11-22-04 Council Meeting Minutes

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REGULAR MEETING NOVEMBER 22,2004 to do heart surgery, you would not necessarily want to take the low bidder on that job, you would want to find someone who could provide the best value for your dollars. The dual approval process that is contemplated by this ordinance does add time and inefficiency. The representative from Ft. Wayne stated that they are even pre-approving many contracts. He further reported that with thirty (30) years on the Council he could only remember two (2) times that they had difficulty with the contracts being brought before them. The State Board of Accounts reviews all of our contracts through the Board of Works, and we continue to get clean audits in this regard. Bill 32-04 has no provision for emergency contracts that would need to be met. Such as if, a water main was broken and repairs that need to be made that you would hire a single source provider of that service to get them out on the job. In conclusion, we do want to provide the Council with the information that you need to make proper decisions, we are proud of our fiscal record; we are a leader in presentation of financial information. For nine years we have received the distinguished budget presentation award from the Government Finance Officers Association, we are the only City in Indiana to receive it, not Ft. Wayne, not Bloomington, not even Indianapolis have received it. South Bend is one of the first three (3) cities to convert to a financial statement presentation under Gasby 34 and we received an award for that. Our boards and commissions take their jobs seriously and do them well. If more information on contracts is desired, Mayor Luecke proposed that we use our monthly Council/Department Head Meetings as a time that at which we can provide updates and answer your questions about what is going on. Mayor Luecke asked the Council to vote against this bill because it is unnecessary and does make government less efficient. Isabel Gonzalez, 232 S. Holiday, South Bend, Indiana spoke in opposition to this bill. Ms. Gonzalez thanked the Council for all their time that they have taken in preparing this bill. However, this bill is unnecessary; the City of South Bend has systems in place to provide this information. The systems may need to be enhanced and updated. Ms. Gonzalez stated that sufficient information has been provided in the past and is currently still being provided. Ms. Gonzalez asked the Council to vote against this bill. Charles Leone, City Attorney, 1400 County-City Building, South Bend, Indiana, spoke in opposition to this bill. Mr. Leone advised that he would like to address a couple of legal issues that have come up with respect to this bill. Those legal issues arise over the separation of powers and the responsibility of the executive branch of government (the Mayor) and the responsibility of the legislative branch of government (the Council). The role of the executive branch is to operate and run the organization. The role of the legislative branch is fiscal oversight with respect to setting the overall limits of spending,but also adopting the rules such as ordinances that govern with relationship of the government to its citizens. There was some discussion this afternoon with respect to legal issues. The City of Hammond passed an ordinance that required development agreements between the Hammond River Boat Licensee and the City of Hammond to be approved and authorized by Ordinance of the Hammond City Council. A Superior Court agreed that that ordinance was okay, but the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled no, that the Council could not do that. The court ruled that this is not an appropriate role for the Hammond City Council. On that basis, the Ordinance was struck down. The administration believes that the Courts have spoken on this issue and the powers of the various branches of government are separate and the contracting power really is a power of the executive branch of government. Regarding not-for-profit organizations, there may be a constitutional issue that arises, again these are not things that are known with respect to this bill, but they raise concerns that we need to address and pay attention to. This bill requires certain reporting requirements for non- profit-organizations who do business with the City; and for-profit-organization do not have to go through that same process. The bill puts a greater burden on not-for-profit organizations. When that distinction is made there seems to be a showing of some sort of a problem or some sort of an abuse that is created by not-for-profit-organizations that requires additional regulation. Because of that distinction, it raises constitutional questions. We don't know what will happen if this ordinance is challenged, but what is does because it attempts to shift in a major way certain responsibilities from the Executive Branch to the Legislative Branch there will be all kinds of complications, not 14