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Health and Public Committee <br />January 22, 2009 <br />Page 2 <br />Mayor Luecke stated that the budget savings will have an impact on operations; and that sustaining <br />public services will need to be discussed. <br />New Business: <br />Council Member White noted that she has been in contact with Chief Deputy City Clerk Mary Beth <br />Wisniewski. One (1) individual has filed an application for consideration as a citizen member of <br />the committee to date. <br />Consistent with the request made by Council President Dieter at the January 12, 2009 Informal <br />Meeting, Council Member White will have a "summary report" ready by next Monday addressing <br />the 2009 Priorities of the Health and Public Safety Committee. Discussion on t he priorities then <br />took place. <br />Council Member Kirsits stated that much of the focus will be on how we get thru 2009 while <br />maintaining public safety services, noting that he is very concerned about revenues being possibly <br />less than the Umbaugh projections. <br />Mr. Leone noted that many business tax rates have gone up 8-9%. <br />Council Member White noted that last year the Common Council identified "public safety as our <br />top priority". She stated that the Council must define what that means. Concerns identified <br />included: <br />• Preparing for the budget process <br />• Completing the budget process <br />• Communications -the budget process has to be an open process with written information <br />provided in a timely manner before meeting sessions <br />• Discussion of consolidations if any and realistic cost savings <br />• Discussions with the City Administration, the Common Council, and affected boards such as <br />the Board of Public Safety and the Redevelopment Commission <br />• It is not business as usually <br />• Reaching a consensus after reviewing and discussing all relevant information <br />Council Member Puzzello stressed the need for a talk session of the Council so that the Council can <br />have input early in the overall discussions. <br />Following further discussions, Council Member White summarized the priorities as follows: <br /># 1 Discussing public safety in light of the budget <br /># 2 Assuring that the discussion process is complete and thorough <br /># 3 Developing an Action Plan on such items as Beacon Heights <br /># 4 Continuing discussions on improving and identifying new and/or improved funding <br />sources for public safety <br />