wanted to know about it uh I could ask them. Um this was another city council person from some place elsewhere and it was just somewhat amusing that we've been there done that and appreciated your role in that. uh you've got a great knowledge base, energy, land, uh personal injury, you seek out other knowledge. Um I I think one of the things I found is attorneys are adversarial. That's what they do. They argue so they can win. And we came to a point where we

were dealing with a contract. And I think sometimes uh I would recommend that you step back and say, "Okay, how can I get a win-win?" instead of just I'm right, you're wrong, and let's have a debate about it. So, I I think that's something that I see uh that you can probably figure out how to do all by yourself without us telling you how to do it. Um, I think your, um, skills with working with the city council, uh, are great. Your ability to, um, look at the city contract in black and white sometimes needs to have a little red lines on it somewhere uh, that we can appreciate what is and what isn't. And then from a very personal standpoint, I like a thing on my desk and to be warned that it's on my desk before I try to say what's going on. That's all I've got to say. Thank you for who you are and what you do. Appreciate it.

Thank you. Any other questions? Okay. Thank you, Mr. May. The average score for Miss Walker's evaluations by the city council was 4.1 out of five. And so you have before you resolution 8115 that will um consider a merit increase for Ms. Walker. I can answer any questions.

Any questions? Any recommendation? Mayor, I'll move to approve resolution 8115 with 6% merit increase. I'll second. Moved and seconded. Any discussion? All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? It's been unanimous. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. May. Which brings us to public comment. Open up public comment. Anyone like to call it? 702589 9629. We have a stampede

and I don't see here anyone here in chambers. If you want to call in 7025899629 anyone on the line we're going to give it few moments. 7025899629 7025899629 that is for public comment. The final public comment 702589 9629 589 9629. Seeing no one on the line, no one in council, we will close public comment and the meeting's adjourned. Thank you. I think that was a big stampede that came.

It's really not not adjourned yet. We have a public comment. Public comment. Hello. I'd like to speak for public comment. Okay. Go ahead. Thomas member for the record. Um just want to appreciate all the hard work Ned Thomas has done for the city. Um, I don't know if you guys know this, but when I'm at North Escalani Dog Park, 7 8 9:00 at night, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday nights, he's still there working with the lights on. He's there Fridays, he's there Saturdays. Um, you guys did good giving him a raise. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else on the line? I'm going to close public comment again and adjourn the meeting. Thank you all. Man, I thought you would have had your dog up there. Good job, Michael. Thank you, Holly.