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's <br />REGULAR MEETING May 9, 2016 <br />Council Attorney Cekanski - Farrand added that this action is required by Indiana Code Section <br />Thirty -Six (36) which gives the Mayor two (2) options every time a resolution or ordinance is <br />presented to the Mayor for action. Either the Mayor can approve or send a message to the City <br />Clerk that he is vetoing the ordinance or he can take no action at all. In this case no action was <br />taken, therefore the Council is required at the next meeting to take by two - thirds vote to override <br />the action. If the Council does not take a vote it is considered a pocket -veto. <br />Councilmember Dr. David Varner asked that when a resolution is proposed by the Council, does <br />the statute require action by the Mayor. He wished to know if the Council as part of the <br />resolution could not include the line "subject to the Mayor's approval" and it would rather be a <br />statement of the Council. <br />Council Attorney Cekanski - Farrand responded because the state law specifically states after an <br />ordinance or resolution is adopted it is then presented to the City Executive. <br />Council President Tim Scott added his comments on this resolution because he was absent at the <br />last meeting. The spirit of this bill of more dog parks is a good idea but he has concerns with the <br />nine (9) member advisory committee. Council President Scott stated he is not comfortable with <br />the language that is in the resolution the way it is; however if you have the two - thirds votes then <br />that's fine. A lot of things like Elbel that have come to us and we formed advisory committees <br />should have really been studied and their due diligence done by the Park Board and Parks <br />Department. This could lead to a slippery slope where we are doing the work of the <br />Administration. This is not to disrespect the presenter or the spirit of this bill. <br />Councilmember Oliver Davis responded it is nice to have more community involvement to build <br />trust. One of the things we learned from Elbel is we really saw trust and community involvement <br />in that special committee. When you have special issues like this, it's okay for us to come and <br />make recommendations to the Park Board. The Board could ignore those recommendations but <br />for us to show some guidance and ideas is a part of the democracy that we need to continue. It <br />doesn't always have to be something tough like smoking bans or park closures but it can be a fun <br />thing like this dog park. <br />Councilmember Gavin Ferlic expressed concern regarding the number of meetings and the <br />resources that both the Clerk's Office and the Administration dedicates towards these <br />committees. <br />Councilmember Oliver Davis stated he did ask the City Clerk before he brought this forward and <br />if there was some concern the Clerk should have informed him. Councilmember Davis asked <br />City Clerk Kareemah Fowler to share her opinion on the matter. <br />City Clerk Kareemah Fowler responded that she told Councilmember Davis that her office <br />would staff this committee this time but she is concerned about the amount of resources multiple <br />extra committees take up and the way the legislation is written. She also told Councilmember <br />Davis that the Clerk's Office should not be the only entity in the resolution that has to be <br />accountable for being at the meeting. <br />Councilmember Regina Williams- Preston stated the Council needs to do work and come up with <br />a good process and strategy to invite productive public input so we can make good decisions. So <br />that way when there is an issue like studying a dog park there is a straight process to follow on <br />how to solicit community feedback. <br />Councilmember Randy Kelly stated he would like to echo concerns about the resources that the <br />Clerk's Office puts into these committees whenever we as a Council put together special <br />committees. Also, it is important that we try not to step on the toes of the people who it is their <br />job to do this. There are already structures in place that fulfill this need. Councilmember Kelly <br />stated he loves the idea of getting the community together looking at areas for dog parks and <br />they can certainly bring those to the PARC Committee or Park Board. It does not need to <br />necessarily take the resources from the Clerk's Office or what Mr. Perri and his department are <br />trying to do. <br />22 <br />