In This Issue...

. Hamilton Gymnasium Grand Opening on September 12th

. Construction of the City Office Building Moves Forward

. First Phase of Marin-Sonoma Narrows Widening Project Complete

. Police Department Receives National Award for Bike/Pedestrian Safety

. Council Continues Fiscal Sustainability Discussions 

. Employee Profile: Corporal Nick Frey

. City Offices to Re-Open on Alternate Fridays Starting September 7th

The Hamilton Gym in construction

The City of Novato and the Novato Unified School District (NUSD) are proud to announce that the grand opening of the Hamilton Gymnasium is just around the corner! The City and the NUSD have combined resources and talents to build this joint-use facility adjacent to the Hamilton Elementary school that will become an immediate asset to the Novato community. 

This is the first gymnasium that the City has ever built and the first gymnasium built by NUSD in over thirty five years. The facility will be used jointly by the City and NUSD. NUSD will use the gymnasium from 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM each weekday for school and cafeteria purposes and the City will program the gymnasium from 4:00 PM to 11:00 PM each weekday with active recreation programs. The City will also program the gymnasium on most weekends. The facility will host basketball, volleyball, indoor soccer leagues, drop-in play, and tournaments for all ages. The City will manage community use of the gym and expects the facility to be in operation over 4,000 hours per year. 

City Manager Michael Frank stated, "By two public agencies collaborating to leverage resources, we are creating and sharing a community recreation facility that helps support an active and healthy life for our children and residents."

The City has worked in partnership with NUSD to complete this wonderful facility for the entire community. The City received a competitive $1 million Healthy Communities grant from the California Department of Parks and Recreation that assisted with the construction of this facility. The grant's focus was to provide facilities that would enhance active youth recreation programs after school. 

Dr. Shalee Cunningham, Superintendent of NUSD, commented, "We're excited about this new gymnasium for Hamilton School and our partnership with the City to provide the children of Novato a gymnasium that can be used during the school day and a gymnasium for the community."

The City and the NUSD invite the community to join the celebration on September 12th at 6pm. The gymnasium is located at 5530 Nave Drive.

Earlier this month, the Novato Police Department received national recognition for its Bike and Pedestrian Safety program.

The Department was awarded 1st place in the special category of Bike/Pedestrian Safety by the International Association of Chiefs of Police. This is a very prestigious honor as only two other California cities received a national award through the association. The Police Department received this award as a result of the efforts by the entire Department and specifically the Traffic Section personnel.  

The national award comes on the heels of the Department's recent success in California-specific law enforcement challenges. For the last several years the Department has participated in the California Law Enforcement Challenge (CLEC). CLEC is a competition between similar size and type of law enforcement agencies for the best traffic safety programs in California. It is sponsored by the California Highway Patrol and is in partnership with the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) and California Alcoholic Beverage Control. The department and individual officers have been recognized through CLEC for their work in the areas of bike and pedestrian safety.  

The Department is proud of these accomplishments as they demonstrate the City's commitment to bike and pedestrian safety.

On August 28th, the City Council held a work session on fiscal sustainability. The primary purpose of the work session was to identify an agreed upon financial baseline to use as a target by which the Council and the community can begin having discussions about sustainability strategies. This session began with a recap of the significant fiscal and organizational sustainability actions that have been implemented over the last four years. These actions include the expenditure reductions approved in 2010, labor agreements and pension reform and the approval of Measure F among others.

The City has made significant strides towards fiscal sustainability. Three years ago, the projected deficit for the 2014/2015 fiscal year was $6.7 million. Today, the projected deficit for the same fiscal year is $600,000, which represents a 90% reduction. However, additional actions are needed to align revenues and expenditures over the long term. 

To frame the discussion and outline options for future action, staff is developing a Fiscal Sustainability Options Tool. The Tool includes various alternatives for consideration and the estimated financial impact of the alternatives. The ultimate goal is to establish a common understanding as to what revenue and expenditure changes could be built into the City's fiscal sustainability plan. This policy Tool will be developed with the Council through a series of work sessions in coming months.

The Council had an extensive discussion about items to include in the base and ultimately decided to include additional items in the target base budget for future consideration. This decision does not mean that these items will be included in the final fiscal sustainability plan. Rather, the additions will be considered as part of the overall plan when Council gives final direction on the elements of a fiscal sustainability plan in April 2013.   

The staff report and presentation from the August 28th work session are available at this link.

The Council will hold a number of fiscal sustainability work sessions over the next nine months. The next session will be held on September 18th. In addition, the City will conduct a public outreach process in the coming months to solicit feedback from the community. The City encourages the public to attend the work sessions or follow them on the City's website.

The Our Town newsletter features employee profiles to help the community learn about City employees and the services they provide to the public. The profile includes highlights of the employee's interests and community contributions outside of their professional role with Novato. 

The August profile is of Corporal Nick Frey. 

What is your role with the City?

I am a Corporal with the Police Department. In this position, I manage the day-to-day operations of the newly formed Novato Response Team (NRT). The NRT was created in July and is comprised of Officers Nick Berg and Nick Conrad, Management Analyst Matt Podolin and myself. The NRT is a dedicated team that focuses on public safety issues and topics that require additional time and resources. For instance, the Team will likely work on gang recognition and enforcement, narcotics and neighborhood enforcement issues. The Team will also be available to adddress other pressing public safety issues that arise.

How long have you worked for the City?

I started with Novato in December of 2001. I have spent my entire career with the City.

What do you like best about your position with the City of Novato?

I am very excited about my current position leading the NRT. It is a great opportunity to help build the Team from the ground level and really shape its role in providing public safety to Novato. The Team will focus on specific issues that require targeted resources. I believe the NRT will be an asset to the public and my hope is that the Team is eventually seen inside and outside the organization as a model unit.

I also enjoy being able to work with the community, no matter who they are, and finding ways to go the extra mile to address public safety challenges.

What professional accomplishment are you most proud of?

I am most proud of being selected to lead the NRT. As I have mentioned, it is a great opportunity and one that I am very excited about.

Editor's Note: Corporal Frey has also been selected as the Police Department's Employee of the Quarter in 2004 and 2011.

What are some of your professional interests outside of your role with the City?

I am very active with my family. My wife and I have a five-month old daughter. I enjoy hiking, camping and other outdoor activities.

What is an interesting fact about you that people might not know?

I really enjoy 1980s culture and music. Two of my favorite bands from that era are Depeche Mode and Journey. I am sure some of my co-workers will give me a hard time for these choices, but that is okay!