01-25-16 Personnel and Finance - Laserfiche WebLink

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Councilmember Jo Broden thought having meetings across the board in the various districts was very helpful and the timeliness that the information was available to the public was very well received last year. She also added that she understands this is a yearly process but stressed the importance of looking down the road and planning for multiple years in the future. Chairperson White also made a note that the Council should be given a better understanding of all the various funds the city has. Dr. Varner agreed that a good understanding of the accounting process would certainly be helpful. Council Attorney Kathleen Cekanski - Farrand added that the Committee may want to look into the "whistleblower" ordinance and see if that is being used. Also they may want to look into the comparison developed between South Bend and other second class cities in Indiana regarding our elected officials and their office staff under the same personnel policies as the general administration staff. Chairperson White asked if the administration receives the Committee minutes. Council Attorney Kathleen Cekanski - Farrand responded not on a regular basis but that they are posted online and readily available. Chairperson White stated maybe we should look into if they would like that information and field any concerns or questions from them on what they want the Council to look into. Council Member Jo Broden also requested an organizational chart of the budgeting process, she has seen some but they are out of date. She also stated maybe something should be developed with information on how to communicate with the various department heads and other key figures in the administration. Adriana Rodriguez informed the Committee she is working on something similar to what Jo Broden requested that has preferred contact information for the administration figures and key deadlines. Council Member Jo Broden also asked about the process for how financial information from the various boards and commissions is filed and reaches the Council. City Clerk Kareemah Fowler informed the Committee that currently all the boards and commissions send their minutes and documents to the Clerk's Office which are filed. Moving forward we have no issue if you want us to send those minutes to the Councilmembers. Council Member Dr. Varner stated that the program Adriana is working on and the information from the boards should be available as soon as possible to the public as well. City Clerk Kareemah Fowler responded that those boards do publish their minutes online on their websites at the time they send their minutes to the Clerk's Office. Council Member Jo Broden stated she was curious about the attachments which may not always be in the minutes.