[0:06] did you happen to check mailbox in the B

[0:09] office

[0:10] on oh

[0:12] okay this is updated I I did print that

[0:17] vac job this is updated

[0:19] [Music]

[0:20] version since this morning yeah they

[0:22] hired two people this

[0:28] today

[0:31] on it's

[0:33] 5:00 call the meeting for should I go in

[0:35] the office

[0:37] everybody yeah it's 5 o' thank you if

[0:40] you don't

[0:43] mind 5 o'

[0:46] [Music]

[0:53] somewhere you need a

[0:58] drink

[1:02] from the one I sent you

[1:05] today oh kind words

[1:13] [Music]

[1:16] okay figure

[1:20] [Music]

[1:24] out is

[1:27] [Music]

[1:28] your

[1:30] I'd like to call to order con C Council

[1:33] committee

[1:33] meeting uh excuse me yes committee

[1:36] meeting

[1:37] for what is today

[1:39] when November 1st 2023 um before we call

[1:44] the commit to order um Mr M is going to

[1:47] be absent tonight so Mr Cen will explain

[1:50] to us the

[1:52] process thank you um obviously Mr M the

[1:56] chairperson of the finance committee um

[1:58] we have two members president from the

[2:00] finance committee um city council

[2:03] follows Robert's Rules of Order um

[2:06] there's no provision about who and our

[2:08] to who would be the chair tonight uh in

[2:11] mr's absence as the chairman Pro Temp um

[2:15] therefore Roberts

[2:16] rules um essentially if the regular

[2:20] chairperson is not here um some other

[2:24] member of the committee uh should call

[2:28] that committee to order uh and then a

[2:32] chairman program must be elected between

[2:35] the people who are in that committee and

[2:38] it has to be done by majority vote which

[2:40] means because we want have

[2:45] two so I just point I'd like to ask Mr

[2:48] Williams to call the finance committee

[2:49] to

[2:52] order all right so like to call finance

[2:54] committee to order before us we have uh

[2:57] a series of information impa let's first

[2:59] s of businesses that you have to uh

[3:01] elect

[3:03] a yes sh between I don't care go ahead

[3:15] okay so before us we have a number of

[3:18] documents uh that I'm just going to ask

[3:20] uh Mr ferari to give us a of M and make

[3:25] sure everyone does have a copy of that

[3:28] speak I yeah had set out to you on your

[3:32] front of you the vacant job list this is

[3:35] actually as of 4:00 today uh the

[3:38] difference is updated because the

[3:40] difference is excuse me can I interrupt

[3:41] you you should already have that from Mr

[3:43] Ferrari do you have Miss yes pck yeah I

[3:45] put a I gave I gave it directly to her

[3:48] okay this one yep you updated list uh

[3:52] and there's two positions uh that were

[3:54] fil actually today so that's why we

[3:57] did I did updated

[4:00] uh the second the other piece of paper

[4:03] we have is

[4:05] U is Mr ver had requested the U the the

[4:14] budget amounts for uh Fe for

[4:18] [Music]

[4:19] services uh two the pieces that John

[4:23] there asked for was a for services of

[4:28] the uh appropriation of 2023 comp

[4:34] 2024 proposed budget and he wanted to

[4:37] see the uh percent change uh in regards

[4:40] to that and for the general water sewer

[4:44] and golf funds um if you look at the uh

[4:48] general fund you'll notice that the

[4:51] total fees for service throughout all

[4:53] departments is actually uh netive 4% 4%

[4:59] decrease

[5:02] um the water is a 10%

[5:05] increase uh the two fund is 0% increase

[5:09] in uh F of services and the golf fund is

[5:12] a 30%

[5:14] decrease the

[5:16] other question uh John had was the mag

[5:21] positions he asked the request of all

[5:23] positions um within City within city

[5:27] conect um ested to see the 2023 adopted

[5:32] budget the bills the 2024 prop bills um

[5:38] the proposed budget salaries uh and the

[5:41] percent increase or decrease associated

[5:44] with each position within the

[5:50] [Music]

[5:53] city so there's three pieces of paper

[5:55] that we just you have everything three

[5:57] pieces you have three sheets this side

[5:59] one long oh no I only have I have two

[6:02] this size and one this size

[6:05] might no that's what I

[6:09] already should have three this oh I got

[6:15] [Music]

[6:27] it I

[6:29] [Music]

