Laserfiche WebLink
Ms. Steele replied, Yes we do. We have interns in our office each semester. <br /> Councilmember Dr. Varner stated, I would like to know how much money we are providing for <br /> Municipal ID. <br /> Jen Hockenhull, City Controller with offices on the 12th floor of the County-City Building, <br /> replied, The Municipal ID program is not funded at all by the City of South Bend. It all goes <br /> through La Casa de Amistad. There are no receipts or disbursements budgeted for in the 2018 <br /> budget. The initial support money budgeted for was not spent last year. <br /> Councilmember Dr. Varner then stated, I would like to know how many roads and streets will be <br /> paved with the $1 million dollars received from the State because of the increased gas-tax. <br /> Finally, I am in full support of funding,to any extent,the clean-up and upkeep of the <br /> homelessness issue under the Main Street bridge. <br /> Councilmember Davis stated, In 2014 our Council and Mayor signed the Citizen's Review <br /> Board. Who appoints those people? The Board of Public Safety is appointed all by the Mayor. I <br /> think it is a misnomer to say we are looking at only a two percent(2%) raise for the general <br /> body. Many of these salary positions are in the double digits percentages. I think the public <br /> would be stunned. I have great concerns on that. We have talked in the past about fair salaries. I <br /> would like job descriptions for each of these positions so we can clearly justify these raises. I <br /> would rather put this money into the streets. <br /> Councilmember Broden stated, I concur with Councilmember Dr. Varner about the streets. There <br /> are quite a few changes proposed in departments and I would like more clarity on those. I would <br /> also like a further explanation on the line-item titled"Other"for each and every department. <br /> Committee Chair White opened the floor to members of the public. <br /> Marcy Reid, 55150 Mayflower Road, stated, My family has lived here for fifty (50)years. I <br /> respect all of the input on the budget but I still don't understand. I'm hearing the County has <br /> little funding and the City has little funding yet$25 million is being spent on the South Shore <br /> rerouting. There are homeless. Is the rerouting going to bring back anything into our County and <br /> City? I don't understand why this isn't a bigger issue to you all. It's not broken and why are we <br /> trying to fix it? <br /> Katherine Enders, 23037 Grove Road, stated, We are throwing money away for the relocation. <br /> That money would be better used to improve all of Bendix Drive. That is so bad. <br /> Jenny Garner, 55212 Sundown Road, stated, We are talking about paying people fifty percent <br /> (50%)more than what they are making. Our cost of living is lower than a lot of other areas and I <br /> don't think we should compete with other cities to raise that. We have a lot of good talent here. I <br /> propose an oversight committee made by local historians for the Historic Preservation <br /> Commission. Are we able to only approve a portion of the proposed$25 million? I don't see the <br /> rationale of tearing down forty (40)to fifty (5 0) homes to save ten(10)minutes. We need to look <br /> at a different area for this. <br /> 7 <br />