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Home My WebLink About09-18-2024 Budget Meeting Questions (Answered by Legal) OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK BIANCA L. TIRADO, CITY CLERK INTEGRITY | SERVICE | ACCESSIBILITY Elivet Quijada-Navarro Matthew Neal Samuel Turck CHIEF OF STAFF / CHIEF DEPUTY CITY CLERK DEPUTY CITY CLERK / DIRECTOR OF POLICY DIRECTOR OF SPECIAL PROJECTS EXCELLENCE | ACCOUNTABILITY | INNOVATION | INCLUSION | EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building | 227 W. Jefferson Blvd. | South Bend, Indiana 46601 | p. 574.235.9221 | f. 574.235.9173 | www.southbendin.gov 09-18-2024 | 2025 Administrative Departments Budget Meeting Questions Questions From the Public (Not Answered on the Floor) Legal Department Question (Sue Kesim): Is there a way for citizens to suggest ordinance changes? Yes, citizens should contact their council representative to suggest ordinance changes. Question (Sue Kesim): Is it possible to make public the process regarding ordinance changes/deliberations? Yes. The process includes public comment, as all resolutions and ordinance changes do. As I see it, the process is as follows: Step One: City staff meets in work sessions as needed with the City Attorney to address proposed ordinance changes Step Two: The proposed changes are provided to the relevant Department Head for review and approval for submission to Council Step Three: The City Attorney provides the proposed ordinance changes to the Council Attorney for review and submission to the relevant Committee Chairperson Step Four: The City Attorney and relevant staff meet with the Council Attorney and the relevant Committee Chairperson to discuss the proposed changes and determine if a further work group should be created to address the proposal Step Five: Council and staff work sessions as needed/desired Step Six: Final proposed changes presented for public review and comment during regularly scheduled Committee and Council meetings Step Seven: Council vote This process is subject to change by Council – if a public comment period is desired outside of Council meetings, we can work with I&T to make that a part of the process. EXCELLENCE | ACCOUNTABILITY | INNOVATION | INCLUSION | EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building | 227 W. Jefferson Blvd. | South Bend, Indiana 46601 | p. 574.235.9221 | f. 574.235.9173 | www.southbendin.gov Ordinance Violations Bureau (OVB) There were also questions asked about OVB, Funds Recovery, and which ordinances we are reviewing (and the timelines). Council Member Pastor Lee asked about how OVB is performing since the 2023 move to the Legal Department. Unfortunately, numbers prior to 2023 do not exist other than for collections referrals, which have always gone through Legal, so I’ve attached a summary of the improvements made to OVB since January 2023. These improvements include a book of guidelines and SOPs for the position to assist a new hire in their transition to the role, a system to track payments, making all data electronic, returning the Amnesty Day, and creating a brochure to explain where to park. (The brochure is the last page of the attachment.) As far as numbers: - Amnesty Day: 2022: 0 (Clerk’s Office did not have an Amnesty Day); 2023: 41; 2024: 92 - Collections – NSE and SBARC: 2022: 20 referrals; 2023: 1,476 referrals; 2024 YTD: 1,149 referrals - Collections – Parking: 2022: 0; 2023: 1,647 referrals; 2024 YTD: 0 (referrals are made once per year every December) - Amount Collected: 2023: $86,123.07; 2024 YTD: $76,581.58 Please let me know if you have any additional questions regarding this information. Citizen Committee Member Angela Smith asked about our year over year recovery amounts for property damage to City assets. The numbers are as follows: - 2024 YTD $200,476.08 - 2023 $181,180.28 - 2022 $397,545 (this is the amount that includes the damage to the Leeper Park Bridge, which I mentioned during the hearing) - 2021 $27,205.57 - 2020 $17,648.66 Please let me know if you have any further questions regarding these numbers. Council Member Karen White asked what ordinances the Legal Department is looking at and what is our timeframe for completing them. Currently, the City Attorney is working with the Building Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner on the Building Ordinance. She believes that there are up to 2 staff working sessions needed before the ordinance can go to the Executive Director of DCI for approval, then to the Council Attorney for consideration by the relevant Committee. The expectation is to have the Building Ordinance sent to the Council Attorney no later than November 2024. Additionally, the City Attorney is working on the SBARC Ordinance with the Chief Neighborhoods Officer, Shelter Manager, and SBARC and AWC attorneys. She EXCELLENCE | ACCOUNTABILITY | INNOVATION | INCLUSION | EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building | 227 W. Jefferson Blvd. | South Bend, Indiana 46601 | p. 574.235.9221 | f. 574.235.9173 | www.southbendin.gov expects the working sessions to be completed by the end of the year, with a submission to the Council Attorney by the beginning of 2025. The City Attorney is also working on changes to the APRA Ordinance, and she also expects these changes to be submitted to the Council Attorney by the beginning of 2025. The other ordinances are very early in the work group stage and will likely not be submitted until next Fall or Winter 2025: Fire Dept., HRC, and OVB. We have taken note of Council Member White’s interest in revising the illegal dumping provisions of the Municipal Code, and the City Attorney will be reaching out to her next month to discuss these changes after the Teamsters agreement is approved and she has taken a much needed vacation.