[6:33] all

[6:34] right so based on our conversation and

[6:38] how was left last night uh the premise

[6:40] was that we would evaluate current

[6:42] vacancies in addition to Mr mutar

[6:45] suggestion of um reviewing the fees fees

[6:49] for

[6:50] service and identifying some uh

[6:53] additional dollars to transfer to the

[6:56] overtime lines for the police inire so

[6:59] at this time I'd like to open the floor

[7:01] to council members they have any

[7:03] suggestions or recommendations based on

[7:05] that

[7:08] information Mr prefer to oh so thank you

[7:11] so I just as at the end of our last

[7:13] meeting my understanding was there was

[7:15] we needed to get to the number of

[7:17] 777000 in order to make that happen and

[7:20] So based on what was um what Mr M had

[7:24] requested and just to be clear we're not

[7:26] talking about management positions at

[7:27] all here we're simply talking about the

[7:30] vacancies and Fe of service um those items are what we're talking about

[7:35] so

[7:37] um that was how we left it last night

[7:40] and one of the thing one of the

[7:42] agreements my understanding is that Miss

[7:44] Patrick want to make sure that we um

[7:46] make our police no time lines whole and

[7:50] um we're trying to talk about how we get

[7:52] there um by taking out some of the

[7:56] positions which we have gone through we

[7:58] have the information in front of us that

[8:00] does not include the

[8:02] fringes but it's um so they calculate

[8:05] the fringes we talk about that um I

[8:08] think that's that's probably it but the

[8:10] mayor did have his hand up oh Mr Mayor

[8:13] thank you Mr chairman just want to go

[8:15] over the uh budget process a little bit

[8:19] and again I'm not quite sure what you're

[8:21] trying to do start the budget process in

[8:26] May and June where uh department

[8:30] head to start preparing the next year's

[8:33] budget working with the finance

[8:35] department they start to

[8:37] assemble uh what's happening within

[8:39] their Department what they'd like to

[8:42] do every line item in that budget is

[8:47] gone over three and four

[8:50] times before it goes into the final

[8:53] graft now I've sat in all the positions

[8:57] that you hold and this is my 22nd budget

[9:01] so I understand sometimes their

[9:04] skepticism sometimes you think

[9:06] department heads might be trying to pull

[9:08] something over on

[9:10] you I will tell you that every line in

[9:15] that budget I can support the

[9:19] assumptions that are made now that does

[9:22] not mean that some of those things that

[9:23] we started in June or July that they

[9:27] haven't changed

[9:29] now and if the council's reviewing those

[9:33] and those assumptions are incorrect

[9:35] things have changed where there might be

[9:37] better savings there might be increased

[9:39] expenses I would expect the council to

[9:41] take that into consideration in terms of

[9:43] your

[9:44] deliberations but you came in here you

[9:47] took uh $1.1 million out of Public

[9:51] Safety wasn't happy with it didn't quite

[9:54] understand the logic behind

[9:55] it

[9:58] uh you've now gone through again I'll

[10:00] call it an interesting

[10:02] process now you're putting the $1.1

[10:05] million in and are looking to remove

[10:08] other positions

[10:11] that I really feel are important I don't

[10:14] mind going through line by line if some

[10:16] the department heads here to look at

[10:19] those in terms of what the expectations

[10:23] are if we fill those positions what our

[10:25] goal is as we all know recruitment now

[10:28] is

[10:29] uh somewhat of an issue so it's finding

[10:31] people with the right skill set to bring

[10:33] in to the slot so that we can deliver

[10:36] the services people the city need want

[10:39] and

[10:42] deserve

[10:44] but just to to gut those is a mistake

[10:49] and it will hinder my ability and the

[10:51] department heads to manage the city and

[10:53] deliver the services that we need and

[10:57] again if you tell me what your goal is

[11:00] if you want to cut Public

[11:03] Safety let me go back to the department

[11:05] heads and say this is the number the

[11:07] counsel wants out of there and we'll

[11:09] manage that if you want to do stuff in

[11:12] office of General Services tell me what

[11:14] your dollar figure is because you're not

[11:16] going through the line by line and

[11:20] having the department heads bring up the

[11:22] assumptions that we've used to come up

[11:24] with that dollar figure so I want to

[11:28] work with you but I don't want to go

[11:30] down a path here where you're kind of

[11:33] you shifted everything back made one

[11:35] decision shifting everything back and

[11:37] now you're going to take another

[11:39] position that seems to be what the trend

[11:41] is that I really think would be an

[11:44] adverse uh State for the city and hinder

[11:48] my ability uh in department heads to

[11:50] manage the city going

[11:52] forward Miss Patrick um I think that

[11:56] working on the budget is the most

[11:58] important respons responsibility of the

[11:59] city council I think we all can agree on

[12:01] that and I think that we certainly have

[12:03] done a lot of due diligence over the

[12:05] last several weeks I actually wrote

[12:07] something up this afternoon after

[12:09] spending the afternoon contemplating all

[12:11] that we've heard over these last few

[12:12] weeks from the mayor our finance team um

[12:15] and our department heads and all the

[12:17] answers they have provided to our

[12:18] questions I believe they have presented

[12:20] a realistic fair and balanced budget to

[12:23] continue reiterating the same points

[12:25] over and over is unnecessary I've

[12:27] certainly been told that many times by

[12:28] my colleagues around this table over the

[12:30] last few weeks however I do want to say

[12:32] I'm not in favor of cutting into the

[12:34] reserve Fund in a way that will

[12:35] jeopardize the city's fiscal Health as

[12:37] was presented to us um by our fiscal

[12:40] adviser and our finance team I believe

[12:42] that the increased water sewer and waste

[12:44] feeds uh fees need to be implemented as

[12:46] presented the decision last year to not

[12:49] Implement what was requested worsened

[12:51] our situation this year and we'll

[12:52] continue to do so next year as we were

[12:55] also uh told yesterday if we don't put

[12:57] these requested fees into place we've

[13:00] made some major investments in improving

[13:02] the water treatment facilities and

[13:03] creating the constructing the new pump

[13:05] station and we Face increased costs and

[13:08] finally I think not fully funding what

[13:09] the fire and police Chiefs have

[13:11] requested in overtime puts our resident

[13:13] safety um at risk and I cannot support

[13:16] that as I mentioned uh many times um

[13:19] therefore I'm recommending that we

[13:21] accept the mayor's budget and I ask that

[13:23] the finance committee um finalize their

[13:25] vote so we can move on with our business

[13:29] thank you and just for clarification

[13:31] you're canting your comments yesterday

[13:34] yeah um I I I spent the afternoon really

[13:37] going back over everything as we

[13:39] discussed last night that that was what

[13:41] we needed to do today and I really think

[13:43] that it is a fair a fe budget as

[13:46] presented and I'm I'm not going to talk

[13:48] anymore I don't think tonight thank you

[13:52] so with regard what mer said we thought

[13:54] we came to the table when we we were

[13:56] going to put the 2.5 million into the

[13:57] sewer fun but when we got to the table

[14:00] that night we were presenting with

[14:01] information uh from you that that is not

[14:04] something we could so we believed we

[14:05] were at a place where we want to pass

[14:07] that budget however we were not able to

[14:09] do that um then uh we heard from Miss

[14:12] Patrick as well as from the fire

[14:14] department we came back again and and re

[14:16] and put some of the money back so um I

[14:19] just want to just State publicly that we

[14:21] have gotten to the place where we

[14:22] thought we could pass the budget but

[14:24] there are those who agreed at some point

[14:26] but now disagree that we should go back

[14:29] to originally so um what even though

[14:31] last night I thought we were closer

[14:33] based on our conversation but now I'm

[14:35] hearing that we're not we should go

[14:36] straight back to the mayor's budget um

[14:39] we have heard from residents at least I

[14:41] have in terms of increase in the water

[14:43] and sewer fees and there are those who

[14:45] are going to say well it's only this

[14:46] much a year but with the median income

[14:48] in the city connected we have a city

[14:50] that's like basically the has and have

[14:52] not so let's just put it out there and

[14:54] there are people who called email text

[14:56] said this is going to impact me so we

[15:00] have to listen to that and so what are

[15:04] our other Alternatives we need to

[15:05] increase our Revenue so that that

[15:08] becomes better and then we need to look

[15:09] at places that maybe we can get more

[15:10] Revenue that maybe we're not getting the

[15:11] best we can so um so the bottom line

[15:15] probably in this is is that we don't

[15:17] want to increase our fees for our

[15:20] residents and we thought we could we

[15:22] were going to be able to get there by

[15:24] taking out some of the um positions

[15:26] there are positions that have not been

[15:28] filled in years and what happens is that

[15:30] when there's a shortfall some play sales

[15:32] they take the money out of that so it's

[15:34] not like there's anybody losing their

[15:35] job just want to be clear about that

[15:37] those positions aren't filled haven't

[15:39] been filled so that was why or some of

[15:42] them were new positions that were being

[15:44] added to the budget so it's not like

[15:46] anyone has has lost their job or has

[15:48] been in the job for the last three years

[15:50] for most of them so we are looking we're

[15:53] looking at that to get to that number of

[15:56] 777000 We Still um put that all the

[15:59] money into the um Public Safety budget

[16:02] which is was like a hard stop for some

[16:05] people and having said that it's it's

[16:09] those of us who are willing to have

[16:10] discussions and make uh agreements to

[16:13] get to that place so that was a hard

[16:16] stop for other people that was

[16:18] recognized but we're also recognizing

[16:20] we're not trying to increase anything

[16:22] for our residents whether it be um taxes

[16:24] or soore and water and so we were trying

[16:26] to get there our original place we we

[16:28] were there with 2.5 million we're told

[16:30] we can't spend it even though I mean if

[16:33] there's other places that have done that

[16:34] I gave you the information last night

[16:36] where you know it went up to CC court

[16:38] and they said it was unconstitutionally

[16:39] they say that they couldn't do it

[16:41] however it hasn't happened in the state

[16:42] of New York so I'm not willing to roll

[16:43] with dice on that so um I'm of still the

[16:47] mindset that we and and additionally

[16:50] initially we said no sewer and water and

[16:53] then last night we said half of that so

[16:56] again yes well again I don't think we

[16:59] all agreed on that just mention but my

[17:01] point is in initially initially it was for Mr M that was a hard stop he

[17:06] was like absolutely none last night he

[17:09] left this table saying I would go at 50%

[17:12] if we if we could actually quite frankly

[17:15] getting you on board with it and you

[17:17] said yes last night so but I see that

[17:20] yeah I did spend a lot of really going

[17:24] back over I think that we just are

[17:25] nitpicking at some of the staff

[17:27] positions for example

[17:29] and trying to like put together from

[17:32] bits and

[17:34] pieces it just it just doesn't make

[17:36] sense when we have in front of us a

[17:38] balanced budget but I mean I'd like to

[17:40] hear from other people right but I would

[17:42] say leaving last night it made sense how

[17:44] to get this budget passed and I was

[17:46] functioning with that understanding

[17:47] today of how to ensure that I met your

[17:50] ask was changed at some point and I

[17:52] respect it however I didn't find out

[17:54] till right now having heard of from a

[17:57] number of different individuals that

[17:59] function within the city uh City Hall um

[18:02] there have been vacancies opening open

[18:04] for a consecutive amount of months in

[18:07] some instances years my understanding

[18:09] from my management background is are we

[18:12] hindering applicants from coming forward

[18:14] or we uh knowingly uh just keeping these

[18:20] vacancies open with no intentions of

[18:22] ever uh hiring into them and my

[18:25] understanding is we need to make sure

[18:28] that we are accurately that we are

[18:29] accurately utilizing every funding

[18:31] stream available before we increase

[18:34] taxes so in looking at these and hearing

[18:37] from a number of individuals that are

[18:38] currently sitting here to knowingly pass

[18:41] a budget that doesn't do any one step to

[18:46] um increase opportunities to get

[18:47] individuals hired we've talked about

[18:50] these vacancies and we are taking off

[18:52] positions that are currently posted with

[18:55] the understanding of we cannot remove a

[18:57] position that is uh being openly

[18:59] advertised for but to continue to fund

[19:01] positions with no intent or no

[19:03] concertive effort to bring people into

[19:06] this uh City Hall I I can't support

[19:11] that Mr R Mr chairman would you outline

[19:14] those positions that you're talking

[19:16] about I'll have department heads address

[19:21] them I can I think allowing some of the

[19:24] other council members to speak before we

[19:25] sure transition

[19:27] that

[19:30] personally I would like to hear from

[19:31] department heads as the marage has

[19:33] suggested on what what positions that

[19:36] may have and again just coming out of Co

[19:39] all right that's in the past there was

[19:41] no one looking for position so you

[19:42] couldn't hire anyone but anyway I would

[19:44] like to definitely hear how you would

[19:46] run each of your departments without the

[19:48] proper um Personnel in it that's what I

[19:51] would personally like to hear

[19:54] Mr I just want to add that all these

[19:57] positions they are currently advertised

[19:59] and being up on the board and we're

[20:02] always trying to uh uh get people in

[20:05] that the only one is today I think the

[20:07] clerical aid for your department think

[20:10] is has not not

[20:12] aded she only resigned two days ago

[20:15] right the

[20:16] rest always is up in advertising from

[20:21] the position my next comment would be if these advertisements are continuously

[20:26] posted do we do any auditing

[20:28] of the accuracy of those postings and do

[20:31] any changing in real time to to

[20:35] adjust and some of these have been

[20:37] vacant since 2021 and maybe before and I only say 2021 because our the data

[20:42] sheet that we're giving only goes back

[20:44] to 2021 maybe she we should have gone

[20:46] back five years and see how long they've

[20:47] been

[20:49] open Mr Mayor and

[20:52] again we do the posting we do the

[20:54] recruitment we take

[20:57] referrals

[20:59] all these positions are civil

[21:02] service and we've seen since Co where

[21:05] they stopped giving tests you know the

[21:07] easiest thing is when everything works

[21:10] right there's a

[21:12] position There are rules that we have to

[21:15] follow to hire and they've taken a

[21:18] competitive test we're given a list of

[21:20] names and those people can be

[21:23] interviewed and then appointed to the

[21:25] position some of this now

[21:29] we don't have valid lists uh sometimes

[21:32] they're running tests which I don't

[21:34] quite understand some of the theory

[21:36] behind them

[21:39] but it's frustrating so that people also

[21:43] sometimes don't want to take a position

[21:46] because they have some stability where

[21:48] they are and if they take a position

[21:50] here we have to tell them this is a

[21:52] competitive civil service position we're

[21:55] not quite sure when the test is going to

[21:57] be given

[21:58] and I say sometimes we do a lot of times

[22:00] we don't but if we hire you you have to

[22:03] score in the top three in order to be

[22:07] appointed on a permanent basis and that

[22:11] hinders the ability to recruit somebody

[22:13] because they don't want to give up some

[22:14] level of stability for something that's

[22:16] perceived to be more of a risky

[22:20] undertaking Mr F so excuse me to your

[22:23] point Mr Mayor I think that there are

[22:25] some things that are outside the realm

[22:27] of our control as far as recruitment

[22:29] goes well not recruitment goes but as

[22:31] far as you know Finding qualified

[22:34] candidates um especially regards to the

[22:36] Civil Service process so I guess my

[22:38] question then is um and I really welcome

[22:41] um feedback from all council members and

[22:44] everyone here so does that mean that if if if we

[22:49] realistically can't are there some

[22:51] positions here that we have tried to

[22:54] fail not due to um any fault of our own

[22:59] but just haven't been able to feel that

[23:01] maybe we should look at removing in

[23:03] order to um more uh efficiently spend

[23:07] that

[23:10] money and and I don't I guess I should

[23:13] just tell that by saying right that may

[23:15] be a possibility I to right I don't

[23:18] think that it's a you know I I think we

[23:21] definitely want to move um from the

[23:23] place of like either or and just kind of

[23:26] talk about where does it make sense and if it makes sense um then then then let's go in that

[23:39] direction Mr you have any comments

[23:41] before

[23:43] I so I say one of the main questions and

[23:47] I I always like to to preface being a

[23:50] new council member I think that

[23:52] functioning in the the veil of what's

[23:54] appropriate and what's not appropriate

[23:55] to us but I think as long as you put

[23:57] forth a considered effort of wanting to

[23:59] just get to the bottom line uh I fielded

[24:01] a lot of questions with regards to the

[24:03] uh meos and just how this is a

[24:06] detrimental position for our community

[24:09] and truly uh Bears a lot of the weight

[24:13] with respect to uh trash and also with

[24:16] upcoming snow removal and as we beautify

[24:18] our Parks making sure that those areas

[24:20] stay consistently uh uh uh clean moving

[24:23] forward uh has there been any uh

[24:28] entertainment of conversations to

[24:30] specify these positions as opposed to

[24:32] putting out a broader ask of a general

[24:35] job

[24:37] announcement I have said that they

[24:39] should be posted with

[24:41] the position we would like to put them

[24:44] in some I understand they're still going

[24:47] out

[24:48] generically where when you're in that

[24:51] title you can work in different

[24:54] departments at different times and in

[24:57] fact that's part of the flexibility

[24:58] where employees are cross trained so

[25:00] they can be moved where the workload is

[25:04] and if you have specific questions Mr

[25:06] lefon can address it oh if you would

[25:09] mind Mr Leon I I think I identifying

[25:13] your openness to specifying those job

[25:15] announcements if it truly is from the

[25:17] standpoint of what is the efficacy of

[25:20] our generalized approach and if that is

[25:24] not yielding any increase in applicants

[25:28] what behooves US of transitioning our

[25:30] train of thought with Rec the M position

[25:33] under it current job

[25:35] description um requires a CD license 90%

[25:39] of our equipment that the MEO are

[25:41] driving is a dumb truck salt spread a p

[25:45] truck or a packer under dot rules and

[25:49] regulations you have to hold and

[25:50] maintain a cdlb licensed so meos are

[25:55] going to be required to have a CDL

[25:56] license to um we'll be honest that you

[25:59] know we' made an attempt to bring up

[26:01] some of the salaries to meos um to make

[26:04] it more attractive um this past year

[26:08] um again it's a recruitment um somebody

[26:12] with a CDL license be can move into

[26:15] another position somewhere else and make

[26:17] more money um I've looked at the list

[26:21] I've looked at where the vacancies are

[26:23] um it was made that there is a there are

[26:26] two vacancies Within Department that

[26:28] they are new requests that was made

[26:31] after talking to my department heads

[26:33] when we do a budget I go over with my

[26:35] department heads and we look at the

[26:36] needs the workforce that we need to

[26:38] maintain a quality level of service to

[26:39] the back of the city okay but it's not

[26:43] known as the logistics during the days

[26:45] of the park that two meos will move into

[26:49] what we call um ground Keepers and they

[26:52] will take care of the ball fields soccer

[26:54] fields softball fields for the whole

[26:56] entire summmer that means my Workforce

[26:58] for regular meos to do the other

[27:00] maintenance on islands and Parks which

[27:02] we have 31 Parks drops by two so the

[27:06] request was to request two more meos in

[27:09] the parks department to fill that void

[27:12] all summer long that we lose the other

[27:15] um in the street department what people

[27:18] have realize is we have a Workforce

[27:20] where most of our employees have been

[27:22] here five years or more they get four

[27:26] weeks off vacation

[27:28] you got 10 employees they all take your

[27:30] four weeks for the year I've lost one

[27:32] employee for 40 weeks i' lost them for a

[27:34] whole year so those'll set employees

[27:36] down down to nine for that year take the

[27:38] VAC take the sick leave take the

[27:40] personal leave take the bement leave

[27:42] take the family medical leave take the

[27:44] workers come out of those 10 employees I

[27:47] probably have seven to work with so

[27:50] there are vacancies because we'd like to

[27:52] get those filled because we never have a

[27:54] full Workforce there is somebody always

[27:59] out whether it's like I said comp

[28:03] vacation personal sick they're entitled

[28:06] to those days they take those days but

[28:08] it's a loss of a body on the workforce

[28:12] so and the sense of the waste division

[28:15] there's eight meos we utilize those meos

[28:18] to help with the season we also have an

[28:21] agreement with the Union to help train

[28:22] some of those employees so that if they

[28:25] do start as a seasonal and and they're a

[28:28] good work good work at it they come the

[28:29] work they move to a temporary position

[28:32] they get a little bit of benefits they

[28:34] get a little more pay and then they work

[28:36] towards their CPL license they get the

[28:38] permit we give them drive time we

[28:41] started a program where we'll have the

[28:43] CDL trainers inous to train them so they

[28:47] can take the road test and keeping some

[28:50] of those positions gives them the

[28:52] incentive to do that so they can be

[28:54] recommended to a full-time position with

[28:56] benefits and the extra salary for their

[28:59] families positions are removed what's

[29:01] the incentive for somebody to come here

[29:03] and try and

[29:06] grow but but I'd say to a point of

[29:10] clarity does that request for the meos

[29:14] for waste and the MOs for Park is that a

[29:17] generic 10 job vacancy announcement or

[29:20] does it specifically ask for two meos

[29:23] for sewer and then two or then eight

[29:26] right now it's pretty much generic

[29:27] because we move them around we can

[29:29] change that but what happens is when you

[29:31] need people a on a good day we don't

[29:34] need anybody in waste on a bad day we

[29:37] may have to go to another department and

[29:39] say we need some people to helping waste

[29:41] we need some NEOS um if they're locked

[29:44] into that department and they say we

[29:46] don't have to go there what do I do with

[29:48] the waste how do I pick it

[29:50] up I spent enough time on the back of

[29:52] the garbage truck even as the

[29:53] commissioner picking up the weight from

[29:55] the trash so have my other department

[29:57] heads and managers within the

[29:58] Departments so we have to have some

[30:00] flexibility okay to move some employees

[30:03] around good example is we move them all

[30:05] around coming December 4th I put the

[30:07] memo out today um we all move to third

[30:10] shift we have third shift that starts

[30:12] winter winter monst for snow it's 3:00

[30:15] a.m. in the morning to 11: we ask for

[30:17] volunteers volunteers first so that we

[30:20] try and get the volunteers that want to

[30:21] come on the third shift then if not then

[30:24] by seniority within the classification

[30:26] class classication in needing the

[30:28] agreement is meos that is their

[30:30] classification this year we were

[30:32] fortunate we have nine volunteers take

[30:34] it so nobody had to go on the night

[30:37] shift if they want to um but again we

[30:39] have Parks employees going to the night

[30:42] shift beginning on Monday the 4th of

[30:43] December SE division employees and

[30:46] Street Department Division and just so

[30:48] we can keep the streets clear get salt

[30:50] on the ground starting early in the

[30:51] morning before Traffic Rush Hour starts

[30:54] so NEOS are vital position with the city

[30:57] but again we have to have some open

[30:59] positions because there has to be room

[31:00] for some of the employees that are

[31:01] growing within us that we're training to

[31:04] have a position to move into and we need

[31:07] them filled eventually because like I

[31:09] said with all the time off that employee

[31:11] given we never have a full staff every

[31:14] day and I would say based on that uh

[31:17] description which I truly appreciate

[31:20] what I'm hearing is there's a need for

[31:22] more Staffing so from The Sounds

[31:25] flexibility is not a luxury that we

[31:27] currently have because we just need the

[31:29] staff if I didn't need the staff I

[31:31] wouldn't have requested anything in the

[31:33] budget like I guess what I'm saying the

[31:35] flexibility of being specific or or

[31:37] being too generic wanting to disperse

[31:39] staff throughout the needs of the

[31:41] Departments we just need staff we need

[31:43] that so then again we have Services we

[31:46] provide whether it's snow whether it's

[31:47] waste whether it's cutting wwns whether

[31:49] maintaining City own vacant properties

[31:52] we need staff Meo is the you know

[31:56] because of the

[31:57] they are flexible and snow

[32:01] removal without a c I can't put them in a dump truck I can't put them in a p

