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REGULAR MEETING FEBRUARY 13, 2012 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Mayor Buttigieg advised that he used cities like Anderson, Bloomington, Ft. Wayne and <br />Evansville that were roughly comparably to South Bend. He stated that they took an <br />average of those cities. He stated that he did not look at Gary because they are quite a bit <br />smaller than South Bend; they do pay considerably less than South Bend does for these <br />jobs, but he stated that he did not think we should be emulating Gary in this respect. <br /> <br />Councilmember Henry Davis stated that he has heard a lot of discussion on private sector <br />pay versus public sector pay and wondered how this applies. <br /> <br />Mayor Buttigieg stated that the private sector and the public sector are different. He <br />stated one thing that he hopes we do emulate in the private section here in the public <br />sector is the way that we respond to each other. He stated getting one another <br />information, returning one another’s phone calls, a good example of showing up on time. <br />Habits that are considered very important in the private sector that we all here in the <br />public sector should probably do to adopt. The public sector is different and he is not <br />asking for private sector pay, he is asking for us to be more competitive with the rest of <br />the public sector. <br /> <br />Councilmember Scott agreed that they were elected with the idea of change and <br />employing old rules and expecting change doesn’t always work. He stated that he <br />believes when you hire people they are assets and they typically will bring more to the <br />table than what you are actually paying out in returns. He stated there are different ways <br />in measuring returns. He stated that when he has hired people and worked on department <br />budgets is that he has an idea or plan of how they are going to get some of those savings <br />back, either by increasing salaries or bringing in talent. He asked the Mayor if he had <br />KPI’s or plans that they are looking for these departments or are they looking for these <br />talented people to come in a help implement savings. <br /> <br />Mayor Buttigieg stated that it is a little bit of both. Mayor Buttigieg clarified KPI (Key <br />Performance Indicators). He stated that is very important to him to be able to set those <br />targets. He stated as one person overseeing over a dozen direct reports there is only so <br />much that his office can do. He stated that he does rely on collaboration with the <br />department heads. He stated that it is his expectation is that leaders of departments in <br />collaboration with citizens, members of the Council who express the priorities of the <br />people and himself can come together and commit to certain targets and then they will <br />agree to be held accountable for the performance. Mayor Buttigieg yes that is important <br />and they do have a head start on it, and as a matter of fact the new controller has some <br />new expertise in City Government and how to use that style of management. He stated <br />that he just doesn’t know if they can get there if we don’t have top leadership who will <br />wind around that idea, buy into it, and get the ball rolling. <br /> <br />Councilmember Oliver Davis asked the Mayor if he started looking to hire after the <br />general election or January 1, 2012. <br /> <br />Mayor Buttigieg stated in November. He stated that he did not want to jinx himself, but <br />he actually started looking to recruit after May. Obviously that did not become official <br />until November. He stated that is when he opened up his transition committee, set up the <br />website so people could apply and went through the formal motions of interviewing and <br />staffing key departments. <br /> <br />Councilmember Oliver Davis thanked the Mayor for clarifying the start date. He felt the <br />timing of the filing of this bill was a little hasty if the recruitment process was only <br />started January 1. <br /> <br />Councilmember Oliver Davis stated that if the bill would not pass tonight he hoped that <br />the Mayor would keep looking to fill those key positions with candidates just as he has <br />for other key positions that he already filled in his administration. <br /> <br />This being the time heretofore set for the Public Hearing on the above bill, proponents <br />and opponents were given the opportunity to be heard. <br /> <br /> 11 <br /> <br />