09-26-11 Common Council Meeting Minutes

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REGULAR MEETING SEPTEMBER 26, 2011 Councilmember Henry Davis stated that he wanted to comment on the practice of going through the budget process. He stated that at best the budget process has been luke warm. He stated that they schedule meetings with poor attendance from some Council due to scheduling conflicts clearly, others work different jobs. During the course of many of the hearings that were held, there was no reference by any department about last years budget and how did they report if they experienced any failures or some not so good things or things that really worked well or even a metric system that should be used to measure what is going well within the departments and what is not and what needs to be refined or what could be enhanced. He stated that he saw very little of that at best he felt that there were a few departments that came in and they did an excellent job of showing the Council their marks and how they are going to refine some things that didn’t work out. He stated that he is very unhappy of how this whole process has gone. He stated that this is his fourth budgeting session and that the first two were kind of hazy and now that he has gained some more knowledge and understanding it is critical that when they go through the budget process that they look at the things that are base line and necessary. He stated that before they give any raises they need to make sure that all employees are on full-time, 40 hour pay scale. He stated that it was presented that was not permissible or out of whack or the people that were under forty hours were saying that they don’t need the extra 8 hours. He stated that he doesn’t believe that because this is a recession and the price of gas and milk is too high for anybody who says they don’t want to be full-time. He reiterated that he is very unhappy and thinks that they deserve more as a Council from the City Administration as well as from Department Heads. He stated that they owe to their constituents, the taxpayers here in the City of South Bend to make sure that they are hitting at the levels that we should be hitting from year to year, but at a higher level from year to year. He stated that he is not expecting a 100% turn around each year, because we are human, and this thing called human error and it was because he didn’t see any different practices from 2008 to current date. He stated that it seems like it has been on the decline rather than an incline. Councilmember Dieter made a motion to refer Bill No. 53-11 to the Personnel and Finance Committee and set it for Third Reading on October 10, 2011 in the Council Portion Only. Councilmember Varner seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of eight (8) ayes. Councilmember Dieter made a motion to refer Bill No. 54-11 to the Personnel and Finance Committee and set it for Third Reading on October 10, 2011 in the Council Portion Only. Councilmember Varner seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of eight (8) ayes. Councilmember Dieter made a motion to refer Bill No. 55-11 to the Personnel and Finance Committee and set it for Third Reading on October 10, 2011 in the Council Portion Only. Councilmember Varner seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of eight (8) ayes. Councilmember Varner asked for clarification on what “In the Council Portion Only” means. He stated that these bills are not passed tonight they are being continued until the October 10, 2011 meeting of the Council and that the Council can have more input at that time. Council Attorney Kathleen Cekanski-Farrand stated that Councilmember Varner has stated it correctly and needs no further clarification. BILL NO. 56-11 PUBLIC HEARING ON A BILL FIXING SALARIES AND WAGES OF APPOINTED OFFICERS AND NON-BARGAINING EMPLOYEES OF THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, FOR THE CALENDAR YEAR 2012 5