[32:05] i can't put them in a Assa

[32:09] SP I'm sorry Mr pres no I was just um

[32:12] listening to what Mr saying and I think

[32:14] that the fact that he's cross trained

[32:16] these employees you know I just I

[32:19] appreciate that as far as the level of

[32:21] you know um to be effective and and

[32:24] maintain a certain level of service for

[32:26] the city um and I know that historically

[32:30] you know when I you know seen the mayor

[32:33] out at um this place or that place you

[32:36] know we're constantly talking up about

[32:38] he's consistently saying like you know

[32:40] trying to recruit people so it becomes

[32:42] all of our um unofficial title to

[32:45] recruit people um but to your point uh

[32:48] Mr Leon we also are competing with area

[32:51] municipalities and we have to keep some

[32:54] of those positions in place for for

[32:57] someone has a position to Aspire to

[32:59] right

[33:01] okay um and do we have um any of the

[33:06] positions that might not be um I guess

[33:09] for lack of better term some of the

[33:11] positions that are are aspirational

[33:13] positions for guys that we could that

[33:16] within your thought that we could um

[33:20] remove in order to um uh use that money

[33:23] more effectively or just based on your

[33:26] wealth of knowledge experience that

[33:27] that's just not the

[33:28] case I guess part of my voice it's not

[33:31] Co by the way the goal is to I mean

[33:34] employees starts you know it's a

[33:36] seasonal it's more of an entry level

[33:38] position and some of them are very

[33:40] content being a seasonal they don't want

[33:42] to they don't want to move up to obtain

[33:45] their license yeah but we still need a

[33:47] labor force right we still need some

[33:48] people on the back of that truck to help

[33:51] us load out trash or blow leaves or help

[33:55] with the tree and picking up

[33:57] there still a labor force and I did

[34:00] request in the budget there is a request

[34:02] there's some people in there as a labor

[34:04] loaders um to really bring some people

[34:08] on board that don't have the aspiration

[34:10] to move up but I need some good labor

[34:13] force people okay and they deserve the

[34:17] benefits but we're working with a very

[34:19] slim Workforce we've been doing it for

[34:21] years and we've been trying for years to

[34:23] bring that Workforce up but you always

[34:25] have to have a few open

[34:29] positions you know to bring that person

[34:31] that started at the bottom who's gone to

[34:34] that that training and obtain his

[34:36] license to give him you know home with

[34:39] the city hope make get a career

[34:42] here if you filled every

[34:45] phys you got to wait for somebody to

[34:47] retire and hire

[34:49] somebody so not counting the proposed

[34:53] bills for

[34:54] 2024 how many vacancies do you have

[34:59] El yes you have the list I believe there

[35:02] is eight in the was Department three in

[35:06] the bureau service and two in the parks

[35:08] department pleas

[35:10] includ yeah I want to know what you have

[35:12] in just 23 this includes 24 as well yeah

[35:16] the only only difference will be the two

[35:19] in so you have six vacancies right now

[35:22] eight and three 11 you have 11 vacancies

[35:26] uh

[35:27] they don't have it in front of

[35:30] me but you have to understand that some

[35:32] of those vacancies within the waste

[35:33] department are providing the funding for

[35:35] the seasonals who are working as the

[35:37] laborers if you look at the actual

[35:39] year-to dat expenses I think Anthony can

[35:41] tell you is some that money is being

[35:43] used but it's being used to fund the

[35:46] seasonal employees

[35:49] oh now didn't you just I was told that

[35:52] seasonals just recently got laid off you

[35:54] let the seasonals go we always have of

[35:57] uh a Workforce of seasal the seasonals

[36:00] are here for 6 months okay some of the

[36:02] seasonals uh we keep a number of season

[36:05] on in the waste department because

[36:06] they're working on the back of the um

[36:08] the trash trucks because they don't have

[36:11] currently they don't have a CDL license

[36:13] and I stated if they come in as a

[36:15] seasonal and they don't want to work

[36:17] towards their license we will give them

[36:19] they get their permit we will give them

[36:20] the drive time we will give them the

[36:22] opportunity to take the road test if

[36:23] they pass it a recommendation would be

[36:25] made to meet them perur ml because now

[36:27] they need the qualifications of an ml

[36:30] because they have a class B

[36:32] license but if the vacancy doesn't

[36:35] exist they're not going to get to the

[36:37] Nao

[36:39] position some of these positions have

[36:41] been longterm

[36:43] like is that correct have long

[36:47] term some probably in the waste debate

[36:49] has been long term there's two positions

[36:51] in

[36:52] ARA they're they're there again it goes

[36:55] to reproving

[36:57] you you have to you have to have the CDL

[37:00] if you want to fill an Meo position and

[37:02] right now we go out to the board the the

[37:05] advertisement is there we did hire one

[37:08] last week um so we are constantly

[37:11] looking and constantly trying to fill

[37:12] those positions it's not there just to

[37:16] take

[37:18] up funding they positions that are

[37:21] needed if I could fill them all I'd be

[37:25] grateful Mr Mayor

[37:27] in that us to do the

[37:29] perdum if you want to delete an Meo and

[37:32] move the money over to

[37:35] perdum we could do that the reality is

[37:38] the goal is to try and hire the

[37:40] MEO with the CDL so that they're greater

[37:44] value employee if we don't have that

[37:47] then we still staff with people who you

[37:51] know don't have the certification and

[37:53] we're trying to create an incentivized

[37:57] uh program that we made some

[37:59] modifications with the collective

[38:00] bargaining agreement to uh map out a

[38:03] clear path so that when people come in

[38:06] they understand that there's an

[38:07] opportunity in front of them but they

[38:08] have to meet certain things and we want

[38:10] to work with them to get the permit of

[38:13] take the test and have the CDL license

[38:16] and hopefully when they have it is that

[38:18] they will stay here because in today's

[38:21] market our pay scale is on the lower end

[38:26] of of the pay

[38:28] range the benefit package the total

[38:31] package we give is very good but when

[38:33] you have younger employes they tend to

[38:36] just look at what's in their paycheck

[38:37] and not the health insurance not the

[38:39] retirement not some of the other

[38:41] benefits that uh are really a great uh

[38:45] component of the city's overall package

[38:48] which is my my point directly where the

[38:51] desire is to bring in this uh on well

[38:56] experienced staff member year

[38:59] one does that desire evolve if that

[39:02] vacancy remains such if not increasing

[39:04] into year two year three year

[39:06] four where case in point and truly I

[39:10] think this is another reflection of why

[39:13] our city is called the electric city um

[39:16] Mr our chief Marino and instituting the

[39:19] EM program I think that that is a truly

[39:21] adaptive concept to trying to get ahead

[39:24] of retention and recruitment issues

[39:27] and I think replicating that in other

[39:29] facets of our local government is going

[39:31] to be one of the approaches to simar to

[39:33] the law office where if we can't bring

[39:35] in assisant corporation councils how do

[39:38] we make use of light work let's

[39:41] potentially bring in some par legals and

[39:42] not reduce those assistant Corporation

[39:45] councils to zero because Mr colon would

[39:48] still like to have another uh well

[39:50] experienced or specialized individual

[39:52] but truly if that vacancy

[39:55] extends one year two years three years I

[39:58] think it is prudent upon us to evaluate

[40:01] how effective are our job

[40:05] announcements which goes back to if I

[40:08] like Parks I like parks and I understand

[40:10] the mission of uh or the intent of the

[40:13] department to use those more as a

[40:15] transient Workforce so that you can

[40:17] accommodate some needs uh globally in

[40:19] our city but I I imagine Mr lefon you

[40:23] would take any Meo if they were

[40:26] president

[40:27] uh so would you be opening would you be

[40:29] open to having a specialized job

[40:33] announcement meaning you're hired for

[40:35] the

[40:36] parkday to get to get a person in the

[40:39] door

[40:44] yes an Meo is an Meo as long he has a

[40:47] CDL license they got to be able to plow

[40:49] sow and saw my biggest thing if you look

[40:51] where the most vacancies are in the

[40:53] waist or in the street department the

[40:55] parks Department M were a request for

[40:59] this coming year for 24 there were no

[41:01] openings in the past years okay so that

[41:03] was to help increase the labor force

[41:06] just because of the amount of work we

[41:07] have in the Parks new people coming

[41:09] online um you know we we just need the

[41:13] workforce the other is the street

[41:16] department the street department does

[41:19] work with the sewer department in the

[41:21] winter mons snow all get the streets

[41:24] pled the city is connected we all get

[41:26] the phone calls eventually I'll come

[41:28] back to me okay but when they have a

[41:31] workforce out there and um three drivers

[41:33] down um Stow comes in we request

[41:37] overtime they want to come in for the

[41:39] overtime they come in if they don't they

[41:41] stay home guys will come in and drive

[41:43] for an additional 5 hours or so six

[41:45] hours they get TI driving that truck I

[41:47] don't have additional meos to replace

[41:49] them in the seat that truck sits in the yard somebody streets aren't

[41:53] getting done I need a Workforce I need

[41:56] meos to be able to drive solve do the

[42:00] things we need them to do budget that I

[42:03] put forth to the mayor as a request for

[42:05] the staff that I feel is needed to do

[42:08] the job we

[42:09] do it's your decision whether or not to

[42:12] accept it change it cut it the number of fills I gave you is what I

[42:18] feel is

[42:19] [Music]

[42:20] needed but that's also based on the

[42:22] number of applicants we

[42:24] receive abely trying yes there's there's vacancies all around the city we

