Expressing - Council Attorney support on a Contractual Part-Time Basis

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f ~SpU TH B~ '~ ~ \~„~ ~! ~ City of South Bend ~\ \ PEACE ~~ "~ ~. -,: a Common Council ~ 1865 ~ 441 County-City Building .227 W. Jefferson Blvd South Bend, Indiana 46601-1830 Timothy A. Rouse March 5, 2008 President The South Bend Common Council Oliver J. Davis 4~' Floor County-City Building Vice-President South Bend, Indiana 46601 Derek D. Dieter Chairperson, Committee of the Whole Derek D. Dieter First District Henry Davis, Jr. Second District Thomas LaFountain Third District Ann Puzzello Fourth District David Varner Fifth District Oliver J. Davis Sixth District Al "Buddy" Kirsits At Large Timothy A. Rouse At Large Karen L. White At Large Kathleen Cekanski-Farrand Council Attorney Dear Council Members: (574) 235-9321 Fax (574) 235-9173 TDD (574) 235-5567 http://www southbendin.gov We are pleased to introduce for your review, discussion and adoption the attached resolution. As we have stressed on countless occasions, that effective planning is critical for progressive legislative measures. The proposed resolution, we believe, will assist both the entire Council and the Council Attorney, in this endeavor. Currently, our Council Attorney has had to go through an annual retention process, which takes place at the Council's Organizational meeting each January. Not knowing the intentions of the Council has caused concern leading into the next calendar year, especially with regard to ongoing Council projects. We believe that the annual review process should take place when the Council Attorney submits her yearly multi-page Council Attorney Annual Report during the budget process. We are proposing in the resolution a process similar to that has been used for Project Future. The Common Council adopted a resolution expressing its support for afive-year commitment so that both the City of South Bend and Project Future could properly plan, identify goals and work collaboratively together on seeking these objectives. Similar pro-active plans, objectives, goals, initiatives need to continue at the Common Council and Council Attorney levels. Therefore, we sincerely believe that an expression of support to our Council Attorney for the Council term would generate more innovative short and long-term Council initiatives. For your information, the Indiana Public Access Counselor is also appointed for a four (4) year term. We highly recommend that you support this resolution. We also request that it be sent to the Council Rules Committee for review and recommendation. Thank you for joining us on this proposal. Most sincerely / ` Council Presi t imoth A. Rouse /n~ ~ C ~C 1 ember Large Al "Buddy" Kirsits Attachment Filed In Clerk's Office ~~4AR - 5 2008 JOHN VOQflDE CITY CLERK, S0. BEND, IH.