06/11/07 Council Meeting Minutes

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REGULAR MEETING JUNE 11, 2007 community. He pointed out that in fact it has been supported on the private side as well as through fundraisers and voluntary bid contributions to the operations of the organization. Mayor Luecke stated that they have chosen not to have Redevelopment take on all the responsibilities of DTSB because he believes that they don't do it particularly well. That's not to say that we don't have good staff people who can perform exceedingly well as Marco and Jitin who are on loan to DTSB at this point. He doesn't feel that's really the best use of government employees to do that on an ongoing basis. There is added expense and added staff to the two loaned personnel from the city right now that are part of the operating expenses of the downtown South Bend. They have deferred this appropriation for several months in order to respond to appropriate questions being raised by the Council. He believes that those questions have been adequately answered and asked for the Council favorable consideration. Dr. Varner asked Mayor Luecke on his travel to other communities if they were on a volunteer bid or mandatory bid process. Mayor Luecke responded that in Minneapolis/St. Paul it was a mandatory bid and in Springfield he was not sure of what bid process they used. Councilmember Varner advised that after speaking with Mr. Meyer and a number of other people the reason that this bill is before the Council tonight is because DTSB which had been spoken so highly of in the past had really become a dysfunctional organization. He stated that DTSB seemed to become the kind of organization that had come to believe that they were entitled to public funds and believe that they could run a little show without public input, or adhering to the organizational and accounting rules which are out there for "not for profit' organizations. Mr. Meyer had made a commitment along with those other folks to get the financial issues in order. There have been steps within the organization that have been taken or proposed. Councilmember Varner stated that he is willing to give this organization who atone time had a pretty good reputation another chance; however it is going to take some effort on their part. This is something that needs to be reviewed on an annual basis, the sense of entitlement to public dollars has become all to easy and all to common and the justification of the use and the approaches of using those dollars is something that the Council has as a responsibility to do. The need to have a year to year review is essential and the burden falls on DTSB to provide the information to the Council. Councilmember Dieter stated that he met with Mr. Meyer and Councilmember Varner last week and spoke about what has driven the Council to this year long ordeal In light of what has happened, everyone has been through a lot on this issue. Councilmember Dieter thanked Mr. Meyer, Mayor Luecke and everyone involved with DTSB over the years. He thanked Mr. Peczkowski for his diligence on this issue and hopes that he continues to strive to make downtown South Bend a better place and hope that he continues to make programs like this and others more efficient, transparent and more beneficial to South Bend. Councilmember Dieter stated that it is fair to say that we all have learned a great deal from this not only about the potential harm from a single individual that is capable of causing chaos in the entire city, but also about the importance of openness and creditability in government. Councilmember Dieter further noted that it is fair to say that if this Council had not taken a tough stance this whole issue could have been concealed to a point where the damage would have been far more destructive not only to Downtown South Bend but to the reputation of the City. They say that hind sight is 20/20, and if we are to see anything more clearly now that we have this 20/20 hindsight he hopes that above all else, above the politics the personal agendas above the personal tikes and dislikes the citizens of our City expect all of us to be responsible. He hopes that everyone can see here tonight in the end what has guided the Council's action is that responsibility. While we may not all agree on the specifics of a group like DTSB we almost agree that if the public is going to trust DTSB with public money it to must be totally open, transparent and as much have that responsibility. He hopes that this creditability that is the guiding principal takes not only DTSB forward but to each and everyone in this City. Councilmember Dieter stated that he will be voting in favor of this bill. 16