[42:30] like consistently to fill that

[42:32] understand because we have

[42:38] needs so I know that was one um

[42:42] Department specifically were there any

[42:44] other areas uh appreciate Miss Patrick's

[42:48] comments uh asked the collect Council to

[42:50] come back with some recommendations uh

[42:53] and

[42:55] with respect open the

[42:59] floor no okay it's

[43:08] department so I think at this present

[43:11] time I'm truly trying not to speak for

[43:12] Mr murar I know he was highlighting uh

[43:16] the uh fees for uh for

[43:20] service as an intentional

[43:25] line

[43:28] so again we trying to get to

[43:31] 777000 Mr mavari um he was considering

[43:36] the um looking at the fees for services

[43:39] how much we spent year to date and if

[43:40] possible a reduction in those Feast for

[43:42] services to get to that number um I

[43:45] don't know if we're just like spinning

[43:46] our Wheels here since we know that that

[43:49] we Patrick would not be on board with any any changes but I don't I mean

[43:54] it's really the finance committee that

[43:55] has to passed the budget out of finance

[43:57] committee so I don't have a vote there

[43:58] anyway I was just making a statement

[44:02] so encouraging us to move forward

[44:06] because we've you know been going line

[44:08] by line through everything now

[44:10] for some

[44:22] time was your ra no

[44:30] I would say even if it was conceivably

[44:31] possible I don't think me and Mr Al

[44:34] would would get to an agreement at this

[44:35] juncture I I truly I spent my day today

[44:39] trying

[44:40] to understand how to get closer to your

[44:42] ask so hearing that today then my whole

[44:46] framework of interacting in this

[44:47] conversation shifts

[44:54] dramatically

[45:07] so we have to it has to we have to get a

[45:09] budget pass out of the finance committee

[45:11] order for move

[45:12] forward um

[45:16] so you haven't really stayed your

[45:18] position but if you my position's been

[45:20] clear from day one I will not support

[45:22] anything that builds a structural

[45:24] deficit in into the budget that's what's

[45:28] happening here I will not support that

[45:31] and I'm also a little confused because

[45:34] you know we've been hearing for the past

[45:36] year and a half two years we have to

[45:38] fill the positions we have to fill the

[45:40] positions now all of a sudden we don't

[45:42] want to spill positions and this is a

[45:44] sustainable

[45:46] plan to create the workforce that's

[45:49] necessary to get the job done that we

[45:51] the citizens

[45:52] expect I'm not supporting anything that puts a deficit into the into the

[45:57] budget okay so just to be clear yes we

[46:00] had said we need to fill position but it

[46:02] hasn't happened it's not up to the

[46:04] council to fill positions we can make

[46:06] recommendations some of us have some of

[46:08] those people have been hired some of

[46:09] those people have not so it's not up to

[46:11] us so yes we have been advocating but

[46:13] they haven't been filled so right now

[46:15] we're facing the reality that they

[46:17] haven't been filled for multiple

[46:19] years and so if if it comes to the point

[46:23] where they need to be we could

[46:25] definitely we it but right now it hasn't

[46:27] happened so it's not something we're

[46:29] making up it's sitting right in front of

[46:31] you the

[46:33] facts and all it does is create a

[46:35] structural deficit into this the

[46:39] budget so how do you propose that we not

[46:41] have a fe increase that we consider our

[46:43] taxpayers who are reaching out to

[46:46] us we have to have Fe increase if we

[46:49] don't want a deficit built in that's

[46:52] just the facts we all approved the the

[46:55] water um The Pump Station that's a

[46:58] million dollar payment a

[47:00] year it's got to come from somewhere and

[47:03] unfortunately none of us wants to raise

[47:05] fees or taxes none of us I'm assuming

[47:09] but I'm I'll think I'm pretty safe in

[47:12] that assumption but the fact is the fact

[47:16] we have a situation where if we do

[47:19] anything else we've created a structural

[47:21] deficit that's only going to make the

[47:23] problem worse 1 2 3 years down the road

[47:26] unless we look at some very strong ways

[47:28] of increasing our our revenue and we say

[47:30] that every year to your point and we get

[47:32] nowhere that's right so then we have to

[47:34] like make it a point that we do that

[47:36] because every we can't consistently say

[47:39] to taxpayers you have to do more and more in terms of of footing our

[47:43] bill when we I'm going to say

[47:46] collectively because we are the

[47:47] legislative body I understand the mayor

[47:49] the administrative body are not doing

[47:51] anything to increase the revenue so we

[47:52] need to really make a concerted effort

[47:54] to do that because I'm hearing from

[47:56] taxpayers all the time and perh and I

[47:58] understand that some people like well I

[48:00] hear from somebody I was talking to

[48:02] someone and they said well I I was

[48:04] talking to people that they were like or

[48:06] a person they were like oh that's not a

[48:07] big deal and I say I understand that but

[48:09] I'm speaking to people for them it is a

[48:10] big deal so we have to consider everyone

[48:14] so we came to the table like okay it's

[48:16] not a big deal for you it's a big deal

[48:17] for you let's meet halfway in the middle

[48:19] and say we'll do 50% now I'm

[48:21] understanding that nope that's not even

[48:23] good enough so you know

[48:26] we we have to see what's best to balance

[48:28] budget we also have to look out for our

[48:30] taxpayers and for some of us maybe it's

[48:33] a small amount but for some some other

[48:35] people it's it's significant so we have

[48:38] to take that in

[48:40] consideration and if we talk about

[48:42] vacancies again they've they've been

[48:43] multiple year vacancies so um not

[48:46] cutting any positions or not getting

[48:48] anybody out of a job that's currently in

[48:49] a job just want to make that clear Mr

[48:52] chairman Mr again and multiple your

[48:56] vacancies if you take anyone title uh

[48:59] like firefighter police

[49:02] officer this case the

[49:04] NEOS where we have a large number of

[49:06] those

[49:08] employees that Junior position is almost

[49:12] always empty you have retirements in the

[49:16] fire department every year you have

[49:17] retirements in the police department

[49:19] every year so that entry level the first

[49:23] one on the chart is always open but it

[49:27] doesn't mean we're trying not trying to

[49:28] fill that and it's not part of the

[49:30] overall Staffing of the Departments so I

[49:33] think it kind of mischaracterizes it we

[49:35] say they're open for multiple years you

[49:37] have to look at just the hiring process

[49:40] and the reality of life people spend a a

[49:43] career here they retire and or move on

[49:45] to other things but those positions then

[49:48] end up so you'll always look at it and

[49:50] there's going to be an opening in the

[49:51] police department there's going to be an

[49:52] opening in the fire department there'll

[49:53] be an opening for an Meo doesn't mean

[49:56] that we don't want to do it but that's

[49:59] the reality

[50:03] and in the

[50:04] whole talking about the going halfway

[50:08] are you talking about also in the

[50:24] garbage I

[50:28] would I would say based on Mr palam's

[50:31] statement I think we've done a a

[50:33] successful effort at

[50:36] funding uh positions with the intent to

[50:39] bring those into the workforce really

[50:40] well uh but I I would love your

[50:43] recommendation I don't know what

[50:45] organization would

[50:47] successfully uh continue to fund

[50:49] position without adjusting their

[50:51] recruitment

[50:52] efforts I I I I that is not the budget

[50:56] that's human resources so if you want to

[50:58] talk about that that's a separate case I

[51:00] don't have any issue discussing that but

[51:02] now it's the budget you're the guys that

[51:05] came to the table with

[51:08] demands nobody else so if if you want to

[51:12] start from there then we can go from

[51:14] there but uh the human resources is the

[51:17] one with the recruiting not us and I

[51:20] understand your point that can be a

[51:22] discussion at a committee meeting but

[51:25] right now now it's the budget but I

[51:27] would say we just heard from a

[51:28] department chair that says there's no

[51:30] interest in investing that job

[51:32] announcement and if I heard it correctly

[51:35] because there's an ask in the parks

[51:37] department doesn't mean even if he hired

[51:40] that ask would be fulfilled if the need

[51:42] was greater in waste so then my response

[51:44] is if we just need

[51:46] Personnel why are we specifying and

[51:49] let's start with what we

[51:52] have all you're doing is creating a

[51:54] structureal defic that's all you doing

[52:00] period me yeah I just want to clarify

[52:03] that I could I'll go ahead chair I told

[52:06] him to post those by Department reality

[52:10] is when they get higher the need may be

[52:12] different so

[52:16] I'm saying that we've tried I've tried

[52:19] to do that hasn't happened I'll take

[52:21] care of that I'm not sure it's going to

[52:24] get the results that people

[52:27] say but I will have those announcements

[52:32] modified specifically mayor yes thank

[52:35] you sir uh and Mr Ferrari I I think if

[52:38] you specify this Paul tell me if I'm

[52:40] wrong if you're specify you say you only

[52:43] you are a parts M they don't have to go

[52:46] to garbage if you need

[52:48] them that's what you want then I don't

[52:52] know what you want me to do with garbage

[52:53] and the people aren't there Mr thank you

[52:56] um py back off what Mr Leon said um a

[53:01] lot of this is geared by our collective

[53:02] bargaining agreement which talks about

[53:05] the needs that Mr lefon may see at a

[53:08] given point in time and there's

[53:09] flexibility built into that for Mr Leon

[53:12] to assign somebody to fulfill the need

[53:15] based on the title of the position so

[53:17] it's not you know when we're filling an

[53:20] me position there's no me parks right

[53:25] Civil Service world it's just the

[53:26] position we have to assign it to a

[53:28] particular Department um and then within

[53:32] that there's flexibility within the CBA

[53:35] um and the Union's aware of that for Mr

[53:38] Leon to be able to assign based on the

[53:41] need and there's an order that he

[53:43] follows for that based on

[53:47] seniority my response is I I don't see

[53:50] us having the luxury of being particular

[53:52] right now because we just need the

[53:54] workforce

[53:56] [Music]

