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REGULAR MEETING OCTOBER 24, 2016 while are two (2) different things. This isn't about putting down the unions. This is about all the other people that don't have anyone negotiating for them. If we haven't been paying a position adequately for the last five (5) years than applying two and a half percent (2.5 %) is a garbage way to look at it. He stated he is in favor of this. Those from the public who spoke in opposition: Jesse Davis, P.O. Box 10205 South Bend IN, stated he came in opposition to the other large raises so in all fairness he has to be in opposition to this raise. He stated he wished the Mayor would stick around because had a question for him but because he did not he will ask it of the Councilmembers. He asked the Council if the Mayor came and spoke to them about the Clerk's raise. Mr. Davis stated in the news the Mayor claimed he had nothing to do with other elected officials' salaries. He claimed there is proof he has spoken to Councilmembers about this. He stated he is in opposition to this just for the fact that the Mayor lied to the public. He stated he knows the Mayor spoke with Councilmember Voorde at a convention. Sharon Banicki, 3822 Ford Street, stated she is a little confused because there was a comment in the paper by Councilmember Williams- Preston that was just read verbatim by somebody else who presented them as her thoughts and ideas. She stated she has concern about the language regarding Councilmember Voorde as a "single senior citizen" and stated she showed it to someone at the Human Rights Commission who could not believe somebody representing the City would have written that because it crosses so many lines. The only thing left out of that language is "single old white guy" as opposed to "young black female ". Ms. Banicki stated Clerk Fowler is trying to compare herself to a City director, those people come with years of experience and special education not less than twelve (12) months in on the job. She stated Clerk Fowler ran for City Clerk and knew that's what she was getting in to, but now all of a sudden she wants to a director. She stated she should resign and apply to be a director. Ms Banicki stated the Fort Wayne City Clerk, with a population two and a half (2.5) times the population of South Bend, makes $62,000. She stated the Evansville Clerk makes $64,000. To jump this salary ahead of those cities which are larger than us does not make sense. We have a fiscal cliff coming and we need to stop giving this money away. She stated she is not just singling the Clerk out. Everyone should have received what Councilmember Dr. Varner suggested. If they are truly dedicated servants they would do this without those big raises. Charles Smith, 2023 South Hamon Street, stated this is no personal attack towards Clerk Fowler or the position. He stated the number one (1) excuse we keep hearing about why we can't fix the major problems we have is because we don't have enough money to fix those problems. He stated the South Bend Animal Director has not been making more than the Clerk. He stated the public is very concerned why that position is still empty in a department that is very valuable to the community. He asked where this money is coming from because the excuse always is we don't have the money for other projects. He also stated the City website is very difficult and you have to decipher a lot of information to try to figure out what is going on. He stated he doesn't approve of pay hikes when we can't figure out our problems. The Police are the people who really deserve such high pay raises. Clerk Fowler was given the opportunity for rebuttal. She stated she is unaware of the Mayor meeting with anyone on her behalf. As far as some of the figures about other clerks, we got our numbers straight from IACT and the Clerk's Office called each individual municipality and got their information and they sent us documents to back it up. Some of the figures quoted earlier were very inaccurate. Councilmember Williams- Preston stated she appreciates the comments from the community. She stated she wrote a Facebook response to this issue and did hear it almost verbatim from someone in the community. She stated she was surprised by that but maybe that person liked her comments and felt the same way. If it was an- inspiration for them so be it. She stated the Mayor has asked us within the Diversity and Inclusion Initiative to begin to have the courage to look at issues of equity along many different demographics. That includes race, gender, and all kinds of things. It is important that we do that. She stated she would be happy to talk to the Human Rights Commission and does want to be clear that if there is any way we are expressing this in the wrong way, she wants to know that. Those issues are important to talk about but maybe not as 23