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SOUTH BEND COMMON COUNCIL APRIL 25,2005 <br /> INFORMAL MEETING <br /> PRESENT: Derek D. Dieter, 1St District; Charlotte D. Pfeifer, President, Roland Kelly <br /> 3rd District; Ann Puzzello, 4th District; David Varner, 5th District; Ervin <br /> Kuspa, 6th District; Al `Buddy" Kirsits, At Large; Timothy Rouse, At <br /> Large; Karen L. White, At Large <br /> Topics: Consultant Fees <br /> After School Programs <br /> Miscellaneous <br /> 1.) Consultant Fees—Mayor Luecke began by reaffirming the administrations desire <br /> to cooperate with the Council. In an effort to provide meaningful information the <br /> administration would like to know more about what the Council wants. The Mayor <br /> suggested perhaps he could describe the why, the who, and the how of selecting outside <br /> consultants. City Director of Public Works Gary Gilot then distributed a spread sheet <br /> detailing which consultants were hired and how much they were paid every year from '94 <br /> thru `2004. He began by explaining the many Q &E offers that were received <br /> unsolicited by the City mostly from engineering firms. Q &E meaning qualification & <br /> Experience. Mostly local engineering firms have been hired because of their in-house <br /> experienced staff and special area expertise. Beyond engineering the City used <br /> consultants for specialized legal work, legislative consultants, and engineering design <br /> work as well as environmental issues. The Mayor cited the need for outside bond counsel <br /> to assure the integrity of an issue and the sometimes need for a"fresh look" at projects <br /> such as downtown development or corridor redevelopment. <br /> Derek Dieter asked if there as any process to evaluate the work product of consultants to <br /> give us an idea of whether we are getting our"bang for the buck." <br /> Sharon Kendall suggested that whether a project moves forward or not as the best <br /> measure. <br /> Tim Rouse asked if"City Plan" would impact the future use of consultants. <br /> Sharon Kendall said it would most assuredly would in her area as we traveled down the <br /> road map provided by "City Plan." <br /> Gary Gilot cautioned there would likely always be a need for specialty engineering <br /> services. <br /> Charlotte Pfeifer and Karen White asked if minority owned or minority represented <br /> consultant firms were hired citing a responsibility of the city to foster inclusive policies. <br /> 1 <br />