05-14-29 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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REGULAR MEETING May 14, 2018 Councilmember Karen White stated, We launched our Not In Our Community initiative. That is a response to synthetic drugs within our community. We had a press conference today at 1:00 p.m. and it was very well attended with excellent information. I would make sure to get a copy of the information shared. I sent that information to the Council earlier on. There is plenty of work to be done. I encourage Council Members to join the standing committees. This is a long-run initiative and we see this as a public health issue. Councilmember Tim Scott announced, On Friday there is the Fallen Officers Memorial at the Police Station.I know Council Members attend and I will be speaking again. That is well respected and a good thing to do. Councilmember Jo M. Broden announced, It is Bike to Work Week. There is a breakfast on the Hall of Fame Gridiron tomorrow morning. We encouraging people to log their miles. That does help with data. Help the environment. Councilmember Oliver Davis announced, Councilmember Sharon McBride, Jo M. Broden and I were at the MAMAS Against Violence March this past Saturday morning. It was a good turnout. Councilmember Jo M. Broden followed up, MAMAs Against Violence now has a website and a Facebook page and a lot of that was brought forth through a collaborative effort of Notre Dame students. Another terrific development is that they are now partnering more intentionally with the Mom' Demand Action group. I would like to take this opportunity to lift up the long serving members and founding members Bobby White and others. They do hard work and, in particular, they support mother and families. They are there and they have always been there and there are terrific developments they are making. They contribute to our Gang Violence Initiative as they are always a voice at these call-in events. They've been a long bedrock in our efforts here locally. Mayor Pete Buttigieg,Mayor of the City of South Bend with offices on the 14th floor of the County- City Building, South Bend, IN, stated, Thank you for recognizing me. A quick public service announcement is that the Bike to Work breakfast has been rescheduled for weather reasons. They are pushing it back by one(1)day.I can't let Dr.Varner's announcement go without my comment. I join everybody else in expressing a certain amount of shock but agreeing that you've certainly earned a very enjoyable retirement. The City is in your debt and I take it as good news to hear you will be continuing to serve on the Redevelopment Commission. As has been remarked by other Democrats in the room, if more people in your party were like you and, candidly, if more people in my party were like you, our Country would be a better place. We've agreed on some things and have disagreed on other things but, especially when we are not in agreement, I've admired your expertise, reasoning and honesty. You deliver it without the inflection of ego. I have learned a great deal from our first cup of coffee when you made time for me when I was still running for mayor. It is going to be very difficult to make up for your leaving the Council. Mayor Buttigieg continued, They say the highest and rarest honor available to the mayor is the Key to the City but I'll give you one(1) even more rare because I don't think I've ever said this to somebody in public. It is almost physically impossible for me to say this. There have been many occasions, some of them important, on which it has proved to be the case that were right and I was wrong. Again, there have been times when we have been on different sides of an issue and times when we've been very much on the same page. Through it all, I've admired your service to the City and we will miss you greatly. Thank you for your service. PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR Samuel Brown, 222 E. Navarre Street, South Bend, IN, stated, The reason I'm rushing is because the basketball game is getting ready to start. Varner is straightforward and if you ever talk to him, whether you could take it or not, he was not going to hold back on you. I respect you a lot and there aren't many people I can say that to. I know one (1) part of you is torn but you have to do what is best for you. I am very passionate about voting. Voting is something really dear to my heart but I felt I was cheated. I try to look at the facts of both candidates. Sometimes you don't get it all right. I had a lot of doubt because I grew up in the streets. The thing about it is, Redman was also a qualified candidate. The thing that bothers me about my vote this time was both of them were qualified. But those police tapes, I will always be wondering if I voted against a single 14