10-28-13 Common Council Meeting Minutes

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REGULAR MEETING OCTOBERT 28, 2013 Chairperson White: At this time we will move to the Public Hearing Portion. I am going to ask our Council Attorney to share with the public how this portion of the Council meeting will follow in regard to Substitute Bill 53-13. Council Attorney Kathleen Cekanski-Farrand: Any member of the Public who would like to speak on this bill before the Council we ask that you give your name and address and if you are speaking in favor those will come first immediately after that portion anyone who wishing to speak in opposition to the bill would then also be given a maximum of 5 minutes per individual. There would be the right of rebuttal immediately right after that. st Chairperson White: Thank you so much. I am going to ask 1 District Councilmember Scott to monitor the time. Councilmember Scott: I will give a one minute exit warning. Chairperson White: At this time we are at the public hearing portion. Is there anyone present wishing to speak in support of Substitute Bill No. 53-13. We do ask that you come to the podium at this time. The following individuals spoke in favor of this bill. Richard Nussbaum, Attorney at Law, 210 S. Michigan Street, South Bend, Indiana: I have also been a 40 years resident of the city living at 225 S. Sunnyside, just down the street. I am here for two reasons, first, I want to express my own viewpoint, but I also want to read a letter that I have been asked to by Andrew Berlin, as you know is the new owner of the South Bend Silver Hawks. I mentioned that I have been a long time resident a long time practicing attorney in this town and have been very fortunate because I have been able to serve in both public and private sector. I served as City Attorney for a period of 11 years, and I want to make one comment with regard to that position. It’s a very important position and something that I was honored to serve as City Attorney and I will tell you right now that we have a young person, an African-American women, who I have been able to get to know who is serving as our City Attorney and I can tell you that is a position at the highest level, and I think that the city is very fortunate to have her in this position. I have also been able to interact with a number of people in the public and private sector who have great characteristics of leadership and have been very successful both in the private and public sector. One category that is true across the board is that we have been able to assemble great teams. I think that is the real purpose behind this request that the Mayor is making is so that he can assemble the best team he can for the citizens of the City of South Bend. So having said that I would like to read this letter from Mr. Berlin: October 28, 2013 To the esteemed members of the South Bend City Council, I am writing in support of the government’s proposal to lift compensation for select city executives. I believe we need to increase rewards in order to recruit, motivate, and retain a caliber of talent necessary to deliver the level of service and services South end deserves. Over the last 26 years, I have led multiple businesses, and I am convinced that no organization can succeed without the right personnel. Indeed, businesses, organizations, and governments have great ideas everyday – but it takes excellent people to turn these ideas into reality. There needs to be a reciprocal relationship between an employee and an employer. An Employee must deliver many things – a strong work ethic, productivity, innovation, loyalty, and teamwork. In exchange, the employer in this case, the City of South Bend – must provide leadership, a change to grow, and training along with competitive compensation. I have seen the data that shows that the salary levels for several South Bend executive positions are dramatically below relevant benchmarks. This gap means the reciprocal relationship is not in balance. As a result, my experience tells me we will be unable to retain the right team or motivate our team for maximum productivity. 20