09-12-18 Personnel and Finance (#8)

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CITY OF SOUTH BEND I OFFICE OF THE CLERK Councilmember Broden stated, I see parallel goals in interfacing with Regional Cities, but with regards to diversity and inclusion, I think we have a lot of assets and a lot of things that we can bring to that discussion and those groups, and I see an entity that is not very representative. How can we move that ball big time? Mr. Mueller stated, Sure. They are in the process of hiring a Diversity Officer at the South Bend Elkhart Partnership. I don't know the exact status of that, but I expect them to make that hire in the next few weeks. I think we share some of the frustrations with what the plan came up with. You can also look at who was on the committee to develop that plan.Regionalism is a tough thing, because you have a lot of people, Elkhart County is very different from St. Joseph County, and Marshall County is different still. So, bridging those differences, we are a more diverse community,and we have to lead by example as a City and also push that in the regional partnership. We agree with that, and it is similar with workforce development. There are a lot of recommendations in the draft that we saw of the dichotomy report, and we are already doing a lot of those things, so I think there is an opportunity for us to lead. But, we can't underscore the idea that there are vast differences within the region. It is probably not going to make as much progress on certain things as we would like because of the give and take. Councilmember Broden asked, And we're funding them,right? At what level? Mr.Mueller stated,We have made a four(4)year commitment of$7,500 per year,so it is a$30,000 commitment over four(4)years. The final two (2) years is proposed in this budget. We were able to use previous economic development funds for the first two (2) years. Councilmember Broden stated, I see that as nominal, there really is no leverage there. It is really just time and leadership, and being at those tables at all those meetings and all of those small work groups. I want to make sure that there is dedicated staff time, so that we're not doing nine(9)other projects, and then this big regional thing doesn't have our stamp on it. Mr. Mueller stated, From the City, Dan and Austin are on the Business Development Committee. We try to have representation on the committees, we have a good relationship with the leadership of the South Bend Elkhart Partnership,and they're excited about the Technology Resource Center at Ignition Park. There may be some potential opportunities.The public support of this is nominal, like you said, the vast majority is coming from the private sector and the lead economic development organizations in each area. But there is also strong potential for philanthropic dollars coming together as a region and applying for those. It is a big partnership, a big tent, and every partner is probably upset with something with how it is going. Councilmember Broden stated, And there are areas in Elkhart County that have similar diversity that could actually bring that to the table as well. I just don't want to see another redo of regional plans that actually exclude large areas of our population. I have been asked if there is going to be a coordinator for homelessness. I don't think it's in your budget,but have you seen those requests, and what is your response to those? Mr. Mueller stated,We've seen those requests and we are looking for cost sharing in order to fund that position.Those discussions are active,so I can't tell you if or when we would see that position. But we are looking for buy-in from a broader set of stakeholders in terms of financial support. EXCELLENCE I ACCOUNTABILITY I INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 1227 W.Jefferson Bvld I South Bend,Indiana 466011p 574.235.92211f 574.235.91731TTD 574.235.5567Iwww.southbendin.gov 13