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CITY OF SOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK
<br /> Committee Chair White then opened the floor to members of the public wishing to speak.
<br /> Sue Kesim,4022 Kennedy Drive, stated, I'd like to suggest that you put in the budget,videotaping
<br /> all the meetings,the committees as well,to reach out,to make us more ADA compliant, for people
<br /> who I can think of Mr. Dunn in particular who can't be here,but he does watch from home. I think
<br /> it's important if you want to be really inclusive, you don't forget people with disabilities, people
<br /> that are not mobile, that cannot get here, and who may want to watch it later. I think the meetings
<br /> need to be in the evenings, and not at 5:00 p.m. People get off at 5:00 p.m. People need to get here,
<br /> find parking, and come up here. So, I think you need to be mindful of moving meetings to when
<br /> they're appropriate for citizens to come. I would like to see something passed where you really
<br /> hold fast to having things two (2) weeks in advance. Citizens and Council Members cannot
<br /> research things that are at the last minute,that come out on Sunday evening for a Monday meeting,
<br /> or Tuesday to be for a Wednesday meeting. I'm really, quite frankly,tired of it. I do think you need
<br /> to give longer citizen time. I think if someone's willing to come down here, three (3) minutes is
<br /> not respectful. It's not inclusive. I think if you really wanted to hear people's voices, three (3)
<br /> minutes is not enough. And also, I agree with Councilmember Voorde. Obviously, you know me
<br /> as being here a lot. I'm not even paid a dime as an advocate, but you do a lot of work and I agree,
<br /> you should be paid more. I really think$25,000 or more would be appropriate. Thank you.
<br /> Eli Cantu, 1813 Douglas,stated,First(1St)of all,most of us come up here because there's a problem
<br /> that we want to raise, we want to present, and we want to see changed. And then when we
<br /> embarked with this system, we noticed actually how much work you guys are already doing. The
<br /> suggestions that we put forth and you're like, oh, they already thought of that. It's already, and
<br /> sometimes it's just harder to implement than we think. So, I do appreciate, especially the work
<br /> that's been done this year that normally wouldn't have been done any other year is something like
<br /> all the different meetings that you guys attended. With the going live, that is an idea I had so long
<br /> ago, whoever came up with it, was it you Tim?
<br /> Council President Scott replied, It was Kareemah.
<br /> Mr. Cantu stated, Okay. So that's awesome that it's being done. I'm excited about this last one(1)
<br /> here, that it's presented in Spanish. Most of my constituents, most of the people that I've gained
<br /> respect and trust from, would never understand this process, if it wasn't for this. So I really, I
<br /> haven't ever seen one (1) in Spanish, I don't know what it is, entirely, but I'm glad it's there and
<br /> that it's available. The one (1) thing you do know, you guys are already working very hard, and I
<br /> don't want to make your job harder,but I will propose this just as a suggestion. When people come
<br /> up here, and if you want to be inclusive, when people come up here to the podium and you're kind
<br /> of being inclusive only to activists, public speakers, people that, I mean people that they're not
<br /> scared of public speaking, but we all know that speaking is something that American's, that are
<br /> the world's worst fears. So a lot of people that might want to say something might not ever get a
<br /> chance because they're scared to come up here.
<br /> He continued, Another thing is, like I said, accessibility. So my suggestion is, would the Council
<br /> ever consider maybe holding forums or rooms or certain neighborhood association places, that'd
<br /> be aside from this Council room, that maybe they could watch us live, and maybe under three(3)
<br /> minutes, they could present their, whether it's live or not, and maybe you guys can review it later
<br /> and, but it'd be on record nonetheless? I just wanted to say that on record. If the Council could
<br /> EXCELLENCE ACCOUNTABILITY INNOVATION INCLUSION EMPOWERMENT
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