09-24-18 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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REGULAR MEETING September 24, 2018 without you, the input, the departments and the residents. Thank you to everyone in this room tonight and those who are not. I really feel this has been a great process and I appreciate everyone's support in it. Ms. Hockenhull continued, So I would like to start with where we have been. As the Mayor and Councilmember White pointed out, we started this process back in Maw with our resident input session. We had a budget kick-off meeting which many Council Members came to and they let us talk about where we see the budget. Better yet, and then I think the best part of the meeting, is when the Council Members tell us what they think. Getting that information in May is very helpful to us as we craft the budget. We've participated in ten (10) Committee hearings. We've heard from the residents,the Council and the department heads. We've gone ahead and listed them out here (referencing a slide in a presentation which is available in the City Clerk's Office)just in case anyone has forgotten when they have been and what we've discussed. Then tonight, we are here to give a very high-level summary. I don't want to go through in depth everything we've gone through for the last six (6) weeks. Obviously our doors are always open so please come to us and talk to us if you have any further questions or if you feel you missed the boat and we haven't given you the information you need for October 8th, 2018. Ms. Hockenhull went on, Our main budget focuses have been, for 2019, vibrant neighborhoods, resident engagement, public safety, health and human service education, capital investments throughout all the departments of the City, quality of place, business development and the support of our City workforce and departmental effectiveness. I've listed here (referencing a slide in the presentation) the Council's budget goals as your group has presented to us back in May and we feel we have, in some way, shape or form, addressed everything on this list and we hope that you agree. I will not read them but they have been addressed. And these (referencing another slide in the presentation) were the resident budget goals that we heard in our various meetings from the beginning.Again,we feel that all of these items are also addressed in some way in the 2019 budget. Our budget priorities as an Administration have remained the same for the last few years on an overall basis.Not only with the neighborhoods but with the safe community for everyone, a strong and inclusive economy and so forth. A lot of these slides have been in all of our other presentations and so that is why I am not reading all of them. Ms. Hockenhull continued, So I've decided to do the presentation a little differently this year. I'm just going to go ahead and highlight what I see, and I couldn't pick just ten (10) so I went with eleven (11), but I hope you agree with me and they aren't in any particular order but why you should vote for this budget. I do feel like this budget hits everything but, again, if I've missed something, let me know. So, why should you vote for this budget? First (lst) of all, park improvements. There might be a new park in your neighborhood next year. There is free wifi in many areas of the City. There is a lot of neighborhood engagement with heavy focus in 2019 both with outside partners as well as with new City staff. Council is receiving a larger allocation of curb and sidewalk dollars with the approval roval of the additional curb and sidewalk personnel in Public Works. There is significant funding for lead abatement related initiatives. This budget will allow for continued capital investment in water, waste water, EMS, Fire and all other departments in need of capital investment. We are continuing to approve those capital project budgets. We are not currently putting off capital just to save money or kick it down the road. We are continuing to fully fund our capital needs as of right now. Ms. Hockenhull went on, Our residents will have access to a life-long learning platform. We are doubling our budget for the owner occupied home repair programs that will assist the residents,as well as the neighborhoods. It's not just a one (1) house focus; It is a neighborhood focus. We continue to address some of the most vulnerable in our City with permanent supportive housing initiatives, opioid addiction services and workforce transportation programs. There are also workforce development programs included in there as well. We continue to take care of our employees. We need to take care of our employees in order for us to continue serving the residents of South Bend. We are doing that through the raises that were either in the bargaining agreements or the two percent (2%)raise throughout the City for non-bargaining employees. Our Health and Wellness Clinic, TRANSPO bus passes and other benefits allow us to make our City a great employer for great employees. The eleventh (11th) one (1) is that we are allowing improvements in our neighborhoods by providing for a housing program. It is a pilot program for Sherman and 8