[54:00] did you hear yes yeah I just want to say

[54:01] that we didn't come to table with our

[54:03] demands we came through the table with

[54:05] our suggestions for the budget which you

[54:07] have done as well in the past so it's

[54:09] not like it's not like the discussion

[54:12] around the budget has always been

[54:14] exactly what the mayor presented my

[54:15] knowledge I don't recall it being ever

[54:18] exactly the budget that came to this

[54:20] table so it's not about demands but it

[54:22] is looking at the budget overall and

[54:24] coming with

[54:25] recommendations um to the budget which

[54:28] most of us have have done before even up

[54:31] till last year um so I just want to

[54:34] clear that it's not demanding it

[54:36] certainly is recommendations and and

[54:37] trying to get to a certain place and so

[54:40] that's what we should be doing to work

[54:42] together and uh I'm sorry that some

[54:45] people feel that that that demands as

[54:46] opposed to

[54:49] recommendations and concessions on on

[54:51] when there is some council members says

[54:54] I absolutely cannot get there it's like

[54:56] okay we can meet you halfway so um this

[55:00] is where we are today and um as we left

[55:02] the table last night we thought we were

[55:05] uh closer than we are today see that

[55:07] things have

[55:10] changed

[55:12] I'm oh I'd like to know I mean looking

[55:14] at the revenue a huge portion of our

[55:17] revenue is in those fees so I don't

[55:20] really see how we me obviously we have

[55:23] the casino that's great

[55:25] um that looks pretty steady but I

[55:28] mean I don't really know how else we

[55:31] could bring in Revenue to the city

[55:35] except through the

[55:36] fees um you know I think and I agree

[55:39] that I don't think any of us want

[55:41] to uh add to the burden of our residents

[55:45] but you know again I think that had we

[55:49] done it last year we might have been in

[55:50] a different spot but again they're not

[55:53] it's you know I don't know if I think

[55:55] Anthony said that last night but looking

[55:57] at this I just don't know how else we

[56:00] would bring in more Revenue we're doing

[56:01] well with the property management sales

[56:03] and um continue to increase that you

[56:06] know every year but I I was wondering

[56:09] what other people felt about what their

[56:10] ideas were for increasing the

[56:12] revenue if not those

[56:17] fees and for the sake of repeating it

[56:19] again I'm not against fee increases that

[56:22] is something that is naturally going to

[56:24] have to happen just based off the

[56:26] Investments that the city has made what

[56:28] I'm against doing as a first step is

[56:31] blanketly stamping our current Staffing

[56:34] model without identifying ways to either

[56:39] improve our recruitment efforts or truly

[56:42] ask the question of are we able to fill

[56:45] this

[56:46] ever and if that question is not

[56:49] answered with an amount of certainty I

[56:52] think passing that tax increase on to

[56:54] residents

[56:55] I I I think that that's not an

[56:58] appropriate way

[57:21] budget so I just said I need to ask the

[57:24] question for first of all we we

[57:25] discussed that we were taking um A3 3412

[57:30] which is FS and um a3120 and a 3122 off

[57:35] the table so are people open to looking

[57:38] at other positions or that's an absolute

[57:40] no then you know in terms of

[57:44] um not filling the vacancies and trying

[57:48] to get to the number that we needed so

[57:51] that's my

[57:53] question mrle so I think that um I'm I'm

[57:58] definitely I'm open to that and I think

[58:00] that what we have to be really approach

[58:02] to this it's not a gotta moment this

[58:04] doesn't have to be a oh you didn't do a

[58:06] good job in getting people I I don't

[58:09] think for a second that Mr Lan is out

[58:12] saying oh qualified guys and and and and men and women don't come

[58:17] here I don't think that's what he's

[58:18] doing he's actually I'm very much uh

[58:22] sure that he is out trying to get

[58:24] qualified people to help maintain the

[58:26] service of cities the job market is what

[58:28] it is it is a changing job market so a

[58:31] lot of this conversation is not about

[58:34] necessarily laying on the feet of

[58:36] someone around um their inability of

[58:39] effective recruitment but it is

[58:41] recognizing the market that we're in and

[58:43] so then it's like well if we're unable

[58:45] to do that with our resources what are

[58:47] some of the other things we do and where

[58:49] can we better use this money and I think

[58:51] if we approach it from that to the

[58:53] mayor's point and I appre appreciate his

[58:55] um flexibility to say hey look if that's

[58:57] what we're talking about let's Identify

[58:59] some of those positions and then let's

[59:01] see if that's a um a feasible way of

[59:03] doing

[59:04] things I'm just going to say that I

[59:06] think that we get where we start to dig

[59:08] our heels in um

[59:10] and if what's happening right now isn't

[59:13] working then it

[59:16] does you know compel us to have a

[59:19] certain level of scrutiny and it's not

[59:21] about who did what or didn't do what

[59:23] it's about relying on each other to be

[59:26] Innovative to help along with the

[59:27] process and I think if we use that lens

[59:29] we'll be much better off if not we're

[59:31] just going to be sitting here thr in our

[59:33] thumbs let's be honest about

[59:49] that well as the finance chair for

[59:52] today I I I believe we are yet again at in in mass

[59:58] and I know that we are are frustrated

[1:00:01] with the prolonged nature of this budget

[1:00:03] season I guarantee you I would much

[1:00:06] rather be at home looking at my

[1:00:07] daughter's um but this is what the job

[1:00:10] is uh I to digest your new position or I

[1:00:14] guess your your current position uh I

[1:00:19] need time to evaluate I I I I cannot do

[1:00:22] that right on the Fly I I cannot do that

[1:00:24] right as

[1:00:28] so we have heard from depart thank you

[1:00:31] I'd like to hear about the rest of from

[1:00:33] the rest of the department heads here

[1:00:34] this evening um to explain their need U

[1:00:38] of what they put in the budget and uh

[1:00:40] how they need it to go forward as the

[1:00:42] mayor presented it so I would like to

[1:00:44] hear that at least tonight before so you

[1:00:46] can digest that a little bit more we all

[1:00:48] can well the other two Department I

[1:00:51] think I thought the police chief was

[1:00:52] here oh there it is um you want to hear

[1:00:55] from them again because we did hear from

[1:00:56] them before and as I said no I they to

[1:00:58] hear from them again there was a little

[1:01:00] uh confusion last night at last night's

[1:01:01] meeting about wiggle room and I I would

[1:01:04] just like that that clarified a little

[1:01:06] bit so thank

[1:01:07] you Chief Marina Chief

[1:01:11] Marina good evening

[1:01:14] everyone

[1:01:16] um so I just want to be perfectly clear

[1:01:20] uh my position has not wavered from the

[1:01:23] beginning I tried to make it as clear as

[1:01:26] possible through numerous conversations

[1:01:28] with every member of the council through

[1:01:30] emails through text

[1:01:32] messages I I'm not sure if I could be

[1:01:35] any

[1:01:35] clear uh we spoke about the overtime at

[1:01:40] nauseum it is what it is it is

[1:01:44] contractual put in 250,000 that line put

[1:01:48] in 1.5 million that line whatever that

[1:01:51] line is at the end of the year that's

[1:01:53] what it's going to be no way around that

[1:01:56] uh our issues

[1:01:59] are um our

[1:02:02] vacancies we have

[1:02:04] tried continually to fight and we

[1:02:07] continue we I appreciate

[1:02:11] uh uh Mr Williams comment of how we

[1:02:15] trying to be

[1:02:16] Innovative and we are on we have a we

[1:02:20] have a plan for 2024 to fire up to 14

[1:02:24] people I believe and that is based on

[1:02:29] six positions we put in the budget but

[1:02:31] also knowing that there will there may

[1:02:34] be some stakings due to

[1:02:37] retirements I could have put in there 14

[1:02:40] positions and that that line would have

[1:02:42] been astronomical you would

[1:02:44] walk I'm trying to be a good Ste we the

[1:02:47] fire department we're trying to be good

[1:02:48] stewards of our money so we see that

[1:02:53] ability to take those savings and apply

[1:02:56] it to further fers if we do not hire

[1:03:00] those

[1:03:01] people we are in a

[1:03:05] world this problem will continue and it

[1:03:08] will multiply to the point where we just

[1:03:11] won't have

[1:03:13] people so I

[1:03:15] probably repeating myself because I

[1:03:18] haven't wigg I don't know what wiggle

[1:03:21] means I'm not wiggling there is no

[1:03:23] wiggle

[1:03:25] what I have said from the beginning is

[1:03:27] what I say today the overtime is the

[1:03:30] overtime the vacancies are there they

[1:03:32] will continue we're trying to take money

[1:03:35] from potential I don't want to call it

[1:03:38] savings but funds that are there and use

[1:03:41] it to hire it's complicated uh the

[1:03:44] assistant chief myself staff we look at

[1:03:47] it we pull our hair out I'm

[1:03:52] successful here is it it is a very tough

[1:03:56] thing to do we're on track I think we

[1:03:58] can do it but if that money's gone I

[1:04:02] throw my hands up on to

[1:04:04] do so I I appreciate your comments Chief

[1:04:07] I would like to direct the council to um

[1:04:10] the inservice training which is a 3411

[1:04:13] 406 in our budgets uh the additional uh

[1:04:18] education you're talking about is

[1:04:19] highlighted in respect to sending more

[1:04:21] ENT to school and that's currently where

[1:04:24] that how what page are you on page 27

[1:04:27] thank you the 2023 adopted budget was

[1:04:31] $113,000 and based on your comments

[1:04:34] previously uh each student is roughly

[1:04:36] $6,000 plus fees which substantiates

[1:04:40] your increase to $45,000 still

[1:04:43] corre

[1:04:45] without without having my notes in

[1:04:48] because I always like to distribute

[1:04:49] perfect transparent answers understood

[1:04:53] So based on your desire to train more

[1:04:57] students um you identified using some

[1:05:00] funds in other lines to essentially do

[1:05:03] this send more students to school with

[1:05:05] inser training I would say from my

[1:05:08] perspective digesting

[1:05:10] this that would have been clearly stated

[1:05:12] if that number was increased to reflect

[1:05:15] your your ask but you're saying you're

[1:05:17] kind of waiting to leverage some other

[1:05:19] positions as they am I still on

[1:05:23] board

[1:05:25] right based on how I interpreted your

[1:05:28] budget from my

[1:05:32] perspective that that that's what you

[1:05:33] that's that's your investment in

[1:05:35] education great but depending on what

[1:05:38] number we actually settle on if it's

[1:05:40] nine

[1:05:42] emps that figure you you mentioned is

[1:05:46] just to send them to paramedic school

[1:05:49] great not that doesn't include uh the

[1:05:52] fire academy and like I said the way we

[1:05:55] approached it was knowing or hoping that

[1:05:59] there was going to be some funds from

[1:06:05] retirements and that money moving around

[1:06:07] that has been done in the

[1:06:09] past so

[1:06:11] [Music]

[1:06:13] using

[1:06:15] um the budget is what not what we want

[1:06:19] because if we wanted I I had

[1:06:23] conversations wanted a couple things and

[1:06:25] it was perfectly clear you're not

[1:06:27] getting what you want buddy so it's what

[1:06:30] we need and I can stand here honestly

[1:06:33] and tell you that this is what we need

[1:06:36] now if you think we should have

[1:06:38] highlighted that number clearer in

[1:06:41] retrospect maybe but knowing that we

[1:06:45] have that this

[1:06:47] opportunity from people retiring that we

[1:06:49] will have some available funds so that

[1:06:51] is what we've been thaning every time I

[1:06:54] hear I think you've gone away from it

[1:06:56] which I appreciate it but every time I

[1:06:58] hear we'll just take those quote unquote

[1:07:01] savings apply overtime to be honest with

[1:07:04] you I get a major pit in my stomach

[1:07:06] because that knocks out our Hing plan

[1:07:09] and I'm more than willing to sit down

[1:07:11] with all of you to show you all the

[1:07:13] details on how we're going to try to

[1:07:15] accomplish it and bring some uh

[1:07:19] ad but I think one of the the the word

[1:07:22] I'd like to highlight is if and I I know

[1:07:25] you're going to make a conscious effort

[1:07:27] to bring those more students in correct

[1:07:29] but we just heard an account of how

[1:07:32] difficult these expectations are to get

[1:07:35] more staff into these positions so are

[1:07:36] you able to definitively say that number

[1:07:39] of new students will be an

[1:07:41] Ned if I could be 100% on anything I

[1:07:45] would be here I a

[1:07:47] lot I think we can get to where we want

[1:07:51] to be we're working out the civil

[1:07:54] services has kind of highlighted that

[1:07:57] process that's not an easy process uh

[1:08:01] we've gone through the

[1:08:02] list our hiring process takes any words

[1:08:05] from 5 to six

[1:08:07] months we've started it now I think we

[1:08:10] can get to nine

[1:08:14] EMTs and I'm hoping for four paramedics

[1:08:17] that's the only one that could vary a

[1:08:18] little bit five maybe you know I doubt

[1:08:21] it three probably I'm shooting in the

[1:08:24] middle before

[1:08:27] um we have an opportunity this year and

[1:08:30] it's a one time only opportunity to have

[1:08:33] two different paramedic classes the

[1:08:35] traditional class that starts in

[1:08:37] August and there is another class that

[1:08:40] starts in February due to another fire

[1:08:44] department um that just hire a whole

[1:08:47] bunch of people but they started at 21

[1:08:49] they're down to 17 now or 16 and they're

[1:08:51] sending them to a class of all their own

[1:08:55] so being that they went from 21 to 16

[1:08:57] there's some opportunity for us to get

[1:08:59] some people in there so because of that

[1:09:02] we're willing to Pivot normally we send

[1:09:06] it to the fire academy then paramedic

[1:09:07] school for five we're willing to go

[1:09:10] paramedic school first and then the

[1:09:12] academy that presents some

[1:09:15] challenges which we've got to be get on the people that we hire we've got to

[1:09:20] be as certain as possible that they can

[1:09:22] go through the rigers this is no CLE

[1:09:25] paramedic school is extremely difficult

[1:09:27] and the academy is very similar to boot

[1:09:30] camp there's no guarantees of anything

[1:09:34] right that's all I'm highlighting that

[1:09:37] these are opportunities not guarantees

[1:09:40] so that is where we're going to take our

[1:09:42] best shot it's not we're just closing

[1:09:44] our eyes and drawing dos and picking and

[1:09:47] chief we're bringing them through the

[1:09:49] rivers TR right people it's truly worth

[1:09:51] noting that our fire department is

[1:09:52] second to none as the mayor consistently

[1:09:54] says for a reason and that is due to the

[1:09:57] quality of uh paramax and firefighters

[1:10:00] that exist so that is something that is

[1:10:02] non available I I appreciate your

[1:10:04] comments and that goes to the men and

[1:10:06] women that we put on the street every

[1:10:08] day they are

[1:10:09] fallowing they face a lot of things that

[1:10:13] are unmentionable and they show up and

[1:10:15] they're there every day and they're

[1:10:16] working

[1:10:18] over I stand Here proud of them and I

[1:10:20] hope that every member of this council

[1:10:22] is proud of them also

[1:10:24] I think just my position is as I

[1:10:26] collectively uh assess the opportunities

[1:10:28] that exist throughout this

[1:10:30] budget that is where I stand right here

[1:10:33] but I think for your

[1:10:35] coms hopefully I'm clear I try to be

[1:10:44] [Music]

[1:10:50] clear I apologize for my appearance um

[1:10:53] I'm going over to disc connected the wi

[1:10:55] boards influencing change meeting later

[1:10:57] so I have to leave right after this so

[1:11:00] I'm not sure exactly what what the

[1:11:02] question is that you want me to respond

[1:11:04] to um just

[1:11:06] your the positions

[1:11:10] open oh let me just find in here uh so

[1:11:14] you have a position for

[1:11:18] um let me

[1:11:21] find I think a health desk specialist is

[1:11:24] that you uh IPS no

[1:11:28] ips3 and off uh 12 vacant controlled

[1:11:32] officers as well as a dog controlled

[1:11:35] officer so I just want to know uh

[1:11:38] keeping those positions open in that

[1:11:40] those finances there um are you you need

[1:11:43] all those positions um the fs3 job is

[1:11:46] currently filled right now that job is

[1:11:48] being um is being is assisting us with

[1:11:51] our control P little while um so that

[1:11:54] job is right now the open control

[1:11:57] officer class is actually up to 13 now

[1:12:00] um I just got word today that our list

[1:12:03] through civil service will be available

[1:12:05] next week so we're we're already

[1:12:07] clearing up with canvasing that thanks I

[1:12:09] highly doubt we'll be able to take on 13

[1:12:12] new officers we're going to try to

[1:12:14] figure out what a manageable number is

[1:12:16] but we do have a new list so we're

[1:12:17] hopeful that we'll be able to get as

[1:12:19] many officers as we can Animal control

[1:12:22] officer that's a that's a work in

[1:12:25] progress if anybody knows anybody we

[1:12:26] really need a second one our current

[1:12:29] Animal control officer is doing a great

[1:12:31] job um but would be good to have one on

[1:12:33] another shift it is a job that's

[1:12:37] important

[1:12:41] and and as far as your overtime that's

[1:12:45] spe specifically what you need to carry

[1:12:48] out it's it's consistent with years past

[1:12:51] that we spent and you know I I pointed

[1:12:55] out to a couple people that I spoken to

[1:12:57] that it's remained consistent for the

[1:13:00] most part even though we've gotten

[1:13:01] raises over the last few years so I

[1:13:03] think overall we've actually spent less

[1:13:04] overtime hours over the year but

[1:13:08] nevertheless the money stays the same

[1:13:09] it's it's right where we are until we

[1:13:12] become fly staff which we never really

[1:13:14] become fly staff as uh as the May

[1:13:17] pointed out earlier but um we

[1:13:19] continuously try to and that's why we

[1:13:22] need

[1:13:27] um so Chief um appreciate the

[1:13:29] information and she said yes the

[1:13:31] overtime budget is is it you explain why

[1:13:33] but it has on every year consistently so

[1:13:37] um so with that what we hear from the

[1:13:39] public and there always the concerns

[1:13:43] um given the amount of over time that's

[1:13:45] being asked in say we get to that how

[1:13:48] can we expect um an increase in response

[1:13:51] time because that is what one of the

[1:13:53] reasons you say that overtime is needed

[1:13:56] but then on the other but I'm also

[1:13:58] hearing from you as well from the public

[1:14:00] that we saying calls really stacked up

[1:14:02] so I was just wondering how that

[1:14:04] coincides and how we with given it the

[1:14:08] overtime budget requested you're going

[1:14:10] to be able to read that these are things

[1:14:14] that we're working on that's one of the

[1:14:15] reasons that we working with transfinder

[1:14:18] to develop control finder so our

[1:14:20] officers have a better idea calls

[1:14:21] waiting we're working other technologies

[1:14:24] that can help us with that I mean but at

[1:14:26] the end of the day you

[1:14:28] know every we we don't work in a vacuum

[1:14:31] um we we handled 75,000 calls last year

[1:14:34] it's 200 calls a day to do the math in

[1:14:37] your head um and we're probably going to

[1:14:39] exceed that number this year um I think

[1:14:41] Year date when I asked over a month ago

[1:14:44] we're over 60,000 calls so and we handle

[1:14:48] a lot of calls as more calls come in as technology increases the ability for

[1:14:52] people to call us they're doing it and

[1:14:55] um you know we have to respond to these

[1:14:57] to certain calls and you know as the

[1:15:00] calls go up the need for officers goes

[1:15:02] up we don't have those officers to send

[1:15:04] so that's why people wait um the the

[1:15:07] other thing is is that you know our

[1:15:10] unified Communication Center does a

[1:15:11] great job over there um but they have

[1:15:14] staffing issues themselves so sometimes

[1:15:17] people waiting on the line is not uh

[1:15:19] indicative of what we're doing at the

[1:15:21] police department but their operation

[1:15:23] over there and they're limited Staffing

[1:15:25] and they also have we've we're uh we're

[1:15:28] in constant communication with them

[1:15:30] they're very responsive to us and

[1:15:32] recognize their challenges so we're not

[1:15:34] I'm not laying blame on them but it's

[1:15:36] just another factor to take into

[1:15:38] [Music]

[1:15:40] consideration

[1:15:46] [Music]

[1:15:48] thank than

[1:15:52] you

[1:15:54] did you have any other questions Mr T

[1:15:56] points to

[1:15:57] [Music]

