02-11-19 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

REGULAR MEETING February 11, 2019 the pieces together to make sure that those who need to be at the table are at the table and are being heard. It is going to take the community as a whole working collaboratively together to address this issue. There are different pieces to it. This is just one(1)area that we are encouraging not only the Council but also the Administration to look at. When we put all these pieces together,then we can move forward. It is not to say the discussion should stop. They are occurring, but we have to make sure they are moving in the right direction as well. Councilmember Oliver Davis interjected, One (1) of the things that I've appreciated about our Mayor as he talked about in his book The Shortest Way Home, he's emphasizing the strength of a midsized City and what a midsized City can do across this country. One(1) of the things you have to look at when you talk about homeless as we look at all these cities, a lot of them are big cities like the Chicago's, L.A.'s and Albuquerque's and the 800,000, 1 million, one(1)thing we can do is how do we address this kind of issue in a midsized city? That is key. That is key for us to look at.Now,where do we do that? I'm working on this at University of Southern California as I talked to my colleagues as they are working on the doctorate. L.A. of course has Skid Row. When they ask me the same questions that Councilmember Broden has asked, they've asked me those questions when I go to meet in our seminars about the financial plans all these other things and they ask what makes you different in South Bend? The key thing I tell them is that we are a midsized City. A lot of times a midsized city, as Lucky would tell you about transit, we go to our national meetings we go to a different size. You have the big cities and then the smaller processes here because fighting for transit in a smaller city is a different ballgame. L.A. and Chicago and D.C.,millionaires ride transit,so,it's easy to sell transit. In a midsized city it's a different ballgame. Midsized cities are almost a way of shutting it out. We look at Mishawaka and with all due respect to my colleagues over there, it is easy in midsized cities to say we don't have an issue. Everybody knows big sized cities have it. So,how do you fight for these kinds of things and how do you have these kinds of things in midsized cities as we look at that and that is where we want to continue being that leader. We want to have Indianapolis look at us and learn from us,too,and not us always looking at the big sized cities for that. That is one(1)reason we wanted to energize that back again to say we are in South Bend and we can be the leader of the State. Let's work on the financial piece. Let's work on all of that. We didn't put all that in detail right now because then people say now is not the time,but we want to kick it off again for that. If you'say in the Better Way program, they have highly integrated social services. I believe in that. I'm a licensed social worker so I understand that. So,therefore, I am glad that Councilmember White is co-sponsoring this because this is the time for us to kick this off now, at the beginning of the year. We have all year to discuss it along with our Weather Amnesty and things that we just did back in December so that when we get to the summertime, early summer,we have a plan in place, so we don't have to be in this place in the fall trying to deal with all that. So, I'm grateful for the comments and I'm grateful for the people that came up to present tonight. Thank you. Councilmember Gavin Ferlic made a motion to adopt Substitute Bill No. 19-14 by acclamation. Councilmember Regina Williams-Preston seconded this motion which carried unanimously by a voice vote of nine (9) ayes. At 8:10 p.m. Councilmember Gavin Ferlic made a motion to take a five (5) minute recess. Councilmember Jo M. Broden seconded this motion which carried by a voice vote of nine(9)ayes. Be it remembered that the Common Council of the City of South Bend reconvened in the Council Chambers on the fourth(4th) floor of the County-City building at 8:15 p.m. Council President Tim Scott presided with nine(9)members present. MAYOR'S ANNUAL ADDRESS TO THE COMMON COUNCIL ON FINANCES AND THE GENERAL CONDITION OF THE CITY PURSUANT TO § 2-3.1 OF THE SOUTH BEND MUNICIPAL CODE Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Mayor of the City of South Bend with offices located on the 14th floor of the County-City Building, South Bend, IN, stated, As a quick reminder, the statute requires annually that the Mayor provide an address to Council on the finances and general condition of the City. In prior administrations,this was typically the occasion for the State of the City Address. Beginning in 2012,we adopted the practice of making this statutorily required address to be a little more specifically focused on finances, creating room to have the State of the City Address take 11