LOS Issue

The primary responsibility of Council membership is to formulate City goals. In formulating these goals, the Council must be careful to represent general interests of the City, not special interest groups. Council members must work with the City Manager, but they should not become directly involved in the administration or operation of City departments, and should not direct the administrative staff to initiate programs, conduct studies or establish official policy without approval of the City Council as a whole. As the Municipal Code requires, no Council member is to individually “order” the City Manager, Department Heads, and others to do anything. Only a majority of the council may instruct the City Manager to do something.
The policy process starts by determining that something needs to be done. Such determination is usually based on an awareness of community conditions. In this case the discussion of need is painting the parking stripes and curbs around the Commons.
The process of finding appropriate solutions relates to what resources are available, what the scope of responsibility is, and the manner in which an answer to the problem should be formulated.
The purpose of operational standards for the maintenance of roadway lane line markings, crosswalks and stop lines; as well as the painting of curbs, medians and parking stalls to balance safety and aesthetic performance of the roadway markings with operational and budget constraints.
The three main needs associated with these solutions is pedestrian safety, vehicle safety and parking control. The curb marking are used to delineate “no parking” areas. The City staff has opted to use primarily signage over curb painting to provide for year around visibility and alleviate budget constraints. There are areas and situations where staff still prefers to paint curbs. Parking stall markings are not safety related and are provided to assist in providing for the maximum amount of spaces available. Handicap parking is an enforcement issue and again there is both signage and painting for year around coverage.
The staff has since 2004 completed all street related painting just prior to the start of school in the fall to provide the best marking visibility at the start of the school year. The primary reason for pavement markings is safety related and the beginning of school activities generally demand the most safety needs. The ordering, storing and maintenance of equipment operationally works best with the once a year gearing up for painting. Staff has not painted every area every year. The paint may last up to three years, although the aesthetics may be somewhat lacking.
The Council may want to provide some policy direction for modifying this current administrative practice.