[1:15:59] verify I would like to hear

[1:16:02] um you know you say me has way what's

[1:16:08] your plans to address the structural

[1:16:10] deficits that are in in this

[1:16:16] plan what plan are you referring

[1:16:19] to we'll just go with the 50% one the

[1:16:22] fees are 50% because those are the

[1:16:24] latest papers because it's confusing

[1:16:27] with all

[1:16:30] the are you talking about the board the

[1:16:34] 50 or which

[1:16:35] 50% the last plan that uh

[1:16:39] [Music]

[1:16:40] you group had put on the table was a 50%

[1:16:44] fee for water water and sewer but

[1:16:48] inherent in that as well as the other

[1:16:51] aspects of the budget are structural

[1:16:53] deficits how do you plan to address

[1:16:56] those right now we're trying to fill

[1:16:58] that budget gap which we came up with

[1:17:00] yesterday

[1:17:01] 777000 and I'm going forward I know that

[1:17:04] we're going to have to continue look at

[1:17:05] the budget um Mr col so right now we're

[1:17:08] trying to not only increase water and

[1:17:11] sore 50% we are definitely looking at

[1:17:14] taking some of the money from the

[1:17:15] reserves we are we already stuss that

[1:17:18] and um and by removing some of the

[1:17:22] positions that we are not currently

[1:17:25] filled or have not been filled

[1:17:27] consistently getting set number so that

[1:17:29] we can pass this budget so and and

[1:17:32] additionally from from my perspective

[1:17:34] that quarterly we should be looking at

[1:17:36] what our spending looks like what we

[1:17:38] ultimately do is at the end of the year

[1:17:40] we sit around this table um and have

[1:17:42] this discussion so part for me part of

[1:17:44] it is as we go through next year that we

[1:17:48] continue to look at it and see where we

[1:17:50] are what we do differently and how we

[1:17:51] can increase our Revenue I have one

[1:17:53] thought that it's not something that the

[1:17:55] mayor um is part of but it's it's um

[1:17:58] something that you know I would be

[1:18:00] discussing with the individuals who do

[1:18:02] that and see you know that we could have

[1:18:06] increased Revenue there but that doesn't

[1:18:09] answer I mean I'm very specific because

[1:18:12] that's my you you all want to know what

[1:18:14] my thing my thing is a structural

[1:18:16] deficit so how do you how do you plan on

[1:18:19] addressing I just for sake of of having

[1:18:24] a civil conversation um you're saying

[1:18:28] like that you all put together or you

[1:18:31] all are bringing I'm not sure exactly

[1:18:33] who you all is um council members and I

[1:18:37] speak for myself um are uh clearly uh

[1:18:42] capable of independent thought and I

[1:18:44] think that I just would ask for you to

[1:18:46] be a little more specific or just talk

[1:18:48] to whatever council members you're

[1:18:49] addressing because I would say it would

[1:18:51] be Mr mood Mr Williams and Miss

[1:18:55] Porterfield seem to have come with that

[1:18:57] plan that's where I'm coming with the U

[1:19:00] all now I may be incorrect in that but

[1:19:03] that's the way it's been projected okay

[1:19:05] so what my only suggestion would just be

[1:19:08] to be a little more specific because I

[1:19:09] don't want to you

[1:19:11] know that might not accurately represent

[1:19:14] the process that's happening here and I

[1:19:15] think that that

[1:19:17] can put us back into a place where we're

[1:19:20] trying to move out of it thank you

[1:19:24] so do you want to detail what you mean

[1:19:26] by the structural deficit yeah you're

[1:19:28] taking away 50% of the fees so you're

[1:19:31] inherently creating a deficit in the

[1:19:33] water and sewage any changes you make

[1:19:36] into the budget in terms of uh positions

[1:19:40] is a onetime position to reduce the fees

[1:19:44] and then you now have that deficit built

[1:19:47] in and you're also creating a situation

[1:19:50] where if you do hire then you also have

[1:19:53] that built in as a ACC so there's we're

[1:19:57] looking at 7.4 let's just say for

[1:19:59] Giggles it's 35

[1:20:02] million you build in

[1:20:04] these deficits you're looking at roughly

[1:20:09] five five a half million how are you

[1:20:11] going to address

[1:20:13] that well first of all mayor said that

[1:20:15] deficit is not coming next your his

[1:20:17] words not mine and in terms of ring the

[1:20:19] positions Mr col we haven't filled them

[1:20:21] for years we've said that so that's I I

[1:20:24] think I don't think that point that

[1:20:26] point can be argued or even needs to be

[1:20:28] discussed any further sure it is because

[1:20:30] if you have $5 million worth of

[1:20:32] positions that don't get filled and we

[1:20:36] go through the season and we end up with

[1:20:38] either a deficit or a let's say we had a

[1:20:42] $2.5 million surplus a couple years ago

[1:20:45] we had $5 million worth of positions if

[1:20:48] we didn't if we had filled all those 5

[1:20:51] million positions we would have had a

[1:20:52] $2.5 million deficit mhm that's a

[1:20:56] deficit situation but first of all um

[1:20:59] and if you take those away then you have

[1:21:02] that situation well it's it's not that

[1:21:04] many vacancies first of all that we're

[1:21:06] talking about but it's 3 million it's

[1:21:09] probably 3

[1:21:11] million I don't know it's 3 million

[1:21:13] because they haven't we we asked for the

[1:21:15] number we have the number here except we

[1:21:17] have 2.5 in vacancies we said that we're

[1:21:21] not going to uh looking at keeping the

[1:21:23] police and fire in there so that

[1:21:25] significantly reduces that

[1:21:29] number you reduc the fire um fire and

[1:21:34] Patrol officers who approximately

[1:21:45] [Music]

[1:21:46] 1.4 I was this talking there my numbers

[1:21:49] are pretty

[1:21:51] close

[1:22:00] [Music]

[1:22:02] so I can say for myself specifically um

[1:22:05] I think I've been clear on my position

[1:22:07] with

[1:22:08] vacancies I think it is comparative that

[1:22:11] we adjust how we hire and recruit is

[1:22:14] naturally I think the way that our

[1:22:16] budget that has been previously

[1:22:18] submitted if you have unfilled positions

[1:22:20] those funds return to the fund balance

[1:22:22] is that correct I feel until the city

[1:22:25] can put forth a considered effort to to

[1:22:27] hire into these vacancies I think it is

[1:22:30] beneficial uh for the city residents to

[1:22:34] reap some of the benefits of that now

[1:22:37] after hearing from our finance

[1:22:39] department uh that benefit comes at a

[1:22:42] cost which potentially could put in

[1:22:44] Jeopardy our uh Bond reading that so

[1:22:47] correct that's right which is where my

[1:22:49] position then shifted because I do not

[1:22:51] want to MH completely under May

[1:22:54] McCarthy's efforts to manage the city

[1:22:56] appropriately and that is where my 50%

[1:22:59] came from however if we get to a

[1:23:01] standpoint where we can accurately

[1:23:03] evaluate and truly say that there are no

[1:23:07] other concessions that we can make to

[1:23:09] how we redefine these roles to increase

[1:23:12] our staffing then that number is what it

[1:23:14] is ladies and gentlemen and then we need

[1:23:17] to then take a hard look at what those

[1:23:19] fees have to reflect um but until we do

[1:23:23] that I've identified that those uh the

[1:23:26] fund balance should be used in that

[1:23:31] manner well I'll ask again how do you

[1:23:34] plan to address the structural

[1:23:42] deficits so you're stating that if we

[1:23:44] don't increase the water fees then we're

[1:23:46] going to have a structural deficit and

[1:23:47] then next year since they continually go

[1:23:49] up we're going to be in the same

[1:23:50] position so continually every year we

[1:23:52] will not only will will increase the

[1:23:54] fees or Actual taxes um on the taxpayers

[1:23:58] is what you're saying you will be in a

[1:24:00] worse position next year and the years

[1:24:02] after because it's exponential impact

[1:24:06] and all you're going to end up doing is

[1:24:08] uh creating a situation where taxes and

[1:24:10] fees will have to go up so much that

[1:24:13] this increase will look small I I

[1:24:16] completely agree with you there's no way

[1:24:18] I mean I really have spent so much time

[1:24:21] and I really think that that is what's

[1:24:23] going to happen that next year we would

[1:24:24] have to have a tax increase that would

[1:24:27] really hurt our

[1:24:29] residents and I think I mean again i'

[1:24:32] I've been here what this is my fourth

[1:24:34] budget or my third budget must be my

[1:24:36] fourth budget but I mean you all before

[1:24:38] me had done a nice job too I mean the

[1:24:40] thing has been either level or going

[1:24:42] down slightly for at least six years

[1:24:45] maybe seven on the

[1:24:47] taxes um so but next

[1:24:51] year would be hugee right I mean that do

[1:24:55] you agree with that next year a year

[1:24:58] after it's an exponential

[1:25:05] impact just can address Paul F Paul

[1:25:09] before last year we did a first raise of

[1:25:11] water and sore how many years did we not

[1:25:13] raise water and sore I think it was at

[1:25:15] least three or four years we four years

[1:25:17] then we had one and then you go back I

[1:25:19] think it was three years and we didn't

[1:25:20] have any where cost of living goes up

[1:25:23] every year we know that CPI we've tried

[1:25:25] to do our best to hold rates down as

[1:25:27] much as we can it comes to a point now

[1:25:29] where you know some things

[1:25:32] have created an issue where we need to

[1:25:34] raise our rates a $700,000 p service has

[1:25:38] to be repaid for the next 30 years if

[1:25:41] you take it out of your reserves it's

[1:25:43] still there next year what do you

[1:25:45] do it's I mean we have some of the best

[1:25:49] water around we have a great supply of

[1:25:51] water we run on a great wastewater

[1:25:53] treatment plant um we all know

[1:25:55] infrastructure is a it's a it's a costly

[1:25:58] subject it's kind of here and we we bear

[1:26:02] those costs and we to get that money

[1:26:06] either Rec through

[1:26:08] borrowing it's a dent service we pay

[1:26:10] back or emergency repairs come out of

[1:26:13] Reserve funds which we know we have we

[1:26:15] had big repairs over the past years a

[1:26:18] water man bre that broke over um 890 get

[1:26:22] to school um few years back to B cost

[1:26:26] well over a million dollars to rep

[1:26:30] um how much did the chemicals and sludge

[1:26:33] hauling sludge hauling has gone up

[1:26:36] considerably was just under $100 112 we

[1:26:41] up to 212 now we got to did a new RFP to

[1:26:46] get it down to

[1:26:47] $155 we do roughly 10,500 tons a year of

[1:26:50] sledge and 15 $5 a

[1:26:53] p it's it's a lot of money 50% increase

[1:26:57] right chemicals have g off considerably

[1:26:59] these are uncontrollable cost that we we deal with it's you know energy cost

[1:27:07] L um everything has gone up in the

[1:27:11] operations of the wastewater treatment

[1:27:12] plant store division for the water

[1:27:14] treatment plant and at the same time we

[1:27:18] have to constantly be looking at making

[1:27:19] upgrad because again um we're planning

[1:27:23] for the future we want that water supply

[1:27:25] we want the resiliency of being able to

[1:27:28] turn our faucets on and have water every

[1:27:30] day those plans are are always there we

[1:27:36] just did the wells we're doing flation

[1:27:38] now and in the the Final Phase will be

[1:27:40] the well houses and all the equipment um

[1:27:43] that's to ensure that we have you a

[1:27:45] supply of

[1:27:46] water and on the waste water side to

[1:27:48] treat everything prior to going into the

[1:27:50] MK River where down street just like Le

[1:27:54] are pulling water off for drinking water

[1:27:55] we're fortunate enough to have the

[1:27:59] aqua our cost would be considerably

[1:28:01] higher if we didn't have an aquafer we

[1:28:02] had put water out a river we be creating

[1:28:05] water so we're fortunate in some ways

[1:28:08] but again our costs go up every

[1:28:10] year and sply this to our

[1:28:13] taxpayers nobody wants to like you said

[1:28:16] nobody wants to raise rates but it's the

[1:28:18] cost of doing

[1:28:20] business some has to pay for

[1:28:26] it but then most importantly someone has

[1:28:29] to do the job to make sure that those

[1:28:31] systems are still operational and what

[1:28:33] we've seen in this budget are consistent

[1:28:36] increases to our fees for services and

[1:28:39] also positions um so I think that's

[1:28:42] where the struggle truly is is you keep

[1:28:46] going after positions but these are the

[1:28:47] positions we need I hear you say that

[1:28:49] they've been there for years there will

[1:28:51] always be open positions people come

[1:28:54] people go they retire they're terminated

[1:28:57] they leave for other positions they'll

[1:28:58] always be open positions we do our best

[1:29:01] to fill them and we have agreements in

[1:29:04] place with the bargain un that has a you

[1:29:08] an opportunity for people to come in and

[1:29:10] grow and whether they're in the Parks or

[1:29:13] the streets you know they're MOS they

[1:29:16] all work together they have the same

[1:29:18] qualifications with regards to civil

[1:29:20] service it's the same job title it's the

[1:29:23] same job description the biggest

[1:29:26] requirement is the CDL license without

[1:29:28] the CDL license I can't put anybody in a

[1:29:31] truck to drive

[1:29:34] [Music]

