11-27-17 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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REGULAR MEETING November 27, 2017 no longer oversee the staff. We, however, are happy to come in whenever you guys want because we do that all the time. What makes the County comfortable right now is not blowing through that three hundred(300) hour cap. Councilmember Oliver Davis stated, I'm glad you said that.Basically,what I'm hearing from you, that as long as we don't blow through their three hundred (300) hour cap, these other issues that Councilmember Broden raised are non-issues? What in the world would the County have issues with Councilmember Broden's concerns,then? Mr. Mueller replied, If the Council wants to put the passing of this in jeopardy by adding changes they can do this. All other bodies are ready to move forward on this and it is the first time I have been made aware of these concerns brought to me today. Councilmember John Voorde stated, I think we all recognize the importance of the Historic Preservation and their function. They preserve our heritage and hold onto what has made us what we are today.The work their staff has done,to date,is commendable. There was a disproportionate workload between the City and County. The City was only paying thirty percent (30%) yet receiving seventy percent (70%) of the work. Had there been discussions to just increase the funding to seventy percent (70%), I'm not sure I would have voted for that because there would have been no oversight. Now that it is intended to be under the City, we will have all sorts of oversight and evaluative measures.We can ask the Department,at any time,to report on that aspect of their department. As a Council I think we have to keep in mind our responsibility is legislative and oversight,not administrative.We shouldn't get into the minutiae of details in how departments are run. I think it is a vote of confidence in how the Department of Community Investment runs to continue the good work you do. I don't think it is our role to decide who is doing what and how they go about doing it. We have been through two (2) cycles of Priority Based Budgeting. The second year was better than the first and I contemplate that the third year is going to be better than last year in terms of meaningful review of goals, objectives and performances. We will have that oversight in the 2018 process and a lot will happen in terms of melding the City and County. I think it is incumbent upon us to let this go forward and proceed to step out of the way of administrators trying to do their job. We will end up with a better product,I know we will,because everyone really wants the same thing, and this is the way to go about it. Councilmember Oliver Davis stated, With all due respect I believe that I can concur on voting tonight, ok, I can. But I will not concur on voting tonight in the sense that I'm doing it out of the fact that I am, in many ways, doing Mr. Mueller's job. I believe the questions that we have asked are one hundred percent(100%) in the role of the legislative branch, ok? I think that a part of the board composition is part of the legislative branch. I believe that sometimes we get criticized when we ask questions and we end up giving the Mayor a free hand and I disagree with that. I think it is our firm role to ask questions and to do policy and everything else. All the reason why I can look at that is because we need to get it under our umbrella right now. This whole process has been interesting, ok? This has been a whirlwind of stuff and that is why we are here today. We should have our time to ask questions. We are here having to make a decision tonight. Mr. Mueller stated, If we would like to have had an update meeting at the Committee level on its first reading, I would have appreciated being notified. It is hard for me to know unless you tell me directly if you need some more information on these things. Councilmember Oliver Davis interjected, I'm more than glad and comfortable in doing that. The issue I would just like to share with that is this. We need to be aware. There was no knowledge that we were under these timelines. That was a surprise to us. Councilmember Regina Williams-Preston asked, Could you speak to the things that will be grandfathered in? Mr. Mueller replied, The authority and powers of the Commission, itself, will all be grandfathered in. The contemplation was about only the staff, and not changing the Commission. If we don't have a continuity of service through the City and County, there is then a limbo period and there may be a gap. That is ambiguous, legally, but we are trying to be cautious not to have that ambiguity. Councilmember Jo M. Broden asked, So our Historic Preservation Commission was enabled under certain legislation that predated State changes? If we were to change this drastically or 10