09-24-12 Common Council Meeting Minutes

Home Browse Search

REGULAR MEETING SEPTEMBER 24, 2012 Councilmember White, Chairperson, Personnel & Finance Committee stated that her committee will meeting on September 26, 2012 to discuss the budget in detail. She encouraged the public to attend. Councilmember Dieter refereed to page three of the power point presentation and questioned the benchmarks and KPI’s. In Rebuttal, Mayor Buttigieg advised that he again is answering for previous administrations. He stated that customer service and responsiveness are a goal of theirs. He stated that he is proud of the fact how they stacked up so far when it comes to customer service. He stated that they have handle hundreds if not thousands of constituent’s requests, from everything from small issue from a back yard to things much bigger than that to the best of their ability. He stated that he is sure that it has not satisfied everybody, and doubts that it is possible to satisfy everybody, but they certainly try. Both the Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) that they offered is how they are going to track whether his office is successful. He stated that with the investments that they are trying to make, in things like the 311 call center are designed to do just that. He stated that they are not going to fix the vacant and abandoned housing problem with just a million dollars, we cannot rehabilitate nor can we tear down every vacant and abandoned home in this city with just a million dollars, but we had better start somewhere. He stated that he is asking for a substantial increase in the amount of resources that this city commits to that purpose and this is why. He stated that they have done their best during the course of this presentation to try to render it intelligible. Certainly, simply throwing a bunch of numbers on a board doesn’t help if we don’t explain why. That’s why they walked through a presentation that was intended to be in equal parts, why they are doing what they are doing, what the big picture is, the goals the strategy, the vision, things they consider important. There are an awful lot of numbers, he apologized if the numbers are boring to some, and confessed that times he own eyes glazed over. But those numbers are the very details which are sought when it comes to transparency. He stated that they tried their best to provide both the big picture and the details when it comes to the numbers. He stated that they certainly tried to clarify all that seem hazy in what is a very complex process. Mr. Neal advised that with the various documents that they have created through Councilmember Scott’s urging they are making all available electronically. It is an effort to do that, but they will get them all posted to the website and historically the website has not been helpful to trying to open up an incredible massive file. So there efforts are to produce bite-size pieces by fund and by category, so they will be doing that and will have those on the website next week, if not by th the end of this week, but certainly next week or well before the meeting on October 8. Chairperson White entertained a motion for these three bills. Council Attorney Kathleen Cekanski-Farrand stated that the appropriate motions would have to be made separate. She advised that the proper motion would be to continue in the Council Portion Only, Bill No. 42-12; send it back to the Personnel & Finance Committee and have Third Reading on October 8, 2012. Councilmember Oliver Davis so moved the motion. Councilmember Dr. David Varner seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of nine (9) ayes. Council President Dieter made a motion to continue Bill No. 43-12 in the Council Portion Only, send it back to the Personnel & Finance Committee and have Third Reading on October 8, 2012. Councilmember Scott seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of nine (9) ayes. 6