[1:29:46] it so I think hearing from Miss Patrick

[1:29:50] and then in some May Mr Toro and Mr Pini

[1:29:54] uh sta stances

[1:29:57] of standing behind the mayor's proposed

[1:30:00] budget

[1:30:00] correct so I'd

[1:30:02] say he's he's I think I'm willing to

[1:30:06] make I want my question answer about the

[1:30:09] structural deficits I have yet to get an

[1:30:11] answer on that I'm willing to address

[1:30:13] Some Cuts here or there but I've not

[1:30:17] gotten an answer to my question you guys

[1:30:19] ask questions all the time you know

[1:30:22] that's an important one how are we going

[1:30:23] to deal with the structural deficits

[1:30:25] because it's only going to cause the

[1:30:27] problem to be much more worse in a year

[1:30:30] two three years down the

[1:30:33] world I would say before before I would

[1:30:36] say part of it is considering your

[1:30:38] stance with a cautious optimism because

[1:30:40] if I remember correctly that was your

[1:30:42] previous narrative last year and the the

[1:30:46] city's not it's not on fire and I think

[1:30:49] the language in which she used which was

[1:30:51] very insightful or gu very incendiary I

[1:30:56] think was was how I was presented with

[1:30:58] my first budget of if you do not approve

[1:31:01] 100% of what the mayor is saying or if

[1:31:03] you do not have this uh uh lines in

[1:31:06] order um you are running the city into a

[1:31:09] brick wall and I although we are at in

[1:31:13] impass yet again I don't think that's where we currently are um I think

[1:31:17] we're more or less trying to understand

[1:31:19] how do we marginally increase

[1:31:22] where we're not having to jump more more

[1:31:25] steps next year because the fact is the

[1:31:28] money's got to come from somewhere it's

[1:31:29] going to come from the fund balance that

[1:31:31] fund balance goes down significantly

[1:31:34] gets below $6 million the bond rating

[1:31:36] goes down costs go up even further

[1:31:39] couple uh incidents and the the reserves

[1:31:42] are gone and the city's bankrupt that's

[1:31:45] not hyperbole that's reality Am I Wrong

[1:31:48] Mr Ferrari so so I think the question

[1:31:51] then would be um you said that you were

[1:31:53] support that you would support some C

[1:31:55] where what areas would you support those

[1:31:58] I've made those last night with the uh

[1:32:01] the clerk's office I think the uh the

[1:32:03] council's salary increase as well as the

[1:32:06] benefits those are those are some

[1:32:09] starters um you know but other other

[1:32:13] areas I mean code enforcement is a

[1:32:16] revenue line why would we cut those

[1:32:18] individuals the uh some of these I think

[1:32:22] are Grant

[1:32:24] positions the uh some of them are just

[1:32:27] plain needed so you know I'm willing to

[1:32:31] listen but I put out some suggestions

[1:32:33] and so that that that's why I think

[1:32:36] where the productive conversation can

[1:32:37] happen so you were

[1:32:40] saying the position in the clerk's

[1:32:42] office

[1:32:43] and the uh increase for the council is

[1:32:47] where where else cuz I know that that's

[1:32:49] pretty on the scale of what we're

[1:32:51] talking talking about that's pretty well

[1:32:53] we're not going my view we're not

[1:32:55] there's no way to get the

[1:32:56] 777 can I can I just sorry didn't mean

[1:33:00] to tr no no no just jump right in well I

[1:33:03] just do want to say that that is part of

[1:33:05] what happened to me this afternoon I

[1:33:06] must say that I mean thinking about last

[1:33:09] night in particular I mean I just felt

[1:33:12] like we

[1:33:13] were going over the same lines over and over again and when you look at

[1:33:17] the money it was it was it just was

[1:33:20] minuscule in terms of some of the so

[1:33:24] that's where I thought I think I just

[1:33:26] felt like we were spinning our wheels so

[1:33:28] that's really what happened to me this

[1:33:29] afternoon as I was red digesting

[1:33:33] everything that we

[1:33:36] discussed but I'm no you

[1:33:40] know I mean I think we'd have to have

[1:33:43] like huge chunks you know um we'd have

[1:33:45] to look for huge chunks of of funding

[1:33:49] here so if we're taking out the so so in

[1:33:51] terms of you're saying it's new school

[1:33:53] what they provided from us for the

[1:33:54] finance department is all the vacant

[1:33:57] positions who taking out fire employe so

[1:34:00] um it's been said that it's there's 1.4

[1:34:02] million so that's not really to

[1:34:04] minuscule if and we're trying to get to

[1:34:07] 777000 to Mr pin's Point your your

[1:34:10] recommendations in terms of the council

[1:34:12] um there was uh the a was agreed on but

[1:34:16] there was a council member who who was

[1:34:18] very clear about the um about the uh

[1:34:22] me about the

[1:34:25] insurance yeah and um and also you know

[1:34:28] I will I'll speak up about the clerk's

[1:34:30] office we only when we think about the

[1:34:32] clerk's office we only think about the

[1:34:33] clerk sitting here doing the work that

[1:34:35] for the council however the I've been in

[1:34:37] there and the clerk's office does a lot

[1:34:39] of work and serves the public and I say

[1:34:41] I would say very well I would just um

[1:34:43] say that I had people who have

[1:34:45] complimented um the people the offices

[1:34:48] the folks office as well as other

[1:34:49] offices where they have to interact with

[1:34:51] public so I think that we have um public

[1:34:53] facing offices that are doing a great

[1:34:55] job that we don't lessen their ability

[1:34:57] to do the job and M Mike who stated last

[1:35:00] night that there additional duties that

[1:35:02] had been assigned to her office so

[1:35:06] um and and that which brings in more

[1:35:09] Revenue thank you for telling me that so

[1:35:11] but the revenue line has been

[1:35:13] flat it's going to be bringing in more

[1:35:16] because we're going to be putting things

[1:35:17] online right and if we do more of that

[1:35:20] we can eliminate some of the positions

[1:35:22] and get more

[1:35:27] efficient um thank you for everyone's

[1:35:30] opinion so I I'm just that Mr Ferrari

[1:35:32] and and and there provided to us today

[1:35:35] what positions here that haven't been

[1:35:37] filled in a year two years a couple of

[1:35:39] years whatever are you recommending that

[1:35:42] we cut all all these other positions to

[1:35:44] get to the 770 I I'm just curious well

[1:35:47] it would need to be off had I'm sorry it

[1:35:50] would not need to be

[1:35:52] right but um so minus minus police at

[1:35:55] 795 fire 384 Animal Control at

[1:35:59] 355 and I would like to keep all the

[1:36:01] meos at 671 I mean what what positions

[1:36:05] are I I'm not looking to cut any

[1:36:06] position because I think the budget

[1:36:08] presented to us again is a good budget

[1:36:11] but what what are you recommending that

[1:36:13] we cut at this point so maybe we can you

[1:36:16] know think about a little something else

[1:36:18] but you made it quite imperative that

[1:36:19] you have no interest in think well okay

[1:36:22] but I'm I'm asking you what positions

[1:36:24] are you willing to cut to get to that

[1:36:26] $770,000 but you're asking me to

[1:36:28] entertain a conversation that you've had

[1:36:30] no point in wanting to follow through so

[1:36:34] excuse me I'm not done yet well I was

[1:36:40] okay um Mr I want to

[1:36:45] speak so what I what I was going to

[1:36:48] suggest is that maybe if you look at the

[1:36:50] positions that are here and then maybe

[1:36:53] if if you can start to rate them

[1:36:57] yourself like where there might be areas

[1:36:59] that you're willing to move on and and therefore we can have a conversation

[1:37:05] around that but I think M Mr Williams

[1:37:07] poting I don't put words in your mouth

[1:37:09] and how I understand what you're saying

[1:37:10] is that you're not interested in cutting

[1:37:12] or because I don't think anyone wants to cut anything right so if it's

[1:37:17] like if you're not interested in

[1:37:18] entertaining the conversation well then

[1:37:20] we will be kind of like what M Patrick

[1:37:22] is saying SP over that was only thing I

[1:37:24] was trying to interject yeah well thank

[1:37:25] you Mr

[1:37:26] FY um so you know clerical AIDS ips3 I

[1:37:31] mean I'm in favor of keeping all these

[1:37:33] positions because obviously they

[1:37:35] wouldn't be on here unless they were

[1:37:37] need it to serve the public in an

[1:37:39] efficient manner and and that's really

[1:37:41] all I'm going to say right

[1:37:43] now right and in in digesting this

[1:37:46] entire conversation I honestly saw no

[1:37:50] value in Contin this because I know your

[1:37:52] position and it's clearly Laden out so

[1:37:54] but I'm just wondering about your

[1:37:56] position I mean you have a whole room of

[1:37:58] individuals here who want to know if the

[1:38:01] getting their positions cut

[1:38:03] uh that was my only question is on the

[1:38:07] finance committee I I don't have a vote

[1:38:09] to get it out but I also want it to be

[1:38:11] important to highlight we're not cutting

[1:38:12] any positions that are currently filled

[1:38:14] so the I understand that totally and

[1:38:16] it's that type of language though that

[1:38:17] the community latches on to and then

[1:38:20] those phone calls that were buing are

[1:38:21] taking on a new narrative the positions

[1:38:23] that we were previously evaluating were

[1:38:26] vacant correct like I started my

[1:38:28] conversation with one year two year

[1:38:29] three year you know that's how I started

[1:38:31] the conversation but again but you said

[1:38:33] individuals who might be losing their

[1:38:36] jobs oh I didn't hear sorry I didn't

[1:38:38] mean to say that at

[1:38:40] all and to Mr Farley's point but our

[1:38:43] spinning our whe suggestions made no we

[1:38:46] got to keep those positions which is

[1:38:48] fine I I understand that perspective but you know some cuts are okay other

