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MINUTES OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE October 7, 2019 East Conference Room Present: Chairman O’Malley and Councilmembers George and Bullock Also Present: Councilmembers Anderson, Litten, O’Leary,and Rader, Mayor Summers, Chief Malley, Director Sylvester, Director Pae, Director Yousefi, Director Gelsomino, Director Beno, Director Meyers, Katelyn Milius of the Planning Department, Clerk Bach, several members of the public, and Deputy Clerk Lascu taking minutes. Call to Order: 6:34 p.m. AGENDA 2020 Council Budget Priority Process Chairman O’Malley opened up the meeting with discussionprioritizing budget items that need additional attention. Mayor Summers and his administration sought to engage on the proposal to add a block club community organizer and asked questions related to the logistics of the person’s employment. They sought to understand more about how the person would be managed, what office he/she would work out of, and more informationabout the proposed salary range of $30,000-$50,000 for the position. Councilman Bullock indicated that the employee could be housed in the Council office. Councilman Rader outlined the benefits of the proposal, adding his desire for the person to have a community organizing background and to work close to full time hours. The mayor indicatedsome ofthe administration’s difficulties and past experience in filling the position. The position carried a salary of $10,000 in the past. Some block clubs start organically due to the DNA of the neighborhood and others start because of a crime or an event occurs that galvanizes folks. In the case of the latter, those block clubs will not move forward. Other blocks that are occupied by a number of transient doubles will almost never form a club that consistently meets. Mayor Summers suggested the ward council people could take up starting block clubs in their respective wards. Chairman O’Malley expressed his desire for the position to be housed in Community Relations, as opposed to the Council office.He also proposed that the committee could ensure funding for the position this upcoming year and leave it to the next mayor to decide whether they want to fill it. Councilwoman George stated the position could be rolled into the vacant communications position in Community Relations and could be reexamined within a year.Past communications personnel helped put together the city newsletter, whichwas sent out to 70 block captains, however no one could confirm if the block captains passed it along to their groups. Councilman Litten proposed focusing on recruiting groups that encompassed many city blocks, as opposed to having individual clubs for each street. He pointed to the success of the SOLO Block Club in the Ohio City neighborhood of Cleveland that encompasses 40 or so blocks. Director Pae indicated that there is space in the budget that the