11-12-18 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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REGULAR MEETING November 12, 2018 and as I had unsuccessfully attempted to make the case during the budget hearing and even in the earlier hearings last year,we really do need sustained leadership.We need sustained staff members working on this on a regular basis because it's not just punching the check-off of a timely weather amnesty facility opening. We have a huge,huge project that we, as a community, with the help of partners who have been in this field for years, have spoken about the need for the broader Center. That would be a non-shelter. Those are just the small things. And then there are big things, I think, that are on our list to get done as a City. Those are addressing and kind of try to efficiently deal with, what I consider, symptoms, not really the underlying problems. We need to have sustained support and leadership, and I'm going on a limb here and I really don't care, and someone who has the ability and the day-to-day wear-with-all to tackle this problem, and not just the symptoms, to go at the root causes. I think the service providers have asked for leadership from us. And not just from the City of South Bend but also from leadership from other municipalities to, frankly, pony up so that we can do more in addressing the symptoms and the root causes. I recognize we are working awfully hard within the Depat intent of Community Investment and within this Administration. Again,we have unprecedented levels. However,we are at a critical time. We have critical needs and I think we need dedicated staff toward it that can help pull together and even shift some of our service models that we have been used to and that we have been trying to use to get at the problem. There are some radical shifts. I think the Task Force report was a start but there is a flurry of activity and then it drops. I think we really need a sustained person and if it is the City of South Bend that has to lead it,then, good for us. We should do it.And it doesn't take much. There are great models in other cities. Indianapolis is a fine model. The Community Foundation of St. Joseph County has come on board. Large organizations like the Lily Endowment. We had business community leaders sit here last week, the Voll's I'll just name them, they are only reflective of a much larger business community that want this solved.They want creative solutions. But until we have somebody that is actually focused on and tasked with this day to day, then we are just going to continue being fragmented and will continue to miss critical deadlines. We can't afford to do that. It is a reflection on us and our ability to do one(1) of our basic City jobs. That is housing. As I said, we have been leading but I think we need to do more and we need to make an investment. Maybe it is some job description changes but this can't be volleyed around and we can't throw stuff at the neighborhoods. This is a tough issue. If it was easy it would have been solved a long time ago. I've had thirty (30) years in this field both deep in it and on the sidelines The environment has changed. We need to somehow keep up with that change in a manner that moves the needle in a much more time efficient manner to hit deadlines at a minimum. For God's sake, the Weather Amnesty date. Thank you for your leadership on the letter. Councilmember Oliver Davis stated, I'm at peace. Again, I thank you for your comments, Councilmember Broden. You summarized it very well. So again, I encourage us all to join that Call of Action and talk to our leadership. We all have different people we have influence with so just share that with them. I thank those who are already doing something. And let's move forward to take care of our obligations, thank you. Councilmember Karen White stated, Councilmember Davis, part of your Call to Action was to pull the various entities together. Who will be doing that? What is the timeframe and when is that going to happen? Councilmember Oliver Davis stated, Good question. Um, my job is to, I would like to do this earlier in the spring so you will be hearing me come back with it. Again, it is similar to what we had done with, I know President Scott is working on that with the issue of transportation he told me, something on that same matter, where we come together. And that is just a starting point and then I envision us having representation from people,plus we want to have people at the table who are dealing with homelessness, service providers, plus people who are actually dealing with housing instability themselves. So many times leaders make all the decisions for people but we want to have the input of people who are actually going through that so we can form a strong collaboration. We want to hear business leaders and people who are actually living the challenges because everybody sees the elephant from a different viewpoint and we need to make sure we get a good picture of it. PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR 10