[1:38:53] cuts are not you know it's it's the

[1:38:57] Dealer's Choice here so um I think

[1:39:00] you're absolutely

[1:39:02] correct right and that's why my stance

[1:39:05] was then hearing where people's

[1:39:07] positions are and how do we pass a

[1:39:08] budget that we all can support and agree

[1:39:13] on but I'd still like my question

[1:39:15] answered about the structural

[1:39:20] deficits

[1:39:35] well I I know you keep using that term

[1:39:37] but I don't um and you're saying like

[1:39:39] years down the road and so we have to

[1:39:41] pass a budget one year each year at a

[1:39:42] time and so we're looking at passing

[1:39:46] this budget and increasing Revenue it's

[1:39:48] been said time and time again it's been

[1:39:49] said at the police department it's been

[1:39:51] set in cold enforcement um uh it's been

[1:39:54] said in the clerk's office so part of

[1:39:56] creating the budget is increasing

[1:39:59] Revenue but we never talk about that so

[1:40:02] in terms of you keep continually saying

[1:40:04] that you're um believing that you're

[1:40:07] offering in the per that our Revenue

[1:40:09] will stay flat and they will have no

[1:40:11] more even if it goes up a consistent you

[1:40:15] if they go hand inand because costs are

[1:40:17] going to go up even if the revenue goes

[1:40:20] up you still have that Gap so it doesn't

[1:40:24] go

[1:40:24] away and we're talking about let's

[1:40:27] getting rid of feas because our

[1:40:29] residents uh have a burden and yes they

[1:40:32] have a burden but you're just making it

[1:40:35] worse in two or three years and that's

[1:40:38] just a matter of

[1:40:40] fact I believe the term you just used

[1:40:43] that you said were saying let's get rid

[1:40:44] of fees I don't I didn't hear that from

[1:40:48] anyone I could just speak for myself I

[1:40:50] didn't say that's good rid of fees I

[1:40:52] think it's important that we're using

[1:40:53] accurate language so it is accurate

[1:40:55] you're looking to get rid of some of the

[1:40:56] fees get rid of fees that's 50% if it's

[1:41:01] 1% it's you're looking to get rid of

[1:41:03] fees that's an accurate

[1:41:08] statement and that's very different than

[1:41:10] getting rid of them same thing it's not

[1:41:13] the same and all you're doing is putting

[1:41:15] it down the road and making it worse

[1:41:18] well no and I don't think that is just a

[1:41:20] question of Sam I don't think it's

[1:41:22] question of semantics I think one action

[1:41:24] is saying that we are looking to or

[1:41:27] council members are saying how do we not

[1:41:29] increase fees and then there's a

[1:41:31] conversation of how do we not increase

[1:41:33] fees and getting rid of fees would would

[1:41:35] suggest that there's fees that we're

[1:41:37] trying to reduce and get rid of right

[1:41:38] now and I don't think that that

[1:41:40] conversation is or that framing is

[1:41:43] accurate of for my understanding right

[1:41:45] now regardless doesn't answer my

[1:41:48] question about the deficit it doesn't

[1:41:50] answer my

[1:41:58] so so at this point in time are we

[1:42:01] entertaining um getting them well miss

[1:42:04] POS Miss Patrick's position has changed

[1:42:06] so um she said the

[1:42:10] moment but um are we entertaining like

[1:42:13] looking at reducing the fees for

[1:42:14] services and truly Mr mood she behave

[1:42:16] for this discussion because I know

[1:42:18] that's one of the items that he was

[1:42:19] bringing forward um to get to that

[1:42:22] number or

[1:42:24] we that's really the question and we can

[1:42:27] get this budget out

[1:42:29] of can we get there

[1:42:36] tonight I just wanted just so as Derek

[1:42:40] said in the beginning excuse me

[1:42:41] beginning of this conference the 2024 a

[1:42:45] budget

[1:42:46] for what it peace peace res Services is

[1:42:50] 4% that was in 2023 so just want to let

[1:42:53] you know that right off

[1:42:56] the

[1:42:58] 4% in the general fund Ro departments

[1:43:02] you total everything out from the 2023

[1:43:05] adopted budget to the um uh proposed

[1:43:10] 2024 budget looking at a 4%

[1:43:19] decrease

[1:43:30] but I can say to my comment if you're

[1:43:32] truly looking for a response at some

[1:43:33] point our investments and Technology

[1:43:35] need to start reaping benefits for our

[1:43:37] community and if we are saying and

[1:43:39] hearing from uh our Public Services

[1:43:42] saying that not yet we need more time at

[1:43:45] some point that question is going to

[1:43:47] need to be answered or met with what is

[1:43:50] the value of our continued investments

[1:43:52] in such

[1:43:54] efforts okay but that still doesn't deal

[1:43:57] with the structural deficits next year

[1:44:00] we're going to have a payment for 500

[1:44:03] next year

[1:44:05] $500,000 we have to look at this if

[1:44:07] we're looking to reduce the burden on

[1:44:09] taxpayers which is what I've been

[1:44:12] hearing then you have to look at the

[1:44:15] impact beyond the 2024 budget because

[1:44:19] the impact will be multiplied and it

[1:44:22] will only be that much worse for

[1:44:24] residents we have a $500,000 payment

[1:44:27] coming for the axium which we agreed to

[1:44:30] that's got to be put into the budget

[1:44:31] it's not yet we have the contract coming

[1:44:34] up with the police department that's a

[1:44:36] minimum of x amount of dollars don't

[1:44:39] want to do it publicly because but it's

[1:44:43] substantial and

[1:44:45] we if we were to go with half

[1:44:49] fees 3 let's say 3.4 was it $1.7 million

[1:44:55] deficit I'm sorry if we went with half

[1:44:58] fees it would be a $1.7 million deficit

[1:45:07] 1.1.2 $500,000 at this point doesn't

[1:45:10] really matter so 1.2 million that's

[1:45:15] several million dollars that we're not

[1:45:17] accounting for and we have to address if

[1:45:21] we're really interested in making the

[1:45:25] burden not hard on our residents and

[1:45:28] that's why the structural deficit is

[1:45:33] important so last year with us

[1:45:37] um not increasing fees um to this way we

[1:45:41] ended up you're saying that it's now 4%

[1:45:46] less no Fe for service free for service

[1:45:49] okay yes you that's the water and store

[1:45:52] fees this is fees for services from the

[1:45:55] various departments that didn't make

[1:45:57] sense to me I'm like those

[1:45:59] projections

[1:46:17] yeah seems like the question is again

[1:46:19] how can I closer to the demands of

[1:46:22] sticking to the mayor's propos proposed

[1:46:26] budget so I know the word no one wants

[1:46:29] to hear is recess and I don't even know

[1:46:31] if you would entertain one but I I do

[1:46:33] not

[1:46:36] know I just want an answer if I'm not

[1:46:40] going to get one that's fine you can say

[1:46:41] I don't have an answer but I would like

[1:46:43] to know what the plan is for the

[1:46:46] structural deficit yet to get an answer

[1:46:48] and if the answers I don't have one or

[1:46:51] whatever that's fine and we'll move on

[1:46:53] and we'll recess but that's the fifth

[1:46:56] time I've asked the question and I've

[1:46:58] yet to get an answer and and I think

[1:47:01] that and I think that you're um

[1:47:03] projecting and not NE and not I don't

[1:47:06] know if you're necessarily projecting

[1:47:07] with um actual numbers we were down we

[1:47:09] were sat at the same table last year and

[1:47:11] we had a similar conversation about how

[1:47:12] bad it was going to be and we're not the

[1:47:14] place that you said we're going to be

[1:47:16] and again we have to do a better job of

[1:47:19] look and increasing our revenue and

[1:47:21] that's on us so we said it last year I

[1:47:23] the only reason we're we're doing okay

[1:47:25] is because we used

[1:47:27] 49 million or whatever it was in har

[1:47:30] this year we're using 6.6 are my numbers

[1:47:34] horribly wrong from what I've said Mr

[1:47:37] ferr I would say the manner in which you

[1:47:39] delivered them

[1:47:41] were and I can say the same about yours

[1:47:44] but if if we're all I'm asking is if I'm

[1:47:47] not going to get an answer just say I

[1:47:48] won't get an answer and we'll reset yes

[1:47:51] that's fine I'm okay with that maybe I can suggest that maybe it's not

[1:47:56] the answer that you deem acceptable cuz

[1:48:00] I the Council president has addressed

[1:48:02] that no she hasn't with all due respect

[1:48:04] she has not okay

[1:48:07] so I believe she she did um maybe not to

[1:48:11] your satisfactory and I can appreciate

[1:48:13] that I just want to reiterate that there

[1:48:15] has been a bit of a thought exchange

[1:48:17] here and from what I heard is that the

[1:48:20] council president has tried to address

[1:48:22] what you're describing um as a built-in

[1:48:26] deficit structural

[1:48:31] deficit there's yet to be an answer as

[1:48:35] how to how to close that

[1:48:40] Gap well I guess the answer is not

[1:48:44] satisfactory to you but again I I I

[1:48:46] submit that you said similarly last year

[1:48:49] um you're saying again this year but

[1:48:50] you're not specifically saying where it

[1:48:53] is I have been specific very specific

[1:48:55] with my numbers you just have't listen

[1:48:57] and Mr Ferrari has said my numbers are

[1:48:59] pretty accurate so and I have this so I

[1:49:04] take objection to that uh so you know

[1:49:07] those that's those are my response to

[1:49:09] your um to your and I understand that

[1:49:10] you won't be at this table next year

[1:49:12] when we do this again I appreciate your

[1:49:13] presence here now um and we will and

[1:49:18] have help the say have they heard I said

[1:49:21] Heaven helped the city so if you want to

[1:49:24] recess if if I'm not going to get an

[1:49:26] answer that's fine we'll recess I would

[1:49:28] say your narrative is on brand but can I

[1:49:31] have a motion foress and now we need to

[1:49:33] discuss a de well it's not discussing

[1:49:38] the DAT you've called for a special

[1:49:40] meeting special meeting bypasses the

[1:49:42] committee you have a statutory

[1:49:45] obligation to adopt the budget by

[1:49:46] November

[1:49:48] 1st and don't have where's the big hand

[1:49:51] on the clock a

[1:49:54] little so what I would say is you got to

[1:49:57] put a budget forward and vote on it

[1:50:02] whether you want to use mine as the

[1:50:04] Baseline line by line amendments or

[1:50:07] whatever but you called for a special

[1:50:09] meeting and think you have an obligation

[1:50:12] to vote on a

[1:50:15] budget um so my understanding from um Mr

[1:50:19] P is that if we there's not that our

[1:50:22] code does not speak to what happens if

[1:50:24] we don't pass the budget on November 1st

[1:50:28] um I know that we have to pass it by the

[1:50:29] end of the year otherwise we don't have

[1:50:31] a budget so you can just L some clarity

[1:50:33] to that Mr

[1:50:35] hold our code does not provide for a

[1:50:41] there's no provision within our Charter

[1:50:42] just within our Charter not the code

[1:50:45] which says the time to pass the budget

[1:50:48] is by November one the end of November

[1:50:51] one the particular year um Arco does not

[1:50:54] provide for or Charter there um does not

[1:50:58] provide for the what if question if you

[1:51:00] don't pass it on that particular day

[1:51:03] there's no statutory provision um in

[1:51:05] general Municipal law second class city

[1:51:08] law um general city law uh that applies

[1:51:13] to budget

[1:51:14] FES

[1:51:16] um generally um everything goes back to

[1:51:20] the

[1:51:24] Charter well it's been a special meeting

[1:51:26] called for that bypasses the system so

[1:51:29] what I'm suggesting is you use my budget

[1:51:31] as a Baseline and then move to amend it

[1:51:34] from the

[1:51:38] floor and I'll make a motion

[1:51:41] to accept the mayor's

[1:51:45] budget you call the meeting to order I

[1:51:48] was we hav really recess first it has to

[1:51:53] pass out committee the budget no not if

[1:51:55] we have a special meeting bypasses the

[1:51:58] committee there's one

[1:52:01] item or Whatever item is delineated in

[1:52:04] the

[1:52:07] notes so we don't have to leave I don't

[1:52:11] believe I given a copy whatever given of

[1:52:14] the council so whatever is in

[1:52:15] [Music]

[1:52:18] that yesterday I going to do

[1:52:21] tonight oh so there's I thought the

[1:52:24] agendas were passed out last night right

[1:52:27] no there's another agenda today the

[1:52:30] agenda the notice that sered on city

[1:52:33] council elimates what you're going to

[1:52:37] [Music]

[1:52:39] do the session sent last week um you had

[1:52:42] it receiv you received it by emailed it

[1:52:46] received it by in person as well yes I

[1:52:49] just did didn't bring M with

[1:52:53] me I did receive so the special meeting

[1:52:56] said that we were going to call for a

[1:52:59] um special meeting for the finance

[1:53:01] committee to pass the budget out of

[1:53:03] finance and then um the then the meeting

[1:53:06] we need to uh thank

[1:53:08] you okay this reads as

[1:53:11] follows uh Tuesday October 4th and

[1:53:14] Wednesday uh November excuse me October

[1:53:16] 31st and Wednesday November 1st if

[1:53:18] budget not passed on October 31st it

[1:53:21] disconnect the city council meeting to

[1:53:22] convene finance committee followed by

[1:53:24] the special city council meeting that is

[1:53:28] to pass the budget however we did not

[1:53:30] pass the budget out of the finance

[1:53:33] committee you don't have

[1:53:39] to it's a question whether or not we

[1:53:42] have to pass it out of the finance

[1:53:43] committee the language in our code um

[1:53:46] section

[1:53:47] 28-3 says special meetings may be called

[1:53:49] any any time by any member of the

[1:53:51] council 3 days notice specifying the

[1:53:52] object of the meeting city clerk shall

[1:53:55] cause the written notice thereof

[1:53:56] specifying the object of the meeting to

[1:53:57] be served upon each member personal to

[1:53:59] be delivered at such special meeting no

[1:54:02] business other than that named in the

[1:54:04] notice of the meeting shall be transa

[1:54:06] transacted except by unan

[1:54:08] consent at the time fix in the notice of

[1:54:11] special meeting the city council shall

[1:54:13] convene the president shall take the

[1:54:15] chair and the following shall be the

[1:54:17] order of business roll call reading of

[1:54:20] the notice of the meeting and proof of

[1:54:21] service transaction of the business

[1:54:24] specified in notice and

[1:54:28] adjournment so we we have to follow a

[1:54:31] special meeting and um we need a budget

[1:54:33] to pass so we need a budget out of

[1:54:35] finances what I'm

[1:54:37] [Music]

[1:54:40] understanding it goes to the notice I

[1:54:43] agree with the mayor that if a special

[1:54:46] meeting is being called for particular

[1:54:48] item meeting of this a special meeting

[1:54:52] of the city

[1:54:53] council then it would bypass the

[1:54:56] whatever is contained within the notice

[1:54:58] would bypass the committee but goes to

[1:55:01] the language in the notice

[1:55:07] okay do you have to at least

[1:55:11] [Music]

[1:55:13] I'm

[1:55:17] conv so

[1:55:21] motion to recess motion second I second

[1:55:24] all in favor I recess call order the

[1:55:27] special meeting of the city council me

[1:55:29] city council for November 1st

[1:55:31] 2023 to vote on the budget um I'd ask

[1:55:36] the clerk to do a roll call

[1:55:39] please Mr Williams

[1:55:42] no the call for attendance

[1:55:48] Mr Mr here Mr Toro here Mr here M

[1:55:54] pres okay um special meeting is

[1:55:58] [Music]

[1:56:01] to the special meeting is to pass the

[1:56:04] 2024 operating budget and capital budget

[1:56:06] for the city is

[1:56:08] connected

[1:56:10] so at this point in time the budget only

[1:56:13] budget before us is the budget that the

[1:56:15] mayor has put

[1:56:18] forward

[1:56:21] so I would ask for a roll call on the

[1:56:26] item that's on the

[1:56:34] table we need a motion a motion to bring

[1:56:37] to the

[1:56:38] table um I yes go ahead i' recommend

[1:56:41] discussion first since you're going to

[1:56:43] do a roll call though yes right is there

[1:56:45] any discuss is there any further

[1:56:47] discussion on this item

[1:56:51] the time to make those last comments

[1:56:53] before we call the

[1:56:58] roll this Michael of all is Mr

[1:57:03] Williams Mr Farley yeah Miss Patrick

[1:57:08] yes Mr Toro yes Mr palamini

[1:57:14] yes Miss pfield

[1:57:18] no motion

[1:57:21] [Music]

[1:57:25] fails ask for a motion toour so move

[1:57:32] second moveed by m Patrick second by Mr

[1:57:34] Farley all those in

[1:57:40] [Music]

[1:57:48] favor oh sure

[1:57:52] [Music]

[1:58:18] I'll

[1:58:22] [Music]

[1:58:28] I'm telling you I was like oh please

[1:58:31] don't sit down

[1:58:36] [Music]

[1:58:45] to how's your mom doing how's your mom

[1:58:48] uh struggling but all things

[1:58:52] consider thank you for coming toate of

[1:58:59] [Music]

[1:59:03] course

[1:59:18] you

[1:59:20] [Music]

[1:59:48] Jack

[1:59:51] what your

[1:59:59] [Music]

[2:00:18] name

[2:00:48] for

[2:01:48] e

[2:02:17] for

[2:04:17] e

[2:04:47] for

[2:05:17] e

[2:11:17] for

[2:11:47] e

[2:12:47] for

[2:13:46] e

[2:14:16] for

[2:15:46] e

Schenectady 2024 Budget Meeting, 11/1/23

Transcript