07-15-2025 Council Workshop MinutesMINUTES
WORKSHOP MEETING
July 15, 2025
A Workshop Meeting was held by the Schertz City Council of the City of Schertz, Texas, on
July 15, 2025 at 5:00 p.m. in the Hal Baldwin Municipal Complex Council Chambers, 1400
Schertz Parkway, Building #4, Schertz, Texas. The following members present to -wit:
Present: Mayor Ralph Gutierrez; Mayor Pro-Tem Allison Heyward; Councilmember
Michelle Watson; Councilmember Paul Macaluso; Councilmember Ben Guerrero;
Councilmember Tim Brown
Absent: Councilmember Mark Davis; Councilmember Robert Westbrook
Staff City Manager Steve Williams; Deputy City Manager Brian James; Assistant City
present: Manager Sarah Gonzalez; City Secretary Sheila Edmondson
Call to Order
Mayor Gutierrez called the meeting to order at 5:06 p.m.
Hearing of Residents
This time is set aside for any person who wishes to address the City Council. Each person
should fill out the speaker's register prior to the meeting. Presentations should be limited to
no more than 3 minutes.
All remarks shall be addressed to the Council as a body, and not to any individual
member thereof. Any person making personal, impertinent, or slanderous remarks while
addressing the Council may be requested to leave the meeting. All handouts andlor USB
devices must be submitted to the City Secretary no later than noon on the Monday
preceding the meeting. Handouts will be provided to each Councilmember prior to the
start of the meeting by the City Secretary. All USB devices will be vetted by City IT staff
to ensure City property is protected from malware.
No one signed up to speak.
Discussion
1. Reinstating one FTE position in the City Secretary Department
Mayor Gutierrez presented a PowerPoint presentation on reinstating a Full -Time
Employee to the City Secretary's Office. The presentation is asking the
City Council to consider approving reinstating 1-additional full-time position back to
the City Secretary's Office. In 2008-2009, there were four full-time positions
assigned to the city secretary's office: City Secretary, Deputy City Secretary,
Records Manager and Records Management Coordinator. In 2009, the Records
Manager position was eliminated from the department in 2009 and in 2014, the
Records Management Coordinator position was reassigned to Public Affairs. In
2017, the RMC was reclassified, which left the City Secretary's Office left with two
full-time employees.
Population Growth:
• 2009: 32,361 (5 council members)
• 2024: 43,239 (7 council members)
Increase in Governance & Public Engagement:
• More council and committee meetings
• More council -related requests and agenda items
• Increase in public records requests (over 600 in FY2024)
Councilmember Tim Brown supports reinstating a full-time position back to the CS
Office. Councilmember Paul Macaluso would like to see data/information showing
the increase in the workload. Councilmember Ben Guerrero also agreed with both
Councilmember Brown and Councilmember Macaluso and would like to see the
breakdown of all the programs that the CS Office is responsible for. Councilmember
Michelle Watson asked if the use of A.I would help the CS Office with work
assigned to them. Mayor Pro Tern Allison Heyward has had several conversations
with other cities about the use of A.I and open records. Some of the concerns with
using A.I. is that the open records could contain confidential information and writing
a program to redact all the necessary data would be difficult. Mayor Gutierrez
explained that reinstating an FTE position to the CS Office will directly impact the
City Council and help the CS Staff with their assigned workload.
Adjournment
Mayor Gutierrez adjourned the meeting at 5:25 p.m.
ATTEST: -,
J
Sh' ' a Edmondso , City Secretary
(�aIPOG tierrez, Mayor
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