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REGULAR MEETING NOVEMBER 22, 2004
<br /> Councilmember Varner, Chairperson, Public Works and Property Vacation Committee
<br /> reported that this committee held a meeting this afternoon and it was a split decision of
<br /> the Council and by a vote of President White it was a 3-2 vote to send this bill to the full
<br /> Council with an unfavorable recommendation.
<br /> Councilmember Varner, 1306 Clayton Drive, South Bend, Indiana, made the presentation
<br /> for this bill.
<br /> Councilmember Varner advised that Bill No. 32-04 has been the subject of discussion for
<br /> about six months. During that six-month period since this bill has been introduced there
<br /> have been considerations of administrative input, administration input, and public input.
<br /> The bill has been modified, it has been streamlined that seems to be the popular word.
<br /> This bill may well have some flaws but it comes here today as a model of what a number
<br /> of other communities have done that has made their process better. Councilmember
<br /> Varner stated that the Council meetings begin with a prayer, with a pledge and with a
<br /> promise to help build a 21st Century City. Many of the things that have been
<br /> accomplished in the nine years that he has been on he Council have gone a long way to
<br /> building that 21st Century City. However, it is increasingly difficult to build that 21st
<br /> Century City when we act with 20th Century access, accountability, and oversight
<br /> standards. In fact it was 24 years ago in 1980, when the South Bend Council last visited
<br /> these standards. Please remember the words access, accountability and oversight that is
<br /> what Bill 32-04 is really all about. Bill 32-04 helps to provide access to information,
<br /> access to which we hope is timely and must be clearly understood, and if not clearly
<br /> understood it would provide a public platform where it can be explained publicly. We
<br /> have been told that on a number of occasions that the statutes do not require professional
<br /> service contracts to be bid. Bill 32-04 provides some oversight when there are some
<br /> large dollar expenditures over$100,000 so that the public can look at what is involved.
<br /> Bill 32-04 accomplishes these goals by requiring some type of reporting, it standardizes
<br /> some reporting format such as the tracking sheet that is proposed and some scheduling
<br /> and it adds some requirement of Council approval of expenditures exceeding$100,000 a
<br /> year. There is in fact is no burden; however some might suggest that there is placed upon
<br /> anyone who requests public dollars. If you request the dollars however, be prepared for
<br /> some reasonable amount of public disclosure as part of the review and approval process.
<br /> As the process now exists, we as Councilmember's are expected to appropriate nearly all
<br /> of the funds in this case for 2005, $165,000,000.00 following a thirty to forty-five day
<br /> budget hearing and review and from that point on we are expected to exercise no
<br /> oversight over the expenditures. From that point on, the current process exists that the
<br /> Mayor, the Board of Public Works and various non-elected members of boards, such as
<br /> Century Center, Football Hall of Fame, Morris, Palais make spending decisions and
<br /> spend public dollars, elect contracts, for all practical purpose no public oversight, yes
<br /> they do advertise their meetings, yes these boards meet the letter of the law with the
<br /> regard to public disclosure. The question is do they really meet the intent of the law.
<br /> Such provisions as the 9:30 a.m. Monday morning Board of Public Works meeting is •
<br /> certainly convenient for the Board, but is it convenient for the public? This is a brief
<br /> summary of the intent of Bill 32-04, many folks have spent long hours compiling this,
<br /> reviewing it, listening to the public and looking for ways to improve it and make it better.
<br /> We have looked for standards in oversight in other communities and they exist. The
<br /> questions before us tonight is can we really expect to build a 21st Century City when we
<br /> utilize these 20th Century standards. Councilmember Varner stated that he would
<br /> certainly be happy to answer any questions, and seeks favorable support of this bill.
<br /> This being the time heretofore set for the Public Hearing on the above bill, proponents
<br /> and opponents were given an opportunity to be heard.
<br /> Kareema Alamin, 1122 W. Jefferson, South Bend, Indiana, spoke in favor of this bill.
<br /> Ms. Alamin stated that she has been reading about this bill for the past six months and
<br /> that she is totally in favor of this bill. She believes that any procedure or process that
<br /> empowers the Council as elected officials that act in a fiduciary capacity and represent
<br /> the public that voted you into office should be supported. Ms. Alamin stated the
<br /> reporting procedures that this bill is requesting are minimal compared to other reporting
<br /> procedures from other municipalities. This bill is prudent and especially in the climate
<br /> that we have in our country right now, when our elected officials are being brought into
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